Alpha Idiomas: 2nd Semester: Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

▪ The country (Brazil)

Flag of Brazil - Read More

Brasil is the largest country in South America and fifth largest in the world. Famous for its football (soccer) tradition and its annual Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Recife and Olinda. It is a country of great diversity, from the bustling urban mosaic of São Paulo to the infinite cultural energy of Pernambuco and Bahia, the wilderness of the Amazon rainforest and world-class landmarks such as the Iguaçu Falls, there is plenty to see and to do in Brazil. (Read More)

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil, on the South Atlantic coast. Rio is famous for its breathtaking landscape, its laid back beach culture and its annual carnival.

The harbour of Rio de Janeiro is comprised of a unique entry from the ocean that makes it appear to be the mouth of a river. Additionally, the harbor is surrounded by spectacular geographic features including Sugar Loaf mountain, Corcovado Peak and the hills of Tijuca. These features work together to collectively make the harbor one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. (Read More)

▪ Tourist spots

▪ Cristo Redentor

Is an Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ, created by French sculptor Paul Landowski and built by the Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, in collaboration with the French engineer Albert Caquot. Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida fashioned the face. A symbol of Christianity across the world, the statue has also become a cultural icon of both Rio de Janeiro and Brazil, and is listed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. (Read More)

▪ Pão de açúcar

Seen from the peak of Pão De Açúcar, Rio de Janeiro is undoubtedly a marvelous citty. There are many good times to make the ascent, but sunset on a clear day is the most rewarding. At the top, the city unfolds beneath you, with Corcovado mountain and Cristo Redentor of the West , and Copacabana Beach to the south. (Read more)

▪ Copacabana Beach

Copacabana Beach is one of the most famous and most beautiful beaches in the world. The atmosphere is very vibrant and the people are colorful and fun loving.

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▪ Ipanema Beach

The beach at Ipanema is known for its elegant development and its social life. There are always circles of people playing football, volleyball, and footvolley, a locally invented sport that is a combination of volleyball and football.

In the winter the surf can reach nine feet. The water quality varies from clear light-blue water to a more murky green after heavy rains.

The Travel Channel listed Ipanema Beach as the sexiest beach in the world. (Read more)

▪ Sambadrome

The Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí is a purpose-built parade area built for the Rio Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the place where samba schools parade competitively each year during the Rio Carnival. The parades attract many thousands of Brazilians and foreign tourists each year, and the structure is also used as a multi-purpose performance venue. The structures of the Sambadrome were designed by the architect Oscar Niemeyer (1907–2012), and represent his first major work after the end of the Brazilian dictatorship of 1964–1985. (Read more)

▪ Cuisine

▪ Feijoada

Feijoada, a flavorful stew of beans and pork, is called the national dish of Brazil.Typically served at noon on Wednesdays and Saturdays, this hearly meal is a thick mixture of beans, fresh and smoked meats plus seasonings. (Read more)

▪ Canjica /Mugunzá
Canjica is a Brazilian sweet dish, a porridge or corn mush made with whole maize kernels (canjica), cooked with milk, sugar and cinnamon until tender.coconut and coconut milk are common ingredients and part of the original recipe. (Read more)

▪ Açaí
Of all the thousands of fruits from the Amazon, açaí is the best known, thanks to its super-food status. Traditionally eaten by indigenous tribes for energy, the hard purple berry is also used in Amazonian cooking, as a sauce with fish. A clever marketing campaign in the 80's thrust it into the spotlight as the energy snack of choice for surfers in glamorous Rio de Janeiro. Served as a sweet, gloopy, frozen sorbet, sometimes topped with granola and slices of banana, or whizzed up in juices, it can found in every café, bakery, juice bar and supermarket across the country. (Read more)

▪ Empada

Empadas are mini pies that are sold in nearly all snack bars. The most typical flavors are dried meat, chicken with cream cheese, prawns with cream cheese or heart of palm. (Check out the recipe)

▪ Beijinho de Coco

The name literally translates to little kiss of coconut wich fits perfectly with this mouth-sized dessert. Made with condensed milk and butter mixed together before being rooled up into little balls and covered in coconut flakes. (Check out the recipe)

▪ Coxinha

This hearty snack is a heap of shredded chicken wrapped up in a gooey, warm dough before being battered and fried. Some even mix the chicken inside with cream cheese. With its crispy outside texture and soft, fluffy inside. (Check out the recipe)

▪ Caipirinha

Caipirinha is Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça (sugarcane hard liquor), sugar and lime. Cachaça, also known as caninha, or any one of a multitude of traditional names, is Brazil's most common distilled alcoholic beverage. Although both rum and cachaça are made from sugarcane-derived products, in cachaça the alcohol results from the fermentation of fresh sugarcane juice that is then distilled, while rum is usually made from refinery by-products such as molasses. (Read more)

▪ Habits

Sun-drenched beaches, tropical palm trees,and exotic samba music set the perfect scene for Holiday.If you’re traveling in Brazil, it’s hard not to fall in love with the country, culture and people. (Read more)

Local residents are very smiling, cheerful and friendly people. They are very responsive and are always ready to help, so foreigners will literally feel in Rio like at home. The city is home to immigrants from different countries and this is the reason why visitors here are very friendly to newcomers. However, this is also the reason for a taboo for the local people – all talks about race are banned. Any manifestation of neglect concerning this topic can be viewed as racist behavior. (Read more)

▪ Music

▪ Bossa Nova

Bossa Nova began on the tropical beaches of Rio de Janeiro in the late 1950s, when s small group of mainly middle-class students, artists and musicians came together to create a new sound. Bossa Nova was a soft samba based on traditional Brazilian music and rhythms, American jazz and a new style of Portuguese lyrics. (Read more)

▪ Climate

The climate in Rio de Janeiro is tropical, with a relatively cool season from May to October, and a hot and muggy season from December to March. Although the average temperatures are not very high, and thankfully the breeze usually blows, sometimes in summer very hot days can occur. The bets time to visit Rio de Janeiro is winter, from May to October, the tenmperature is generally pleasant with quite rare rains. (Read more)

▪ Cost of living

Rio de Janeiro is one of the most stunning settings, however simillar to the others largest cities (São Paulo and Brasília), the city is also considered to be one of the most expensive cities to live in Brazil. (Read more)