Capoeira Part V

Ta-dah! :)

Capoeira Part IV

Here is one of my best moves...

Capoeira Part III

As peaceful as it was, capoeira could often get quite aggressive.

Capoeira Part II

This is me with the leader of our capoeira group "Jacarei." Once you become part of a capoeira group you are given a capoeira name. Mine, fittingly, was "Jesus."

Capoeira

An important part of Brazilian culture is the sport: capoeira(literally meaning, chicken coop).
Capoeira is a sport practice by people of all ages which mixes, music, singing, dancing, and martial arts. The instruments used are the tambourine, cowbell, a large drum, and a berimbau. The berimbau is a long pole that has a piece of thick wire stretched across it. At the bottom is attached a hollowed out gourd where the sound resonates. In one hand your strike the wire with a wooden stick while in the other you grasp the pole while hold a flat rock against the wire. As a result you get roughly a difference of a semitone depending on whether the rock is used or not. There are endless combinations of songs you can make just with that, and even more if you use 2 or 3 of the instruments. While the musicians play, everyone sits in a circle and sings and claps along. In the middle two people "fight" each other.

Candomble: Another Incarnation

In a house across the street from where I lived there was another incarnation of Candomble. We would often hear lots of loud singing and drumming coming from that house so on November 1st (Day of the Dead, similar to our Halloween) myself, my sister Caca, and Victor decided to venture over. The people there were very friendly and seemed to be very interested in seeing some people other than the regulars there. There was lots of singing(mostly folk songs that everyone knew), lots of dancing, and heavy amounts of drinking. Midway through the party the medium(women) pictured here, stood up and gave a speech. She thanked everyone for coming, made specific reference to their "Canadian Guest", and then "she" announced that "she" would return, but with the spirit of a man in here. And she did, dressed in a very nice suit, hat, and smoking cigars. The funniest part of the night was when Victor tried to go to the bathroom. He was in the lineup but just before he went in, was stopped by a women who told him she, "had to clear out the spirits from the bathroom." She went in, closed the door, and then for five minutes all you heard was things being hit, smashed, and broken from inside!!! Needles to say when Victor went in he was very nervous, afraid of what might jump out at him!

Candomble Dancing

Taken at night, this picture created an awesome effect with the light. The light in the middle comes from the offering of corn, wax, and roses that were part of the ceremony.

Candomble in a Public Setting

I also attended another Candomble ritual that took place one night on the beach. In this ceremony a group of people dressed in white and who had spirits in them formed a circle. Participants would then stand in front of each person with their hands pointed out and receive blessings from the spirit. The highlight of the event was when I was blessed by the "big chief."

Candomble Urns

This is a collection of ashes left over from cremation. In the small red house there is a "growing rock."

Candomble Statuettes

Here are some of the statues which hold the spirits. Notice the Buddha statue on the bottom shelf.

Candomble

Another main religion we were exposed to was Candomble, an African spiritualist religion. Candomble begin when Catholic missionaries attempted to convert African slaves to Christianity. In order to preserve their religion the slaves asked their spirits to enter the statues of Catholicism(ex: Jesus, Mary, etc...) In this way they could preserve their religion while appeasing their masters. Candomble works through the use of a medium. People who have practice in Candomble use their knowledge to invite certain spirits into their bodies. They then act as a medium through which the spirit can communicate. The most common spirit is the Preto Velho (Old Black) who is a wise old man. It is not uncommon for male spirits to enter the bodies of woman and vice versa. The "man" pictured above is actually one participant's host grandmother with a male spirit inside her. The proof of this is her large hat, the huge cigar she smoked, and copious amounts of cashasa(strong brazilian rum) she drank. At one point I saw her with the spirit of a young child in her.

Churches of Rosario do Sul V

Not far from my house was this church. I'm convinced it was the most evangelical one in town, judging by the boisterous yelling that frequently came from it.

Churches of Rosario do Sul IV

Driving down a deserted rural road we suddenly found, a church!

