Musical Monday - Cesaria Evora

Cesaria Evora

(Source: YouTube.com)

A native of the island nation of Cape Verde, Césaria Évora is known as the country's foremost practitioner of the morna, which is strongly associated with the islands and combines West African percussion with Portuguese fados, Brazilian modhinas, and British sea shanties. Évora began singing morna at age 16 after meeting an attractive young guitarist. Her talent soon had her performing all over the islands, and in the late '60s two of her radio tapes were released as albums in the Netherlands and Portugal, respectively.

However, Évora never left her country, and gave up singing in the mid-'70s owing to lack of profit. In 1985, at the age of 45, she decided to return to music and traveled to Portugal to record two songs for an anthology of female Cape Verdean singers. This led to subsequent recording sessions in Paris, which resulted in four albums from 1988 to 1992. Her international fame grew, and she toured Europe, Africa, Brazil, and Canada, with stops in the United States to perform for Cape Verdean audiences. In the fall of 1995, she mounted her first large-scale American tour; subsequent recordings include 1997's Cabo Verde and 1999's Mar Azul and Cafe Atlantico.

With Évora now a certified international star, the new millennium didn't see any loss of momentum for the singer and she continued to record and tour the globe. Her 2001 release, Sao Vicente, featured numerous collaborations, including appearances from Bonnie Raitt, Orquesta Aragón, and Brazilian superstar Caetano Veloso. Already a well-televised figure in Europe, her growing popularity in North America led to an appearance on The David Letterman Show; a DVD, Live in Paris; the reissue of her 1974 album Distino di Belita; and the 2004 Grammy for Best Contemporary World Music recording for Voz d'Amor. The same year she was recognized by French culture minister Jean-Jacques Aillagon as an Officer des Arts et des Lettres. After another extensive tour, in 2006 Évora released Rogamar, much of which was recorded in her hometown of Mindelo.

One of my favorite songs by this amazingly talented musician is called "Sodade"

And another, more upbeat, is "Carnaval de São Vicente". The images in this video are beyond beautiful. Will someone please buy me a one-way ticket to Cabo Verde?

June Music - Jorge Ben Jor sings "Jorge De Capadócia"

Jorge sentou praça na cavalaria

                                 E eu estou feliz porque eu também sou da sua companhia

Eu estou vestido com as roupas e as armas de Jorge

Para que meus inimigos tenham pés, não me alcancem

Para que meus inimigos tenham mãos, não me peguem, não me toquem

Para que meus inimigos tenham olhos e não me vejam

E nem mesmo um pensamento eles possam ter para me fazerem mal

Armas de fogo, meu corpo não alcançará

                                      Facas, lanças se quebrem, sem o meu corpo tocar

Cordas, correntes se arrebentem, sem o meu corpo amarrar

Pois eu estou vestido com as roupas e as armas de Jorge

Jorge é de Capadócia, viva Jorge!

                                                   Jorge é de Capadócia, salve Jorge!

Perseverança, ganhou do sórdido fingimento

                                                             E disso tudo nasceu o amor

Perseverança, ganhou do sórdido fingimento

E disso tudo nasceu o amor

Jorge da Capadócia

De la Riva and the brown belt

Ricardo De la Riva & Thiago "Batata" Domingues

Ricardo De La Riva is a legendary Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt from Brazil who is both well known and well respected throughout the world. He currently resides in Rio de Janeiro but travels often around the world; he's in the U.S. today but heading out to Korea and Japan this week for a De La Riva tournament. In fact, I believe that I've met him three times over the last three years and each time was in central Florida. He came to Florida this month for the purpose of teaching and giving Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) seminars, and today he awarded my husband his brown belt (Congratulations, E!). That's quite an accomplishment; it's an even bigger deal that it was De La Riva himself who gave E his belt. Thiago, pictured above with De La Riva, is E's BJJ instructor in Orlando. He is also a well known, talented black belt instructor (and competitor) who is supportive and encouraging, as well as a good friend to E.


A Brazilian rapper even dedicated a song to De La Riva. Check it out...

Now E will return to his homeland with a brown belt in BJJ along with extensive experience in MMA, training and fighting with UFC fighters and with a number of fights under his own belt; this should open more doors to him as far as his fighting and teaching career. Additionally, receiving a brown belt will make E a more well rounded and better MMA fighter. He hopes to later earn his black belt, most likely in Brazil. I hope that E continues to have success in mixed martial arts and that I will read his name, see pictures and videos of him, watch him fight, and make a career out of this, as long as that's what he wants, for many years to come. 


