Brazil

What’s a typical day like in Brasilia, Brazil? Let Carla explain!

Carla, our regional Pocket Cultures contributor from Brazil, is an English as a Foreign Language educator who loves cooking, photography and connecting with the world through social media. Carla is also a proud Brazilian, currently living in Brasilia. In today’s interview, we learn about the cultural and economic contrasts inherent in living in Brazil, and just why it’s so fantastic to be a Brazilian!

 Where do you live? Where are you from? If those are different, can you tell us a little about what inspired your move?

I’m now back to Brasilia, my hometown in Brazil, but I’ve lived for two years in Key West, Florida. When I was a teen, I lived as an exchange student in a small town near Seattle in the U.S., and also in Mestre, Italy, a 10-minute train ride from Venice.

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PocketCultures world tour: best of 2011

Happy New Year! Our roundup of 2011 begins with a reminder that 1st January is not the beginning of a new year throughout the world. Carla wrote that Brazilians consider the year to start after February’s carnival, and Anu wrote about new year celebrations which take place at different times in different parts of India. Of course many parts of the world do celebrate the start of the New Year on January 1st, and Sandra’s post explained all about new year celebrations in Portugal.

Bolo Rei – part of the New Year celebrations in Portugal. Credit.

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Skateboarders in Brasilia

Did you know that one of the most famous skateboarders in the world is Brazilian? Bob Burnquist is internationally renowned for his skateboarding maneuvers and extreme flips in the air. He has one of the biggest and wildest megaramps in his backyard. Can you believe that he has even gone for a base jump in the Grand Canyon?

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Naming children: traditions in 13 different countries

How are children’s names chosen in your country? Do you follow ancient naming traditions or are modern names more popular? Do you pass names down through family generations or invent new ones?

We’ve had a lot of fun writing this post and the subject of how children are named in our various countries has inspired a lot of discussion within our team of contributors. So, read on to find out how children’s names are chosen in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey and the USA.

Have something to add? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

There aren’t many clear-cut naming traditions in Argentina nowadays. In the past, first-born babies were named after their parents but now the focus is on distinctiveness. Parents choose names they like or that are fashionable. For example, when Argentinean-born Maxima Zorriegueta married Crown Prince Wilhelm-Alexander of the Netherlands, the name Maxima became very popular.

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Tipping etiquette around the world

A girl from America, a girl from France, a boy from England and a boy from Australia are sitting around a restaurant table in Poland. How much will they tip?

The boy from England: “Ok, we’ve got enough pooled to cover the bill. How much should we tip? I think it’s customarily 10% in Poland, right?”

The girl from France: “No way, I’m not leaving 10%, the service was terrible.”

The girl from America: “Whoa, I was planning to leave 20%!”

Photo by Cathleen Shattuck

Our monthly collaborative post is back, and this time we’re talking about tipping etiquette. Here’s what PocketCultures contributors around the world said about when to tip in their countries.

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A New Year Begins in Brazil

Though our calendar started on January 1st, 2011, in Brazil, we always say that the year really starts after carnival. In fact, only on Ash Day after midday. Many of our plans and projects are postponed to the after-carnival calendar, which was a problem this year if you consider that carnival was really late. We generally have it in February.

This year the celebration started on March 5th. Carnival true holiday should have been only on Tuesday, March 8th. In reality, it started on the previous Friday (March 4th), and for many, it goes up to the following Sunday (March 13th)! It is a week-long celebration where many Brazilians travel to enjoy themselves, move their hips, sing until there’s no voice left. For the ones who don’t enjoy the Carnival madness, it is time to rest, be with friends, just goof off and disconnect.

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