Culture

Brazil



A couple weeks ago I went to Brazil and visited Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia. What a gorgeus place it is. It is so alive with life, music and people.

I met up with Luis and talked about the government a little. I had almost no knowledge about it before, but he told me that it is a federal republic with 26 states. There are 3 branches -  Executive, judical and legislative. The president can also hold office for 4 years + another 4 years if reelected.


This is Brasilia - Where the government resides. The government has a lot of power and is sadly corrupt and thus the country faces some huge problems.

On a much happier note though, I went to visit my old friend in the southern part of the country - Nataniel. We had dinner together and he made a famous Brazilian dish - Feijoada. It is a stew with beans, beef and pork. We also had oranges with the food which made it so, so delicious, I must have had 3 servings...

The food habits vary from region to region and is very dependant on what is locally available. For example next to the sea they have a lot of seafood, in the northern part, root vegetables like cassava are popular. In the south the agriculture is huge and dairy is popular along with beef.

I Was surprised how popular religion is in Brazil. The vast majority is Roman Catholic(74% - 130 mil people) and the Protestant religion makes up 15% with 25 mil people.

Brazil is the biggest Roman Catholic country in the world. It was introduced in the 16th century to the natives and came along with the immigrants from Europe. It had a strong impact and spread quickly. Religion is still an important part today. I asked Nataniel - how important in church here and he said very, all of his friends and relatives go to church every Sunday and live by the moral code.

This is the Sanctuario nacional. The second biggest basilica in the world. This demonstrates that religion plays a large role in their everyday life.

Also how to better show Brasilian life but with a clip about football that also incorporates some of their dance moves, music and massive skill. These are extremely important parts of their life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i5xdwVAt1k

Cuba

After Brazil, I went to Cuba.

Before 1959 Cuba had a very strict dictatorship but nowadays it has a so called democracy. In truth they still have a communist dictatorship and the freedom is like in North Korea - must be approved by the communist party. They dont have a free opposition.

This is Raul Castro - brother of famous Fidel Castro and the current leader of the country.

Cuban cuisine is not one of my favourites. My parents said it was nothing special, sadly I have to agree with them. I ate something called Ropa Vieja with Raul, my buddy, and it was just okay. It was shredded steak in tomato sauce with black beans, yellow rice, plantains and some beer. The beer did not taste awesome either, but I am not a huge fan of beer anyway.


Similar to Brazil, 70% of Cuba is Catholic.
They also have a syncretic belief called Santeria, which is popular in Cuba. This originates from Africa, originally. Cuba is officially atheist but the people are still religious. It is not as predominant as it is elsewhere but it still exists.


Also, a very important part about Cuban culture is the cigars.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8491264/Cuban-cigar-roller-sets-new-world-record.html
Here is a world record video.