By Lily Fredericks, Brianna Kreft, and Hailee Thayer

​If we had a soundtrack of our trip to Rio de Janeiro, “Girl From Rio” by Anitta would be the main track. We felt like main characters throughout our week there, especially when we were able to find our own way in the city and figure things out for ourselves. However, there were definitely times where we felt like the quintessential dumb Americans, such as when we looked like deer in the headlights when people tried to speak to us, when we couldn’t tell the uber driver where we were going, or when we ordered the completely wrong menu item. But we got good at laughing these things off, making the best of each situation despite often feeling out of place, and adapting to the surrounding situation and culture. Additionally, another thing that we noticed almost immediately when we stepped foot in Rio was that we did not get nearly as many stares and yells from people on the streets as we did in Salvador for looking so out of the ordinary. We quickly realized that this was because we actually did not look out of the ordinary in Rio where there is a much higher population of white folks than in Salvador, which has one of the highest populations of black and brown folks as we learned in class. As sad as it is, this made us feel safer than we felt in Salvador, because we were able to blend into the crowd more. We also discussed how Rio was simply more touristy than Salvador, which also could be a reason that we felt safer there. 

Perhaps one of our favorite things we did while in Rio was a backstage Carnaval tour that we booked through Airbnb experiences. Even though we thought that the more scenic and popular activities like visiting Christ the Redeemer or Sugarloaf Mountain would be the highlights of our trip, while they were still amazing, the Carnaval tour was the most memorable because we really learned more about Brazilian culture and how big of a deal this event is for many Brazilians. We got to see the behind the scenes of the workings of the Samba school that was the winner of Carnaval in 2022. We got to see the breathtaking floats, costumes, and the hard work that constitutes the year-long preparation for Carnaval. We also got to learn what each float, costume, and dance represented, and the Samba school’s theme for this year was Candomblé, which was very cool to see considering we had learned all about this religion while in Salvador. To our surprise, at the end of the tour, we got to dress up in old Carnaval costumes and even dance with a professional Samba dancer. It was very fun, and we were able to let loose a bit, even in the company of strangers. Learning the details of what goes into Carnaval and the meaning behind it made us appreciate it even more than we already did.
​
Another favorite excursion of ours was visiting Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) and Sugarloaf Mountain. Even though it was slightly cloudy when we went up to see Christ, the views were still amazing. The statue was a lot bigger than we thought and we had to take pictures at a low angle to get him in it. While we were up there, we saw a group of men trying to take a picture. Like the nice Minnesota people we are, we offered to take one of them. They then offered to take one of us. We thought it would just be one and done, but this man proceeds to take individual pictures of us, even laying on the ground to get the right angle, and even posing us. Needless to say, we were surprised. The pictures turned out great and we are forever grateful for that man. We had better weather for Sugarloaf, though. We had booked a gondola ride to go all the way up the mountain. The views from the gondola were incredible, even if they packed us into the car like sardines. We were very surprised when the gondola moved as fast as it did, the longest stretch took only a few minutes to get up there. When we were at the first stop, we saw people rock climbing up the mountain. We had to look away because the height made us nervous for the climbers. Then at the second and final stop, we found it amazing that we could see the entire city of Rio. It seemed like the Cariocas were very proud of their city and there were many native Brazilians taking in the sites as well as tourists.

​On our second or third night in the city, we were finally able to meet up with Lucia, who had generously been giving us very helpful advice about the city for some time. We had great conversations about culture in Rio and she was able to tell us about her life and her family, so it was fun to be able to see what life in Rio was like for her. We then attended the Flamengo basketball championship game. This was sort of nerve racking to us at first because there were a lot of yelling men and people in general, but once we got settled into our seats, we enjoyed ourselves and cheered the team on with the rest of the crowd. We had to move seats once because a group of guys kept looking at us up and down and trying to talk to us, and we just wanted to be able to see the game. Lucia and Pedro mentioned to us that the crowd would be mostly men, so we were not really surprised that this happened. But it was really interesting to see how much less popular basketball is in Brazil as this was a championship game yet only half the arena was full. However, the fans that were there were dedicated and relentless with their cheering, which was a fun thing to experience

​On one of our last days, we visited both the Lapa stairs and the Cafeteria Colombo. The stairs were a very cool site to see and take pictures of, as they were entirely made up of colored tiles from around the world. We even saw an MN painted tile. There were also other very random tiles from cities across the U.S. as well as American popstars and American Universities. The whole time we were wondering how these tiles got here and what it took for one to get to place a tile on the stairs. We were also surprised by just how many people were visiting the stairs that day. We are not sure why, but we sort of thought that they would not be crowded at all. However, we realized that in a city as big as Rio, there are not many places that are vacant. Next, we went to the Cafeteria Colombo which Lucia told us was built in the 1800’s. The interior gave us very European vibes, which we thought was interesting, and we were able to sit down and get a cup of fancy coffee. In looking around, we could tell that this was sort of a tourist spot but also most likely a place for more wealthy Brazilians to come, as the prices were higher than we were used to seeing and people seemed to be dressed nice. 

​While our time in Rio was amazing and very smooth, our journey home was anything but. With multiple flight changes and a 12-hour delay in Sao Paulo, we had a lot of time to reflect on our trip to Rio and our time in Brazil as a whole. All three of us enjoyed our time immensely, not only doing the fun touristy stuff but more importantly, taking part in activities that taught us about Brazilian culture and  history. We will forever be dreaming of Brazilian coffee, will forever remember the cultural importance of Capoeira, and of course, will forever be hunting for our next caipirinha.

​Lily: I think what I learned most of all in Rio was how to be truly independent and how to be flexible when things do not go as you planned them. In Rio, we no longer had things being planned for us at every step in our day like we did in Salvador. We had to figure out what we wanted to do, how we were going to get there, and what we needed to do to prepare for this on our own – all in a new country and one of the biggest cities in the world. Additionally, there was at least one thing each day that threw a wrench in our plans. Perhaps things did not go at all how we expected, our plans were forced to change, we couldn’t communicate with someone, or we simply couldn’t find a destination. In any case, we were able to change our plans and make the most of our time in Rio regardless of the several roadblocks we experienced. I can honestly say I am very proud of us as three white girls from Minnesota who were able to successfully navigate a foreign city in our own and flourish in the process. Overall while in Brazil, however, I learned to have a new massive appreciation for a culture I never thought I would get to experience in a million years. I think I can take back certain aspects that are characteristic of many Brazilians such as being forward with one’s feelings, dancing like nobody is watching, eating all sorts of different foods together, and even hugging my loved ones every chance I get. Brazil may seem like such a faraway place coming from the U.S. that is seen as a great Western power. It may also seem like it was only a small part of my experience in life, but Brazil is a huge country full of such interesting people that have called it home their whole lives and are proud to be Brazilian. I will forever maintain the connection I made with my host mom, and I really hope to go back to Salvador and visit her one day because she taught me so much.

