Culture

Rio de Janeiro can be regarded as one of the world's most stunning and fascinating cities. Hosting around 10 million residents, Rio is nestled in between the green hills of the coastal rainforest and tropical beaches at the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. The city, in actual fact, reflects the lifestyle of a South American metropolis, with a strong touch of tropical laissez-faire. Rio is full of a wide range of scenic, cultural and architectural highlights. The thoughts of Rio de Janeiro instantly spring up images of beautiful beaches, football and carnival. All of these form an essential part of Rio's lively culture and thus, make this city one of the most exciting and interesting places for a vacation in Brazil. Rio is home to a number of museums, which deeply reflect its culture.

Modern Art Museum:

Built in 1948, this museum boasts of almost 4,000 masterpieces that belonged to Gilberto Chateaubriand and which formed a part of the most important collection of modern Brazilian art. In addition, this museum also has 2,000 masterpieces by national and foreign artists, some of whom are Picasso, Andy Warhol and Le Corbusier. It is open form Tuesday to Sunday from noon till 6pm.

Edison Carneiro's Folklore Museum:

This museum stretches over an area of 1500 square meters and holds approximately 12,000 pieces, with vast pictorial documentation and sound recordings. These represent the most varied facets of cultural and popular manifestations. It is open from Tuesday to Friday, 11am to 6pm and Saturdays and Sundays, 3pm to 6pm.

There are many more museums, which are worth a visit and these help visitors understand Rio's culture.

A. Music

Brazil's musical traditions are drawn greatly from conventional African instruments, rhythm, and dance. Samba music, now well liked all over the world, is a direct descendant of African music. Afro-Brazilian music is played along with ‘afoxes'. They are dance troupes that perform to music from the Condomble religion, of African origin that was carried into Rio with the slaves that came in earlier times.

B. Language

Even though Spanish-speaking countries surround Brazil, the local language in Rio is Portuguese. However, this is different from the Portuguese spoken in Portugal. Spanish is useful to know, as several words in Portuguese are the same, but pronounced in a different way. Only some people outside of the tourist industry speak in English.

C. Religious Practices

Afro-Brazilian religions are followed by blacks as well as whites alike in Brazil. Various groups follow conventional African religious practices. An example is Condomble, a religion brought in by the Yoruba inhabitants of Nigeria when they arrived in Brazil as slaves. Based in the state of Bahia, Condomble supporters worship several different deities of nature. One of these is Iemanja, the goddess of the sea. Condomble services, carried out late in the night, feature pulsating drums and rhythmic music that encourage worshippers to reach a trancelike state. Many locals in Rio de Janeiro follow Umbanda. Umbanda is a religion practice that unites African and non-African religious influences. It is an ordinary practice for the religious services to be led by a priestess. Umbanda is comparable to the American practice of voodoo.

D. Major Events

The streets of Rio are spectacular when the Carnival comes to town in February. On the Friday, before Shrove Tuesday, the mayor of Rio symbolically hands over the ‘keys of the city' to Rei Momo, suggestive of the start of an exciting 5-day party. Momo, a sequined roly-poly king, is the sign of polygamy and extravagance, who presides over Rio until Ash Wednesday. This world-renowned carnival in Rio de Janeiro attracts tourists for decades to the cidade maravilhosa. Extraordinary bandstands all over the city are manned for communal street dancing and carnival groups; the blocos carnavalescos are in all places, dancing, drumming and singing.

The Festas Juninas held in June is one of the most significant folkloric event in Brazil. In Rio de Janeiro, this festival is celebrated in several public squares all through the month.

Music, colorful stalls and a parade into the streets signify the Festa de NS da Glória do Outeiro on August 15th.

Every Sunday in October, the vivacious Festa da Penha is one of the major religious and popular celebrations in the city.

E. Etiquettes / Do's and Don'ts

Do's

- Make an attempt to learn as much Portuguese as possible, mainly the usual conversational phrases and sentences. You can converse in English in large cities, but in rural areas this may prove to be a difficulty.

- Carry required clothes to avoid mosquito bites. Do take an insect repellant. If you are planning to stay out all night, carry mosquito nets, insect sprays, and essential prescription medications.

- At the start of a conversation, at least, strangers are always supposed to be addressed with the official ‘o senhor' or ‘a senhora' until they use the informal ‘tu' or ‘você'.

Don'ts

- Taxis hailed from the hotel ensure a level of quality and safety, which is not necessarily found in taxis caught along the street. Hence, tourists should avoid doing so.

- Avoid consuming street foods and drink only bottled water.

- Do not ask for scotch by brand name, such as Johnny Walkers nor say ‘scotch' by any means. It is called ‘whiskey' in Brazil and you will save a lot of money if you simply state that.

- Do not buy gemstones from street sellers, unless you are an expert at rating gemstones; or else you might end up buying fake stuff.