Brazil is a country in South America that is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east. It is the fifth-largest country by geographical area, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world.

Capital: Brasilia
Largest City: Sao Paulo
Geography: 3,287,597 sq mi

Entry Requirements:
All U.S. Citizens and Canadian nationals, including infants, must have both a passport that is valid for six months past the date of first entry into Brazil, and a tourist visa, which is obtained from the Brazilian embassy or nearest consulate. The visa is valid for five years.

Getting There:
Flying Time to Rio/Salvador from:
Los Angeles: 17 hrs 5 min
Atlanta: 13 hrs 45 min
New York: 13 hrs 50 min
Chicago: 15 hrs 35 min
Miami: 7 hrs
Vancouver: 20 hrs 10 min
Toronto: 13 hrs 55 min

Population:
Brazil: 183.888.841
Sao Paulo: 11,000,000
Rio de Janeiro: 6,100,000
Salvador: 2,700,000

Religion:
Roman Catholic, Protestant, Candomble (Animist)

Language:
The language of Brazil is Portuguese. English is spoken by some of the staff at hotels, and tourist businesses.

Currency:
The currency of Brazil is the real (R$). The real comes in coin denominations of R$1 and 50, 10, 5, and 1 centavos; bank notes of R$1, R$5, R$10, R$50, R$100.

Major Credit Cards are widely accepted. ATMs (MasterCard Cirrus and VISA Plus) are available.

Time Zone:
Brazil covers four time zones. The time in most of Brazil visited by foreign tourists is three hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT-3). This is true of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Brasiiía, Bahia, Minas Gerais etc.


Popular Shopping Items:
Indian Ceramic arts, Woven bags/baskets, Painted figures, and Lace.
Gemstones: Esperssartita, Tourmaline, Ametist, Greengold, Quartz, Topaz and Diamonds.
Leather:shoes, belts, wallets, purses, luggage and hats.
Other: hammocks, picture books, anything to do with the Brazilian football (soccer) team, Guarana products, and thongs.

Electricity:
In Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, the current is 127 volts (60 cycles) but many of the larger hotels also offer 220 volts. Transformers to boost the current from 110 volts to 220 volts are available in most hotels.

International Travel Warehouse

Culture

Salvador is the capital of the state of Bahia, and was the capital of Brazil until 1763, when Rio de Janiero became the capital (later changed to Brasilia).

Salvador Da Bahia was the ultimate destination for 3.5 million slaves to Brazil until slavery was abolished in 1850. Today, Salvador is the hub of Afro-Brazillian Culture, and the Cultural Capital of Brazil

Festivals	Clothes & Communications
Dance	Religion
Music	Food & Beverages

Festivals

Carnival: A non-religious holiday associated with the Christian religious week of lent where everyone parties and celebrates before ash Wednesday when all Catholics must abstain for such behavior for and extended period of time. In Brazil it starts on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday and ends midnight Tuesday night. In many parts of the world this is called Mardi Gras.

The Carnival in Salvador attracts those seeking a more authentic experience, where foreign visitors are welcome to become active participants compared to being a spectator in Rio's Carnival.

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Dance

Samba: A dance and type of music from Brazil originating from African slaves.
The dance is very difficult as performed by Brazilians in comparison to formal "ballroom" dancing which is highly stylized. Men and women dance samba differently and together yet without touching. The dance for the women can be characterized as quick symmetrical feet movement with each foot twisting on the heel. This foot movement is accompanied by hip and shoulder gyrations creating a dance that agitates the entire body. Men also perform the same foot motion but not accompanied by violent hip and should gyrations. Men dance around the women incorporating hops, jumps, and spins often accompanied by slapping of the hand on the heels.

Samba music is in 2/4 time (in two) with a high bass drum beat on the first beat, and the lower foundation beat on the second beat. The lower second beat must be the same or of lesser intensity than the first higher beat.

Frevo is dance-driven march played in a very fast, binary tempo. A derivation of martial polka, it used to be called "northeastern martial music" or "martial music from Pernambuco" in the early days, when capoeira (a type of dance-fight, early break dance, currently played as a game and accompanied by African drums and berimabau - a single string attached to a bamboo stick) dancers led their groups on parades. The bouncing dance steps, which bore a strong resemblance to Russian folk dances, imprinted the specific frevo steps. The colorful parasols carried by frevo dancers represent defense weapons. As lyrics and tune formats were added to frevo, the style took over the country. O Teu Cabelo Não Nega, from 1932, is regarded as the song that established the Carnival marchinhas (literally, "short, quick martial music") made in Rio, although the song was actually a Lamartine Babo adaptation of the frevo Mulata, by Irmãos Valença (from Pernambuco).

Capoeira
African descendants developed this amazing material art and dance in Brazil Capoeira is a self-defense technique that combines music, dance, and acrobatics. Historically, Africans from rival tribes were placed together on one plantation, and they were punished for fighting one another by owners. As a result, the slaves improvised by incorporating music and songs into the battles, and struck and kicked only air in the presence of the master.

