By Jennifer Agustin Ambrocio

Pedro's Note: Both Jennifer and Ignacio wrote about education, but Ignacio posted an Instagram post about the same experiences. I will share his Instagram Post at the end of this blog post (but you can also click on this link)

Brazil is truly one of a kind, and an experience of its own. Having studied abroad in Mexico, Spain, and Dubai and now Brazil as my fourth trip study abroad. Salvador, Brazil has been amazing, and I wouldn’t change my experience for anything. The first week was a rollercoaster for sure, from spending 24 hours in Chicago for our flight to finally stepping foot in Brazil, that was all that I cared at that moment. These couple days have been full of being engaged and willing to learn about the history, religion, culture, and social issues that Salvador has faced. Therefore, women and children have continued to fight for education, and rights, because even though education is the key to life, that is not always the case for every kid especially in Salvador. As Nelson Mandela once said “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” but if education was free for all, being debt free, where materials are provided, and teachers are actually paid what they are supposed to be too. 

During our second week here we visited Escola Aberta do Calabar to interact with teachers and the kids. It was a very bright and vibrant place where all the kids were getting along no matter what age, or gender you were, everyone included everyone. One of the teachers showed us a tour of the school and got to explain a little more about what these kids learn even though it might not seem as a typical school as in the United States. At Escola Aberta do Calabar, many of the school supplies come from donations and kids take courses that will actually serve them in life such as knowing how to sew, being taught social issues, the real history of Brazil, and  where many of these kids get to chance to attend the school without having to pay for fees such as the public and private schools in Bahia. This school was in a low-class neighborhood, where many of the kids there attended this school and shows that “in the 21st century, Bahia is a state marked by racial inequality, the poverty of a large part of the population, and state violence, paradoxically associated with the strong presence of traditions of African origin and a rich and dense popular cultural life, as in other parts of the African diaspora” (Osmundo, 1). So far I have seen racial inequality through my time here in Bahia, where colorism is one of the biggest issues that Brazilians without to say that throughout “Brazilian history, black culture (later coded as popular, peripheral, or favelada, which means from the slums, favelas) has been the object of repression, violence, disdain, panic, and anxiety, from the point of view of dominant white consciousness, as demonstrated in the case of Bahia” (Osmundo, 3).

We also had a lecture from the director of Instituto Cultural Steve Biko, Jucy Silva. Instituto Cultural Steve Biko is a school that serves students black especially those that want to pursue a higher education and degree, where students are taught ethnic-racial diversity and view the world named after the South African leader, Steve Biko, a great reference in the fight against Apartheid in South Africa (Instituto Cultural Steve Biko). The schools' mission is to promote political and social ascension of the black population through education and appreciate their history, but most importantly how to be black (Silva, 2024). I’m thankful there are these institutions in Bahia and hope there might be something similar in the United States, since “Bahia is the Brazilian state with the highest absolute numbers of poor people (6.3 million) and extremely poor people (1.9 million), among which families headed by black women are overrepresented (Osmundo, 3).
 
Even though these institutions serve those underrepresented in Salvador, many of the students go to the stages of their school career where they deal with stress, anxiety, depression, and such that affect their mental health (Mota, 2024). Something that surprised me was that many of the students go to work, and also go to school, which is something I would also do as a underrepresented student on campus but it's something that I must be grateful for since my parents have told me to focus on school because that is my only job. Both institutions have English classes for students to take advantage of kids being taught English classes is way to become more knowledge with those around them, but also a way to communicate with those as it is seen as an advantage later in life. Which I can relate as a Mexican American because my second language is also English and as a Spanish speaker I tend to try and practice both, so I don't forget them. We as Americans don't realize that education is such an important part of our life to get where we want and what goals we want to achieve whether it be a specific job/career or anything else that could give us an extra advantage.
 
​Sources
 
Pinho, Osmundo. "Race and Cultural Politics in Bahia." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History. 17 Dec. 2020; Accessed 26 May. 2024. https://oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.001.0001/acrefore-9780199366439-e-946.
 
