JULY
1998
LETTERS

Horrified
Non-subscriber

After reading an article about my favorite singer in your magazine I automatically placed it in my favorite places, expecting to later read articles as interesting as the one I just read. I was disgusted when I recently saw an article on Carla Perez. The pictures you used were on a pornographic level and very offensive. I had my 10 year-old sister watching while I had to quickly close the page.

Then I read about your magazine and how 70% of your readers are Americans. How degrading to Brazilian women, like myself, to have to see that. What I would like to know is if there's an age limit in purchasing your magazine, and if not do you plan to issue one after this horrid article. One thing I can assure you is that on this level of writing you'll never have my subscription or my respect.

Via Internet
GMT74@aol.com 

In Praise
of Real
Feijoada

Just read "Brazil's national Entrée" by Eng Tie Ang. The article was a selection of feijoada recipes. I know that feijoada recipes are as different as the regions they come from, however, Eng persists in all of these recipes to make corned beef and ham hocks part of the ingredients. I am not Brazilian, but lived there for two years from São Paulo to Maceió, Campina Grande and Recife. Never have I eaten or seen a recipe using corned beef or ham hocks. This is an Americanized version! No feijoada purist in Brazil would use these meats in a feijoada completa. Please correct me if I am wrong. Now for the pièce de résistance, no recipe that I have seen on the Internet as yet has the one important ingredient for flavor listed. The ingredient is at least one cup of fresh orange juice added to the mix.

Darrell Rogers
Via Internet — EDRjr@aol.com 

Proud and
Grateful

I am very happy to know that there are outside of Brazil people as dedicated as you are to our country. Congratulations. I enjoyed to see the poll on your WEB site showing Fernando Henrique Cardoso as the favorite to be our next president. Cardoso who is also our current president was the only chief executive who was able to end inflation so much so that the Real was worth more than the American dollar. The Brazilian people are very happy with their president and they are going to reelect him. Thanks again for what you are doing for my country.

Dr. Roberto von Haydin
São Paulo, Brazil

Reference
Site

I've just discovered Brazzil through a message at the Pat Metheny Group's site. I adored reading the article on Paulo Bellinati and knowing that your magazine exists. People from other countries are always asking me about subjects like Milton Nascimento, fire in the Amazon forest, Brazilian instrumental music, Carnaval, Djavan, etc. I think Brazzil would be perfect for all of these people interested in Brazil. Congratulations. May you have a long life. I've already placed you on my favorite-sites file and I am going to spread the news.

Carmita Lion
Brazil, Via Internet

Just For
a Change

I have a suggestion about the letter column of your newspaper. I think instead of most of the letters describing how bad or how good of a job your magazine is doing I would find it more interesting if people would comment about their experiences, etc. about Brazil. Me being a beach lover I believe that Canoa Quebrada and Porto Seguro are the nicest beaches in Brazil. It anybody out there knows of any nicer beach, please respond to Robert at jits@earthlink.net 

Robert Hardebeck
Via Internet

Atrocious
Doubt

I just received my first issue of Brazzil. I have been reading it slowly and carefully and enjoying every word in it. For a Brazilian magazine you sure have a lot of articles in English. It is supposed to be the opposite. Let us have more articles in Portuguese.

I avidly read Artificial Fruit supposedly unpublished article. Thank God it was in Portuguese. I am beginning to think that Brazzil was the brainchild of some gringos who were never able to master the Portuguese Language. Could that be true? Sure hope not. Just to show you that my heart is in the right place, please send a subscription of Brazzil to my sister. Incidentally I hate to see the name Brasil spelled with a `z'. Couldn't we start a movement to change it?

