Author: Shayna

It’s been over ten months since my college commencement. It’s really hard to believe that it’s been that long since graduation – kinda seems like yesterday – and yet …

While walking back from the city center, I ran into Sandro talking to a guy on a bike, about four blocks from home. In no hurry, and feeling it …

Some parts of the feijoada. Feijoada, the Brazilian national dish, is a black bean stew with various bits of meat mixed in; it’s served over rice. Sometimes sketchy pieces …

Churrasco. I don’t know what the Brazilians do to their meat, but MAN it comes out good… moist, hot off the skillet, impossibly flavorful… my mouth waters just thinking …

It’s orientation week at the University of São Paulo (here, the school year starts in March, which is the fall) and it’s quite easy to identify the freshmen on …

It’s really nice to be part of a household again. I’ve always thought of myself as an introvert (still do), but I discovered after four months of living alone that it …

There’s this really annoying guy who hangs out with the capo/samba crew, and I can’t avoid him because he’s at all the same events and parties I’m at. First of all, …

I just got back from sixteen awesome days in Salvador. Every time I go there (this was my third time) I find it harder and harder to leave. It’s interesting how people …

How come it’s okay to be proud of being any other nationality, except for American? While in Salvador, I met one of the most snobby and anti-American people I’ve ever …

There is a persistent myth, widely believed among foreign capoeiristas, that Brazil is this magical capoeira paradise where people train all day and ginga down the street to the …