Instituto Cultural Steve Biko - https://www.stevebiko.org.br/index.php
 
Director Jucy Silva’s Presentation, Thursday May 23rd
 
Professors Clarice Mota’s Presentation, Friday May 24th
 

Jennifer Agustin Ambrocio is a Senior at the College of Saint Benedict, double majoring in Political Science and Hispanic Studies with a minor in Latin Latino American Studies. She is originally from Bloomington, Minnesota. Jennifer enjoys watching and reading the news at a international level. She studied abroad 3 times already, and Brazil will be the 4th time

​By Alaina Rivero & Tania Salgado

One thing Pedro has reiterated on this trip is to take risks and be uncomfortable so you can learn. In the past week of being in Brazil we have stepped out of our comfort zones and ate chicken heart, hiked what seemed to be a million miles up a mountain, and took some dance lessons and watched back videos Pedro took of us only to realize how stiff we are. We have learned so much in such a short time and the days seem to go by terribly fast. We have had lectures about religion, native people, and education in Brazil. But one workshop in specific has piqued our interest. Capoeira is something both Alaina and I have been mesmerized with.

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial arts form that incorporates acrobatics, dance, percussion, and rhythmic dialogue of body, mind, and spirit. There have been records of Africans and slaves dancing and playing instruments in the 17th century (Pinho 2020, 6). This dance holds power as it has been kept alive and is still taught to kids. We have seen capoeira being performed a few times both in Salvador and Lençóis, and each time we are amazed at how history is kept alive and embraced through music and dance.

On our second day in Salvador, we had a capoeira workshop led by Mestre Sapoti. He first talked about the background of capoeira. It is not certain if capoeira is a dance or a fight. It starts with two people shaking hands and then beginning to move to dodge the opponents’ hits. The group of students that were there with Mestre Sapoti demonstrated for us what capoeira looks like. We loved seeing them do cool tricks like handstands, cartwheels, aerials, and other gymnastic moves.
​
After the demonstration, Mestre Sapoti taught us some basic capoeira moves. We paired up trying out the new dance moves feeling more confident in what we were doing. After a few minutes of practicing, he stops us and brings out the musical instruments. He describes each instrument and plays the beat of the song that the students were dancing to. He gives some of us instruments to play while the rest of us sit in a circle. This part of the workshop ties back to what we had read in class about the several municipal laws that were enacted to prohibit “the display of African customs with drumming” (Pinho 2020, 7). Clearly there was no success in the prohibition of displaying African customs with drumming. This goes to show how Afro-Brazilians can never be silenced.

​We both have been amazed at the way empowerment and history lives on through capoeira. We see the power capoeira holds as it continues to embrace the history of Afro-Brazilian people. We understand the importance of keeping capoeira alive and are grateful that we are able to have this experience. We are absolutely loving Brazil and its culture and can’t wait to tell others about everything we’ve learned. 

Sources:
“Capoeira History.” ABADÁ-Capoeira San Francisco (blog). Accessed May 23, 2024.
https://www.abada.org/capoeira-history/

Capoeira workshop with Mestre Sapoti at the school of Alianca Francesa May 17, 2024.

Capoeira workshop at Academia de Mestre Cascudo in Lençóis May 20, 2024.
​
Pinho, Osmundo. “Race and Cultural Politics in Bahia.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia
of Latin American History, 2020.

