Post Tagged with "Brazil"

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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How to dress for trendy Rio

I pack for a trip to Rio to celebrate my birthday. In my bag, nothing like the regular clothes I usually wear in my daily routine. It is more lightweight, with trendy accessories. More intense colors are needed for the perfect looks for the day at the beach and night at Lapa, a place of bohemians. I don’t want to look like a serious girl from Brasilia, but a cool tourist visiting the ebullient city of the Christ the Reedemer.

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Best of of 2010: a world tour in twenty-three posts

We’d like to say goodbye to 2010 wıth a world tour of favourite posts from each of our contributors. Here they are, in the order in which each one celebrates midnight. Happy New Year!

Marie (New Zealand): The New Zealand Dairy

“Where would Kiwis be without the local dairy? Certainly situations such as running out of the milk needed for the perfect cup of tea or not having enough snacks to share while watching a film on TV could get quite hairy.”

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Brazilian Music Series – Powerful Women Singers

On my last post about Brazilian music in which I talked about a very special beat, Chorinho, I mentioned the need to go a bit beyond of what is stereotyped about Brazil all over the world. Yes, of course Samba is huge, and I just love it. It is part of our tradition and it goes in most Brazilians’ veins. However, our musical scenario is such a rich encounter of rhythms, sounds and voices that it wouldn’t be fair to insist on just one type of music.

Vanessa da Matta

So, I dedicate this post to the women in my country who inspire, empower, allure and make us proud. To those who are tremendously talented and represent our most voracious, enchanting voices. Those women whose stories and musical paths are unique, but they share their passion for every word they sing and pronounce. Our language, Portuguese, becomes pure poetry or a cry for justice in the mouths of these powerful women.

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Brazilian Music Series – Chorinho

When we talk about Brazilian music anywhere in the world, inevitably samba and bossa nova are some of our Brazilian beats internationally and instantaneously remembered and recognized for their originality, contagious rhythm and melody. However, except for the foreign visitors who have been to Brazil, especially to Rio, or have a Brazilian friend, not many people know about one of our musical traditions, which is a mix of European and African sounds from the 19th century, that has a very special Brazilian beat flavor.

I introduce you to a very sophisticated type of music that blends the sophistication of instruments, such as the trumpet, flute, guitar and a pint of improvisation, a type of music called “chorinho“. The literal translation of “chorinho” would be a “little cry or lament”. Though the songs in this style are a bit nostalgic, they don’t make us cry at all! In fact, when you go to bars and there is a group of chorinho (“roda de choro”) playing, you feel uplifted because of its upbeat sounds.

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