​Bri: The most important lesson I took away from our trip to Rio is the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone. While the study abroad trip as a whole taught me this, I really thought about this after our time in Rio. During the program in Salvador, we were with a group of twenty students, two professors, host families, and of course, Clara Ramos. Our days were very detailed and well-planned out. Rio was the exact opposite. We had to plan our days ourselves, and Lucia and Pedro could only help via WhatsApp. This threw me out of my comfort zone. Yet, this is what I appreciated most about the Rio trip. We were forced to learn how to navigate the language barrier by ourselves, come up with a reasonable schedule, create alternative plans when weather became a problem, and explore a new city all on our own. I am very glad we ended our time in Brazil with a trip to Rio, because it gave me an opportunity to step out of comfort zone and learn more about what I am capable of. 

​Hailee: Overall, the program taught me many lessons, one being adaptability. I’m sure that the other two have written about this, but it was such an important lesson to learn and keep. There were times, even when things were planned for us in Salvador, when something would change our plans. I could either loosen up and go with the flow or I could resist and end up angry or stressed.  I quickly learned that it was better to go with the flow and roll with the punches. In Rio, our boat tour kept getting pushed back or cancelled. We found different things around the area to keep us busy while we waited for the tour guide to respond. Our plans changed many times throughout the day, and it was a great lesson in adaptability and international travel in general. I would say that I’ve changed as a person just from these lessons. I am much more adaptable to situations, and I have a wider worldview just from living in a different country and then comparing two cities within that country. I am super grateful for this program and the experiences it provided me. I met so many great people (like my host parents) and made so many amazing memories that I wouldn’t have otherwise. 

By Kate McGlinch

In studying race, gender and inequality in Brazil, it is impossible to not recognize the structural and interpersonal violence against minority groups in the country. The multilayered discrimination against black Brazilians has sprawled across history and recent times. Coming from the United States, these issues were not unfamiliar to me; During our trip, ten black people in Buffalo, New York were shot to death in a supermarket in a racially-motivated hate crime.

Hateful ideologies feed into many instances of interpersonal violence like this which are, essentially, swept under the rug by the institutions and individuals holding power. Colorblind legislation allows for problems to be “fixed” without being fully addressed or validated. These things happen in both the United States and Brazil.

But while I am fully aware of these issues in the U.S., I had much to learn while studying abroad. Before embarking on our trip, our class read about the history of race relations and the so-called racial democracy of Brazil. We were visited by Ian Carrillo, who had conducted ethnography on how color-blindness manifests today in Brazil’s sugar-ethanol industries, among many other scholars both in-person and virtually. In his article describing his studies, Carrillo identified racial democracy as the portrayal of “centuries of slavery and sharecropping through a nostalgic lens in which masters enjoyed cordial relations with enslaved peoples. Rather than abhorring the power inequalities inherent in the denial of human freedom, racial democracy romanticizes paternalistic relations'' (Carrillo, 58).

I found this elaboration helpful in understanding the public reception of Mestiçagem and Freyre’s theories. Looking at the centuries of slavery and harsh oppression of Afro-Brazilians in this way seems to have provided the people perpetuating it with an escape hatch from guilt or accountability. Meanwhile the racism that continues today, though veiled, remains just as violent and repressive.

We also read chapters from “The Politics of Blackness: Racial Identity and Political Behavior in Contemporary Brazil”, which provided a comprehensive examination into how the identities of Brazilians interact with their political behaviors. In its conclusion, it is stated that “discussion on the role that violence plays in maintaining an Afro-Paradise where foreigners celebrate exotic black bodies at the same time that the state destroys these bodies through terror and killing, highlights how state actors create racial categories for economic and social gain. Exclusion and discrimination are violent” (Mitchell-Walthour, 222). I found this to be a corroboration to Carrillo’s description of color-blindness in Brazil’s institutions today.

In traveling to Brazil and observing life for different people there, I found these conclusions to be very real. While driving around Bahia, I spotted a lot of different billboards. Many promoted music while others marketed healthcare and beauty products. The differences in how these different interests were portrayed, however, seemed odd to me. While billboards for music and some beauty items included more people with darker skin tones, the billboards for healthcare almost always had just white people on them. Though pretty subtle in the grand scheme of things, these billboards seemed to reinforce the idea of higher education and employment in healthcare being more fitting for people with lighter skin. This was especially concerning to me as we had attended lectures talking about the reality of racial disparity in higher education. They emphasized that these pursuits are not “more fitting” of white Brazilians, rather, white Brazilians simply have much easier access to them.

Apart from my experiences in Salvador, the lectures played an important role in identifying institutional violence against black Brazilians. We were visited by Professor Wyllis Santos for a lecture on Afro-Brazilian religions, in which he described the actions taken by evangelical and Catholic churches to suppress Afro-Brazilian religious practices throughout history and today. While the aggressive enforcement of Catholicism happened through colonialism, evangelical pastors today have been teaming up with drug-traffickers in order to target Afro-Brazilian congregations. Additionally, militias (often populated by cops) have also joined forces with drug-traffickers in implementing restrictive power over favelas, especially in Rio, which are often majority black communities (Santos, 2022). These groups do not seem to be held accountable for their violence due to their ideologies being mostly in-line with the country’s current president.

Though this violence against black Brazilians is undeniable, the counteraction of black consciousness and empowerment seems to be supported with an equal level of determination. I was especially impressed by the work of the Pai de Santo Alcides and the Steve Biko Institute in their work for black communities in Brazil. As a practitioner of Candomble, Alcides emphasized positive work in one’s community as a principle of the religion. In his community, he started projects teaching children dental hygiene and building self-esteem in black women by teaching them how to do their hair (Alcides, 2022). The Steve Biko Institute, inspired by Steve Biko’s legacy of black consciousness and citizenship in South Africa, provides a “preparatory class for the entrance exam aimed at low-income black students - the first of its kind in Brazil” (Steve Biko Cultural Institute, 2014). Institutions like these, along with Afro-Brazilian percussion and dances in public spaces, voice opposition against racial discrimination in a sophisticated way. It seems that

Afro-Brazilians have grown more and more unapologetic for their African features, making a case for the importance of these features to Brazil itself. Whether through practicing Capoeira or creating educational opportunities for black Brazilians, there is a strong sense of empowerment in Salvador.
 
Works Cited
 
Carrillo, Ian. 2021. “Racialized Organizations and Color-Blind Racial Ideology in Brazil.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 7, no. 1 (January): 56–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332649220943223.
 
Mitchell-Walthour, Gladys L. The Politics of Blackness: Racial Identity and Political Behavior in Contemporary Brazil. Cambridge Studies in Stratification Economics: Economics and Social Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. doi:10.1017/9781316888742.
 
