Brazil

Brazilians put a lot of emphasis on their family and kinship.  Most Brazilians love children and are very attached to their parents.  They have a large circle of aunts, uncles and cousins.  Also included are godchildren and godparents.  Divorce as well as formal and informal remarriage are now becoming more common.  Some women are the head of their own households, and families often include children from different marriages or unions. This is now socially ok.

One of the favorite holidays in Brazil is New Years, because no matter what religion you are everybody gets together for a big party.  If you live close to the ocean everyone there dresses in white and goes to the beach at night to see fireworks and we give presents to Yemanja who is the ocean goddess.  They eat grapes and make wishes for the new year to be good.  Carnival is another very important holiday.  It is kind of like Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  Everyone dances and sings to music in the streets.  The celebration can go for a week or more.  It begins just before Easter each year.  Brazil is also famous for the world cup soccer.