Seventeen-year-old Jana is what most people would call a model student. Having just graduated from high school and having attended her prom in the middle of November, the native Brazilian says she spent much of her final year in high school hitting the books.
“This has been a very peculiar year for me because it’s my senior year, so I left every activity I had aside from school. I’ve been pretty much studying from seven a.m. to six p.m., Monday to Saturday,” says Jana.
Jana lives in the capital city of Brasilia. Brazil is the largest and most populous country in South America. The country is famous for everything from its Amazon forest to its colorful festival, Carnaval, to Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen. It is no wonder Brazil is a popular tourist destination. And Jana just can’t say enough about her beloved Brazil.
“Wow, describing Brazil. Where to begin . . . Brazil is a huge country surrounded by the most beautiful and different natural wonders,” says Jana. “The sun shines almost all year through.”
Brazil’s Amazon Basin is huge. It is a landmass that covers half the area of Brazil with its many rivers and forests. Within the lush Amazon Basin is an amazing 15,000 species of creatures. But be careful when talking to native Brazilians not to refer to Brazil as a “jungle.”
“We hate when foreigners think or say that Brazil is a jungle. Once I was even asked if I went to school by using ‘cipós.’ I don’t recall the name in English; they’re like natural ropes from trees, like Tarzan! Duh!”
The famous Carnaval is an event that draws tourists annually to Brazil. The festival begins at midnight on the Friday before Ash Wednesday and lasts for five fun-filled days. Most tourists flock to the world-famous Rio to catch all the fanfare, but Carnaval is actually celebrated throughout the country.
“Brazil is a land of extreme opposites who seem to blend together. There are all sorts of races and religions who make a perfect syncretism, and there’s no one better than the other,” says Jana.
“The average Brazilian teenager is into having fun and meeting new people, as Brazilians in general are extroverted, open, and friendly.”
Portuguese is the primary language of Brazil, and 80 percent of the population is of the Roman Catholic faith. Brazil represents a fusion of cultures, from its main Portuguese influence to its sizable populations of native Indians, Africans, and immigrants from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Brazilians are known overall to be very warm and sociable people, and of course that applies to Brazilian teens as well.
“The average Brazilian teenager is into having fun and meeting new people, as Brazilians in general are extroverted, open, and friendly.”
Which brings us back to our Brazilian teen ambassador, Jana. During her last year in high school the normally outgoing Jana gave up all her extracurricular activities to become one with her books. She says she occasionally went to birthday parties, barbecues, and the movies and kept in touch with her friends mainly by phone.
“All of my best friends study in different schools and have very jealous boyfriends/girlfriends, so we didn’t meet very often. We talked mostly over the phone.”
In between studying, she listened to her CDs or MP3s. Some of her favorites include Adriana Calcanhoto, Djavan, Caetano Veloso, Milton Nascimento, and Legião Urbana. Then of course there was shopping, a pastime she continues to indulge in mercilessly to this day. And now that school is out, the malls are calling to her even more.
“Here [Brasilia] there are lots of malls, one of my favorite lusts!”
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