Santos, Wyllis. “Candomble and Religions in Brazil.” Lecture, Instituto Clara Ramos, Salvador, BA, May 16, 2022.
 
Alcides (Pai de Santo). “The Practice of Candomble.” Lecture, Instituto Clara Ramos, Salvador, BA, May 16, 2022.
 
“Projetos: Pre-Vestibular.” Instituto Cultural Beneficente Steve Biko. Instituto Cultural Steve Biko, 2014. Accessed May 20, 2022. https://www.stevebiko.org.br/projetos

Kate McGlinch is a sophomore at CSB/SJU with a major in Political Science and a minor in Philosophy. She is from St. Paul, Minnesota. Her academic interests include justice and reformation in politics as well as policy for social issues. She looks forward to understanding Brazilian politics and culture in a more holistic way while studying abroad. 

By Julia Krystofiak and Grace Terlinden

Class inequality is very apparent throughout Brazil and was especially prevalent in the city of Salvador, Bahia. One of the most significant manifestations of this class inequality can be observed in housing disparities between the interior and the periphery of the city. The interior of the city houses most upper class and upper middle-class people in Bahia, while the periphery, or suburbs, is home to many lower middle-class and lower-class people. The dominant class status in these distinct areas is represented by available housing, the presence of retail and restaurants, and personal transportation (cars, motorcycles, etc.) among other things.
 
Our host families lived in the interior of the city in upper middle-class neighborhoods called Graça and Vitoria. The interior of the city is abundant with polished high-rise apartment buildings, shopping centers, drug stores, and restaurants. Most people in the interior of Salvador commuted through the city in their newer, personal cars or had family drivers. Their apartment buildings had doormen and maids that watched over and maintained their living spaces. Many of these buildings also had special “service” doors and elevators, representing separation by class even within the interior of the city.

Favelas are large communities often located on the outer parts of larger cities. Our tour guide, Fredi, described the favelas as unregulated communities in which the residents build their own residences and aren’t required to pay rent or any tax on their property, because they essentially have no legal right to the land. The enormous population of the favelas is what keeps the government from forcibly removing the residents but engages in discriminatory practices that keep the residents of favelas from gaining equal opportunities. The two physical distinctions of favelas that Fredi pointed out are: they are located in the outskirts of the city and far away from the “inner city” and favelas expand horizontally while the inner-city expands vertically.
 
The favela communities are typically viewed as dangerous, and the Brazilian police have tried to “pacify” these communities by increasing patrol in the neighborhoods and using other proactive policing strategies (Mitchell-Walthour 2017, 220). Policies such as these claim to be for the public good, but they are proven to be violent themselves, and have resulted in the mass killings of innocent residents (Mitchell-Walthour 2017, 220). Bolsonaro has exacerbated these tensions between racial and class groups, through fueling Brazilians fear of crime (Chagas-Bastos 2019). Recent research has supported the claim that Bolsonaro's “environment of fear” utilized in his campaign, has increased violence between social groups (Chagas-Bastos 2019). Bolsonaro’s position on race and class in general is important to understand the future of favelas and inequality as his impact lasts beyond his time in office.
 
It is important to note that these class disparities are inextricably connected to race and racism (Mitchell-Walthour 2017). Discussions about issues concerning class in Brazil often exclude the role that race plays in class disparities, likely due to the myth of mestiçagem (Mitchell-Walthour 2017, Marshall 2017). Ideas about Brazil being a racial democracy suggest that societal disparities are more related to class than race because the racial spectrum in Brazil produces a society in which racism “cannot exist” (Marshall 2017). In contrast to Freyre’s myth of mestiçagem, class status, in addition to physical features and phenotype, is used in Brazil to classify people into different racial categories (Mitchell-Walthour 2017).  Elites engage with the narrative surrounding inequality by claiming that policies that help to decrease inequalities exist only because of prejudice against elites (Carrillo 2020). This practice of victimizing themselves has subsequently made light of the real racial and economic inequalities that exist and persist because of the elites’ practices (Carrillo 2020).

References:
 
Eakin, Marshall C. 2017. " The Beautiful Game: Performing the Freyrean Vision," in Becoming Brazilians: Race and National Identity in Twentieth-Century Brazil. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316800058.

Fabrício H. Chagas-Bastos. "Political Realignment in Brazil: Jair Bolsonaro and the Right Turn". Revista de Estudios Sociales, no. 69 (2019): 92-100. https://doi.org/10.7440/res69.2019.08


Ian, Carrillo. “Racialized Organizations and Color-Blind Racial Ideology in Brazil,” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 7 (1): 56-70. doi:10.1177/2332649220943223.

Mitchell-Walthour, Gladys L. 2017. The Politics of Blackness: Racial Identity and Political Behavior in Contemporary Brazil.”Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316888742.001.

Julia Krystofiak is going into her senior year at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University. She is pursuing a degree in political science and data analytics and hopes to attend graduate school following her undergraduate studies. She is originally from Mounds View, MN. Julia enjoys learning about gendered power structures, international relations, and civil conflict. She has been involved in multiple research projects focusing on gendered and populist rhetoric, which is extremely relevant to Brazil under Bolsonaro. She looks forward to better understanding human impact on the climate and natural world in the context of Brazil!

Grace Terlinden is a rising senior at the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University, pursing degrees in English and Political Science. She is originally from Big Lake, Minnesota.
She enjoys learning about international relations through her involvement in Model United Nations. She is very excited to learn more about Brazilian politics and life in Brazil while
studying abroad.

By Eliana Schmaltz

After a quick three weeks filled to the brim with travel, tummy warming food, and good company, I finally had some time to slow down and reflect on what I have all experienced, observed, and learned. I was surrounded by people that I have known for such a short amount of time but still felt so comfortable and at home. As I sat watching the kids play at the party, my mom would circle around every so often to send more food in my direction, a lot of which she made herself for days in advance. My sister, Ana, covers for me and tells mom I ate my hot dog when I didn’t. I think the only word to describe how I was feeling was content.
 
I realized there were only moms and their kids at the birthday party. I asked Ana about this, and she said the dads typically see events like this as a waste of time. This stood out to me because Ana had emphasized how these big birthday celebrations were culturally very popular. Reflecting on my three weeks here, I realized how heavily my experience was influenced by women. I lived with my mom, Ana, and Clair. Multiple times a day our neighbor Louanna would come over as well as Mom’s daughter Amanda, Amanda’s girlfriend, and another lady that lives downstairs. While I couldn't always understand the language, I immediately could tell they were all strong, confident women. My subtopic for the course was violence against minorities. In Brazil it is estimated that one woman was affected by violence every four minutes in 2017 and an average of 13 women were murdered each day (Araujo 2021, 123). While I originally learned that this spring, the statistic became even more painful after being in Brazil. In another study, it was found that positions such as head of the family, family provider, and exacerbated sexuality are social attributes of masculinity that incite gender-based violence (Silva 2020). The literature surrounding violence against women, points to gender norms and toxic masculinity as being the driving factors of this generational and cultural violence. Looking within my household, my Mom strongly followed gender norms. On her “get to know me” form, she listed housework as her hobbies.
 