Remember that you can read more about E's accomplishments in MMA at Manaus Fight's blog - in both English and Portuguese. Furthermore, you can stop by and "Like" E's Facebook page and/or click on the following link to learn more about him as a fighter...


MANAUS FIGHT: MAIS UM MANAUARA BRILHANDO FORA DO PAÍS COM O MMA "ELITON GOMES SARMENTO"


Thank you to everyone who has supported, and continues to support, E in his quest for success. We both appreciate it. And as always, thanks to all of the sponsors who have given money, clothes, and other forms of support to E - NewBreed, Dead Game, 2(x)ist, and RevGear. And now, here are a few pictures from today's De La Riva seminar at The Jungle MMA in Orlando, Florida...

Ricardo De La Riva

"Batata" with UFC fighters Seth Petruzelli & Tom Lawlor

E's last roll as a purple belt

Congratulations, E

De La Riva BJJ & The Jungle MMA

Musical May Madness: Bossa Nova

I've mentioned it before - I love Brazilian music (and yes, I'm aware that there is a variety of genres). I like samba, pagode, axe, funk, and even some forro. In fact, it was the music that sparked my interest in wanting to learn the Portuguese language and that's probably what eventually lead me to Brazil. I especially like Bossa Nova; it's so romantic and makes you want to dance slowly with a partner or listen to a musician play music live while relaxing at a bar or restaurant in Brazil.


Therefore, for my final Musical May Madness, I present you with a few videos of Bossa Nova music. They may be old, but they're classics. I hope you can appreciate the music as much as I do. 


Turn up your speakers, sit back, relax, and just listen and enjoy....

Je t'aime Skype

The day that I downloaded Skype onto my laptop was the day I really opened up communication between me and my family who live miles and miles away. Don't get me wrong, we spoke prior to having Skype, but we couldn't have these pseudo face-to-face conversations. And I missed those. It's difficult to live so far away from family - to not be able to hug and kiss, sit around and talk, and of course open Christmas presents together. This is what I miss most. Skype attempts to bridge that gap.


It's difficult to live thousands of miles away and still try to watch your nieces grow. Whenever I hear one talk or cry in the background when I talk to my sister on the phone I feel my heart tear a little. Skype can help, even if it's not a complete solution to the problem, it does help. And I can't tell you enough how I love to hear my sister tell me that she hears, "Aunt Mere, Unk E, 'puter" as my oldest niece taps on her dad's laptop.


But what I don't want to do is to focus on the negative, on the fact that I'm far away and so using the computer to stay in touch is the best way; instead, I want to sing Skype's praises and express my gratitude towards my family for embracing technology and buying webcams and/or downloading Skype so quickly so that we can converse more often and easily. And web cameras are not just for bringing families together, they're a great way to keep in touch with friends as well as making free international calls. I know I talked to the travel agent who bought our plane tickets via Skype and neither of us had to pay a dime.

As a result, I have compiled a number of reasons why I'm thankful for Skype and some of my favorite experiences so far using this program to stay in touch with people that I love.


1. I can watch my infant niece experiment with her vocal cords, learn to crawl, and smile as she sees and recognizes my face.


2. I cannot get enough of my eldest niece screaming, "look Aunt Mere!" or "Where's Unk E?" or showing me the dinosaurs and Mickey and Minnie dolls we bought here when she came to visit us. And of course hearing her get excited about Shamu is exciting. And of course, hahahahaha, one day she even yelled out, when seeing E just in shorts, "Unk E is naked!". She's toooooo cute! (and funny)


3. We were able to have our Brazilian Christmas on the 24th of December and then wake up on Christmas Day on the 25th and open presents with my parents and my youngest sister via Skype. They were in New York and we were here in Florida. Priceless. I felt like we were all in the same room (almost).


4. I think it's funny when my sister jokingly put my eldest niece in front of the computer once and said "watch her" and acted as if she were serious and was going to leave the room. I wish I could babysit.


5. My best friend from Manaus has recently moved to Azores, yet we can still talk and joke as if we were sitting in her apartment like we have so many times in the past. Her husband and son can join in on the fun and they can taunt my husband by talking about all of the delicious food from Manaus that he misses so much. We just laugh and remind each other of all of our dear memories.


