I just witnessed a World Cup in my country, Brazil. It was a huge party, different from every-year Carnival or New Year's eve: there was this whole soccer atmosphere and a feeling that could make Brazilians sing the National Anthem in a manner not seen even in the Independence Day. A sense of deep patriotism that lasted for 90 minutes, or that was shown whenever a foreigner made a comment about how the referee was helping Brazil on the previous match. Foreigners... our beloved "gringos", one of the most interesting contributions this World Cup could bring to Brazil.
They were everywhere. It's hard to find someone in the largest cities here who hasn't met a foreign supporter or hasn't heard a story about some interesting fact that happened to a visitor. I was lucky enough to have two national teams, Portugal and Nigeria, training in the city I live in, Campinas/SP. And even luckier to meet Lolade, a journalist that came to Brazil at work to publish news about Nigeria national team and ended up learning so much about my country that I was the one to learn about it from him.
We had hours of chatting about History, African influences, music, slavery, racism, food, santeria, cultural habits, society, every single subject that could be familiar to both Brazil and Nigeria. I had learned about so many things that came from Africa it made me eager to searching for more. Then Lolade came with the idea of this blog, which for me was the perfect opportunity to pursue this knowledge and share a bit of my culture and experiences.
One of the things that impressed me the most is how some usual things in Brazil still keep the African root. We eat food they have brought, we have lots of people who practice their religion, we have words from their vocabulary, we drum and dance like they do. Of course, a few centuries have passed and the influence of several other countries cultures might have changed things a bit, but they are still strong enough for African people feel that Brazil is not that distant after all.
In future posts I intend to explore these cultural similarities and show how they affect Brazil nowadays, as well as some curiosities regarding Brazil-Africa relations.
Welcome! I hope you enjoy your reading :) Feel free to contribute by commenting our posts and sharing your ideas.
They were everywhere. It's hard to find someone in the largest cities here who hasn't met a foreign supporter or hasn't heard a story about some interesting fact that happened to a visitor. I was lucky enough to have two national teams, Portugal and Nigeria, training in the city I live in, Campinas/SP. And even luckier to meet Lolade, a journalist that came to Brazil at work to publish news about Nigeria national team and ended up learning so much about my country that I was the one to learn about it from him.
We had hours of chatting about History, African influences, music, slavery, racism, food, santeria, cultural habits, society, every single subject that could be familiar to both Brazil and Nigeria. I had learned about so many things that came from Africa it made me eager to searching for more. Then Lolade came with the idea of this blog, which for me was the perfect opportunity to pursue this knowledge and share a bit of my culture and experiences.
One of the things that impressed me the most is how some usual things in Brazil still keep the African root. We eat food they have brought, we have lots of people who practice their religion, we have words from their vocabulary, we drum and dance like they do. Of course, a few centuries have passed and the influence of several other countries cultures might have changed things a bit, but they are still strong enough for African people feel that Brazil is not that distant after all.
In future posts I intend to explore these cultural similarities and show how they affect Brazil nowadays, as well as some curiosities regarding Brazil-Africa relations.
Welcome! I hope you enjoy your reading :) Feel free to contribute by commenting our posts and sharing your ideas.
Really interesting. I look forward to reading more entries on this blog.
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