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Music

Afroxê: Originates in Bahia, and is a name for two things: a social and religious group that parades during carnival, and a rhythm used in these street parades and in ceremonies for the orixas (a shaker instrument -- beads on a small gourd that is shaken by its thin neck). There are three atabaque (or conga) parts, two bell parts, surdo, and shaker. There are other instruments added as well, such as berimbau. It's a laid-back kind of a rhythm, not as frantic or intense as some of the other Brazilian ones.

Axê: A musical style of percussion from the northern part of Brazil that is not considered to be samba but is related. It has its roots from Africa.

Axê: This is not exactly about a style or musical movement, but rather about a useful brand name given to artists from Salvador (Bahia, NE) who made music upon northeastern Brazilian, Caribbean and African rhythms with a pop-rock twist, which helped them take over the Brazilian hit parades since 1992. Axé is a ritual greeting used in Candomblé and Umbanda (African-Brazilian religions), and means "good vibration". The word music was attached to Axé - used as slang within the local music biz - by a journalist who intended to create a derogatory term for the pretentious dance-driven style.

Olodum
This Afro bloco carnival group is one of the most famous musical groups of Bahia. Olodum (pronounced oh-lo-doon) was founded in 1979 as an Afro bloco highlighting African heritage and black pride through music, dance theater, and art. Olodum stands for "Olodumaré" the God of all gods in the Yoruba religion of candomblé.

The group encompasses heavy drumming in their music and use their own style of music called Samba Reggae. The group still plays every week in the heart of Salvador's historic district, Pelourinho Square. When the group takes to the streets for carnival every spring, literally millions join the Olodum street parade - imagine a sea of revelers singing and dancing along to Olodum's every move for as far as the eyes can see.

Throughout the year they hold seminars, speeches, and conferences on social and political issues affecting the black community in their community of Salvador and publish a monthly news journal, Bantu Nagô. They operate a factory where they make drums, costumes and other items which they sell to the public. Olodum also runs an inner-city school for Salvador's underprivileged children in which they teach academic and arts courses in order to build self-esteem and encourage economic ascension among Salvador's younger generation.

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Attire & Communications

"Time" is not of the essence in Brazil (unless your trip is for business purposes).

Gratuities
Tipping is not necessary, as most restaurants will include a 10% gratuity on the bill. Don’t tip taxi drivers, except in Rio, where 10% is the norm. Airport and hotel porters should get the equivalent of US $0.75 per bag (1 1/2 Reals).

Gestures
The "thumbs-up" is a widely-used hand gesture in Brazil that indicates okay/affirmative.

No no - the "OK" sign, (commonly used in the United States )made with the thumb and forefinger is a rude gesture in Brazil.

Attire
Acarajé (see below) is served in public places by 'baina do acaraje', local women in traditional attire of white dresses, headbands, and colored beads.

Every day attire is casual, but fashionable.

Senhor do Bonfim Da Bahia: These ribbons are synonymous with the Bonfim church in Salvador. Following tradition, a friend should present you with this ribbon and tie it onto your wrist. When it falls off naturally in a few weeks (or months) a wish will come true!

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Religion

The predominant influence is the Candomblé, the worshipping of the ancestral deities or orixá's (orishá) from Africa, an animist religion where each deity represents one of the elements of nature. These orixá's are worshipped in the thousands of terreiro's (places of worship) in Salvador and in the cycle of popular festival, which take place during the summer months. Yemanjá, the goddess of the sea; Oxum, the goddess of rivers and lakes, and Oxalá, the god of creation are some of the more important orixá's in the vast pantheon. This permeating African influence can be felt by all the five senses: The visual arts have always been important in Bahia and Salvador is famous for its naive style where painters use strong, bold colors and an apparent simplicity, which belies the often intricate, densely detailed works.

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Food & Beverages

An acarajé is basically deep-fried "bread" made from mashed black-eyed peas (feijão fradinho). They are cooked in dendé oil (a kind of strongly flavored palm oil) and are usually eaten with camarão (small sundried shrimp), pimenta (hot pepper sauce), vatapá (a paste made from sundried shrimp, peanuts, cashews, coconut milk, and dendé), caruru (kind of an okra stew), and salada (or salad, usually just diced tomatoes). These "fillers" can be included or left off at will, and the camarão will cost a little extra.

Guaraná, a soft drink made out of a fruit from the Amazon and every bit as popular as the traditional colas.

Caipirinha includes Cut a lemon in 8 slices, add sugar to your taste, mash lemon and sugar together, fill the glass with cachaca (vodka can be substituted), add 3 cubes of crushed ice. Mix it well.

Bobo de camarao consist of shrimp, lemon juice, salt, pepper, cilantro leaves, onions, red peppers, and tomatoes cooked in olive oil, coconut milk, and dende oil. It is served over white rice.

Acarajé

Caipirinha

Bobo de Camarao

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