David C. Pereyra
Poway, California

No Changes,
Please

I really enjoy your magazine. I was in Brazil for two months last year, and reading your magazine always makes me want to return. You always have a great mix of topics, which reflects Brazilian culture more accurately than anything else I have read. Keep up the good work and please don't change. Please renew my subscription for another two years

Denise Ogawa
Los Angeles, California

My Brazilian
Heroes

I just read the article in Brazzil about Paulo Bellinati. Thanks to Bruce Gilman for that informative piece of work. I am an American guitarist who visited Brazil as a high school exchange student (AFS), and fell in love with the music. I play bossa nova and MPB style acoustic guitar, my heroes being (predictably) João Gilberto, Baden Powell, Paulo Bellinati, Raphael Rabello, João Bosco, Chico Buarque, Edu Lobo, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Rosa Passos, Luiz Bonfá, Garoto, Tom Jobim, Vinícius, and numerous others.

John (Joãozinho) Scott
Via Internet

The Answer:
Our March 96
Cover

I'm a student at La Guardia College and I'm doing research on Brazilians in New York City generally, and in the Ironbound, Newark, specifically. I've looked for information on the topic for a long time, but with no greater luck. Therefore I was wondering if you might have any information or if you know somebody that does? The type of information I'm interested in is history of migration, assimilation and general information on the Brazilian community in NYC. If you know anything, I would highly appreciate if you would let me know. I've already tried the consulate and the tourist center.

Patrik Bolling
New York, New York
pbolling@hotmail.com 

Reading For
the Longing

We used to live in Brazil and go back every year. We are very partial to the Amazonas area as we lived in Santarém do Pará. We hope your magazine will be interesting and I don't get too homesick when we read it.

Robert P. Leonard
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

(Web) Surf
Is Up

Your Web page (brazzil.com) is becoming more awesome than ever. Please keep up the incredible contribution to us all. May I ask that you program that really cool music of the Nordeste to continue to play during the entire browsing of the page instead of just while looking at the opening page.

Barajo J. Araujo
Kauai, Hawaii

Toronto
PD Blues

It seems that the "to serve and protect" only counts in Toronto if your community has enough representation on the Police Force. Since the World Cup began, St. Clair Avenue, also known as Corso Italia, has been closed by the Police for celebrations every time Italy wins (or even ties). Most Brazilians live in the area of College and Ossington. Last

Saturday we were peacefully celebrating our team's victory on College Street. Police officers were there to prevent us from celebrating in the middle of the street. Public transportation had already arranged for what they assumed was logic: College would be closed at least until midnight.

We asked why they wouldn't close College, if St. Clair had been closed since morning. Some of them explained to us that it must be because there are many Italian cops on St. Clair.

All of a sudden, a teenager was arrested. Witnesses said the only crime he committed was celebrating in the middle of the street (wrong street, I guess!). The fans were not aggressive, but were of course upset; the police response was to call in the Special Unit. They were there the whole night, intimidating us. Now, I always thought I was paying those guys to be diplomatic, well trained and smart. No, they keep using their brains as do police officers in some other countries (sounds familiar?).

Toronto is home to about 7,000 Brazilians. A recent Toronto Star issue counts us as 2,515, based on information from Stats Canada. That shows how many of us can afford standing up for our rights. And the ones who can don't have the political or financial power necessary to have the respect Toronto Police Department owe us at least as taxpayers.

I really enjoy seeing Italians celebrating their team's achievements. I believe that Brazil and Italy have strong ties. Italians make up 414,310 of the City of Toronto population. Although they have been here for at least 80 years and have the political power we Brazilians will never get the same unless we can finally make up our minds and decide on where we want to spend our lives! I prefer to believe that they don't enjoy seeing us being intimidated, arrested, shoved and beaten up by the police during our celebrations.

Talking to other Brazilians, their general comment is that being violent and aggressive has been a constant behavior for the Toronto 14th Division. In the celebration that followed the Morocco and Brazil match, a female police officer simply started beating up a Brazilian fan who was doing absolutely nothing to deserve it, until he fell on the ground. Teenagers have been shoved around. Intimidation is the norm.

Eugênia Jardim
Toronto, Canadá

Can't you find Brazzil at your Brazilian consulate? Don't ask us why, ask the consulate.

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