6. I can talk to my mom and stepdad, and youngest sister. Or I can watch them get up, walk away to play the piano and/or sing, and hear them cook and yell from the other room. It almost makes me feel like I'm right there with them.


7. There have been wonderful conversations with one of my best friends who lives in New York, and who I miss greatly. While talking to her I've been able to speak with her sweet mom, her sister, and niece and nephew. It's been fabulous "seeing" them all!


8. And finally, Skype is an excellent way to ensure that my nieces remember who I am and how much I love them.


I'm forever grateful that my family understood the importance of Skype to me as I live away from them and especially as we know we will soon be even farther away. And I don't even feel silly hugging the computer and acting like I'm going to bite my niece's finger off because I know she loves it by the way she laughs out loud for half an hour each time.

Musical May Madness: Damian Marley

With brother Stephen Marley...

With Nas (and Amandou et Mariam)...

Is Brazil a Racial Paradise?

The concept of race in Brazil is quite different from that in the United States. Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explains this all very thoroughly and effectively in his latest PBS program as he explores the "rainbow nation" that is Brazil. Here is a clip of the show that aired last night. A link to the entire show can be found at the bottom of this post.

Watch the full episode. See more Black in Latin America.

Source: PBS - Black in Latin America

Amazon Dolphins in Danger

Matar botos é matar a Amazônia [Killing the pink river dolphin is killing the Amazon]

The pink river dolphin is a storied symbol of the Amazon, but local fishermen are slaughtering the animal for catfish bait.

Watch this video [in English]

For more information, you can read the New York Times article on-line

Musical March Madness - Adele

For my last session of Musical March Madness I wanted to post music from my favorite singer/performer, the one and only, ADELE. She is from England and is only 22 years old. Her albums are extraordinary and her performances are stunning.

My favorite song from her latest album "21" is called Someone like you. Adele may sing better live than she does in video and for this reason I'm posting one her live performances.

Disclaimer: You may experience goosebumps regardless of how many times you listen to the song.




Each song is unique and outstanding in its own way. That of course makes it difficult to choose my favorite songs, so I'll just showcase the songs that I listen to the most. The first is probably the most well known song by Adele; it's called Rolling in the deep. The album was written about one man, with whom Adele had a relationship that went bad. This song is about that man, but it gives completely different feelings about the relationship than does Someone like you. The final video is called Set fire to the rain and is another of my absolute favorites. The best version of this song is from the album; I couldn't find a video of high quality.

Musical March Madness - Seu Jorge

I could never imagine discussing or demonstrating my interest in Brazilian music without "presenting" the one and only Seu Jorge.

Even though I can't recall my first taste of Seu Jorge's music, I do believe it was before I had ever visited Brazil. I want to say that I heard him somewhere in Latin America and that's where I got hooked. My affection for him as a musician is now matched with my love of his music and his lyrics.

Seu Jorge does not just sing to sing, or to entertain his listeners; he sings of social problems, poverty, and love - true love.

One of my favorite songs of his is called "São Gonça". It's not just the song that I enjoy listening to, but his lyrics as well. As a result, I've decided to include them here:

Pretinha
Faço tudo pelo nosso amor
Faço tudo pelo bem de nosso bem (meu bem)
A saudade é minha dor
Que anda arrasando com meu coração
Não Duvide que um dia
Eu te darei o céu
Meu amor junto com um anel
Pra gente se casar
No cartório ou na igreja
Se você quiser
Se não quiser, tudo bem (meu bem)
Mas tente compreender
Morando em São Gonçalo você sabe como é
Hoje a tarde a ponte engarrafou
E eu fiquei a pé
Tentei ligar pra você
O orelhão da minha rua
Estava escangalhado
Meu cartão tava zerado
Mas você crê se quiser...

For reasons that I don't think I can adequately explain, this song reminds me a lot of E from back when we were in Brazil. As he grew up very poor in Manaus he used to call me quite often from an orelhão (a public telephone) and that was also the time that we decided to get married. We wanted so badly to be together and went through so much to make it work. And it did! Our story is a very beautiful one that I will one day write about (as if I could describe it in words).

Anyway, I'm digressing. Here is a live version of Seu Jorge's song...also known as "Pretinha":



Along with the song posted above, one of my favorites is called "Tive Razão". This is the first song that I ever remember hearing from Seu Jorge, and maybe for that reason it is still one of my favorites, despite the number of other songs that I've grown to love.