Within our apartment complex, the residents typically were middle aged and white. This didn’t surprise me seeing as we lived in a nice building and racial inequity is a major issue in Brazil. In 2006, Brazil moved slightly down in the ranking of the world's most unequal countries when it was moved from eighth to tenth (Pacheco 2008, 714). There was consistently construction going on throughout our route to ICR. Every person we saw performing manual labor throughout our three weeks was Black. Little instances like this were observable almost every day. For a country with such blatant racial inequities, it is shocking to see these issues overlooked.
 
While homicide occurs globally, we can statistically see that it happens at higher rates in Brazil than in most countries. This is especially true when we look specifically at the LGBT community. According to the World Health Statistics 2019, there were an estimated 477,000 deaths globally due to homicides in 2016. Brazil accounted for around 12.8% of this total, representing the seventh largest homicide rate in the Americas (WHO 2018). My mom's biological children and our host sister Ana are all part of the LGBT community. They do not hide it in public, which I only thought of because of the high rate of violence. The overwhelming amount of violence against minorities that I read about in the U.S. was heartbreaking to read. However, now that I have met people that fall into these vulnerable groups, I am even more disturbed by the danger. If my siblings are anxious about being a part of the statistic, they do not show it at all. If anything, their confidence within themselves seems to reflect their confidence that this violence can change too.
 
 
Araujo, Victor, and Malu A. C. Gatto. 2022. “Can Conservatism Make Women More Vulnerable to Violence?” Comparative Political Studies 55, no. 1: 122-153.
 
Pacheco, Tania. 2008. “Inequality, Environmental Injustice, and Racism in Brazil: Beyond the 
Question of Colour.” Development in Practice 18, no. 6: 713–725.
 
Silva, Andrey Ferreira da, Nadirline Pereira Gomes, Júlia Renata Fernandes de Magalhães, 
Fernanda Matheus Estrela, Anderson Reis de Sousa, Jordana Brock Carneiro. 2020. 
“Social Attributes of the Male That Suscept the Violence by Intimate Partner.” Rev Bras  
Enferm 73, no. 6 (June): 1-7.
 
World Health Organization (WHO). 2018. “World Health Statistics 2018: Monitoring Health for the SDGs.” WHO. https://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/2018/en/.

Eliana (Ellie) Schmaltz is a rising junior at the College of Saint Benedict. She is pursuing a degree in political science and sociology in the hopes to attend law school after graduation. After law school, she would like to be a family lawyer and give back to the community that raised her. Ellie is originally from a small town called Eden Valley located in Central Minnesota. She looks forward to learning more about Brazilian culture and experiencing everything the scenic country has to offer while studying abroad in Salvador.

By Kailee Hagl and Hailee Thayer.

Candomblé is one of many Afro-Brazilian religions that are present in Brazil. Candomblé, along with the other religions, are key aspects of Brazilian culture and heritage. To understand Candomblé, one needs to understand how it was made. Candomblé was made through syncretism. Syncretism is the “process by which elements of 1 religion are assimilated into another religion resulting in a change in the nature of the religion. It creates an entirely new religion” (Lecture on Umbanda and Candomblé, May 16, 2022). This syncretism can be seen in the Sisterhood of Good Death, which practices both Catholic and Candomblé traditions. Cachoeira (where the Sisterhood of Good Death is located) has become a major place for Candomblé and for the preservation of African culture and origins (Lecture on African Diaspora, May 19, 2022). This preservation is a key part of Candomblé because the traditions and histories are passed down to Mãe or Pai de Santo and they are tasked with keeping the information safe. We also learned that there are about an even number of women and men leading the Terreiros, which is vastly different from Catholicism where women are not allowed to be priests.

During Candomblé ceremonies, and even just on Fridays, white is typically worn. For women, a white dress is the usual, and for men, white pants and a white top is normal (Shirey 2012). Our host mom dresses in all white on Fridays along with white beads to represent Oxalá, one of the 12 Orixás. In Candomblé, practioners worship 12 spirits, or gods, called Orixás. The Orixás that are recognized in Brazil are Oxalá, Lemanjá, Xangô, Iansã, Oxóssi, Ogum, Oxum, Exú, Omulu, Nanã, Ossaim, and Oxumaré (Guess which one(s) are Hailee’s). Each Orixá is associated with a color and nature element as well as having a unique symbol.

Kailee’s Experience
I was not allowed to watch Hailee have her shells read, so I waited outside with our host parents. While waiting, I was allowed to take pictures of the outside of the Terreiro. The Terreiro is similar to a church, or place of worship. It is also referred to as a house. The walls were sculpted beautifully with the various Orixás, some finished with color and some not. Outside of the gate, the walls and sidewalk were also sculpted with the faces of the Orixás. Our host dad, Jorge, said everything was sculpted by hand, and is similar to papier mâché. He said it takes a long time to fully complete a sculpture as the details must be perfected before the paint can be added on.

I took this time to interview our dad about the positions or roles they have in this specific Terreiro of Candomblé, since they are practioners. Jorge said his role was to take videos and photos for the Terreiro. He said he also helps prepare for special occasions. Our host mom, Licia, said her role was to prepare food for the Terreiro, and most importantly to make sure the Orixás have everything they need and want. As people were walking in and out of sections of the Terreiro, Jorge and Licia were telling me which Orixás they were. It was interesting because they carried themselves and were dressed in a way that mirrored their Orixás. Finally, since outsiders were not allowed to take photos or videos of the inside of the Terreiro especially while a reading is in session, Jorge was able to show me some of the videos he had taken. Although I did get to go inside of the Terreiro before Hailee had her reading, I did not have much time to get a good look at anything, so it was awesome that Jorge had all this footage of the inside due to his role in Candomblé.

Hailee’s Experience
At the beginning of the trip, I had no idea that I would learn about Afro-Brazilian Religions. Fast forward a couple of weeks and here I am, partaking in a ritual to learn which Orixá is mine and about my life. In the weeks before this, we had a lecture with Pai Alcides about how Candomblé is practiced. He shared that before he started his journey in the religion, he would have seizures (Lecture on Candomblé Practices, May 16, 2022). Ailments like seizures are common among those who were drawn to Candomblé. Injuries or sicknesses are a way for the Orixás to communicate and pull the person towards Candomblé. Something similar was happening to me, but I was having dreams instead of sicknesses or injuries. I had multiple dreams that I was getting my shells read (the ritual I mentioned earlier). The shells are a form of divination that a Mae or Pai do Santos uses to communicate with the Orixás. I did not have just one dream either, it was multiple. The dreams were explained in my reading as a way my Orixás were ‘calling’ me to the Terreiro.

