Argentina

Brazil's 7-1 semifinal loss to Germany on Tuesday will go down as the worst loss in Brazil's soccer history. Just take a look at the front pages of the national newspapers: "Massacre" "National Team suffers the worst loss in history" "The loss of losses'" "Humiliation at Home" But why is this the worst loss in history and what does it mean for Brazil? Prior to last Tuesday's game, the worst loss in Brazilian soccer history was the "Maracanazo" in 1950 (the game took place at Maracanã stadium in Rio). It was the World Cup Final and Brazil only needed a tie to win it all as it used to be a Round Robin format. Brazil went up early in the second half 1-0, but Uruguay came back to win 2-1 in front of  speechless 215,000 fans (still the World Record). The loss was compounded by the fact that Maracanã had been built by Brazil for the 1950 World Cup and was a symbol of Brazil's modernity and emergenc...

We went to Iguaçu Falls two weeks ago. I had gone in 2008 with my mom and sister, but only on the Argentinian side as the Brazilian side required a visa, which I did not have at the time. In 2014, I did have the visa to Brazil; however, upon speaking with people at the hostel, Argentina has a newly implemented visa requirement for Americans of $150. Hardly worth forking over $150 plus park entrance fees to see the Argentinian side for one day. Plus Sandra didn't have her immigration papers. So, my situation was exactly reversed between 2008 and 2014 in terms of having the right visas for two bordering countries. A bit unusual in my opinion. Here are the pictures from 2008 of what Iguazu normally looks like.  Beautiful right? That's not how Iguazu looks right now. Brazil is experiencing extremely unusual weather patterns that many believe are due to Climate Change. There is a huge drought in Sao Paulo as a pocket of hot air is sitting above the state caus...

Being in Brazil for the World Cup is different than I thought it was going to be. You think Brazil and you think World Cup and you immediately assume that they country that embodies o Jogo Bonito (The Beautiful Game) is going to love to be the host of the world's greatest sports spectacle. This is the idea I went to Brazil with. When I first arrived, everything seemed to be fitting in with this idea superficially. There are Brazilian flags everywhere, Brazilian jerseys and horns are in every market and store front, and people are wearing Brazilian jerseys. But when you start to talk to people about the World Cup, you realize that it is a much more complicated issue. While Brazilians mostly like soccer, or futebol, many are extremely upset over the quantity of money spent in preparation for the World Cup, mainly stadiums. The most obvious example is Manaus which is remotely located in the middle of the Amazon rainforest and hardly accessible by car. The Brazilian...