Churches of Rosario do Sul III

Churches in Brazil need not be big and could be found almost anywhere. This church was in an even smaller town outside Rosario called Villa Carmello. It was only reachable by gondola (a huge canoe pushed by a stick).

Churches of Rosario do Sul II

Slightly removed from the city centre was one of the main Protestant churches. Although the majority of Brazilians are Catholic there has been substantial growth in the number of Protestants in recent years.

Churches of Rosario do Sul I

This was the main Catholic church that I pointed out from the aerial photograph.

Senora da Fatima

This monument pays homage to the Virgin Mary. In 1917 in the town of Fatima, Portugal it is said that the Virgin Mary appeared six times to three children. During this time she revealed to them three secrets, one about the reality of hell, the importance of devotion to Mary and one so secret that only the Pope knows it. If you zoom up close you can see the shrine, the earth with a crown on top, a tall pillar extending from the earth upon which a statue of Mary is placed.

The Ten Commandments

At the centre of the gardens was a public display of the Ten Commandments. This was one of the many Christian monuments found around the city.

The Leaves Are Changing

Midway through our time in Rosario, we were treated to the sight of the Ipe Tree changing its colours from bright yellow to this red-pink colour.

Ipe Tree

This is a close up of the yellow tree seen in the aerial shot. These trees were found all over the city and often found lining the streets.

Central Gardens

The centre of most Portuguese colonial towns, and Rosario do Sul was no exception, is the central gardens. This garden was filled with many different trees and flowers as well as a park for children.

Rosario do Sul, A Brief Tour II

Anothe aerial shot, this time of the other side of the city. On the right is public gardens which formed the centre of the city. In the background you can see the central Catholic Church. Notice also the satelitte dishes that appear on several housetops.

Rosario do Sul, A Brief Tour

An aerial view taken from the one high rise building in the city. The bright yellow trees are called Ipe. In the background you can see one of the two rivers that flowed next to the town and where the towns main beach was.

The Perpetually Happy Zuzu

Another of my host sisters Zuzu(Suzanne)

Eliana

This is my old sister Eliana. Unfortunately she left one month into the program to study English in London, England. She now lives there with her husband Tim and their son Samuel.

My Host Father

This is my host father Jar, with his truck, on the farm, surrounded by chickens. Do you think that he looks similar to Charles Bronson?

Arrival in Brazil

After three very quick months we found ourselves thrust into the action of southern Brazil. Some of the first people that I met were the members of my host family. From top to bottom, Berenice, Eliana, Zuzu, and Caca.

Golf course sunset

This picture is significant because of where it was taken: at the local golf course. The only problem with the golf course, was that nobody actually used it. In three months I only saw one person use it. Instead people used it as a public park.

A common theme

For some reason I was constantly captivated by sunsets, as typical a picture it is. This one was taken on a simple Olympus Zoom Camera but with the wide angle feature turned on so that the picture produced was stretched horizontally.

Educational Days

Also important to CWY is the educational days which took place each Friday throughout the entire program. On these days we would explore questions of culture, music, language, history, politics, economics, and sustainable development. This picture is our group with two of the first men in Quebec to be granted a civil union.

Flavia Part II

Another beautiful picture. Note the Expos hat.

Flavia

Flavia was always very happy and full of energy. I offer this picture as irrefutable proof.

At Work...

A major part of CWY is the work placement. I spent my time in Quebec working at Les Intrepides de Rouyn-Noranda(a centre for disabled adults) with my work counterpart Flavia (on the right). This is us with one of the Intrepides.

Host Family

In each community counterparts stay with a host family. This is my host mother in Quebec, Marie-Denise.

In Performance

The two of us performing a song together. Afterwards we played the song "Depuis l'Automne" by Harmonium. The intensity produced by the song was sensational.

Rafael on the porch

This picture was taken from a few steps below and snapped at just the right time.

My Counterpart

CWY Groups are made up of counterparts who live together in host families in each country. This is my counterpart, Rafael.