Brazilian culture is so diverse and special, and it seems everyone is involved in their culture. We honestly didn’t have a plan for our day until a couple days before we went, so it was on a whim, but it was well thought out by our host parents. First on our agenda was the Ibirapuera park which was insanely busy! I didn’t mind it because it showed me Brazilians passion for fitness. People were walking, running, biking, and working out; it was amazing. While we were at the park we were mainly just walking and talking but our host mom, Maisa who is a tour guide was telling us little facts about the park. In one instance she showed us an area where they have a memorial for all the Japanese immigrants who died on the ships to Brazil and were cast overboard. She also explained that the statue Monumento às Bandeiras is a statue that shows multiple different people and cultures working together and creating families.
Brazil as a whole seems to be very diverse and I really respect that about Brazil. The diversity shows that people care about each other, not based on looks or appearance, but based on personality and experience. After the park we went to a restaurant and got feijoada. When we got our food she explained that originally feijoda was a type of food made by the slaves with leftovers from the pigs food.
I also respect how Brazilians know so much about their ancestors and their history. In this case it may only be that our host mom is a tour guide and she is supposed to know these things but it still surprises me how much she can remember about the history. While all this was happening, back in America my cousin was participating in a pageant representing Asian culture. In January her family went to the Philippines because her mom is Filipino and they don’t visit much. When they came back she was saying how much she loves her culture and that she wants to learn more about her culture and I am so happy for her that she is excited about her culture. It also makes me sad because because I really don’t know much about my culture and I would really like to start learning about my Italian heritage. I feel Americans don’t really care as much because they are in a good situation and don’t really care about where they came from. I also feel that a lot of people think that they are just American but really they have many different cultures in their heritage and I would like to explore my own.
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