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By the end of the twentieth century, Brazil had ranked as one of the the ten largest economies in the world, but also being that with the fifth largest population, it is facing many obstacles in economic growth. With the 2016 Rio Olympics now upon us, we’ve collated 10 interesting facts about Brazil’s economy from colonial times to the modern day.
Zika continues its romp around the world. In its wake, controversy erupted over the Olympic Games in Brazil, with some calling to move or postpone the Games – but is that really justified? Zika has already moved outside of Brazil in a big way. To be clear, the Zika epidemic is dramatic and awful. Mosquito-borne transmission of this previously obscure and seemingly wimpy virus is ongoing in 60 countries
It’s summer vacation time for BT and his mom. They are going to visit BT’s grandmother, Abuela in Spanish, at her farm in Peru and this time Jack, BT’s guinea pig, gets to go with them.
December 14th is Monkey Day. The origin behind Monkey Day varies depending on who you ask, but regardless, it is internationally celebrated today, especially to raise awareness for primates and everything primate-related. So in honor of Monkey Day, here are some facts you may or may not know about these creatures.
Headline image credit: Berber monkeys. Public domain via Pixabay.
A Soccer (or Football) Sleepover in Brazil is part of the Global Sleepover series of interactive storybooks that aim to introduce young readers to different countries and cultures.
On March 16, 1521, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, attempting to sail around the world for Spain, reached the Philippine archipelago. Magellan and his expedition were the first Europeans to reach the Philippines, a stop on the first circumnavigation of the globe, though Magellan’s portion of that journey would soon end.
The expedition of five ships and 250 men had left Spain on September 20, 1519. Magellan sought a western route — avoiding the southern tip of Africa, which Portugal controlled — to the Spice Islands (the Moluccas) of Southeast Asia. Magellan survived two mutinies before sailing around the southern tip of South America, finding the strait named for him, in November of 1520. Reaching calm waters after a dangerous passage, Magellan named the ocean west of South America “the Pacific Ocean.”
As the ships continued sailing west, supplies dwindled, the crew was forced to eat leather and drink a mixture of salt and freshwater, and men began dying of scurvy. Fortified by provisions secured at island stops along the way, the ships reached the Philippines in March 1521.
Magellan spent more than a month in the area, trading with local leaders and trying to convert them to Christianity. He grew angry at one chief who refused to cooperate, however, and ordered an attack on his village. Wounded in the fighting, Magellan bravely held his ground while the rest of his men escaped back to the ship, but then received more wounds and died on the beach.
It took until September of 1522 for the remains of the expedition, 17 survivors under the command of Juan Sebastián de Elcano, to reach Spain. Though he did not complete this voyage, Magellan is considered the first person to circumnavigate the globe because earlier in his career he had sailed an eastern route from Portugal to Southeast Asia, the same region he had reached on his last, fatal voyage by sailing west.
“This Day in World History” is brought to you by USA Higher Education.
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Winter, Jeanette. 2010. Biblioburro: A true story from Columbia. New York: Beach Lane.
Biblioburro is a true story, simply told, about Luis and his two burros, Alfa and Beto. Together they carry books to children in remote Columbian villages, undeterred by burning sun, long distances, or even a bandit seeking silver! (Luis gives him a book.)
Every week, Luis and Alfa and Beto set off across the countryside to faraway villages in the lonely hills. This week they travel to El Tormento. ... The Biblioburro continues on its way over the hills, until at last, Luis sees houses below. The children of El Tormento run to meet him.
The illustrations are reminiscent of the colorful traditional clothing or the small, hand-sewn trinkets that are sold as souvenirs in many South American Countries. The book states that the "illustrations are rendered in acrylic paint with pen and ink," however, it appears that Winter has used fabric or felt and markers as well, to evoke a vibrant, rural feel.
Biblioburro is a joyful celebration of books and one man's determination to make a difference in the lives of children, and thus "a small corner of the world is enriched." Highly recommended for ages 4 and up.
Please take the time to watch this video of Luis Soriano. It's truly inspirational.
In his new book, The Andes: A Cultural History, Latin American Literature professor Jason Wilson looks at the dramatic influence The Andes have had on South American history and on literature from all over the world. Since we’re nearing the end of travel season, I’ve excerpted a passage below about the uniqueness of rail travel in the Andes—including altitudes that tend to make most people sick.
Crossing the Andes has always meant building bridges, roads and, more recently, railways. In 1934 a recently-married Victor Wolfgang von Hagen, a naturalist and prolific publicist of Latin America, reached Ecuador by boat to visit Chimborazo and the Galapagos Islands. Before the railways had been built from the tropical disease-ridden coast at Durán, across the river from Guayaquil, to Quito 290 miles away, the journey on horseback had taken eight days. Then the American Harman brothers (Archer and John) built their track, switchbacking up the Nariz del Diablo after the Chan Chan river gorge. Work had begun in 1897 and was completed in 1908 in what was a great feat of railway engineering (until suspended in 1983 and again in 1998). It climbed 10,626 feet in fifty miles and reached a pass at 11,841 feet, which von Hagen likened to the tundra in its bleakness, before descending to the Quito plateau. Theroux had wanted to ride this train, but it was overbooked.