My host parents are practioners of Candomblé and took me to their Terreiro, Bábataósilé. Their Pai do Santos, Pai Mario, was the one who did my shell reading. During the reading I was told who my Orixás are and how they can affect my life. My Orixás are Xangô, Ogum, and Oxalá. Xangô is the strongest one along with Ogum. Both Orixás are warriors. Pai Mario said that these two warriors explain why I am feisty. Along with being a warrior Xangô is associated with lighting and thunder and Ogum is associated with war and iron

During the shell reading, I found out various things about my life and about previous events that happened. Through the shells, Pai Mario was able to see health problems in my family (both my grandparents had recent shoulder surgeries; they’re fine don’t worry). My Orixás were able to communicate with me through Pai Mario and said to be careful with betrayal in my life (which had happened earlier this year). There was so much that was explained in this ritual that it is hard to put it into words. After my reading, Pai Mario told me which colored beads I should have based on my Orixás. My host parents gifted me a white and red strand to represent them.

Works Cited

Pai Alcides. “Lecture on Candomblé Practices” May 16, 2022. Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

Santos, Willys. Lecture on “Umbanda and Candomblé: The History, Tenets, and Practices” May
16, 2022, Salvador, Brazil.

Vatin, Xavier. “The African Diaspora in Bahia: A Socio-Anthropological Perspective” May 19,
2022. Cachoeira, Bahia, Brazil.

Shirey, Heather. 2012. “Candomblé Beads and Identity in Salvador Da Bahia,
Brazil.” Nova Religion: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 16 (1): 36–60. https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2012.16.1.36.

Kailee Hagl is a junior at CSB/SJU and is majoring in Political Science with a focus on law. She also is pursuing a minor in Hispanic Studies, as well as a minor in Latin American Studies. She is originally from Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Kailee enjoys learning about politics in other countries, social justice issues, and analyzing court cases. She looks forward to applying her experience abroad to her academics in her final year at CSB/SJU.

Hailee Thayer recently graduated from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University with a major in Political Science and a minor in Gender Studies. She is from Prior Lake Minnesota. Hailee enjoys learning about the intersection of gender and aspects of everyday life as well as political representation. Hailee also enjoys reading in her free time and playing rugby.

By Ellie Nielsen & Morgan Ebel

Before coming to Brazil, the class completed research projects in different areas. Ours happened to be violence against minorities and the one we decided to focus on was violence against women. Women make up over half of Brazil’s population. Yet they face extreme violence day in and day out. In the nation it is estimated that one woman was affected by violence every four minutes in 2017 and an average of 13 women were murdered each day (Araujo 2021, 123). That was just in 2017. It is a trend in Brazil that violence altogether is very high, especially, through and since the pandemic. More specifically violence against women is continuing to rise as well. In a study published in 2016, researchers broke up their study into two periods 2007-2009 and 2011-2013. 58 municipalities in Brazil partook in the research. They found that between the two periods of time there was an overall 10 percent increase of female deaths by aggression (Ceccon 2016, 2965). Each year since, there has been an expected increase of femicide. Femicide is a concept that was first described by Diana Russel as being a murder of a woman due to the victim being a woman. Russel further accounted femicide to being an act of sexual terrorism on top of it working as a mechanism for keeping women under control (Ceccon 2016, 2964). To say the least, knowing these statistics, traveling to this new country, and Pedro getting robbed the first night was quite a terrifying experience for the females on this trip. The first topic to understand is how gender norms and masculinity play a role in the continual increase of violence against women. Another large facet that is laid out in this research is the relationship between one’s race and gender. Lastly, we will touch on the lecture given to us by Major Denice Santiago from the Ronda Maria da Penha organization.

Gender norms and toxic masculinity are leading causes of increased violence against women. A study was conducted to examine whether women delegated police stations in Salvador, Bahia created a more just system for women. The work looked at gender bias within the police force and found that its environment was more welcoming to women when run by women. The women in these systems were better fit to understand other female perspectives whereas men often felt the need to assert dominance and power. Prime aspects of the police system culture include hierarchal logic where positive value is associated with strong-arm versions of masculinity and negative value is associated with weakness and impotence in femininity (Hatzinger 2002, 146). Another study focused on the relationship between female morality and socioeconomic and demographic status in capital cities. This research found that women that acquire sexual and economic autonomy put themselves at greater risk of femicide as they place themselves against situations of subordination (Ceccon 2016, 2967). On the topic of race, black women in Brazil are two times more likely to face the risk of dying compared to white women (Ceccon 2016, 2965). Studies show that between 60 percent to 70 percent of murders committed against women are chalked up to be femicide and a nerving number of those femicides are young, poor, members of different ethnic minorities, migrants, or sex workers (Ceccon 2016, 2964). It is obvious that women within these minority groups are at an even greater risk of femicide.

Major Santiago first brought our attention to the many challenges women face in Brazil. Women deal with issues regarding wages, social equality, femicide, violence, and much more. Major Santiago brought us the statistic that in Brazil, women between the ages 25 to 44 years old, 21.5% more women finish high school, but earn 23.5% less than men. Further, women only make up 10% of CEOs in the country (Santiago, 2022). From this we can already tell that, in the larger society, women are held to different standards than men and are severely discriminated against. These are similar circumstances to those in the United States therefore, we can relate on some level. However, what we cannot be blind to is the alarming rates, as made clear above, women face violence in Brazil. It is because of these outstanding numbers that Ronda Maria da Penha was founded on March 8, 2015, on international women’s day and named after 11.340/06 Law Maria da Penha. Maria da Penha is a real woman whose husband tried to kill her, twice! Before this law was passed, when a wife would report an incident of violence, the husband would only get community service (Santiago, 2022). This law brought forward five types of violence – physical, moral, sexual, property or possession, and psychological. This is important to put forward in order to educate the public on domestic violence and abuse – which is one of the organization's goals. Along with the main cause being to protect women after they press charges against their partners. In the 7 years that Ronda Maria da Penha has been fighting this battle, all 4,000 women that have been protected by the organization have never faced violence again (Santiago, 2022). All in all, this institution has reached a massive number of people, yet Major Santiago reminds us that the society has a long way to go in regard to violence against women.

It is easy to see that there are serious issues surrounding violence against women in Brazil, and ones that have caused extremely unsafe environments for all women. Major Santiago touched on the inequality all women in Brazil face. However, we see that women of color are even more likely to fall victim to violence. We also acknowledge that many of these issues are often caused by toxic masculinity and the need for power and dominance. While there are some reforms happening, Brazil must continue to fight against these violence's to lessen its tolls. The relationship between race and gender is essential to continue learning about in the wake of this catastrophic violence epidemic.
 
