Pop Culture: Protesting

After two dictatorships (the most recent and violent of the two lasting from 1964-1989) Brazilians take their right to complain and be heard very seriously. 

As such, protesting is a huge part of pop culture. Anything about the way things are run can be grounds for a protest.

Anything.

Don’t believe me?

When my mother was in university the students were sick and tired of always being fed boiled eggs (ovo cozido). In true Brazilian style, they took the famous chant of

o povo                               the people

unido                                 united

jamais será vencido          will never [ever] be beaten

and tweaked it a bit.

Then, they took to their campus’ cafeteria chanting

o ovo                                 the boiled egg

cozido                               

jamais será comido!           will never [ever] be eaten!

until the cafeteria staff agreed to fry the eggs once in a while. 

While my mother has no picture of the protest, here’s a similar situation:

The Technology Federal University of Paraná (UTFPR) has the most expensive university cafeteria in the country. In 2013 the students felt that the the price was ridiculous for the quality of food they recieved.

Lo and behold, this happened: 

Bottom right:

beterraba de novo? - radishes again?

Top left:

comida ruím eu msm faço - if I wanted food that tastes bad I would cook it myself

Literally, “food that tastes bad I can make [by] myself”

au au au pelo menos bota sal! - at least put [some] salt [in the food]!

Note: While “au au” can mean “woof woof” in this case it is meant as a sound that that rhymes with sal (salt).

Top right:

temos o RU mais caro do país - we have the most expensive university caff in the country

RU stands for “restaurante universitário” (university restaurant), the Brazilian term for an university cafeteria

Side note: Brazil does not distinguish between university and college. Almost all post secondary education takes place in universities. The other version is called a faculdade (faculty), and the only thing that distinguishes it from an university how many courses it offers. Also, federal universities have the reputation for being the best universities in the country (as opposed private ones), and (like with all public universities) are tuition-free if you manage to pass the tough and extensive entrance exam (vestibular).

Educate Yourself!

Preschool is optional, and is referred to as "Educação Infantil" ([Early] Childhood Education).

Elementary or Primary is known as "Educação Fundamental" (Basic Education).

Middle School or Secondary School lasts 3 years, and is known as "Educação Secundária". 

A grade or year used to be called a "série" (which is also our word for "series", by the way). The education system was recently changed and they are now officially referred to as "anos" (years). This change was rather new, so you'll likely hear a number of people refer to grades as séries. 

I'm a 90's kid, and grew up going to segunda série (Grade 2), etc. As far as I know it was still called a série when I moved to Canada in 2001. That's how recent the change is.

Homeschooling is not an option in Brazil, to ensure no kids are being kept home to work.

Educate Yourself!

Education in Brazil is a Federal domain.

In Brazil kids in elementary usually only go to school for half the day. You're either part of the morning class or the afternoon class.


Teachers in Brazil are known by their first name, never their surname. Calling someone Mr./Ms. Surname is considered extremely formal. This goes for all levels of teaching, including university. The closest we come to that is adding Mr./Ms. before an elderly person's name, and even then it's not an absolute you-will-be-shunned-for-not-doing-it must (eg I called the co-principals of my school in Kindergarten/Grade 1 Dona Otília and Senhor Daniel, but that was because they were both well in their seventies/eighties).


A class (especially Primary) is often referred to as a "turma" (usually translated as "gang" but with the modern connotations of gang turma is actually closer to "team"). You would use it to say something like "Eu sou da turma da tarde, a turma da Marlene" (I'm in the afternoon class, the class [taught by] Marlene).

When not using the teacher's first name students often call their teachers “professor/professora” (teacher). The word is often also shortened to “Fessor/Fessora”.


Recess is called "recreio". 


There are three interchangeable words for homework: 
- Dever de casa (literally, home duty)
- Lição de casa" (literally, home lesson)
- Para casa (literally, for home)


Graduation from High School is not considered a big deal. The graduation that gets all the praise and cool gifts is graduating university. 


Colégio does not mean college. It is another word for escola (school). (Eg. Colégio Santo Agostinho merely means "Saint Augustine School").


There is no distinction between college and university in Brazil. They are both known as universidade (university).