For almost 25 years, my company, DFA Intercultural Global Solutions (www.deanfosterassociates.com) has been providing intercultural training programs and products for our corporate clients: this means providing companies with the information they need about the culture in which they might be working.  We provide information about all major cultures, how they work, make decisions, run meetings, negotiate, etc.  We thought that we could take this information and put it into app formats, making it available for all travelers, not just our corporate clients.  This way, even independent frequent business travelers, as well as leisure travelers, can have all the important cultural “do’s and don’t’s” right at their fingertips whenever they travel.  Other travel guides tell you what to see and where to go…only our CultureGuides© tell you how to get along when you get there.

I chose Brazil because as you may know, I love the country and can easily relate to it. If you haven’t been there yet, maybe you can consider heading there for the world cup in 2014. And if you can’t make it, there is always the olympics in 2016

So what did I think about this travel app? The app is a great introduction to Brazil. It provides lots of useful information, such as the history, people, language, general etiquette, food and more. For someone who has no background on a country, this app will provide the fundamentals. It’s easy to read and straight to the point. My suggestion was to take the tool further and add a section about the different regions in Brazil. Although the app provides good basic info on Brazil as a whole, it can improve on providing specific info on regions. This is especially useful when a backpacker is planning a trip and not sure where to start looking.

The app also displays a map of Brazil which is a good start. In time, I suggested they add a localization feature where the phone would locate a user’s location and give them the ability to give them directions to a given destination (just like google maps but via the tool). I think this tool will be extremely useful for travelers when abroad and will remove the need to carry a map. Maps always turn out to get lost or wet anyway, right?

Overall, I think it’s worth taking a look at the app if you want to learn more about a given country. You can download it on your iPhone or Android device for $9.99. If you’re looking for an app that provides tools rather than knowledge when traveling, you may have to wait until the app comes out with a second release.

What’s moqueca de camarão? It’s a shrimp stew, with tomatoes and coconut milk as its main ingredients. What’s farofa? The direct translation is “crumbs” but it’s what we call wheatlets .  Here it goes!

salvadorbahiaguide.com

Ingredients for moqueca de camarão

1 or 1.5lbs of shrimp
1 can of coconut milk
4 ripe tomatoes, diced
1 red pepper, sliced (I cut up one pepper but you can cut more if you want)
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 small onion, sliced
1 tablet of shrimp broth (but I only found fish broth so I used that instead)
Cilantro, salt, pepper to taste (You can also add cayenne pepper if you like spicy)
1 tablespoon of dendê oil (I replaced it with olive oil because that’s what I had)

1. Begin by washing your shrimp and soaking them in salt, 1/2 lemon juice, cilantro and coconut milk (1 can). Let it sit for 30 mins.

2. Sauté your peppers until they soften and then add the onion and garlic. Sauté until onion is transparent.

3. Then add your diced tomatoes and cook well. Add the shrimp cube. Cook until the sauce thickens.

4. Pour your shrimp mixture, dendê oil, salt and pepper. Let it simmer for about 10 mins or until your shrimps are cooked. (Shrimp will take longer to cook if they are not pre-cooked).

5. Add cilantro and remove from heat. Let it sit a few minutes before serving with farofa.

Ingredients for farofa:

Wheatlets (you can find it at the grocery store)
3 teaspoons of butter
Salt and pepper

1. Melt the butter in the pan at medium heat

2. Cook the farofa while constantly stirring.

3. The farofa will be cooked once it’s browned. Add salt and pepper.

Bon appetit! It’s such a tasty dish. Hope you enjoy it!

Source: http://www.lidimesnacozinha.com.br

I was actually in Montreal when I first tasted brigadeiros, a Brazilian dessert. It was delicious and I couldn’t eat just one! So I knew that I had to eat some more when traveling in Brazil. And I did. And I did again. YUM! One year after eating my first brigadeiro, I got the itch to attempt making them. Surprisingly, it’s easy!

What are brigadeiros anyway? Brigadeiros are Brazil’s national truffle, normally served at any type of party in Brazil. This type of candy was born in the 1940′s, where its name originates from Brigadier Eduardo Gomes, a politician who ran for presidency during the time it was created.

The recipe is easy, mainly because it only has 3 ingredients- condensed milk, cocoa and butter. You heat all 3 ingredients, let it cool down, roll them into balls to then sprinkle them with chocolate. And voila!  It’s paradise for anyone with a sweet tooth!

Note: For anyone in the Montreal area, I suggest you go to Chez Brazil to try brigadeiros or any other type of Brazilian food.

Enjoy the weekend!

As my doctor recommended, I began taking the pills 1 day prior to arriving in the Amazon. It’s suggested to take your pill with a full stomach and I did, most of the time. The problem is that it’s difficult to plan all this when you’re on some crazy adventure in the Amazon! And so, I did take my pill without eating and I paid the price for it! The “rare” side effects include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and headache. And guess what? I experienced sharp abdominal pain and headaches. But the question is: Was it worth it?