I wasn't able to find a way to post the music video of this song so I am going to post the live version and include the link to the video I originally wanted to post:



And finally, since I like to post three videos for everyone's viewing pleasure, and since I like duets, I had to choose the song "Eu não sei parar de te olhar" which is a song performed with Ana Carolina. Her deep voice creates the perfect marriage with Seu Jorge's vocals. (Oh, and I really like the English version by Damien Rice).

...eu não sei parar de te olhar
eu não sei parar de te olhar
não vou parar de te olhar
eu não min canso de te olhar
não sei parar de te olhar...

Obama meets Brazil

Listening to Obama speak in Brazil made me even more anxious and excited about moving to Brazil (as if that were possible).

I know that the video of his recent speech in Rio de Janeiro has been posted on another expat blog, but I wanted to post it here, too. I liked what he had to say and hope that our countries' relationship will strengthen. And who knew Obama could speak Portuguese? Even E was impressed.

Obama's speech in Rio de Janeiro on March 20, 2011 at the Municipal Theater can be found here - Part I & Part II:

Obama in Brazil

I can only wonder how better Brazil-USA relations will affect me as an American expat living in Brazil. I guess we'll soon find out.

Too bad I missed seeing Obama in Brasilia by just a few months.

Musical March Madness - Sorriso Maroto

My husband is a fan of pagode music and although he didn't introduce me to this genre, he has exposed me to a number of great pagode bands. I have some unforgettable memories of us listening to pagode and samba music together in Brazil, and thinking about it always brings a smile to my face and melts my heart. Needless to say, it's not just the music that I like, but the emotions that it brings.

One of those bands that I heard about from E is called Sorriso Maroto. I hope you appreciate it as much as I do. This first song is called "Tenho Medo" [I'm Afraid].





Another song that can be found on my iPhone, "Diz Que Quer Ficar" [Say That You Want to Stay].






And finally, who doesn't like a little Ivete Sangalo (with Sorriso Maroto, of course). This is "E Agora Nós" [And Now Us].

Musical March Madness - Natiruts

Today's musical "shout out" during Musical March Madness is a taste of Brazilian reggae music. And it's from Brasilia. It is, therefore, my pleasure to present....Natiruts.

My husband recently started to listen (again) to this group, and as I am a fan of reggae music, and the Portuguese language, I immediately liked the band. I think I probably had heard them before, but if so I didn't connect the name with the music. I know of Tribo de Jah because E and I saw them in concert in Manaus in 2006, but I wasn't too familiar with Natiruts.

We actually listened to a number of songs performed by Natiruts on our last road trip to Miami; this was the trip we took a few weeks ago where I went to apply for my permanent resident visa. As I was nervous, the relaxing rhythm of Natiruts was the perfect soundtrack for our drive down south.

Here are two songs that we've repeatedly been listening to over the past month. The first one, "Presente de um Beija-Flor" (A hummingbird's present), is my preference. I especially like it when he sings...

Beija-flor que trouxe meu amor
Voou e foi embora
Olha só como é lindo meu amor
Estou feliz agora

AND I really like that Natiruts is from Brasilia and that they sing about Brazil's capital in their music (in this song in particular).





The second song I'm posting is another great song that's catchy. It's called "Quero ser feliz tambem".

Musical March Madness - Pires

I know that I've mentioned previously how much I love music, but I've decided to say, or rather show, it again by writing another blog entry and then again and another that include music. Throughout the month I will periodically post videos of Portuguese language songs (predominantly from Brazil) that I like.

In fact, one of the reasons that I became interested in Brazil in the first place was because of the music. I had studied the Spanish language and culture in South America before I took my first trip to Brazil, and Portuguese language music was everywhere, especially in the first couple years of this century.

I'd like to start off "musical March madness" with a few songs by one of my favorite Brazilian singers - Alexandre Pires. I first was exposed to his music by listening to the group So Pra Contrariar and I have been hooked ever sing. He sings in both Portuguese and Spanish, and is actually quite famous for the latter.

This video is one that is done with Gloria Estefan. It's called "Santo Santo" and I initially heard this song sung in Spanish by the duo; it's equally beautiful in Spanish:




Alexandre Pires LIVE and singing a few songs in one clip:



And finally, I'm a HUGE fan of not only Pires, but of Caetano Veloso. This is "Final Feliz" by two outstanding Brazilian artists:

Say what?!.....(in Portuguese)

Here is a video in Portuguese about the humourous side of misunderstanding language. I was surprised to see the child misconstrue what the reporter asked him since he is a native speaker; I thought these kind of things only happened to foreigners.Then again, he is just a kid.