Bibliography
Araujo, Victor, and Malu A. C. Gatto. 2022. “Can Conservatism Make Women More Vulnerable to Violence?” Comparative Political Studies 55, no. 1: 122-153.

Ceccon, Roger Flores, Ian Meneghel Danilevicz, Vania Naomi Hirakata, Stela Nazareth Meneghel, and Bruna Alexandra Rocha da Rosa. 2016. “Femicides: a study in Brazilian state capital cities and large municipalities.” Ciencia & saude coletiva 22, no. 9 (January): 2963-2970.

Hatzinger, Sarah. 2002. “Criminalizing Male Violence in Brazil’s Women’s Police Stations: From Flawed Essentialism to Imagined Communities.” Journal of Gender Studies 11, no 3: 243-251.

Santiago, Denice. “Challenges of Women in Brazil.” Class lecture at Institute Clara Ramos, Salvador, Brazil, May 26, 2022.

Ellie Nielsen is a rising junior at CSBSJU. She is a psychology major with a focus in criminal psychology, as well as a political science minor. She and her family are from Farmington, Minnesota. She likes to read, spend time outside, and be surrounded by friends and family. 

Morgan Ebel is a sophomore at the College of St. Benedict and the University of St. John’s University. She is originally from Farmington, Minnesota (no, she does not live on a farm). Morgan enjoys reading, working out (yoga, lifting, basketball, etc.) and spending time with her puppy named Teddy.
 
Morgan is pursuing a degree in political science and a minor in sociology. Hopefully attaining a law degree in the near future.

By Brianna Kreft

She joined the police force when she was eighteen years old. She founded a violence against women faction in the police force. She was the first Black woman to run for mayor of Salvador, Brazil. She is the one and only Major Denise Santiago.
 
During our second week in Brazil, we had the chance to meet with Major Denise Santiago for a lecture on the challenges of being a woman in Brazil, or more specifically, the violence that women face in Brazil. Major Denise is a major in the Salvador Police Department, and has been with the force for thirty-two years. She works in a division called Ronda Maria da Penha, which is dedicated to protecting women against violence.  Major Denise shared the history of the important legislation that forbids domestic violence against women and told us about the women’s violence prevention programs that Ronda Maria da Penha has founded.

First, Major Denise taught us about Lei 11.340/06, the piece of legislation that forbids domestic violence against women. Lei 11.340/06, or more commonly known as Lei Maria da Penha, is named after a woman who suffered excessive violence at the hands of her husband, but did not receive help from the police. Her husband tried to kill her not once, but twice. The first time, her husband shot her and she was paralyzed from the waist down. The second time, the husband tried to electrocute her while she was in the bath. After reporting both these tragedies, Maria still did not receive any assistance from the police. Major Denise said that this was because Brazil’s culture says that if a husband and wife—or partners of any sort—are arguing, outsiders are supposed to stay out of it. It is between the couple, and no one is supposed to intervene. That did not stop Maria. She gathered a group of women and took her case to the United States, where she was able to make enough noise that the Brazilian police force finally had to listen to her. Before this law, if women reported domestic violence, their partner would either not receive any punishment, or only be sentenced to community service. Thanks to Maria’s hard work and dedication, Lei 11.340/06 created protection for women against domestic violence.
 
Lei Maria da Penha outlaws five types of violence against women. The first is physical violence. This is the most common type for the police to reprimand, because it is the most visible. Women will have bruises, scars, or in extreme cases, even missing limbs. The second type of violence that is forbidden with this law is moral violence. This means that a male partner cannot use degrading language toward a woman in public. The key word here is in public. If a woman is being morally violated within private spaces, it is much more difficult for them to be protected. The third type of violence that is protected is sexual violence. Sexual violence, according to this law, applies not only to martial rape, but also to the man’s power over the woman’s use of contraceptives. It forbids the male partner from banning the female’s use of contraceptives. Patrimonial violence is the fourth type of violence that is protected under Lei Maria de Penha. This refers to violence against a woman’s possessions. A male partner cannot use violence against their female partner’s documents, money, or assets or any kind. The final type of violence is psychological violence. This is the most difficult kind of violence to protect against because it does not leave marks that the human eye can see. It is emotional abuse that damages a woman’s mental well-being and self-confidence. All five of these types of violence are protected against by Lei Mari de Penha.
 
Major Denise went on to tell us about the prevention work that the Ronda Maria da Penha facilitates. One of the prevention programs is called Espelho. Espelho is a board game that Major Denise created herself. Women play the game and encounter realistic situations that depict different kinds of domestic violence. After reading a card and its given situation, the woman chooses how she would act in that situation. If she asserts self-confidence, she moves ahead a few spaces. If she takes the side of the aggressor, she moves back a few spaces. This game is played with fellow women, to build confidence. Another prevention program headed by this police division is the Ronda Para Homens. This is a group of only male officers who talk with men about women’s violence in an attempt to dissuade future violence. Jogos de Futebol is another prevention program that the Ronda Maria da Penha has created. The division found that after soccer matches, domestic violence against women increased by 27%, because male partners got upset about the outcome of the match and took it out on the women. So, Ronda Maria da Penha increased their presence inside Bahia soccer stadiums, and led a soccer themed campaign with the slogan “violence against women is a serious penalty.” Finally, Ronda Maria de Penha leads a violence prevention during carnaval called Carnaval Com a Ronda. This program increases police presence in both private and public parties, focused on spotting violence against women.

Major Denise Santiago has been an agent of change for women’s violence in Brazil. When her days get hard, she remembers one word: Sororidade. This means sorority. Major Denise’s belief in sororidade led her to run for mayor of Salvador, because she knows that only women can create public policies that protect women. She believes that women must not compete with each other. Instead, they must lift up the sororidade. To end her lecture, Major Denise left us with a beautiful sentiment. She said that to her, sororidade is like a mosaic. We [women] are all one piece of this mosaic. When one woman has an achievement, we are all happy for her. When one of us is murdered, it hurts us all, because we are all pieces of one mosaic. It is this sororidade that connects all women and will protect all women.  

Brianna Kreft is a senior at CSB/SJU, majoring in Political Science, and minoring in Environmental Studies and Psychology. She is originally from Elbow Lake, Minnesota. Brianna enjoys learning about gender issues and women’s empowerment. She has participated in multiple research opportunities focused on gender-related social justice issue. Brianna looks forward to being able to learn more about the country that she has been researching for the past two years.

By Hailey Karnowski

As my time here in Brazil comes to an end, I thought I would share two of the most memorable experiences that I had that deepened my understanding of Brazilian culture and led me to further question the persistent topics regarding gender.