By Allison Parker and Joselyn Rubio-Correa

During our first week here in Salvador, Brazil, we’ve felt the vibrant and strong influence of Afro-Brazilian culture. The city reflects the traditions of African origin that live on today. Before our departure, we learned about the current racial and gender inequalities in Brazil, and specific to the state of Bahia. Salvador was, originally, the capital of Bahia during the period when the Portuguese enslaved the Indigenous people of Brazil and Africans. Although the Portuguese attempted to control and diminish Indigenous and African culture, the people and traditions held strong. As our professor quotes “oppression leads to resistance”. Examples of oppression and attempts to erase culture in Afro-Brazilians would be in the 1900’s when the religions of Candomblé and Umbanda were illegal to practice and labeled as “the devil” in the eyes of Christianity. Although Candomblé and Umbanda are no longer illegal, they continue to be demonized by the Christian church, as noted by Alcides, Pai De Santo. In addition, Capoiera, an Afro-Brazilian traditional practice, was criminalized and illegal to practice in the late 1800’s and into the 1900’s. Nationally, the practice was outlawed and people who practiced Capoiera faced harmful consequences and even death. However, it was still practiced in secret, passed down to the children and is now recognized as a national practice or symbol belonging to Afro-Brazilians. 

The Candomblé religion originated from the religious syncretism of West African religions and Christianity. Unlike Christianity, in Candomblé there is no belief of a devil, heaven, or hell. To become a follower of Candomblé, you have to know Portuguese and be initiated into the religion by a pai de santo (priest). Once you have been accepted into the religion, you are assigned an Orixá (god) and it is with you until death. Followers of Candomblé worship many different Orixás and often provide them with offerings as a way of giving thanks.

Another tradition practiced is the art of Capoeira. As defined by Osmundo Pinho, social anthropologist in Bahia, “Capoeira is the expressive cultural African origin that combines ritual, dance, and body fight, nowadays practiced as a sport around the world” (Pinho, 2020). We learned that Capoeira is an art form like a dance that resembles a fight. However, Capoeira can be in the form of a real fight if a person feels threatened. As we were humbled by our flexibility and coordination skills, we learned the value and belief of Capoeira. Music, dance, movements and spirituality are crucial in the practice of Capoeira. The art is within the spiritual energy called axé (Rehard, 2021). Rehard uses a definition quoted by the scholar Barabara Browning “pure potentiality, the power-to-make-things-happen”. Rehard states that “Capoeiristas are able to engage in bodily dialogues with each other while using personal agency to shape the flow of the game for their own advantage” (Rehard, 2021). From our first-hand sight, capoeira is a controlled, strong, elegant practice that takes dedication, skill, and passion. The capoeiristas should never lose eye contact with one another, even when they are upside down or flipping. During our trip to Lençóis, Brazil, we were able to watch many Capoeira performances by students and teachers. In all the performances, the dancers moved in sync with one another and always watched one another, to prepare for their partner's next move. For musical expression, we saw the berimbau, atabaque, pandeiro, and agogo. (Itacare, 2024). Singing and clapping are encouraged as the audience gathers around the roda, or ring.
 

Both of these Afro-Brazilian traditions focus on the connection to corpo, the Portuguese word for body. Capoeira uses the body as a form of dance and expression while Candomblé uses the body to connect with nature and the environment. Our time here has shown us the importance of the connection between the mind and body as well as our place in relationship to the natural world. 

Sources:
Itacaré. “Capoeira - Itacaré Beach - Bahia - Brazil.” Www.itacare.com, 2024, www.itacare.com/itacare/capoeira/. Accessed 21 May 2024.
​
Pinho, Osmundo. “Race and Cultural Politics in Bahia.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History, 17 Dec. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.013.946. Accessed 23 May 2024.
 
Rehard, Abby. ““Axé, Capoeira!”” ReVista, 25 Jan. 2021, revista.drclas.harvard.edu/axe-capoeira/. Accessed 21 May 2024.

Allison Parker is a sophomore at CSB+SJU pursuing a major in Sociology with an Anthropology concentration, and a minor in Global Health. Her hometown is Belview, located in southwest Minnesota. She’s interested in learning about social behaviors and better understanding social, health, and cultural life issues. She looks forward to experiencing Brazilian culture and applying her studies abroad in Salvador. ​

By Alexa DeLeon

Traveling from Chicago to Salvador, Bahia was an experience filled with exhaustion, but the journey has been significantly rewarding in such little time. Despite only being here for about four days, I’ve been amazed by how much I have enjoyed Salvador and, most importantly, how much I’ve learned about its rich culture. Adjusting to a new culture, especially with a language barrier, can be extremely challenging. However, the vibrant and fascinating aspects of Salvador’s culture have made it easy and enjoyable to want to learn more. 

