Lewis the Lion checks out the Brazil-liant beaches

When Lewis the Lion eventually awoke, he was reminded how he definitely wasn’t in England anymore with the sound of the whirring fan near his bed. My goodness how it was hot in Brazil! In fact the average temperature during the day in Brazil during February was in the 30 degrees centigrade range! Thats because he’d arrived in summertime in Rio de Janeiro as he was now in the Southern Hemisphere. (When it’s wintertime in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s summertime in the Southern Hemisphere and vice-versa). That would mean that Helen would be wearing shorts, t-shirts, sunglasses and lots of suncream during their stay there. None so much as on the beautiful Brazilian beaches where Rio de Janeiro had perhaps two of the most famous beaches in the world: Copacabana and Ipanema. They were famous for their long, white swathes of sand set against a backdrop of the stunning Rio mountains, such as Sugar Loaf Mountain and the Two Brothers. They were simply “Brazil-liant!”


Lewis the Lion loves making up new words. Can you see what he’s done here? He’s taken the words ‘Brazil’ and ‘brilliant’ and squashed them together to make a new word! In linguistics we call this technique a ‘portmanteau’.

Maybe you could have fun inventing some of your own new words too?!


The beaches in Rio de Janeiro are a focal point for the social life of many of its 6 million inhabitants and Lewis just loved sitting on the sunny beach and watching the world go by.

 

There were people of all shapes and sizes and people of all shades and colours enjoying the beach life, with the boys and men usually wearing speedo swimming trunks and girls and ladies wearing Brazilian bikinis.
First of all, he smiled to himself as he could hear people whooping with laughter as they entered the blue, inviting sea for a spot of wave-jumping. The waves were huge and came crashing down on the shoreline but deceptively, the water was much colder than it looked and so people were often quite shocked when the waves suddenly crept up on them! The cold water was definitely a contrast to the burning sun. However, after a little bit of time, your body adjusted to the temperature and the sea was a great place for an invigorating swim.


Lewis also loved to listen to the sounds of the beach. If he closed his eyes, he could hear not only the crashing waves sweeping up the shore but the many voices of the hawkers on the beach selling all kinds of goods. There were some offering parasols and chairs, then others selling sandwiches, empanadas (a type of thick bread with a filling), ice lollies and soft drinks. (Lewis the Lion will tell you more about soft drinks in South America later on). There were others selling beautifully coloured sarongs (which were a great alternative to a beach towel as they would dry much quicker in the sun). Then more beach-sellers still offering a range of jewellery, henna tattoos, suncream, sun-hats, hammocks, toys and even a range of bikinis and swimming trunks! Each beach vendor had his own distinctive cry and they all seemed to fill the air. Some could speak a range of languages, not only Portuguese, as at this time of year, Carnival time, there were many visitors to Brazil. One hawker even stood and sung Lewis his very own Brazilian song! In fact you could stay in the same place all day long, without budging an inch as the world seemed to come to you on both Ipanema and Copacabana beaches.

Here is a video of what Lewis the Lion could see and hear on Ipanema Beach.

However, not wanting to be lazy as Lewis the Lion knows how important it is to get regular exercise, he and Helen along with her friends took a lovely walk along from Ipanema to Copacabana along their famously wide, black and white cobbled walkways.

Lewis the Lion noticed that the Carioca (the inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro) we’re an active lot as there were specific cycle lanes running parallel to the pathways, with people riding bikes, skateboards and jogging along. There were also outdoor multi-gyms, dotted along the walkways were men especially did pull-ups and sit-ups and generally flexed their muscles! On the beaches, there were special designated areas for beach volley-ball and beach football which would be floodlit at night.

Lewis was excited to see the skill of the footballers as there was one group of three friends who managed to play a game of keepies-up which seemed to last for at least 5 minutes!

The Brazilians have a worldwide reputation for their football prowess and watching this group of friends it was no wonder. Lewis knew that the Football World Cup would be coming to Brazil in 2014. However, he wondered if on his journey he might get an opportunity to see a live Brazilian football match? He would try his best!
Lewis also noticed on the beach that there were surfing schools and it was little wonder with such fabulous waves. Brazil also has a reputation for being one of the top surfing destinations in the world and with its sunny beaches, it was little wonder why.
All along the walkways were many kiosks and beach bars. Many of them were selling a strange looking drink. It looked like people were clasping an enormous green coconut in between their hands and sucking out the contents through a whole in the top through a straw. They were called piƱa verde and were indeed green coconuts, with a sweet tasting and refreshing nectar.

They weren’t the only new drinks that Lewis the Lion was introduced to in South America. Two others were called matte and guarana’. Matte is a type of tea which is drunk traditionally in Argentina and guarana’ is a type of fruit that you get in Brazil that is an acts an energy boost. In fact Lewis the Lion would soon discover that there were many new fruits and vegetables that he had never heard of, that didn’t even have English names, in South America.
As Lewis the Lion was in Brazil during the traditional Brazilian holiday period, he saw that the beach was awash with red umbrellas and deck chairs. The vast numbers of people on the beach was a good sign for the many artists trying to sell their wares or who simply wanted people to admire their work. One such artist was a sand-sculptor and Lewis could not believe the detail that had gone into his creation made entirely out of sand. He’d even sculptured a sand model of Christ the Redeemer!

Apparently, this whole piece of fragile art had taken the sand-sculptor 29 days to create and Lewis felt very privileged to have met such a talented artist.

Have you ever seen any sand-sculptures before or a piece of art work that you were really impressed with? Can you describe it to your friends or teacher? If you could create your own sand-sculpture of your city, what would you design?

About Helen Molloy

Helen Molloy has been a Primary Learning and Teaching Consultant, leading on the introduction of Primary Languages in the City of Stoke-on-Trent for the past 5 and a half years. She is passionate about language learning and inspiring children into developing a curiosity and awareness of other people's languages and cultures.
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