Another railway engineering feat is the pass at Ticlio, on the line from Lima to Tarma in Peru, the highest railway pass in the world built above the Rimac gorge by the “indefatigable” and “unscrupulous” New York-born Henry Meiggs (actually at 15,865 feet). According to Wright, over 7,000 Andean and Chinese labourers died building a railway that has 66 tunnels, 59 bridges and 22 switchbacks. You can ask for oxygen masks on the train that now runs from Arequipa to Puno on Lake Titicaca, where the station of Crucero Alto is 14,688 feet high. The 1925 South American Handbook warned that soroche or mountain sickness was “usually the penalty of constipation”. Paul Theroux felt dizzy and sweated up this line, and the “astonishing” beauty of the landscape from the train window was ruined. Then a molar ached. He later learned that blocked air in a filling creates pressure on the nerve: “it is agony,” he wrote. The passengers started vomiting, until balloons filled with oxygen were handed around before they passed through the highest railway tunnel in the world. As a train enthusiast, Theroux marveled at the engineering, supervised by Meiggs between 1870 and 1877 the year he died, but surveyed by a Peruvian called Ernesto Malinowski. There is a Mount Meiggs near Ticlio.
Another gringo, Dr. Renwick, took a train from Arequipa to Cuzco, spotting the extinct volcano of Vilcanto at 17,000 feet, “one of the best known in all Peru”, and nearby Ausangate, towering over all others at 20,000 feet and visible a hundred miles away. He acutely remarked that Peruvians were so accustomed to these mountain giants seen from the train that they hardly noticed a peak like Huascarán, which “anywhere else would fill the mind with astonishment.” He is still right.
0 Comments on Rail Travel in The Andes: An Excerpt as of 8/14/2009 11:47:00 AM
On the train ride home from Montreal I read one of the omnibus editions of Jack Kirby's Fourth world comics he did in the 70's. I was really struck by this villain, mystivac. He's a south American idol/robot operated by a small alien with a super persuasive voice that sits in Mystivac's head. Kirby's Fourth World stuff for DC comics are some of my favorites comic books of all time, they were strange but a lot of fun and really written for all ages which is something that's really missing from superhero comics today. I painted this using my travel watercolours over brushpen. I'm thinking of switching from watercolour tubes to half pans, I seem to waste so much paint using tubes.
Oooh I love it when you do superhero stuff. And I totally agree...Fourth World is without a doubt one of the greatest mainstream superhero comic titles ever. It's exploding with so many incredible ideas and visuals, and nothing compares to it's epic scale and characterization. Fourth World is an example of pure artistry...it pushes the bounds of its medium and crackles with so much life and energy. Kirby deserves every word of praise he's received.
I agree on all accounts, Bruce! I can't get over the ideas that are just popping out of this book. You couldn't do a book like this today, it's too strange and takes too many risks. And the art in the first series is breathtaking.
Thanks for the kind words! I'm pretty happy with this sketch.
I've never been a fan of South American art like this. It always seemed too alien, too far from my comprehension to appreciate. Too far from my comfort zone. Celtic art is easy, as is the art of the Vikings because I recognize my past there, it's the art of my ancestors. The Museum of Natural History in New York provided the doorway I needed to appreciate this art. In the Museum hangs a quote from anthropologist and spiritual writer Margaret Meade which says "Be grounded in your own culture," She goes on to say that you need to have an understanding of your own society and it's beliefs and rituals before you can appreciate another culture. When I read that this artwork suddenly made sense to me. It still seems alien to me but now it has a context. I have a vantage point from which to appreciate this stuff.
6 Comments on Stone And Shadow, last added: 2/17/2009
i kinda got lost in this section of the museum when i was there last month (Its just too huge). it was a good kind of lost though. did you check out the African section? they have some amazing masks and dress over there
It's such wonderful stuff... I would like to know what it means to someone who has a direct connection... it all means something to me, looking at it, but can't be the same...
Thanks Viviane, that's kind of what I'm trying to say. This stuff resonates for me but obviously not at all in the same way as someone of that ancestry.
This is our dear friend Susana. A summer goal is to translate her poems. As I wrote about in my last posting, there are challenges living in a different country but to leave wonderful people like her will be very difficult if we decide to go home. Susana is one of our hijas, along with another young woman named Pamela, whose family we hope to be staying with in another week or two down in the south in La Union. Susana bring trickster energy to us, amazes us in how she's learned English by watching TV, and also the way she can remember new words when we've only mentioned them once or twice. She loves history, wants to teach, and is a writer by nature. So . . . soon, I'll get to the poems and share them here.
Eric que hermoso trabajo! un saludo grande!
Thanks so much Leonardo! I'm so glad to meet you, your work is gorgeous!
I love that!
Oh yea, Kirby was the man!
Thanks Erin!
Thanks Dustin!
Great picture Mr. Orchard! Keep up the great work!
P.S: The dude almost looks like he's missing an arm.
I said the above comment.
I thought I recognized your "voice" Phillip! Thanks so much.
Oooh I love it when you do superhero stuff. And I totally agree...Fourth World is without a doubt one of the greatest mainstream superhero comic titles ever. It's exploding with so many incredible ideas and visuals, and nothing compares to it's epic scale and characterization. Fourth World is an example of pure artistry...it pushes the bounds of its medium and crackles with so much life and energy. Kirby deserves every word of praise he's received.
I agree on all accounts, Bruce! I can't get over the ideas that are just popping out of this book. You couldn't do a book like this today, it's too strange and takes too many risks. And the art in the first series is breathtaking.
Thanks for the kind words! I'm pretty happy with this sketch.
beautiful piece, Eric. Kirby was incredible and way ahead of his time.
Thanks Brian!
Spot on Eric! t'riffic.
Man, this is a beautiful piece!
Thanks Dribbs!
Thanks Patrick!