In São Paulo’s boho-chic neighborhood of Vila Madalena, graffiti artists have claimed a couple of streets as an impactful open-air gallery of revolving exhibitions. Depicting city life, Brazilian slang, “Blackee Power” (the Brazilian term for a stay-sof-Fro!), and national pride, these murals stand testament to the city’s resurgence, unlike their unfortunate counterparts in New York.
Photo Essay: Madalena Murals Read More
Currently, I’m running around São Paulo collecting data and testing out adjectives for use in the reviews I’m writing for the Total São Paulo guide. Meanwhile, I’ll leave you armchair travelers with a little retro footage from SP’s nemesis, Rio de Janeiro, to spark the wanderlust and maybe incite a couple of ticket purchases to Brazil.
From the AV Room: Brazilian Air Read More
A powerful triumvirate of lyricists, CHOC QUIB TOWN hails from Quibdó, the impoverished capital of the mostly-black, oft-maligned, and federally-neglected department of Chocó, on Colombia’s Pacific Coast. In what is virtually the Mississippi of Colombia, the African heritage of the residents, relatively un-integrated with the rest of the country, foments a profound but largely overlooked
Global Juke Joint: Colombian Gold Read More
If you’ve slept on getting that little blue book, the price tag’s gone up quite a bit as of today. But you still can’t put a price tag on the personal development and enjoyment that comes from international travel, and you can’t get fly without a government-issued passport. By age thirty, everyone should have one.
Getting Your Walking Papers: Price-Increase Edition Read More
Ages ago, when a young, collegiate Fly Brother was interning on Capitol Hill in DC (we’re talking at the turn of the century), I was asked by one of the other interns if I was Cape Verdean. Cape Who? She was from Boston and told me I looked Cape Verdean, and I was like, “Whatever
Shouts to My Cape Verdean Play Brother Read More
Often, the best way to improve skills in a language different from your own is to utilize them under adverse circumstances. As proven by The Nanny, New York’s true mother tongue is Yiddish, and my 24-hour ordeal to fly from The City to Jacksonville on a buddy pass provided ample opportunity to strengthen my flimsy,
How Flying Standby out of LaGuardia Helped Me Practice My Yiddish Read More
This weekend, I’m in The City for a travel blogging conference, TBEX ’10. And while I stood sweating in the sweltering Times Square subway station today with every color and creed on the globe represented on that platform, I remembered a post from last year, in which I compared the two capitals of the English-speaking
Re-titled Re-post: I Definitely ♥ NY Read More
Few places stimulate the imagination for better or worse than India, though travel posters seem to have focused primarily on elephants, the Taj Mahal, and multi-armed Hindu deities to sell a continent-sized country full of over a thousand languages and just as many cultures. Still, the colorful, detailed designs make up for the lack of
Vintage Travel Posters: India Read More
A Brazilian airline’s image of Brazilians: A Korean airline’s image of Brazilians: Just sayin’. Please don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @FlyBrother, and “like” me on Facebook! You can subscribe, too!
From the AV Room: Brazil in Black and White Read More
Afro-Belgian musical group Zap Mama has effused pan-African rhythm and flow for the last 20 years, badooing and doowapping on politics and partying in English, French, and Bantu. Started by the striking Congolese-born, Belgian-bred Marie Daulne, and using their voices as musical instruments, the all-lady ensemble carries you from London to Lyon to Lagos with
Global Juke Joint: Mama Used to Say Read More