Our first lecture focused on Candomblé and religion in Brazil, where Prof. Wyllis Santos explained how Candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian religion, significantly influences the cultural and spiritual lives of many Brazilians. My immediate reaction was to connect this to Crooked Plow. In class, we read Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Junior, which has become one of my favorite books. I found myself wanting to learn more and had many questions about the different spirits, the healers, and the community's trust in natural healing. I could not help noticing the correlation between the two, especially community, it is such an important part of the characters' lives in the book and in Candomblé. 

During the lecture, Prof. Wyllis Santos explained the spiritual, nature, and community-based connection that Candomblé followers emphasize. In Crooked Plow, the characters often turn to natural healing methods and spiritual practices to cope with their hardships, reflecting the Candomblé belief in the healing power of nature and the spiritual realm. Throughout the novel, the characters rely on traditional herbal remedies and the guidance of spirits.

While Prof. Willy Santos explained the importance of nature and spirituality, he mentioned the significance of community help, specifically how pregnant women who produced milk helped others by breastfeeding their children if their milk dried up or for any reason, they were unable to breastfeed. This immediately reminded me of Crispiniana and Crispina. The story of Crispina breastfeeding Crispiniana’s child for two years is a significant example of communal support, especially among women. This mirrors the practices in Candomblé communities, where women play crucial roles. The act of breastfeeding another's child is a gesture of care and solidarity, highlighting the community's collective responsibility for everyone's well-being.
During our first week we also had another lecture focused on the practice of Candomblé with Pai de Santo. He spoke a couple times about the importance of nature. I realized that the idea of the importance of nature became a common theme these past couple of days and has been stuck with me since. Nature plays a symbolic role in Candomblé, and I cannot help but wonder how different my ideas, beliefs, and mentality would be if nature and spirituality was deeply involved in my life. I was born into a catholic family, but we are not religious and practice only some catholic traditions. I do not necessarily agree with many teachings in the Catholic community, and having learned about spirituality and the importance of nature has motivated me to change the way I think and the way I want to live. 

During our time on campus, we delved into the rich traditions of Black music in Bahia, which initially left me unaware of the profound significance of movement and dance accompanying the music. Osmundo Pinho's book chapter, Race and Cultural Politics in Bahia, illuminated the importance of this movement, noting that “Black music in Bahia will be taken here as a social phenomenon, as an identity platform, and as an expressive discourse, central to the elaboration of forms of identity” (Pinho 2020, 3).

Alexa DeLeon is a sophomore at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, hoping tp purse a major in political science, with a concentration in pre-law. She is originally from Cicero, Illinois. Alexa enjoys learning about underrepresented communities in the realm of policy issues and likes to be an advocate for inclusion for marginalized communities. Something fun about Alexa is that she has seven dogs, 3 males and 4 females. ​

By Carter ​Potthoff and Morgan Van Beck

After a missed flight and 24 hours in Chicago, we were more than happy to finally land in Salvador and settle in. On the way to the hotel in the middle of rush hour traffic, we saw a massive building with the words “Jesus Cristo é o senhor” and a huge logo reading “Universal”; it was one of the Protestant churches that have exploded in popularity in Brazil in the past few decades. Being the future social scientists that we are, we both instantly knew that we needed to investigate further and decided to use our first blog post for this trip to dive deeper into religion in Brazil and reflect on our experiences with religion here in Bahia thus far. The religious dynamic of Bahia is super interesting because it not only includes the rapidly growing Protestant movements, but is also the birthplace of Candomblé, one of the most practiced Afro Brazilian religions. 

