Patricia's Brazil Travel Blog

Brazil has a long tradition in quality moviemaking and this year four directors have their work represented in the 61st International Cannes Film Festival in France. Fernando Meirelles, with Blindness (which opened the festival yesterday) and Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas, with Linha de Passe, are running for the Palme d'Or. Mateus Nachtergaele makes his debut as a director in Un Certain Regard with The Dead Girl's Feast.

While the movies are intriguing enough, I can't wait to hear the soundtracks. I haven't found much information about The Dead Girl's Feast sound yet, but I know Argentinean Gustavo Santaolalla (Motorcycle Diaries, Brokeback Mountain) signs the soundtrack for Linha de Passe and Brazilian Marco Antonio Guimarães, creator of Uakti, the one for Blindness. I've been listening to some of their amazing work as I write about the movies.

Photo: The cast of Blindness arrives at the Cannes Festival premiere at the Palais des Festivals on May 14, 2008. Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images.

Several events commemorate the 60th anniversary of Israel's Declaration of Independence in Brazil this year. Conib - Confederação Israelita do Brasil, Brazil's Israeli Confederation, is a good starting point for connecting with different Jewish organizations all over the country.

If you would like to see Israel's Declaration of Independence in Portuguese, FIERJ – the Israeli Federation of Rio de Janeiro State – has the full text posted on their website, along with the complete audio recording of David Ben-Gurion reading it in Hebrew, this day 60 years ago.

If you visit São Paulo, don't miss one of the most interesting places for experiencing Jewish heritage in Brazil: Casa da Cultura Judaica, or the Jewish Cultural Center. They have a full cycle of artistic and cultural events to celebrate the Independence anniversary this month. Try to visit at lunch time, when their cafeteria is open – it's one of the best kosher places in town.

On May 13, 1888, slavery officially ended in Brazil with the signature of the Golden Law - Lei Áurea - by Princess Izabel. This year, the theme underlying the remembrance of the date is Unfinished Abolition.

Minister Edson Santos of the Special Secretariat of Policies for the Promotion of Racial Equality – SEPPIR – said in an article titled "Black Hands and White Hands Building Equality", posted on the Secretariat website today, that abolition was an achievement of active black and white members of Brazilian society, but "our black ancestors, though freed from slavery, did not receive from society or the State the means that would grant them true emancipation."

The Minister highlighted the enforcement of laws against racism and the protection and preservation of today’s quilombos – settlements originated from runaway slave communities – as some of the necessary measures to achieve ethnic and cultural equality. As a result of black activist efforts, November 20, the day Palmares quilombo leader Zumbi was murdered in 1695, is Black Awareness Day in Brazil. Zumbi is one of 10 national heroes commemorated in the Steel Book at the Nation's Pantheon in Brasília.

The Golden Law was signed at Paço Imperial, in downtown Rio de Janeiro. The original document is in the National Archives, also in Rio, and the gold quill used to sign it is at the Imperial Museum in Petrópolis, in Rio de Janeiro State.

Photo of Zumbi bust in Brasília: Elza Fiúza/Agência Brasil

Today is Mother’s Day in Brazil – a good time to treat Mom to lunch or dinner, possibly at one of the restaurants participating in the Brasil Sabor Food Festival, which ends today. Card and gift giving is a Mother’s Day tradition in Brazil as well.

Throughout the year, travelers in Brazil will want to find a souvenir for Mom. Consider cosmetics and fragrances made by companies that use products from the Amazon forest in a sustainable way and owe their success to women’s initiative and pioneerism: Natura, Chamma da Amazônia and Juruá Natural da Amazônia. The two last have their origin in the Amazon and their headquarters in Belém, Pará. Keep an eye out for them at their own stands and at Duty Free Shops in Brazil international airports.

Three games open the A Series of the Brazil National Soccer League (Brasileirão) tonight. A tour de force that lasts seven months and which, for some teams, overlaps with Copa do Brasil and the Libertadores Cup, Brasileirão – or Big Brazilian – features 20 teams in each of its two series. The B series games started yesterday.

The beginning of the tournament is a welcome break from the week’s soccer buzz in Brazil – Ronaldo's most recent personal blunders, commented on by Alan Hylands, About.com Guide to World Soccer, in his blog last Sunday.

Náutico v. Goiás in Recife, Vitória v. Cruzeiro in Salvador and São Paulo v. Grêmio in São Paulo all kick off at 6:10 pm São Paulo time (5:10 ET). São Paulo coach Muricy Ramalho doesn't usually confirm the lineup in advance, but at least São Paulo fans know they can count on goalkeeper/goal scorer Rogério Ceni, winner of CBF’s Best Brasileirão Player, Best Goalkeeper and Fan's Choice Awards in 2007, for the 2008 season.

