“Brasil is a complex country, not a country for beginners.” – Tom Jobim

Oi! Today our group spent half of the day immersed in academic presentations and the latter half shaking our bottoms with an eccentric Afro-Brazilian dance instructor.

This morning, our group received a wonderful presentation from lecturer Susan Martin Periera on Brazil’s epidemiological profile and health determinants. According to her, some of Brazil’s most pressing health concerns stem from an aging population and rapid urbanization.  Lecturer Pereira also discussed Brazil’s success with reducing child mortality, poverty, and increasing vaccination rates in the last few decades.  Overall, it was a very informative lecture that the group thoroughly enjoyed.

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After our daily Portuguese class, the group was treated to an Afro-Brazilian dance class. It was fun! Our instructor first provided a historical backdrop for our lesson by describing the dance’s origins from the Trans Atlantic slave trade.  He then proceeded to teach each one of us how to move our bodies with rhythm and finesse, explaining that understanding our bodies gives us a firm foundation to understand the world around us.

We also shook our butts–slowly at first, then rapidly. We shook out butts from one side of the floor to the other. We shook our butts together and then shook our butts as we moved away from each other. Needless to say, we felt much more in tune with our bodies (or maybe just our butts) after our intense dance session. Here’s hoping for more days like this one!

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Boa noite,

Sharon S. Caslin

3 thoughts on ““Brasil is a complex country, not a country for beginners.” – Tom Jobim”

  1. Sharon – This quote also resonated with me especially as I think about how our we can approach this experience.

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