Earlier this week, our group had the pleasure of hearing from Major Denice Santiago who is a police officer in Salvador and has helped create a branch of the police force focused strictly on violence against women. Major Denice informed us about the horrors that women face in households, and how justice was rarely sought due to the fear of not being believed or not having any resources in the first place. I had figured that there was still inequality between men and women—since some of our prior research had suggested that—but was clueless to the fact that violence against women ceases to exist across many aspects of the culture.

Before traveling, one of the subtopics we studied was gender’s role in Brazil. One article explained how Brazil still sees a lack of representation of women in power and it was not until 1994 that a woman was elected at the state level (dos Santos and Thomé, 2021). Knowing this, I thought it was amazing that Major Denice started in the police force at the age of 18 and holds a high ranking, but she mentioned to us that there is only so high of a position that women officers can get. Another article expressed how massive the women’s movement in Brazil was to gain the ability to vote only to be faced by backlash, and Major Denice’s talk amplified the idea that this movement has yet to see full equality (Maruci, 2018).

Back to Major Denice’s important topic discussed in her lecture—the violence against women in Brazil has plagued numerous households and has not received the social and governmental attention that it needs. Thankfully, Major Denice helped start a program to solely assist in cases and incidents regarding violence against women, but an earlier experience that I had led me to believe that this violence might not just be in the household.

Last week, those who wanted to were able to see a live Brazilian soccer match at the stadium in Salvador. For those unfamiliar with Brazilian soccer, soccer or “futebol” is arguably one of the most significant parts of Brazilian culture and helps unite the states and country. As an article we explored suggested, soccer is so popular because anyone can play it no matter the race or socioeconomic background and the sport has become a part of many Brazilians’ identity (Eakin, 2017). It truly brings all sorts of different people together, and as a person who loves sports, it was incredible to see this in person.

The game started out like any other major league sport with fans cheering, people buying cups of beer, and guys selling snacks throughout the crowd. However, as the game became tied and the fans became frustrated, I heard numerous sexist slurs being yelled at the players, referees, and even to other fans. I was shocked at some of the things that were being said—of course I know how Americans can get with hockey and football—but it was maddening hearing that the slurs regarded women. It was not until after the game during our lecture with Major Denice that I found out that soccer games are a huge driving force with domestic violence and that the special taskforce actually stays at the stadium to ensure that no women are being harassed or hurt. It was extremely eye opening that a sport so important to a nation holds some toxic behaviors that further the inequalities that women face in society. This experience made me look at Brazil on a more intersectional level, and I realized that although things like soccer are important for unity, there still may be some people that are disadvantaged from it.

Although our course explored inequalities persistent in Brazilian culture, I think it is important to note the changes that are currently being made for a more equal and equitable society for women and other marginalized groups. Since the beginning, powerful women activists have made monumental impacts on the culture that is seen today. Take Bertha Lutz and Dilma Rousseff for example. The two women fought against all odds to further women’s rights and gain political power (Noriega, 2020). Since then, women like Major Denice Santiago have been continuing this journey to fight for women’s rights, and their actions have not gone unnoticed. I can only hope that Brazil and the United States continue these efforts toward equality.

Works Cited:

Eakin, Marshall. “The Beautiful Game: Performing the Freyrean Vision” (2017). In Becoming
Brazilians: Race and National Identity in Twentieth-Century Brazil (New Approaches to the Americas, pp. 165-199). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781316800058.007

dos Santos, Pedro A. G. and Thomé, Débora, "Women and Political Power in Brazil"
(2021). Political Science Faculty Publications. 70.
https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/polsci_pubs/70

Maruci, Hannah. “Women’s struggle to vote in Brazil: same fight, different strategies” (2018).
Oxford Human Rights Hub. https://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/womens-struggle-to-vote-in-brazil-same-fight-different-strategies/

Noriega, Christina. “Herstory: 12 Brazilian Women Who Changed the Course of History”
(2020). ReMezcla. https://remezcla.com/lists/culture/herstory-brazilian-women-changed-course-history/

Hailey Karnowski is a rising senior at the College of Saint Benedict, pursuing a major in sociology and minor in political science. She is originally from Farmington, Minnesota. Hailey is the new president of the CSB rugby team and works for IT Services. She hopes to work in social work or criminology after graduating and is looking forward to gaining new experiences and perspectives while studying abroad.

By Betty Garcia Herrera

What is Pantanal you ask? It’s a telenovela that my host family seems to have their eyes glued to! Just as wehad returned from our trip to Morro de São Paulo, I couldn’t help but observe that my host mother rushed to feed me a quick snack before the premier of the newest episode of Pantantal came on. Her mother, my host grandma, would repeatedly warn her that it would be starting any second as she tried her best to juggle her tasks – “Valeria!” “Valeria!” (my host mother’s name) shouted by her mother as she waited for her to return to the television. “Television has thus become the most significant shape of the image of Brazilian national identity, both internally and externally” (Stam 1995). The living room is quite a distance from the kitchen, and with that she tried her best to converse with me about how my trip was but I knew she wanted to go watch her telenovela so I cut our conversation short. It was quite adorable to have seen her try to make sure I was comfortable, but it made me wonder what this tv show was all about.
 
Next day goes, and I asked my avo what the title of the show was named. She said "Pantanal", and after a quick google search, it is “a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by TV Globo that premiered on 28 March 2022" (Wiki 2022). As I read it was from TV Globo, I was reminded of the covered material in our CD mod class. Our assigned book readings, "Globalizing Brazil" from Becoming Brazilian by Marshall C Eakin. Reading what was related to their programming of telenovelas, "Globo’s creative personnel effectively forged a genre that became quintessentially Brazilian and, at the same time, became one of the most important venues for the national conversation on Brazilian identity" (Straubhaar 2007). With the growing hold TV Globo had on the population of Brazil, I wondered if it was censored into certain topics, but as I read on in the chapter, “The lead writers of the novelas often sought to create a national conversation about critical societal issues – racism, gender roles, corruption, and social justice" (Eakin 2017). This was relieving and interesting to learn about. TV Globo could’ve quite easily become a network that targets the relatability of the elites/higher class, but instead perfected this sort of shift in the production that categorizes telenovelas to be the main topic of inequality, race, and gender!! “Despite spirited debates about the content of novelas, their portrayal of race, and their impact on Brazilians, critics generally agree that they have provided the most important forum for the conversation about national identity since the 1960s” (Eakin, 2017).
 
I decided to tune in, and watch one of the episodes of Pantanal. I didn’t quite understand what was going on, but knew something tragic was going to occur as the suspenseful music would increase through the screen. It did seem quite interesting, and be drawn towards the likability of the male characters as they would have some tension between the male character and a female character. It’s honestly something I would watch voluntarily, but to see the emotions my host family would experience as their favorite character would lead towards trouble was truly unforgettable. TV Globo telenovelas have significantly impacted Brazil, and those who are loyal viewers, like my host mother, view programs that provide the subject of these inequalities with passion and emotion. "Each, in its own way, provided virtually all Brazilians with a vision of Brazil and its place in the world" (Eakin 2017).
 
