It seems I’m a bit late to the party but last June 12th saw the little-known international holiday known as International Cachaça Day, as spotted on the Cachaçagora site (check it out for a video by Leblon proclaiming the holiday). To bring it home, the Cantina in San Francisco houses an impressive array of cachaças. Here’s the story…

“International Cachaca Day, June 12, knows no such national boundaries. Created by the Sociedade Brasileira da Cachaca, it’s taking root in San Francisco at Cantina.

The bar already carries at least 27 versions of Brazil’s national spirit, which is made from distilled cane juice and used in the caipirinha. On Thursday, it will offer a menu of harder-to-find cachacas such as Weber Haus, which won the Best White Spirit award at the recent San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and Armazem Vieira. Owner Duggan McDonnell is creating a menu of creative cachaca cocktails, and of course there will be caipirinhas and a Brazil-themed DJ.

The day commemorates June 12, 1744, when Portugal, then colonizer of Brazil, outlawed the making and selling cachaca. And it sounds like more fun than eating a whole lot of hot dogs.

Cantina, 580 Sutter St. (at Mason), San Francisco; (415) 398-0195; cantinasf.com. Cachaca event 6-10 p.m.; bar normally open 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Mon.-Sat.” – SF Gate

(O Globo)

Obama was caught checking out Mayara Rodrigues Tavares, a 17-year old Unicef representative from Rio. Tsc tsc! (In Portuguese, they don’t use the “k” as in “tsk”)

- It’s an inexplicable feeling. It’s hard to believe he could do something like that, but it seems I’m just one more woman trying to fight, in vain, for rights that aren’t respected. – said the adolescent, who goes to high school in Santa Cruz, a city in Rio.

The newscasters are pretending it was a badly interpreted moment…but I still have my doubts. Sarkozy, on the other hand, is guilty as charged.

Now, the Brazilian president is warming up to her too. Gordon Brown’s hand can’t be accounted for and the Indian Prime Minister is thinking about it.

; )

When I started the other Eyes On blogs about Salvador and Belém, I borrowed from Eyes On Brazil in the case the articles gave mention to the other cities. From there, I haven’t included anything from those blogs on this one…until now. Since I post less frequently on the other blogs, due to them being localized, I’m not sure this will become a new series of posts here. Rather, it will be a once in awhile thing. Enjoy!

Eyes On Belém

Cabanagem Rebellion

Ilha do Marajó

Getting in and out of Belém (by plane)

Jambú – the toothache plant

Eyes On Salvador

Rapadura – Dried sugarcane juice

The Tororó Jetty

Basement of the Modelo Market

The two sides of the city

“RIO DE JANEIRO – Friday June 26th saw President Lula finally rubber stamp the planned 2009 visa amnesty designed to regularize illegal workers in Brazil. The amnesty has become a mythical golden egg among illegal residents of late, with rumors abound as to whether it will or won’t be passed. Questions have loomed about what it actually means to the estimated 100,000-200,000 illegal workers in the country.

Rio has its own share of problems with clandestine workers. In April, O Globo newspaper reported that eighteen Chinese nationals were caught working illegally at a telecommunications company in Botafogo. Five were immediately asked to leave the country, with the business fined more than R$12,000.

The Lei de Estrangeiro (Foreigner’s Law) has become a regular fixture on the Brazilian political scene. It takes place every decade or so in an attempt to stop cash-in-hand and casual workers operating outside of the tax system. Brazil is well known for its heavy and complex taxation procedures, a source of both derision and frustration for its citizens.” – Gringo Times (more here)

If you are interested in why I say “ok, not really but…”, see my previous post on the matter.

Some of those Rio buses really can get hot inside…

“RECIFE, BRAZIL — Luca Sinesi, 36, came here for the first time in 2003, with no idea that this beach-fringed port city would become his permanent home.

“I left the city in 2005, but I missed it so much I was back within six months,” said Mr. Sinesi, an Italian who is now Brazil field director for the British charity International Service. “Recife has a way of life which sets it apart from cities in the south of Brazil.

“Neighbors know each other, help each other, and share living spaces,” he said. “It is common to see people playing music or singing together on a street corner or in a bar, or playing football long into the night in the local square.”

The city, the second-largest urban center in northeastern Brazil, after Salvador, has just over 1.5 million residents. About 2 million more call its sprawling suburbs home.” – NYT (more here)

Over at Vimeo, there’s a nicely shot short on Samparkour (parkour in São Paulo city). It’s best viewed in HD. As far as the backdrops, the filmmakers did a great job but the parkour part is a little weak. There are videos on the net of people with far superior parkour skills. What’s odd about it, is that the SP government sponsered it and most likely provided to funds to make it. Strange…for a sport that isn’t considered mainstream.

Props for the cool portmanteau.

Here’s two interesting phrases in Brazilian Portuguese. One is to ‘flake’ on someone (which means to say you will show up for an event, then not show up), and that is ‘dar bolo para em alguém’ (to give cake to on someone). The other phrase is to be the ‘third wheel’ (which means to go out with two other people who are on a date), and that is ’segurar a vela’ (to hold the candle).

I was contacted about a new site called In Between Home offering “an exhibition of the daily beauty of Brasil” via photography. It’s done by Zane, an expat living outside of Rio who is doing his part to showcase the beautiful country that is Brazil. Here’s the description…

“This blog is simply a daily log of things I see and do here in Brazil. Some photos may be artistic, some may not. Some may be beautiful scenery, some may just be a snapshot on my way home. Think of the blog as one of those quarter toy machines outside of your favorite grocery store you used when you were a kid…you never know what you might get!”

Back when I was living in Brazil, I heard two phrases all the time, several times a day, it seemed. At first, I had to catch on to what the phrases were and then I tried to understand the situations in which they were used. Not too long after that, I got sick of hearing them. Fast forward a good amount of time, and now I use them! lol.

So what are they?

“Faz o seguinte…” (Do the following…)

and

“O que acontece, é…” (What happens is…)

then there’s the double whammy, “o que acontece é o seguinte…” (What happens is the following…)

One may wonder why I would get sick of these phrases so allow me to explain. Americans are a pretty ‘do-it-yourself’ kind of people, very individualistic, independent, etc…so when I found myself in tough situations and even average everyday situations, I wanted to deal with them myself. Everytime I tried to insert my American ways into the situation, I would get blindsided by everyone around trying to help me out of a jam, and like clockwork, they would spout out these phrases while doing so. Once I understood the cultural context of these phrases, that’s when I stopped getting annoyed.

If there’s one lesson I can instill in anyone traveling to Brazil (or any other country), it’s ‘don’t get mad when things don’t go your way, it doesn’t mean things are worse off than they are in your own country, it just means it’s different.’

That being said, it’s time I create an ‘Oberservations’ category for cultural observations.