This little Brazilian boy is too cute. I won't say anything except that you have to see it (but only if you know Portuguese well or you won't understand the joke). I'm not going to bother translating because it'll lose its humor in English.

The way he responds is darrrrrling!

Public Schools in the United States

An all too typical parent/teacher conference at a public school in the U.S. No need to remind me why I'm going to teach abroad at a private (international) school.





I like this teacher. She's too clever for this fool-of-a-parent.

Multilingual music videos

I love music. Love. Love it. I especially love music in foreign languages; so, this post is being added to "showcase" some of the music from Latin America that I love. Oh yeah, and I am a big fan of music videos, hence my obsession with MTV and VH1.

The first video is from Ivete Sangalo (Brazilian) and a singer I've been a fan of for many years, Juan Luis Guerra (Dominican Republic). I love how it's in both Portuguese and Spanish.
Here it is...."Não Tenho Lágrimas"




A song that reminds me of my husband and takes me back to the beginning of our relationship when we were together in Brazil.
Sorriso Maroto, "Pra Sempre"



And finally, another one of my favorites which was played at our wedding.
Brian McKnight (singing his hit "Back at One" in English) with Ivete Sangalo in Portuguese.
Beautiful.

Memoirs of a Professional MMA Fighter's Wife

I am one proud fighter's wife. I love that my husband has found something that he LOVES in life (besides me of course), and that he is good at it. Actually, more than good. He's able to train, fight, and get paid. Sponsors give him clothes, people recognize his talent.

I may have to put up with the STENCH of dirty/sweaty/wet training clothes, jock straps, mouth guards, boxing gloves, etc. But it's all worth it, especially when I watch the World Extreme Fighting (WEF) 2011 Promo video - for the March fights -and see him TEN times training and fighting in the ring. Check him out. The best is 1:24 when he is smiling with his mouth open after a win by submission and saying "yeahhh". Rear naked choke to be specific.

People, especially women, ask me all the time if I get nervous when he fights in the ring. I can say that in the beginning I did. During his first fight I thought my heart was going to beat itself out of my chest, but it didn't. I believe he won't get hurt and that he is in good hands with the ref, judges, and the doctors. He does not street fight. The Florida State Boxing Commission has strict rules and guidelines and fighters must pass multiple tests and exams (including blood tests - HIV, Hepatitis, etc - to guarantee that they are safe in the ring. Fighters must be examined by doctors on a regular basis as well as at the weigh-ins the evening before their fight. So, do I worry? No, not anymore.

Another advantage to being a professional fighter is that you can teach MMA (mixed martial arts) along with fighting. So my husband will be able to teach when we move to Brazil, as well as fight.

I am proud of my husband and all that he has accomplished in what has really been a short time. I hope that his hard work will continue to pay off and that he will be able to fight professionally as long as he wants to. I want him to continue earning stripes on his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu belt and I know that he will be awarded his brown belt this year. I know that he will continue to participate in BJJ tournaments and will continue to win. I also pity the fools that enter the ring to fight him.

Take down

Ground and Pound



Muay Thai

Bilingual Interview



Show me Brasília

As I attempt to avoid my school work, I ran across an interesting, educational video on Brasília and its culture that I wanted to post; but because the image was not very clear, and it was in Portuguese, I decided to search for others. Instead, here are a couple of videos that I found about Brasília that show some of the beauty and uniqueness of this man made city. 

Brasília is barely 50 years old and was created to transfer the capital city awat from the southeast of the country. It was planned and built with the intention of being an asthetically pleasing city. I'd say that the architect Oscar Niemeyer succeeded. Enjoy!







Of course after watching these videos I'm even more ecstatic and anxious about my move; just thinking that this city will be my home soon enough gives me the goosebumps. I can't help that all that I want to do is travel (and live abroad). So, with my move only about 6 months away, I think about it all the time. I'm especially excited because I know very little about Brasília and the unknown is always exciting for me.

In fact, when I ponder back on the trips that I've made abroad, whether for school, pleasure, or work, I realize that when I ended up in cities/countries that I knew little or nothing about, I always had the best time. I don't expect this upcoming trip adventure to be any different.

For more information, visit Brasília: The Brazil's Capital