Our brief introduction to Candomblé included a lecture by Professor Willys Santos, who is a scholar on Brazilian religions at UFBA and also a Candomblé priest as well as a lecture and visit to a terreiro, a place in which Candomblé is practiced, by and alongside Alcides, another Candomblé priest or Pai de Santo. These have been our favorite lectures thus far. We learned that Candomblé is not just a religion, but a way of life. Followers of Candomblé focus on their connection with their own self, their communities, and nature, and they connect with these things via their orixás, or the spirits that are with someone from birth until after death.
 
Pai Alcides talked about the important role of women in Candomblé, which is a matriarchal religion, because female slaves from Africa were the ones who kept the African roots of Candomblé alive. He also talked to us about the role Candomblé has in its followers lives and how followers engage with the religion. He explained that the terreiro created a space for family that was taken away by the slave trade. It is a place for community and gathering. He also explained that followers of Candomblé go to priests based on their needs, whether physical, emotional, relationship, social/economic, etc. Based on that, the Pai de Santo then provides direction to help us better understand ourselves and what we need in order to resolve the issue. Pai Alcides said “O Candomblé vai equilibrar, não curar” or “Candomblé will balance, not cure”. This line, for us, is what Candomblé is all about; seeking balance within one’s life in order to progress forward.
 
Learning about Candomblé here in Brazil has also helped us to retroactively better understand some of the material that we read in class, specifically, the book Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Junior. This book gave us a lot of insight into the dynamics of race, gender, and inequality in Brazil. It also centered on Afro Brazilian religion, which we were very unfamiliar with. Specifically, Jarê, which was practiced by the family that the book centered on. Zeca was a Jarê healer, but before coming to Brazil, we couldn’t fully understand what his role in the community really was (Vieira Junior 2019). Our time with Professor Willys Santos and Pai Alcides taught us the principles of Candomblé and other Afro Brazilian religions in an approachable way that made us appreciate Crooked Plow so much more.
 
As two students from Stearns County, we both really enjoyed diving into Candomblé. It’s something that we would never have had the chance to experience back home. Something that we are a little more familiar with is Protestantism; although, we were not familiar with its role in Brazil before this class. In Professor Willys Santos’s lecture, he talked about how Protestantism and Candomblé interact in Brazil. He explained that Afro Brazilian religions have historically been targeted and suppressed by those in power, who have historically been Catholic and are now increasingly Protestant. This tied into part of the lecture that Flavia Biroli gave at the CSBSJU Multicultural Center. She discussed the ways in which Protestantism is exploding in Brazil, its tie to conservative movements, and its effect on the decline of Catholicism. We also read about the changing religious dynamics of Brazil in Pereira’s Modern Brazil: A Very Short Introduction and discussed it with Karine Belarmino, a PhD student who researches clientelism within Brazilian Protestant movements. Karine explained that these Protestant denominations are gaining strength by providing services in communities that lack them, which makes adherents flock to their congregations, thus “buying” their votes in exchange for these services (Belarmino). This has culminated in a strong Brazilian Protestant movement, both political and religious, which was reflected in the grandiose church that we saw on our drive home from the airport.
 
An influx of congregants also means that Protestant churches are gaining political power. In addition to listening to Flavia Biroli’s lecture, we also read her 2016 article titled Political Violence Against Women in Brazil: Expressions and Definitions. In this article, Flavia discussed how a strong conservative movement and backlash is resulting in political violence against women, but she also discussed the role of Protestant churches in this conservative movement. Many prominent Protestants are gaining political power by winning the votes of the growing number of Protestants in Brazil. These politicians, who are sometimes pastors, campaign on platforms of Protestant values, such as traditional family and gender roles (Biroli 2016). These Protestant politicians are also able to promote policies that target non-Christians in Brazil, such as those who practice Candomblé, which brings us full circle back to Professor Willys Santos’s lecture on our first full day here.  
 
It has been a whirlwind first couple of days, but we are looking forward to everything else that Brazil has in store for us!

