Brazilian Wonders II

I just wanted to add two things to my post about the Brazilian Wonders... First of all, the Christ Redeemer, in Rio, is already one of the 7 New Wonders of the World... In that category are also included the Chichen Itza (Mexico), the Colosseum (Italy), the Taj Mahal (India), the Great Wall of China, Petra (Jordan) and Machu Picchu (Peru). They have been elected by more than 100 million votes “to represent global heritage throughout history”. Now the same organization is trying to “categorize” the 7 New Wonders of Nature. That's where Fernando de Noronha and the Iguaçu Falls are included as candidates...

Second of all, two other candidates are (in part) in Brazilian territory: the Amazon Rain Forest and Mount Roraima. The “Amazônia” - located within nine nations - covers seven million square kilometers (1.7 billion acres), representing over half of the planet's remaining rain forests. The Amazon River is the largest river in the world by volume, with a total flow greater than the top ten rivers worldwide combined. It accounts for approximately one-fifth of the total world river flow. Not a single bridge crosses the Amazon. In some parts, if you stand on one side, you can't see the other riverbank...

The other candidate for the 7 New Wonders of Nature is the Mount Roraima, at the border between Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana. With a peak at 2,810 meters, Mount Roraima is the highest of Venezuela's table-top mountains, known as tepuis. But more than ¾ of the mountain is in Guyanese territory. Today, this is a destination for backpackers.

If you want to vote, go to www.new7wonders.com

Confirmed?!

Yes! It looks like Gisele and Tom Brady really got married last week, at the St. Monica Catholic Church, in California, less than a mile from the beach. Brady's 1 ½ son, John Edward Thomas, was present at the wedding. This picture was released by US Weekly Magazine this Monday! The brazilian supermodel married the New England Patriots quarterback last Thursday. They don't confirm or deny the information!

The form-fitting strapless gown was made out of ivory lace and had a trumpet skirt, scalloped edges, a long train, and a floor-length veil. On her hair were handmade satin roses attached to a satin headband, made by Dolce & Gabbana. Even her three dogs had floral lace collars especially made by Dolce & Gabanna for the wedding!

They followed the wedding with a small gathering at their Brentwood home. The couple started dating in 2006.

Orchid Show

Today I'm gonna give you a little piece of Brazil in NY. The New York Botanical Garden opened, this Friday, The Orchid Show: Brazilian Modern, with beautiful displays of thousands of orchids throughout the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.

This is the 7th year of the Orchid Show, that this time gets a lush tropical setting of a contemporary Brazilian garden. Miami-based landscape architect Raymond Jungles was inspired by his mentor, Roberto Burle Marx , an icon of Brazilian design. Jungles opted for fountains, pools, and colorful mosaics combined with graceful palms, delicate orchids, bromeliads, and other native plants of Brazil.

Beyond beauty, the show offers the chance to learn about orchids, the most diverse species of flower on earth. You have until April 12th!. Don't miss it! For more details, visit the website of the Botanical Garden: http://www.nybg.org/tos09/

Brazilian wonders

Two places in Brazil were selected to the second phase of the Official New7Wonders of Nature campaign: Fernando de Noronha and The Iguaçu Falls! According to the website (www.new7wonders.com), 261 qualified national and multinational nominees are now competing to make it to the top 77.

Fernando de Noronha is formed by a group of 21 islands in the Atlantic Ocean, about 354km offshore the Brazilian coast. The archipelago is the visible part of a range of submerged mountains, and the base of this enormous volcanic formation is 756m below the surface. The airplane ticket and the hotel can be a little expensive, but totally worth it! I've been there in 2001 and it's GORGEOUS: paradise beaches, with perfectly clear blue water... If you are adventurous, you are in the right place. Get ready to walk, because that's the best way to visit the beaches!!! And you can go to a beginner's lesson of scuba diving... Besides that, you can watch the dolphins at the bay or the turtles to put their eggs in the sand. Everything protected by law and watched by biologists. (Check more pictures)

Another Brazilian natural beauty selected was The Iguaçu Falls, one of the largest water falls in the world. This national beauty is formed by a group of 275 falls, extended over 2,700 m (nearly 2 miles), in a semi-circular shape. The "Devil's Throat" is the tallest one, with 80m of height. The Falls are on the border between of Brazil and Argentine, in the Iguaçu River. Visit the official website: www.cataratasdoiguacu.com.br

Happy for her!

The Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen and the National Football League star Tom Brady got married this Thursday in Los Angeles, according to Us Weekly. The celebrity magazine reported that the ceremony took place at a Roman Catholic church and the guests were mostly immediate family members. The bride wore Dolce & Gabbana as did her three dogs (rich people are so wierd!).

Bundchen, 28, and Brady, 31, have been dating since 2006. She used to date Leonardo DiCaprio and is the world’s highest-paid supermodel. The Brazilian has estimated annual earnings of $35 million. This info is just for the ones who think she is after his money! Yes... I do like her... Why not? She is pretty and represents our country in a good way... She just needs to work a little bit on her English... But nobody is perfect!

Brady has an 18-month-old son with actress Bridget Moynahan, with whom he broke up about the time she got pregnant.

PS.: The picture is from a previous event...

Crime

Today I'm gonna comment about another sad reality in Brazil... An armed gang invaded an apartment building in São Paulo – the second largest city in Latin America. The crime ocurred during carnaval, when most people was away on vacation. The criminals hit one of the victims and stole the security video tapes.

Till today, four days later, nobody was identified or arrested (and I doubt someone ever will). According to the Police, the robers were inside the building for five hours and invaded three apartments. The group took money, digital cameras, notebooks, cell phones and jewerly. The objects were valued in about 15 thousand dollars.

Slumdog Millionaire

The Oscars will be on TV tonight and I have my fingers crossed for Slumdog Millionaire... The movie is really good and, if you haven't watched yet, do it!

I think I liked even more because I can relate to it... The childhood for a lot of kids in Brazil is not different from the one showed in the movie. A lot of them live in the slums, have nothing to eat and look for food at the landfill... Without any job opportunities, some of them end up dealing drugs or stealing...

The movie shows how some moments of the life of Jamal are a clue to the answers at the TV Show "Who wants to be a millionaire?".

Watch the trailer of the movie on YouTube:

It's Carnival!!!

Yes, yes... when you think about the Brazilian Carnival, you think about the almost naked women in those tiny bikinis... We can't blame you, since that's how Brazil is shown in every poster in every foreign travel agency! And the time is here... Carnival starts today and ends on Fat Tuesday, February 24th...

I think that after the Soccer World Cup (some will argue with me on this), this is the most exciting event of the country. Every year, Brazil stops for a week... Partying and drinking four, five days in a row... It only depends on how many days you are able to take off...

Along with the naked women, carnival generates about 200 thousand temporary jobs and 340 million dollars, only in Rio de Janeiro. The preparation takes almost one year.

Check more pictures of the carnival this year: http://carnaval.globo.com/

Brazil in Switzerland

Brazil is all over the news in Switzerland. The Brazilian lawyer Paula Oliveira told police three neo-Nazists attacked her at the Stettbach train station, in Zurich, on February 9. She had cuts all over her body and said to have had a miscarriage.

Ten days later, the police is saying she admitted making false accusations. According to the Public Prosecutor's office of Zurich, the Brazilian explained she wasn't a victim of a racist attack and that she cut herself to simulate the violence. Besides that, she admitted that she wasn't expecting twins.

Pictures showed her stomach and legs with over 100 cuts, and the initials of the Swiss People's Party (SVP) carved into her body. The party has taken a strong position against immigrants and wants to make it easier to expel foreign nationals. The party has never been linked to neo-nazis, though.

Zurich University forensic medicine chief, Walter Baer, said "any experienced forensic doctor would not hesitate to assume that this was a case of self-infliction". All of the wounds were reachable by hand, and none were severe, he affirmed.

Why would one do something like that? That's what the police wants to know. If guilty, she can get till three years in prison. According to the Swedish newspapers, if the whole neo-Nazi attack and miscarriage history was true, she could sue and receive between 40 and 80 thousand dollars. She was indicted for false report of a crime and had her passport confiscated. Paula can't leave the country till the investigations are over.

Her lawyer has three strategies of defense, one of them is that she has lupus, a disease that could cause psycological problems.

BRAZIL!

This blog is gonna talk about Brazil! Curious news, interesting facts and places to visit. We are mostly known for our coffee, samba, soccer and carnival...

Just to give you an idea of my country, I selected two videos on YouTube... The first one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko7ORaBdC78) shows you pictures of cities all over the country.

The second one shows Rio... A city with sea, forest and lagoon... all at once... B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!!!!

But there's a lot more to that... Violence, unemployment, corruption... We will try to talk a little bit about everything...