I had difficulty sleeping that night so I spend some hours speaking to the tour guide about malaria pills. He suggested that malaria pills weren’t necessary because we wouldn’t too far into the Amazon. He also told me a story about how one of the girls at the lodge had a severe reaction to malaria pills and had to be rushed to the hospital in Manaus. So now what? Should we be taking malaria pills when traveling to malaria prone destinations? My answer is still yes!

Discomfort and pain. I agree. But taking the pills is well worth the pain to avoid the chance of getting malaria. Malaria is transmisted by the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito. Its side-effects would include influenza-like symptoms such as chills, headache and malaise. Although it can effectively be cured at the early stags, it does become increasingly difficult to treat it if you miss the bus. But the thing is that once you have it, you run the chance of bring  stuck with recurrent malaria symptoms for the rest of your life. Is it worth the risk of foregoing the malaria pills? That choice is up to you.

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View of Rio

The story behind the name “Rio de Janeiro”

Rio de Janeiro stands for the January river. When sailors found the Bay (where Rio de Janeiro is now located) on January 1, 1502, they believed it to be the end of the river.  In honor of the King of Portugal, the name of Sao Sabastiao do Rio de Janeiro was born.

Most Famous Brazilian Singer

The most famous Brazilian singer is Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim, the singer of “The Girl in Ipanema”. Written in 1962, the song was based on a young 15 year old girl, by the name of Helo Pinhero who would pass by a cafe on a daily basis on her way to Ipanema beach, a famous beach in Rio.

When in Rio, go back in history and have a meal or drink at Garota de Ipanema.

Christ of The Redeemer

The Christ of the Redeemer is the statue located on the Corcovado mountain, overlooking the city of Rio. The monument has been part of the Seven wonders of the World since 2007.

The Maracana

The Maracana, the soccer stadium in Rio was built n 1950. It’s now considered the most beautiful stadium of the Third World countries.

Rio’s Population & Beaches

If you are born and raised in Rio, you’re considered a Carioca. Rio holds 50 km of beaches along the State. It’s more than enough sand for you to enjoy!

When traveling in Brazil a few months ago, I made a quick 6-day stop in the Amazon. Although there were many highlights of the week I spent there, I’d like to emphasize my experience in a particular amazon village. Wooden houses, fruit plants, soccer fields were all common things one would encounter while walking through the it. But the one thing that really caught my attention were the kids living in that village.

But first, let me tell you what the difference is betweem a tribe and a village since I wasn’t really sure myself. A tribe is a social group of indigenous people from the area who are related by blood or marriage. They continue to practice their tribe’s rituals and religion and are normally disconnect from the rest of the society.  A village, on the other hand, is a community of people.  In the village I visited, you saw the mix of Indians and Europeans. They weren’t as dark as an Indian person would be and yes…they were fully dressed! But not, their faces weren’t painted!

Through my travels, I’ve visited quite a few villages in Europe, Mexico, South America and Asia. Unfortunately, I’ve  seen poverty many times. And for some reason, it gets to me everytime. How kids who have so little still have smile on their face. How the boys help their dads hunt the food for that dinner and how the girls help their moms around their wooden house. But the kids still find time to play together and surprisingly, they still find a way to smile to the foreigner wandering around in their village. It’s funny because one feels happiness when they see the child’s smile but  feel pain when staring into their eyes. In the meantime, kids from Western societies are home complaining to their parents about not wanting to eat the food on the table or for not having the most recent Playstation in their room.

Inequality is obvious when you begin traveling to non-Western societies. And let me tell you that it’s really frustrating when you go back home to hear people complain about nothing. Things that we take for granted would mean the world to someone else. So next time you complain about something, think about that little boy who needs to wake up at 4am to go hunting with his dad to eat that day.

Check out the vibe in Carioca da Gema. I suggest you go there if you’re in Rio. The place was filled with Brazilians.. it was awesome! I feel like dancing everytime I watch it!

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Rio de Janeiro is a city filled with places to see and things to do: ride on the cable car of Pão de Açúcar, watch the sunset from Arpoador, bike-ride around the lagoa, hop on a tram in Santa Teresa, visit the National Park of Tijuca, party in Lapa and of course, sunbathe on the famous beaches of Copacabana, Leme, Ipanema and Leblon. But what better way to experience Rio than from a bird-eye view?  This being said, Rio is famous for one activity- an activity called HANG-GLIDING.

Hang-gliding is a sport where a pilot flies an unmotorized aircraft called a hang-glider. The pilot and passenger are both attached to the frame of the hang-glider using a harness.

Hang-gliding is popular in Rio due to the numerous hills surrounding the city.  The normal price to hang-glide is R$240. Depending on the conditions, the ride can last anywhere between 10 to 20 minutes. Hang-glides take off from Pedra Bonita, on the edge of Tijuca National Park and 520m above the beach of Sao Conrado. You’ll fly over the forest and ocean as well as alongside the mountains before landing directly on the beach of Sao Conrado.

I think everyone should go hang-gliding when visiting Rio! The scariest part is take-off. You need to wait for the right winds and once they come, you need to run towards the cliff and then fly off! Check it out!

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And oviously, once you’re up the in the air, the feeling is simply awesome! The view is gorgeous and the feeling of being up there is even better.

Hang-Gliding in Rio