Works Cited

Eakin, M. (2017). “Globo-lizing” Brazil: Televising Identity. In Becoming Brazilians: Race and National Identity in Twentieth-Century Brazil (New Approaches to the Americas, pp. 136-164). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781316800058.006

Joseph D. Straubhaar, World Television: From Global to Local (Los Angeles: Sage Publications, 2007), 152-57.

Robert Stam, João Luiz Vieira, and Ismael Xavier, “The Shape of Brazilian Cinema in the Postmodern Age,” in Brazilian Cinema, eds., Randal Johnson and Robert Stam, Expanded Edition (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995), 391.

Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, May 23). Pantanal (2022 TV series). Wikipedia. Retrieved May 25, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantanal_(2022 TV Series)
 

Betty Garcia Herrera is an upcoming sophomore at College of Saint Benedict. She's currently majoring in environmental studies on a pre-engineering track. Her hometown is Worthington, Minnesota. Betty loves being apart of the conversation on social justice issues. During her time in Brazil, she hopes to analyzed more deeply how race and gender are important categories in understanding the country’s struggle for social and economic development.

By Kailee Hagl and Hailey Karnowski

There are many political and social expectations we thought we would experience and observe while in Brazil. Throughout the semester, we studied race, gender, and inequality in Brazil. We read literature that focused on the LGBTQ+ community, political ideologies, environmental issues, and much more. In our study abroad portion of the class, we have observed and experienced specifics that either confirm or deny our expectations of Brazil after reading scholarly literature. We also find it important to address common misconceptions that we were able to debunk through our observations here.

Much of our research prior to our trip to Salvador included the movements, notably high violence, discrimination, and misconceptions surrounding LGBTQ+ rights. With Brazil being the massive, diverse country that it is, we assumed that much of this could be visible amongst society and in the media in Brazil. According to one of our authors, Omar Encarnación, Brazil is “world-renown for celebrating sexual diversity and gender non-conformity” and persists in social movements despite political backlash (Encarnación, 2018). On Monday, May 17th, some of our expectations of the visibility of the LGBTQ+ movements were supported. Our trip to Pelourhinho, Salvador happened to be the same day of an LGBTQ+ historic day. Sure enough, hundreds of people crowded the streets celebrating the day of anti-homosexuality. Other than this one account, the appearance of LGBTQ+ culture and acceptance have yet to be seen—although this could be due to differences in culture and expression amongst the LGBTQ+ community in Brazil.

Importantly, our research regarding LGBTQ+ rights in Brazil highlighted the high rate of violence against transgender and other LGBTQ+ individuals. With Brazil being one of (if not) the most dangerous countries for LGBTQ+ identifying individuals to live, we expected there to be some sort of acknowledgement of the presence of the transgender and gender non-conforming community. One article we explored mentioned not only the violence against LGBTQ+ members, but the negative actions such as deadnaming and religion enforcing that persists in Brazil as well (Calling, 2020). Again, we expected to see or hear about some of these encounters while being immersed in the Brazilian culture, but it is more than possible that the unfamiliar language spoken and lack of exploration of the entire culture has limited our observations. Despite this, we did expect to see more openly expressive LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming community members than we have thus far.

The literature about environmental issues addresses the ever-expanding urbanization of the country as well as the fight to preserve vegetations, especially the Amazon. So far in Brazil, we have seen how much of the larger cities are constructing more and more housing. This confirms our expectations as previous literature has stated metro areas in Brazil are expanding and deforestation is occurring. One author concludes, “Despite the effort to integrate the activities of conservation and preservation with the demands for expansion of the city, urban areas are still advancing on remaining vegetation areas” (Young 2013, 113). This also addresses our expectations as we expected to see efforts of conservation in populated areas that are continuing to grow. We constantly see workers planting trees and various plants; however, we also see buildings in construction everywhere. Therefore, what we have observed while abroad have both confirmed and denied our expectations.

There are also common misconceptions that are important to address when discussing Brazil. The first is that Brazil is a poor country. This is not the case as Brazil has one of the quickest growing economies and is rich in natural resources. The country has a steadily increasing GDP as well.  Although there are many poor areas with hillside houses, there are also many rich areas with skyscrapers. The second common misconception is that Brazilians do not experience racial inequality since they are essentially a melting pot of race and culture. This is also false, and there is literature to help confirm; “Inequality persists in Brazilian society and black activists have struggled to create a more equitable society” (Mitchell-Walthour 2017, 20). The inequality Afro-Brazilians experience affect them in all aspects of their lives, especially education. While abroad we learned about the Brazilian education system and how the system is rigged to benefit the rich and white, while making it harder for those who are black or poor to get into a federal university after high school. This confirms that Brazilians do experience inequality in their everyday lives.

Overall, there are many political and social expectations we thought we would experience and observe while in Brazil, and our lectures, experiences, and observations have helped us to come to these conclusions. A final thought to keep in mind would be that everything is not always as it seems, and actually observing and experiencing something for yourself is an efficient way to conduct research and find answer to our hypotheses.
 
References
 
Calling, Nikita. 2020. “Stigmatization and Discrimination: A Qualitative Case Study of the
Transgender Community in Brazil.” Lund University LUP Student Papers. https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/search/publication/9011192
 
Encarnación, Omar G. 2018. “A Latin American Puzzle: Gay Rights Landscapes in Argentina
and Brazil.” Human Rights Quarterly 40 (1): 194–218. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.csbsju.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=127958474&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
 
Mitchell-Walthour, Gladys. 2017. The Politics of Blackness: Racial Identity and Political Behavior in Contemporary Brazil. The Politics of Blackness: Racial Identity and Political Behavior in Contemporary Brazil. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316888742.
 
Young, Andrea. 2013. “Urbanization, Environmental Justice, and Social-Environmental Vulnerability in Brazil.” In Urbanization and Sustainability: Linking Urban Ecology, Environmental Justice and Global Environmental Change, 95–116. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5666-3_7.

Kailee Hagl is a junior at CSB/SJU and is majoring in Political Science with a focus on law. She also is pursuing a minor in Hispanic Studies, as well as a minor in Latin American Studies. She is originally from Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Kailee enjoys learning about politics in other countries, social justice issues, and analyzing court cases. She looks forward to applying her experience abroad to her academics in her final year at CSB/SJU.

Hailey Karnowski is a rising senior at the College of Saint Benedict, pursuing a major in sociology and minor in political science. She is originally from Farmington, Minnesota. Hailey is the new president of the CSB rugby team and works for IT Services. She hopes to work in social work or criminology after graduating and is looking forward to gaining new experiences and perspectives while studying abroad.