Photo ©Bruno Miani/VipComm - Rogerio Ceni.com.br

While writing about driving in Brazil, I wondered how I would manage Brazilian traffic challenges without the adaptive defensive skills I've had years to develop. I also tried to imagine what local traffic must feel like to a newcomer in a rental car. Luckily, I've had help. "Tell your readers it's rude," said an American friend. Which reminded me of a comment by a friend's British expat husband: "Brazilians – so friendly when you meet them, but it's amazing how they change when they get behind the wheel."

Like the now-seasoned Brazil drivers quoted above, you may end up having to, or wanting to, drive in Brazil. My alerts don't mean it can't be done. But it may take starting in a smaller town with less traffic and a more peaceful driving scene. And while we're on the subject of cars and not-so-large towns, don't miss "Beetlemania", an article in the latest issue of American Way, the American Airlines inflight magazine. Writer Kevin Raub and photographer Sean McCormick went to Pirenópolis, GO – a city which is hosting Festa do Divino (see last Sunday's post) – and reported on the local passion for what Brazilians call fuscas.

Photo: Patricia Ribeiro

Daily news demonstrate that harboring generalized expectations about world weather has become increasingly difficult. On the other hand, accurate weather information for travelers is more necessary than ever, especially in view of the tragic consequences of severe weather phenomena, such as the cyclone that struck Myanmar over the weekend.

Today, Brazilian newspapers are summing up the effects of an extratropical cyclone that swept through the two southernmost Brazilian states – Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul – over the weekend. Although not comparable in magnitude to the one that struck Myanmar, the cyclone left a trail of damage that included touristic areas. According to southern online news portal Agora, two people have been reported dead. The cyclone destroyed roofs and caused flooding, landslides, and a power outage that affected 247,000 people in Rio Grande do Sul on Saturday night.

Brazil's continental proportions and diversity of climate zones expose travelers to many different kinds of weather conditions. While it is possible to find recent weather updates and short-term forecasts in English, I firmly believe in enpowering travelers to use Brazilian resources such as the Epagri/Ciram website, due to their own value and also because the more you learn to identify weather information in Portuguese, the better prepared you will be to travel in areas where that information won't be readily available in English.

The Festival of the Holy Ghost, or Festa do Divino, one of the most important Catholic and folkloric celebrations in Brazil, started yesterday in Paraty, Rio de Janeiro. The festivities will go through May 11.

Festa do Divino, which commemorates Pentecost, has its best-known version in Paraty, but it takes place throughout Brazil, with an immense diversity of regional details. Several other cities have become famous for the way they have been able to maintain festival traditions that date as far back as the 1700s and were originally brought to Brazil by Portuguese colonizers.

Photo of the Paraty City Chamber ©Prefeitura Municipal de Paraty.

Milton Nascimento, one of the greatest Brazilian musicians of all time, has just finished a tour in Europe, during which he and partners Jobim Trio played songs from their latest CD, Novas Bossas (Nascimento Música/EMI). The CD is a celebration of Bossa Nova, the unique Brazilian music style that gave the world classics such as "The Girl from Ipanema" and has its 50th anniversary this year. Released in Brazil last March 5, the CD is being released internationally by EMI this month.

Novas Bossas Hotsite

Milton Nascimento and Jobim Trio will soon bring Novas Bossas to three Brazilian cities:

• Belo Horizonte - May 23, 24 and 25, at Palácio das Artes, a venue at the Américo Renê Giannetti Municipal Park
• São Paulo – May 29, 30 and 31 at Tom Jazz
• Rio de Janeiro – Milton Nascimento’s official site says there will be shows on June 12, 13 and 14 at Canecão, but the venue's schedule (Programação) hasn't got them yet.

Today is Labor Day in Brazil. While many people have been able to negotiate a day off tomorrow – or skip work altogether – and afford an extended holiday trip, many others have participated in Labor Day events that range from shows to union rallies.

Staying in town doesn't need to be boring in Rio de Janeiro, where there's always a host of entertainment options available for all budgets. Tonight, Ballet Nacional de España, the famous flamenco dance company, performs at Rio's beautiful Theatro Municipal. Also tonight, a free beach show in Copacabana celebrates the memory of Cazuza, a Brazilian music great and Rio native who died of AIDS in 1990 and would have turned 50 next Sunday.

If you read Portuguese or get by well because you’re fluent in Spanish, check out one of my favorite online resources for what’s going on in Rio: Veja Brasil – Rio de Janeiro, the online version of the weekly local guide by Veja magazine.

Photo of Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado courtesy of Ascom/Riotur