​Photos from a shrine to one of the Candomblé orixás, Yemanjá, in Salvador, Brazil. 

Sources:
​
Belarmino, Karine. “Clients of God: Introduction.” Ph.D. Dissertation.       University of Minnesota. Forthcoming.

Biroli, Flávia. “Political Violence against Women in Brazil: Expressions and Definitions /
Violência Política Contra as Mulheres No Brasil: Manifestações e Definições.” Revista Direito e Práxis 7, no. 15 (September 14, 2016).

Pereira, Anthony. Modern Brazil a very short introduction. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2020.

Vieira Junior, Itamar. Crooked Plow. Verso Books, 2019.

Morgan Van Beck is a senior Political Science and Hispanic Studies double major with a minor in Latino/Latin American Studies. She is originally from Sartell, Minnesota. Morgan's most formative educational experience was traveling around Guatemala with the Guatemala Human Rights Commission, which inspired the theme of her senior distinguished thesis: human rights abuses in post-conflict societies. Morgan recently received a Fulbright grant to teach English in Colombia and will be moving there shortly after graduation. ​

Alexa DeLeon is a sophomore at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, hoping tp purse a major in political science, with a concentration in pre-law. She is originally from Cicero, Illinois. Alexa enjoys learning about underrepresented communities in the realm of policy issues and likes to be an advocate for inclusion for marginalized communities. Something fun about Alexa is that she has seven dogs, 3 males and 4 females. 

Morgan Van Beck is a senior Political Science and Hispanic Studies double major with a minor in Latino/Latin American Studies. She is originally from Sartell, Minnesota. Morgan's most formative educational experience was traveling around Guatemala with the Guatemala Human Rights Commission, which inspired the theme of her senior distinguished thesis: human rights abuses in post-conflict societies. Morgan recently received a Fulbright grant to teach English in Colombia and will be moving there shortly after graduation. ​

​Allison Parker is a sophomore at CSB+SJU pursuing a major in Sociology with an Anthropology concentration, and a minor in Global Health. Her hometown is Belview, located in southwest Minnesota. She’s interested in learning about social behaviors and better understanding social, health, and cultural life issues. She looks forward to experiencing Brazilian culture and applying her studies abroad in Salvador. 

Ignacio Sanchez Romero is a senior at Saint John's University majoring in Economics with a minor in Data Analytics. He is from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He recently presented a research project on how migration status affects earnings from wages. He discovered that gender and migration status have an impact on wages. During his time in Brazil, he plans to expand on this work by conducting additional research on racial and gender inequality. One interesting fact about him is that this will be his second time leaving the country.

Joselyn Rubio-Correa is a sophomore at the College of Saint Benedict and is studying Computer Science with a minor in Political Science. She is a first-generation Mexican American who grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. Joselyn is the oldest of three and is looking forward to trying new foods, learning about Brazil’s culture, and sharing her experience in Brazil with her two younger siblings.

In April of 2024, Dr. Flavia Biroli visited the CSB and SJU campus to present her research, part of the Global Awareness Lecture Series. 

Dr. Biroli's research on far-right politics and gender in Brazil is much needed. The study mapped and analyzed the far-right politics on gender during the government of Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022). The talk will discuss its developments considering two issues: abortion and gender-based violence. Previous research found that the degree of conflict and the actors involved vary according to the issue. Historically, disputes on abortion are contentious and involve religious actors and perspectives. The politicization of violence against women had a distinct trajectory, reaching a broader consensus expressed in legislation and policy. The convergence between conservative religious activism and the far-right affected these dynamics – not only in Brazil or Latin America, as studies on Eastern/Central Europe identify similar displacements. Still, far-right politics activates distinct mechanisms to block feminist politics in these two issues. I discuss these mechanisms, connecting them to the disputes over democratic institutions and values. Based on that, I make the point that there is a tight connection between the struggles over gender and the present and future of liberal democracies.

Below is her talk: