Soul Brasil Issue 117

Don’t Have Enough Money To Travel? We Will Guide You With Some Ideas For Your Dream Trip!

If you are inclined to say the phrase “I don’t have enough money to travel” please continue reading. First, if you really would like to travel and know other places, people and even other cultures, your first lesson is: make it a priority and plan for it! If travel is not a priority for you, you will always find some other things to spend money on and you’ll never have “enough” money to travel.

In the case o Sandra Domingos, one of our regular contributors, life couch and backpacker traveler, a car is not a priority for her. “I can use the metro, bus, uber (or BlaBlaCar), bike or simply walking to reach where I go. I never have enough money to go shopping every week or to spend it in a fancy or new trend restaurant, because I put travel first over these things”.

FIND OVERSEAS JOBS

Not making enough money at your job? Why not get a job overseas? There are plenty of opportunities in the world

as long as you aren’t picky – and after all, this isn’t a career you are starting, it’s just a way to earn money for travel. Here are some jobs you can get to pay the bills and fund your travels: Au Pair, Hostel Worker, Waitress/Waiter, Casino Worker, Cruise Ship Worker, Tour Guide and Dive Instructor (some certification is required), Seasonal Worker at Ski Resorts or Farmers. These jobs don’t require advanced degrees or a lot of work experience either. Of course, with this type of job you will get a shitty, lowwage job but that will pay your expenses while traveling and knowing the world.

Here are two websites that will help you find some overseas jobs: www.ciee.org (Council on International Educational Exchange Work Abroad Program) and the www.bunac.org (BUNAC for Work, Intern and Volunteer Abroad). Why not teach English or Portuguese or your native language overseas? You can make good money teaching and it is one of the best ways while traveling.

“I have an American friend teaching English while in Brazil and another teaching English while in Thailand. The world is yearning for teachers and this is a job in high demand. I have heard that companies in Asia will even pay for your flight over, said Sandra.

FLIGHT TICKETS

To jump start your trip, there are so many ways to earn free flights. “The most popular way is sign up for credit cards to collect miles and then fly for free. Most cards offer sign-up bonuses up to 30,000 points – and if you sign up for both an airline card (let’s say American Airlines) and a general rewards card (let’s say Amex card) you can combine the two point balances and get a cheap flight faster” said Magali DaSilva, our Travel Agent and Tour Organizer. The best way to reach the points you need is to pay as much as you can on the same card.

All airlines have special offers with all the big stores such as Amazon, Apple, Best Buy and Target. Shopping at those preferred stores will earn you 2 to 4 miles per dollar spent- sometimes even more. If you spend 1,000 dollars a month, you can earn up to 3,000 miles just by going through their websites. So watch out of deal, shop at their member stores and put everything on the card.

FIND CHEAP TOUR AND ACCOMODATION

Do you know that there are services that connect travelers with locals who are willing to let them stay with them for free? Using this site you will never have to pay for accommodation. We mention Couchsurfing – www.couchsurfing.com (*best) and Servas – www.servas.org. Other options are taking care someone’s house while they go on theirs. You can sign up for one of the sites to follow and watch people’s homes for free, allowing you to stay in one destination for a while and get to know it well without having to pay for accommodation. Added bonus: you get a kitchen to cook your food! We mention House Carers – www. housecarers.com and Mind My House –www.mindmyhouse.com.

Do you know there are free walking tours and that you can learn about the city, get

your bearings, and see the major sights? In Europe, you can find them in 90% of the major cities. Also a few in large Asian cities, New York and Australia. For Europe check www.neweuropetours.eu, to Australia check www.imfree.com.au and for New York check www.bigapplegreeter.org.

You can also find these tours by asking the local tourist office or Google “free walking tour + city name”.

ALTERNATIVES TO SAVE MONEY WHILE TRAVELING

You can also save a lot money while traveling using simple rules like learning to cook (to save a lot of money, skip the

restaurant and cook for yourself or even, make money cooking for others); getting rail passes (booking ahead of time can usually save you about 50% of the cost of a train ticket, especially in Europe); sleeping in large dorms (If Couchsurfing is not your thing, this is your next best way to save money on a place to sleep); using student and other discount cards (if you are a student or under 26 or a teacher a lot of places offer discounts for you); and getting city tourist cards (which offers you discounted and free access to the major attractions and museums and in some occasions, even free public transportation.

The main point here is that there are several ways to travel and know other places, different people and cultures even with a few hundreds. You do not need to be rich to travel. Like we said in the beginning of this article, the most important thing is to put it in priority and go for it studying and planning your options. Hope you liked this article and that we can be helpful. Have a nice trip! Go for it!

* For airline tickets from the United States to Brazil or Latin America, custom travel packages, hotels and alternative stays, contact our travel agent and tour organizer, Magali DaSilva (323)428-1963 or visit www.soulbrasil.com/travel

Número de Visitantes Internacionais e Gastos de Viagem nos EUA Volta a Crescer e Brasileiros São um dos que Mais Visitam e Gastam na Terra do Tio Sam

Segundo dados divulgados em Abril de 2023 pelo Escritório Nacional de Viagens e Turismo (NTTO) dos Estados Unidos, apenas no mês de março, os visitantes internacionais gastaram quase US$ 16,8 bilhões em atividades relacionadas ao Turismo no país, o que representa um aumento de mais de 49% em relação a março de 2022. O dado marca o 24º mês consecutivo de ganhos ano a ano.

Por outro lado, os americanos gastaram um recorde de US $17,4 bilhões em viagens ao exterior, gerando um déficit na balança comercial de US $572 milhões no mesmo mês. Os americanos em 2023 parece que entraram no clima de viajar, o que esta fazendo com que muitas empresas aéreas americanas se recuperem mais rapidamente.

Dados preliminares divulgados pelo Bureau of Economic Analysis sugerem que os visitantes internacionais

gastaram mais de US$ 49 bilhões em viagens e bens e serviços relacionados ao Turismo nos EUA no acumulado do ano (janeiro a março de 2023), um aumento de quase 61% quando comparado ao valor gasto no mesmo período em 2022. Os visitantes internacionais injetaram, em média, mais de US $545 milhões por dia na economia dos EUA no acumulado do ano.

Os Estados Unidos devem receber 21% a mais de visitas internacionais em 2023 e se prognostica que chegara aos 62,8 milhões. Em 2022 esse numero foi de 51,8 milhões. Se estima que a visitação internacional chegará a 82,4 milhões em 2025, superando a visitação prépandêmica de 2019, de 79,4 milhões. Já para 2027, a visitação internacional deve ser de 91 milhões de pessoas. Se alcançado, esse número excederia a meta de 90 milhões de visitantes em cinco anos definida pela Estratégia

Nacional de Viagens e Turismo dos EUA em 2022 para reconstruir e fortalecer a indústria do turismo no pais. Ainda se prognostica que esses mais de 90 milhões de visitantes internacionais gastariam US$ 279 bilhões em todo o país.

Por sua vez, os brasileiros adoram viajar para os “states” e a terra do Tio Sam em 2022 recebeu mais de 1.2 milhão de brasileiros - e 137 mil apenas em janeiro de 2023. O Brasil é considerado o sétimo maior mercado internacional emissor de turistas para os Estados Unidos, ficando atrás apenas da Coréia do Sul, China, Japão, Reino Unido, México e Canadá. No ano de 2022 foram 1.225 milhão, um aumento de 412% se comparado ao ano de 2021, mas ainda 41% a menos do que a margem de 2 milhões de brasileiros de 2019.

60% of Workers are Employed in Professions that Didn’t Exist in 1940

Anew report by investment bank Goldman Sachs says that AI could replace equivalent of 300 million jobs and a quarter of work tasks in the US and Europe. But it may also mean new jobs and a productivity boom, and it could eventually increase the total annual value of goods and services produced globally by 7%.. Generative AI, able to create content indistinguishable from human work, is “a major advancement”, the report says.

EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS

“We want to make sure that AI is complementing the way we work in the UK, not disrupting it - making our jobs better, rather than taking them away,” UKTechnology Secretary Michelle Donelan told to the English newspaper Sun.

The report notes AI’s impact will vary across different sectors - 46% of tasks in administrative and 44% in legal professions could be automated but only 6% in construction and 4% in maintenance, it says. In a previoulsly investigation of BBC News some artists concerns AI image generators could harm their employment prospects.

LOWER WAGES

Carl Benedikt Frey, future of-work director at the Oxford Martin School, Oxford University, said to BBC that the only thing he is sure is that there is no way of knowing how many jobs will be replaced by generative AI. He added “What ChatGPT does, for example, is allow more people with average writing skills to produce essays and articles”.

We can agree with him and we can add that journalists, as exemple, will therefore face more competition, which would drive down wages, unless we see a very significant increase in the demand for such work.

Consider the introduction of GPS technology and ride sharing platforms like Uber and lyft in the U.S. Suddenly, knowing all the streets in Los Angeles or New York City had much less valueand so incumbent drivers experienced large wage cuts in response, of around 10% as the new report, and resulting in lower wages, not few drivers. Over the next few years, generative AI is likely to have similar effects on a broader set of creative tasks.

PINCH OF SALT

According to research cited by this report, 60% of workers are in occupations that did not exist in 1940. But other research suggests technological change since the 1980s has displaced workers faster than it has created jobs.

And if generative AI is like previous information-technology advances, the report concludes, it could reduce employment in the near term. The long-term impact of AI, however, was highly uncertain. The chief executive of the Resolution Foundation think tank Torsten Bell told BBC News, “so all firm predictions should be taken with a very large pinch of salt.

We do not know how the technology will evolve or how firms will integrate it into how they work”.

That’s not to say that AI won’t disrupt the way we work, but we should focus too on the potential living-standards gains from higher-productivity work and cheaper-to-run services, as well as the risk of falling behind if other firms and economies better adapt to technological change.

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Editor’s Letter / Carta do Editor

We have reached our 21st anniversary! It all started in 2002 with a project that I had in mind and with much love. The planning was, of course, to bring rich content about Brazilian art and culture, but also, awareness for a healthier life and a better and cleaner planet.

We wanted to help build a cultural bridge between Brazil and the United States, and California in particular, but we wanted to do something different from what other Brazilian media were doing at the time. And I, surrounded by friends (yes, women!) who were yogis and/or therapists, and/or activists who embraced the idea, got the necessary impetus to put the project forward.

In the first five years of Soul Brasil, these types of themes and approaches were almost 60% of the magazine’s content - which was launched on June 8, 2002 during an annual Brazilian summer event at the Ford Theater in Hollywood.

Since then we published 74 free printed editions (distributed in more than 200 points) with circulation that varied between 5,000 (first three) and 15,000, until the May/June 2015 issue, when we completed 13 years. At this time we decided to stop the large print scale to start adopting the strategy we have used to date with free digital issues and print-on-demand and paid versions.

After the pandemic, things became more difficult for many and also for us when we lost several of our advertisers and sponsors. In 2023 we lost our biggest advertiser and sponsor. Because of this and to continue our 21-year history, starting in June we will take another step to survive and will include a donation button on our website and possible subscription system. We hope to have the support of many of our readers!

Health and Peace,

TO CONTACT US

By phone/whatapp: 1(424)206-0538

By email: info@soulbrasil.com

By mail: 10480 National Blvd #208 Los Angeles, CA 90034

ADVERTISING INFO/MEDIA KIT

www.soulbrasil.com/advertise-info

SOUL BRASIL TEAM / CONTRIBUTORS

Editor in Chief: Lindenberg Junior.

Copy Editor: Giovanni DaSilva.

Writers: Lindenberg Junior, Lara Lanna e Julia Melim.

Contributor Writer: Tyler Baker

Translators: Amanda Peter and Miguel Albanez.

Photographer: Claudia Passos.

Videographers: Andrei Litinov and Nicolas Sophia.

Video Presenters: Mariana Rodrigues.and Thuany Salvioli

Art & Design: Thiago Padilha

Webmaster: Alexandre Loyola.

Administration: Magali da Silva.

Social Media: Isabella Felicetti and Magali DaSilva.

OUR MISSION

Inform and educate our readers as well as build relations and networking with Brazilians, Brazilian culture lovers and the conscious living community. Also, offering exposure to the products and services of our advertisers and partners.

DISTRIBUTION/CIRCULATION

In June 2022 we completed 20 years on the road and since the last issue of 2015, we stop printing large quantities and distributing the magazine for free. Since then we are working with printing on demand company and started to charge a flat fee for the printed cost. We still print 500 magazines with each issue but our power of outreach with no doubt is through different and innovative digital platforms such as the flip digital format with ISSUU, the eBook format in PDF. Together, with each issue, we expect a total outreach of approximately 35 to 45 thousand readers worldwide, with more readers located in California

SUPPORT US

Use your purchase power with our advertisers and sponsors. They support us and you will help us supporting them! Let they know you are a Soul Brasil reader and supporter, and that you have seen their AD or message in our pages.

SOUL BRASIL MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY KISUCCESS PUBLISHING

All rights reserved. Advanced written permission must be obtained from Soul Brasil magazine or Kisuccess Publishing for the contents. The opinions and recommendations expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Copyright 2002-2022 Soul Brasil magazine and Kisuccess Publishing.

We offer different options using different platforms and tools.

Lindenberg Junior

Parceria Entre Azul e United Inclui Voos Para 6 Novos Destinos nos Estados Unidos

As empresas de viagens aéreas Azul (brasileira) e Unite(americana), que mantêm acordo de codeshare, anunciaram a expansão a seis novos destinos nos Estados Unidos ampliando as opcoes para os viajantes internacionais.

De acordo com as empresas, os voos serão direcionados a Chicago, Denver, Cleveland, Washington D.C, Los Angeles e São Francisco. As vendas terão início no mês de maio (2023), no site e aplicativo da Azul e voos a partir do dia 10.

Segundo o anúncio, os passageiros que saírem do Brasil têm como de entrada nos Estados Unidos

as cidades de Fort Lauderdale e Orlando, ambos na Flórida. De lá, poderão fazer conexão para as outras seis cidades mencionadas.

“A expansão do acordo com a United é mais um passo na missão da Azul em oferecer a melhor experiência, tanto em voo quanto na oferta de destinos. Estamos acelerando nossa presença internacional e agora nossos clientes poderão sair dos nossos hubs e, com um único bilhete, ir para cidades modernas, vibrantes, repletas de cultura e oportunidades profissionais” , declarou o diretor de Alianças, Planejamento e RM da Azul, André Mercadante, ao portal de turismo brasileiro, Panrotas.

A Azul opera (maio de 2023) 17 voos diretos que conectam Estados Unidos e Brasil. Os partindo de Fort Lauderdale com destino às cidades de Recife (PE), Viracopos (SP) e Belo Horizonte (MG), mais antigos, e como mencionamos em um artigo anterior, desde dezembro de 2022, para Manaus (AM) e Belém (PA). Em ambos os estados do Norte do Brasil, as operações ocorrem em aeronaves Airbus 320 neo, com capacidade para 174 passageiros.

Há ainda outros 12 voos que ligam Orlando para Campinas (SP) e futuramente para Recife (PE) e

Top 10 Expensive California Zip Codes and Affordable Alternatives

Prospective buyers in California may have trouble landing their forever homes in cities like Los Angeles, San Diego or San Francisco due to expensive home prices.

For those who still want to live near the big cities and have a little flexibility on location, a 2023 new report from Go Banking Rates reveals which California neighborhoods are cheaper alternatives to those famous, yet expensive, areas.

TOP 10 MOST EXPENSIVE ZIP CODES IN CALIFORNIA:

1) Atherton (94027):Typical home value is $7.36 million

2) Pallo Alto (94301): Typical home value is $6.016 million

3) Hillsborough (94010): Typical home value is $5,903 million

4) Beverly Hills (90210) : Typical home value is $5.11 million

5) Los Altos Hills (94022): Typical home value is $4.26 million

6) Hidden Hills (91302): Typical home value is $4.24 million

7) Santa Monica (90402) : Typical home value is $4.17 million

8) Montecito (93108) : Typical home value is $3.94 million

9) Rancho Santa Fe (92067) : Typical home value is $3.9 million

10) Newport Beach (92657): Typical home value is $3.86 million

TOP 10 CHEAPER ALTERNATIVES FOR HOME BUYERS:

1) Clearlake: Average home price is $221,967

2) Coachella: Average home price is $232,000

3) Fresno: Average home price is $242,050

4) Barstow: Average home price: $253,617

5) Apple Valley: Average home price is $255,000

6) Rialto: Average home price is $313,400

7) Bakersfield: Average home price is $330,409

8) Crescent City: Average home price is $346,556

9) Victorville: Average home price is $ $406,826

10) Modesto: Average home price is $440,150

The average home price (Jan 2023) in San Francisco is over $1.2 million while in San Diego and Los Angeles is over $900,000 according to Zillow data.

Como o Trabalho Remoto Influenciou o Aumento do Consumo de Álcool e Drogas nos Estados Unidos

Ouso de álcool e maconha ou mesmo drogas como cocaína e metanfetamina parecem ser cada vez menos atividades destinadas para o pós-expediente. Esse é o resultado de um estudo realizado em novembro de 2021 pela Sierra Tucson - empresa que atua na recuperação de dependentes químicos - que afirma que cerca de 20% dos trabalhadores nos Estados Unidos admitiram usar drogas recreativas enquanto trabalhavam remotamente e, além disso, que costumavam estar sob a influência de drogas durante reuniões virtuais.

Um outro estudo, de maio de 2022 feito pela Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, estima que o número de americanos de 25 a 54 anos com transtornos por uso de substâncias aumentou 23% desde a pré-pandemia. Cerca de 27 milhões de pessoas, ou seja, cerca de uma em cada seis pessoas que estavam empregadas no país na época do estudo.

Esconder o uso de drogas ou substâncias ilicitas do chefe existe desde que existem chefes, mas antes da pandemia a maioria dos excessos se limitava ao horário comercial.

Dentre as diversas mudanças instauradas pela pandemia, diversos especialistas afirmam que os acordos

de trabalho remotos ou híbridos ainda se mantiveram e podem ter deixado uma tríade perigosa para algumas pessoas: a proximidade com drogas e álcool fora da vista dos colegas de trabalho - afinal, estamos na segurança de nossas casas - e as constantes cobranças para se manter a produtividade diária.

TRABALHADORES DEPENDENTES QUÍMICOS

Além do aumento de transtornos mentais - afinal nunca se falou tanto em ansiedade e depressão quanto de 2020 para 2023, o retorno ao trabalho presencial, gradual ou em formato hibrido, tem revelado dependências químicas em diversos funcionários. A princípio, os empregos que concentram os menores índices de usuários de substâncias químicas são os que mantém medidas de segurança, como o acesso dos funcionários a psicólogos e a obrigaçãode fazer testes de drogas regularmente.

O fato de estar em casa, de não precisar ir para nenhum lugar, de não ter supervisão rigorosa de chefes, de ver de qualquer forma o dinheiro estava entrando no final do mês, e para muitos, de achar que o mundo estava se acabando, se tornou uma tempestade perfeita para alguém com problemas de abuso de substâncias.

OVERDOSE DE DROGAS POR EXCESSO DE TRABALHO

Mas se o vício em drogas, em especial as mais pesadas, tem se tornado um risco para a saúde pública nos EUA, o aumento de casos de morte em

horário de trabalho pelo abuso das substâncias também se revela como uma grande problemática social. As mortes acidentais por overdose de metanfetamina, por exemplo, expuseram ainda mais o abuso por parte de trabalhadores com alto nível de funcionalidade.

O fentanil, um opióide barato que vem substituindo a heroína, é comum ser comprado em formato de pílulas prensadas (metaafetamina). Especialistas no entanto, estimam que entre 5% e 10% de cada cocaína adquirida nas cidades da Costa Leste (L.A e Sao Francisco por exemplo) dos EUA está misturado com fentanil - um

opioide sintético até 50 vezes mais forte que a heroína e um importante fator contribuinte para overdoses fatais e não fatais nos EUA. É importante ressaltar que pessoas que parecem ter uma vida muito funcional, com aparente sucesso profissional, estão abusando de grandes quantidades de cocaína regularmente.

A PROBLEMÁTICA E O DESPERTAR

Com a crescente problemática, diversos profissionais da saúde e de recursos humanos aconselham as empresas a exigirem que gerentes e supervisores se informem regularmente se os funcionários sentem a necessidade de buscar suporte psicológico. Afinal, a suspeita de uso indevido de substâncias é melhor tratada com apoio e empatia de pessoas treinadas para isso.

O problema continua longe de ter uma solução rápida e em parte porque muitos desses usuários e trabalhadores ainda não perceberam o problema. No entanto, alguns começam esse despertar à medida que o trabalho deixa de ser remoto ou híbrido e podem enxergar melhor com a volta das exigências e responsabilidades da era pré-pandemia.

It’s Never Too Late to Learn that Tomorrow Never Comes

If you have a few dirty dishes in the sink, no worries. You can always get to them tomorrow. You don’t feel like doing them right now, and that’s okay. There’s always tomorrow. Wrong! Tomorrow never comes. All you ever have is the present moment. There’s this moment in time right now, and that’s it.

You’re probably thinking that tomorrow is almost on the horizon already. If today’s Monday, you know tomorrow is Tuesday. We get that. What we mean is that if you regularly adopt the policy that you can do today’s tasks tomorrow, you will eventually see a tomorrow with too much to accomplish. You’ll have tons on your plate because you kept procrastinating, and your responsibilities have piled up.

THE NEGATIVE POWER OF PROCRASTINATION

SolvingProcrastination.com is a website all about, you guessed it, procrastination. They want to share a lesson that time eventually teaches us all. Procrastination is dangerous.

If putting things off hasn’t caused any real harm in your life, good for you. The problem is, that scenario might be telling you that if you procrastinate every now and then, what’s the big deal? Don’t fall into that mindset, that way of thinking.

The negative effects of procrastination are plenty. How serious are they? Check out this warning published on the website we just mentioned.

“Procrastination is associated with a variety of dangers and negative effects, including worse academic performance, worse financial status, increased interpersonal relationship issues, reduced well-being, and worse mental and physical health.”

That’s rather scary. What’s even more bothersome is that the person who procrastinates often gets dealt with several of those issues simultaneously. They’re closely related because of certain behaviors.

Frequently putting things off can be very stressful. That stress attacks the body internally. Your overall health and well-being worsen, and you might have self-esteem issues because you never accomplish everything.

DO IT TODAY OR WRITE IT DOWN

If you’ve got something small to do, something that doesn’t take much time, do it. Stop reading this right now and go and do it. If it requires more time, planning, or the accumulation of resources, break out your day planner. Write it down. Schedule it. You get much more done in your life when you write things down. This has been proven in several studies.

Stop procrastinating. It can wreck your mental and physical health. Procrastination ruins relationships and does damage in so many other ways. Stop putting things off unnecessarily. This is a lesson life’s ticking clock eventually teaches all of us, but you were reminded of it today, so you’ve got a jump on Father Time.

Expressions of National Culture, Samba, Women and Leadership

By Tyler Baker and Cecilia Ferreyra

On May 4 2023, the Brazilian congress, under President Lula da Silva enacted Law 14,567 declaring that Samba schools, their parades, music, rehearsals and traditions be recognized as expressions of national culture. This highly significant political development provides a timely backdrop to this discussion of women leadership in Samba.

While the African diaspora in Brazil sees Samba as a movement of cultural resistance and resilience, many within Brazil and in other countries are socialized into Samba solely through the Rio Carnaval, the biggest show on earth, a commodity that generates millions in revenue in tourism and television.

Tia Ciata, Dona Neuma, Dona Zica, Tia Surica, Vovo Maria do Jongo, among others, are names that marked the history of Samba as women that through their faith, religious practices, cooking, dancing and teachings became

real vehicles for the preservation and dissemination of Samba. One of our goals in our collaboration with Soul Brasil was to find out more about women in leadership in Samba, their experiences and their perspectives.

During our trip to Rio de Janeiro in February 2023 we had the privilege

of interviewing six women who have achieved a distinguished position in the Samba world, and who have inspired us with their stories, journeys, and experiences: Pipa Brasey (Samba and Bossa Nova singer, member of Portela), Thai Rodrigues (Passista and Queen of Rio Carnaval 2022), Mari Mola (Passista and Queen of Carnaval 2023), Nilce Fran (Coordinator of the Passista Wing of Portela), Cintya Santos (First Flag Bearer of Mangueira) and Teresa Acevedo (Samba artist and teacher based out of France and lead of the Project Ta no Pe).

Together they brought us to a richer understanding of the current meaning as well as the future for women leadership in Samba, particularly in the context of the Rio Carnaval, the iconic symbol of Brazilian cultural across the world. Leadership in this article is the art of motivating a group of people to act toward achieving a common goal or value.

Their first introduction to Samba and first source of inspiration was found in their extended families and communities: their mothers, aunts, grandmothers, fathers. All six leaders had in common that although they came from working families who may had struggled financially, they provided them with the treasure that is the Samba culture. They talked about being raised around dance and music within their homes, in the street parties, or in the quadras of the Samba schools in their communities.

“I had my sisters as my reference, because my family breathed Samba. I grew up seeing my father dancing, playing Samba. My house was the sambista cradle” said Nilce Fran. To them, Samba is community, culture and expression, a way of life that was part of their upbringing, and the Samba schools were place where they found their identity as black women. Importantly, these female leaders also recognized the key role that Samba has had in their lives in terms of creating opportunities for personal and career development, and how they are invested in giving back to Samba.

They highlighted as one of the main challenges for Samba the need to retain a connection to its African roots while evolving to adapt to changing times and interests. Issues of representation are central to this challenge, not only in terms of the skin colour and body frame favoured for high profile positions like queen of drums but also in terms of the style of dancing.

Cintya Santos, Mangueira’s First Flag Bearer, talked about how being black and “fat” make people not believe on her potential as a dancer, and about gaining their respect only after they see her dancing. As many dancers from outside their communities and with classical training start to join the Samba schools, interviewees described a growing effort to try to codify Samba and make it more graceful, forgetting that it comes from the favelas and the African diaspora. Samba’s uniqueness is that it involves strength, musicality, and power, favouring variety and self-expression over the homogeneity and highly choreographed movements of western dance.

The 2023 Rio Carnaval Queen, Mari Mola, stated that although she has many worthwhile causes to pursue at this time she wants to use her power to

help advance and preserve the Samba de “Raiz” (roots). Tereza Azevedo remembered that she started from a community project and today living in France, she still struggles to represent her culture in its essence.

The most surprising insight emerging from the conversations had to do, however, with their abundance mindset. We had expected to hear from Pipa about the challenges as a singer of making it into Rio

Carnaval, as traditionally the singers who accompany the Samba schools during the parade are men. Pipa noted that she sees the women singers and composers as complimentary to the men: in her view, there is space for everyone, and she sees the need for the trend to continue. Similar sentiments were expressed about the foreigners who come to dance at Carnaval.

What we did not expect to hear was the extent of the challenges faced by the Samba dancers. For anyone who had the amazing opportunity to be part of the Rio Carnaval, it is abundantly clear that women are an essential part of Samba as a cultural expression. Starting with the baianas, who are a beautiful reminder of the African roots of Samba, continuing with the flag bearer, representing the Samba school wherever she goes, and finally the queen of drums and the passistas, capturing our imagination and admiration with their powerful dance.

We discovered that up until two years ago, when Thai Rodrigues was crowned Queen of the Rio Carnaval, passistas were overlooked for the Queen role in favour of lighter-skinned women who were body builders but could not necessarily dance.

We learned that neither performance of the queen of drums nor that of the passistas’ wing is part of the scoring of the Samba school parade. Furthermore, it takes significant financial effort for the passistas to partake in the Samba world as they are responsible for buying their own costumes in order to participate.

Thai Rodrigues, the 2022 Carnaval Queen said: “I was Queen of Carnival in 2022 and represented a whole class of passistas because I went up with them on that stage, because for me in this system that we live the one who must defend the place that is our right is ourselves, we who dedicate all year round to the role of passista, investing time, money in this position that is not even mandatory in a Samba school. So for me it has the potential to be a profession, yes!”

Ultimately, what we learned from these female Samba leaders is that they are demonstrating personal leadership within a system that is working against them to a certain extent, or at least a system that does not value nor nurture them as it should. Most prominent roles in the hierarchy of the Samba schools are not occupied by women;

positional leadership is not available to them. In this context, these women developed their personal leadership, investing their hearts and souls in a labour of love and act of resistance very much in synch with the origins and foundations of Samba as a cultural expression and a movement of resistance.

Their personal style of leadership goes beyond a desire to take charge of their own life; instead, they have become inspirational leaders who are leading from a deep sense of purpose and a sense responsibility to create positive change not only for themselves but for others in their communities. Women leadership in Samba, in this context, takes a much more significant meaning.

Let’s look beyond the feather and glitters, and ask ourselves a question: how can we contribute to women leadership in Samba? What is our responsibility as participants in the parade? How can we contribute to the evolution of the Samba schools and the Rio Carnaval as a place where women leadership is encouraged, supported, valued, appreciated, nurtured! We sincerely hope this article starts a much-needed conversation!

U.S. Ended Covid Vaccine Air Travel Requirements May 11, 2023

International air travellers no longer have to show proof of Covid vaccination when arriving in the US. The Biden administration lift the requirement on 11 May, 2023 and coinciding with the end of the coronavirus public health emergency in the country.

Vaccine rules also lifted for federal employees and contractors. The US had one of the few remaining pandemic travel restrictions. The lifted restriction also did apply to non-US travellers entering via land ports of entry and ferries.

In a statement on May 1st the White House said “we are now in a different phase of our response when these

measures are no longer necessary”. This change as example, will allow Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic, 35, to play at the US Open this year of 2023.

The 22-time Grand Slam winner is not vaccinated and he was forced to miss 2022 tournament. He also faced similar issues, same year, with the Australian Open and was deported for his vaccination status before getting a chance to defend his title.

Representative Brian Higgins, who represents Buffalo and Niagara Falls in New York State, said this is good news for Canadians crossing into the US. “While long overdue, this last lifting of pandemic restrictions is certainly welcome news and critically important

as we seek opportunities to encourage a robust cross-border exchange that delivers shared prosperity,”

The Brazilian government, in turn, declared that the lift was an excellent news for Brazilian travelers since the United States is the preferred destination for millions of international travelers.

In april, President Joe Biden signed a bill ending the Covid-19 national emergency - which allowed the US to implement sweeping measures in health and welfare systems to combat the country’s response to the virus. Canada ended their Covid-19 vaccine requirements for international air travellers in October of 2022.

Inscrições para o Los Angeles brazilian Film, Festival 2023 Estão Abertas

OLABRFF como ficou conhecido, é considerado um dos mais importantes festivais de cinema brasileiro no exterior e está celebrando seu 16º aniversário este ano de 2023. O reconhecido festival apresentará mais de 40 filmes independentes do Brasil e do mundo todo, combinando longas-metragens, documentários, curtas, programas infantis e filmes ambientais em data ainda por ser divulgado.

Mas as inscrições para submissão de filmes já estão abertas (através de formulário online) no site oficial do festival www.labrff.com e seguem até o dia 20 de setembro de 2023.

Podem participar da Seleção Oficial 2023 filmes produzidos a partir de 2019 e que não tenham estreado nos Estados Unidos. Além das produções feitas no Brasil, o LABRFF também aceita filmes internacionais.

CONFIRA AS CATEGORIAS DO LABRFF 2023:

• Competição de Longa-metragem Narrativo

• Competição de Documentário

• Competição de Curtas-Metragens

• Competição Internacional - longas, documentários e curtas

• Programa Kids - Melhor Filme Infantil

• Filmes de temática Faith-BasedMelhor Filme

• Filmes de temática ambiental - Melhor Filme

“O LABRFF tem orgulho de trazer diversidade para o festival e abraçar produtores independentes de toda a parte do Brasil e do mundo” disse a co-fundadora do LABRFF, Meire Fernandes.

De acordo com a organização do evento, este ano acontecerá a primeira Mostra Infantil do Festival, trazendo cineastas independentes para uma audiência historicamente sub-representadas: as

crianças. A cada ano, uma pequena seleção de filmes independentes voltados para a família será apresentada ao público jovem, para ajudá-los a desenvolver uma apreciação por filmes que não são exibidos em multiplexes, têm universos expandidos ou laços comerciais com grandes empresas de brinquedos.

Além disso, o festival anunciou que filmes com temática Faith-Based e Ambiental também serão incluídos em sua programação a partir de 2023.

O LABRFF foi fundado em 2008 pela produtora Meire Fernandes e pelo jornalista Nazareno Paulo. O festival já exibiu mais de 1.400 títulos, premiou mais de 580 profissionais do cinema e contribuiu para a realização de longas metragens no Brasil em parceria com os Estados Unidos. Para mais informações sobre inscrições, acesse o site do Festival ou mande e-mail para info@labrff.com

O LABRFF recebe muitos famosos do Brasil e dos EUA entre celebridades e artistas.

Back to the Beginnings: the 2023 Edition of the International Samba Congress Will Take Place in Los Angeles in July

One of the main events for the cultural promotion of samba and Brazilian rhythms is back in full force! The International Samba Congress (ISC) will return to the face-toface modality where it all began, in the magical city of Los Angeles, U.S.

Created and hosted since 2017 by Samba ‘N’ Motion, the non-profit organization led by Brazilian psychologist Dr. Ana Laidley, the congress will bring together the main referents of samba and other rhythms that are part of the rich Brazilian culture. It will be a true immersive experience with dance workshops, lectures, tourism and cultural highlights led by professional instructors who want to share their knowledge and heritage with congress attendants.

“We started this very special adventure in 2017 here in Los Angeles, but with the vision to host this meeting annually in different places, since our students travel far and wide to take classes with Brazilian instructors. I have lived in the U.S for over twenty years and there is nothing that motivates me more than spreading my

country’s culture wherever I go”, says Ana, who uses dance as an alternative therapy in the treatment of illnesses such as depression and panic disorder, for example.

Heiress of the talented Brazilian musician Carlinhos do Pandeiro and Ana Gomes, a samba dancer who was part of the iconic group “Mulatas do Sargentelli”, Aninha Malandro, as she is known in the world of samba, grew up breathing the genre that today is a cultural reference for Brazil across the world. Creator and artistic director of Samba N’ Motion and Malandro N’ Motion, she was appointed in 2021 as Samba Ambassador of Estação Primeira de Mangueira and of the Associação dos Passistas Brasileiros Cyro do Agogô, both an honour and a responsibility to expand even more her mission to share the significant cultural legacy left by those who were the pioneers of samba.

The cultural entrepreneur explains her decision to hold this year’s edition of the ISC in the United States

“We had to adapt to a new reality and, even so, we never stopped hosting the Congress. During the pandemic, we saw how important it was not to give up and we held the ISC virtually, which was a real challenge and a great learning experience for us who understand that, at that moment and in all subsequent years, the connection between body, soul and mind was sorely needed”, added Aninha Malandro.

The post-pandemic reality was also challenging for them due to the economic crisis that still plagues the world and that requires moving into a hybrid form that benefits from the expertise acquired in the ISC online platform - they have added a subscription format with online classes every saturday. Aninha ends by telling us that “Now the time has come to go back and gather everyone in the city where the project was born”.

Confirmed to take place from July 14th to 16th at the Mid-City Arts Center, in the city of Los Angeles, California, the ISC will bring together artists like Fábio Batista, Marcelo Chocolate, and Mayombe Massai, in addition to the presence of always original Milton Cunha. All in all, 40 Brazilian professionals will be at the event leading workshops on the different modalities that make up the rich universe of Brazilian rhythms. Registration for the International Samba Congress 2023 is open on the event’s official website: www.internationalsambacongress.org

14 Milhões de Empregos Podem Desaparecer nos Próximos 5 anos

Omercado de trabalho global parece enfrentar grandes disrupções nos próximos anos, à medida que a economia enfraquece e as empresas começam a adotar tecnologias como a inteligência artificial. Pelo menos é o que parece apontar um relatório mais recente do Fórum Econômico Mundial.

Segundo o WEF os empregadores esperam criar 69 milhões de novos empregos até 2027 mas por outro lado, haverá a eliminação de 83 milhões de postos de trabalho. O balanço seria a perda de cerca de 14 milhões de empregos, o que equivale a 2% do total dos empregos atualmente.

De acordo com o relatório, haverá muitos fatores que levarão à rotatividade desse mercado de trabalho. O avanço da tecnologia e a preocupação com o meio ambiente já são responsáveis por mudanças profundas no mercado de trabalho. Como um exemplo, citamos

os sistemas de energia renovável e que serão um poderoso motor para a criação de novos empregos, mas aparentemente serão superados pelo crescimento econômico mais lento e pela alta inflação.

Os especialistas também acham que a pressa em empregar a tecnologia de IA será uma força positiva e negativa. O trabalho de analistas e cientistas especializados em IA crescerá, bem como daqueles que podem ajudar a implementar essa tecnologia de IA nos negócios atuais. Por outro lado, a expansão das ferramentas de IA pode colocar muitas funções em risco. Há uma previsão de que haverá 26 milhões a menos de empregos associados à manutenção de registros e administrativos até 2027.

Apesar dos avanços recentes, o ritmo de trabalhos automatizados foi revisado e por surpresa, ficou em baixa. Em 2020, os empregadores pensavam que 47% das tarefas seriam automatizadas até 2025. Atualmente, esse número é de 42% até 2027.

Abaixo, alguns pontos relevantes sobre o tema e o que estará em alta nos próximos anos:

1) A aprendizagem de “máquinas”: profissionais que criam ou mantêm a tecnologia usada, por exemplo, na prevenção de fraudes bancárias e carros autônomos.

2) Big data: a análise de uma quantidade muito grande de dados para tomada de decisões, inclusive de forma imediata.

3) Segurança da informação: já em alta nos últimos dez anos, a proteção de computadores e sistemas digitais contra falhas e ataques continuará em destaque.

4) Energia renovável: as pessoas que estudam e/ou trabalham nesse nicho, como a energia solar por exemplo, estao em bom caminho de segurança de trabalho e bom dinheiro.

5) Agricultura e alimentação: o número crescente da população mundial e a demanda cada vez maior por alimentos vai dar espaco para profissionais que estiverem ligados à agricultura. Seguirá em alta.

6) Educação: nesse mundo com tanta tecnologia, os professores e tutores de cursos técnicos e universitários serão muito importantes e, respectivamente, terão grandes oportunidades de trabalho e negócios.

Resumindo, existe uma expectativa que pelo menos 23% dos atuais postos de trabalho se modifiquem. Muitos serão criados, outros vão sofrer alguma transformação. E há aqueles que simplesmente vão desaparecer.

Six Techniques Uncommon People Use Which Push them Toward Success

Being uncommon doesn’t seem very hard when you think about it. If you start with a sincere desire to do your best, add a strong belief in yourself, and keep a positive attitude throughout it all, you’ve gotten this down. But how can you use being uncommon to get ahead? Typically, uncommon people tend to succeed in high numbers. But why?

OFFER JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE

Uncommon people really do want to give their best. This includes finding a little bit extra to push them over the top when working or playing. Uncommon people look for the extra bit of customer satisfaction they can give. They also will go out of their way in relationships.

ADD IN SOME ENCOURAGEMENT

Uncommon people look for ways to build others up rather than tear them down. By being a motivator, they, in turn, wind up motivating themselves. It’s hard to keep an uncommon person

down. With a little encouragement, they really do accomplish great things.

LOOK FOR THE LESSON

Did you mess up? Be uncommon in how you handle the situation. Instead of assigning blame, it’s better to understand the disaster critically. What can you learn here? How will this affect you going forward?

DO THINGS YOUR WAY

Uncommon people don’t worry about how other people are getting their work done or try to adjust their process to match everyone else’s. In fact, more often than not, these people are the ones who’ve worked out unique ways of getting the job done, which others later tend to adopt because they’re so effective.

BE READY TO PIVOT

Having a plan is great, but every uncommon person knows how to adapt to changing circumstances. When you’re able to show off this flexibility,

those around you notice and appreciate your willingness to change. Especially if this shift involves looking outside the box for solutions.

KNOW PEOPLE

An uncommon person doesn’t stick to themselves. Instead, they get out there and meet people. While anyone can network, this person invests in relationships. That is why they always seem to know the right person at the right time. This doesn’t mean you need to make everyone your bestie. It does, however, mean getting to know people beyond their business cards. Start by taking an interest and enjoying real conversations with people beyond “What do you do for a living?”

The takeaway here is fairly simple. Uncommon people aren’t chasing success by ticking items off a list. They’re finding it by taking an active interest in the world around them and in what they’re doing. Isn’t that the better way?

A Continuação da Importância

dos Materiais Impressos Para Você Profissional ou Dono de Pequenos Negócios

Em tempos de crise, é essencial desenvolver uma estratégia de marketing para turbinar seus negócios, não é mesmo? Aqui mais especificamente, falaremos sobre a necessidade de termos uma boa comunicação através de materiais impressos. Não se deixe enganar e pense que esses tipos de materiais promocionais já não são importantes devido as midias sociais. Pelo contrário, são ferramentas tradicionais muito importantes na comunicação com os seus clientes ou público alvo!

Um cartão de visita com o QR CODE seria um bom exemplo da fusão do tradicional com o digital. Por outro lado, já imaginou a apresentação de um novo produto ou serviço sem o uso de alguns desses materiais como um tri-folder ou um sales sheet? Ou a abertura de um negócio sem o uso de banners e/ou letreiros para uma maior visibilidade, por exemplo?

Já um tri-folder pode dar uma visão geral breve, mais persuasiva, dos recursos e benefícios de um produto ou serviço. Um sales sheet por outro lado pode ser uma boa ferramenta para ajudar funcionários a lembrar os clientes sobre especificações de um produto/serviço e

alguns detalhes técnicos ou reenfatizar sobre custo/benefício.

Seria relevante dizer que com as frequentes mudanças nas formas de se fazer publicidade, também fez com que houvesse um aumento na pressão de adquirir soluções de impressão por parte da indústria gráfica. E o avanço da tecnologia tambem ajudou as gráficas a se adequarem a diferentes orçamentos ao mesmo tempo em que oferecem produtos de melhor qualidade e maior variedade com ênfase em inovação no mercado. O tema sustentabilidade e a demanda por produtos ecologicamente corretos é outro fator chave nos dias de hoje.

O custo-benefício geralmente é o fator determinante para as empresas e profissionais em busca desse tipo de material promocional e nesse caso deve-se levar em consideração principalmente esses três fatores:

1) Quanto maior o volume menor será o custo por unidade, 2) Menos pressa ou menos urgência na entrega significa preços mais em conta, e

3) Qualidade não se discute e se negocia, mas sim se exige.

A opção de ter um departamento de arte que entenda os requisitos e como funciona essa indústria nos Estados Unidos seria algo que o consumidor brasileiro que vive na terra do Tio Sam teria que ter em mente, tanto para o apoio de uma ordem como na criação de um design. Uma comunicação clara e que “fale o seu idioma” para melhor se entender os seus desejos e necessidades seria primordial.

Por fim, os diversos tipos de materiais impressos promocionais, seja em diferentes tipos de papéis ou plástico ou vinil, continuam tendo muita importancia para o seu marketing e negócio enquanto pode continuar sendo uma forma inteligente e econômica. Se não sabe, a Kisuccess Marketing and Publishing, que publica a Soul Brasil, além de oferecer serviços de desenvolvimento web, video e marketing social, oferece tambem serviços de impressão gráfica com entrega para todo o território americano e tem o seu próprio departamento de arte/design. Ligue (424)206-0538 ou visite www.kisuccess.com

As 10 Cidades dos EUA Onde Existem Mais Ricos Comprando Imóveis Como Segundas Residências ou Casas de Veraneio

Para muitos ricos que vivem nos Estados Unidos ter um segundo ou mesmo um terceiro imovel é a norma. E de acordo com um novo relatório, eles preferem propriedades em áreas à beira-mar como Boca Raton na Flórida, nas montanhas mais próximas ao mar como é o caso de Montecito/Santa Barbara na Califórnia, e áreas onde tem outros muito ricos em temporadas de veraneio como Aspen no Colorado.

O relatório de 2023 da Henley and Partner classificou as 10 principais cidades dos EUA onde os centimilionários - aqueles com uma riqueza de mais de US $100 milhõespossuem suas segundas residências.

Os dados coletados pela New World Wealth, uma empresa global de inteligência, mostraram que o número de centimilionários que vivem nessas cidades varia dependendo da época do ano.Em dezembro de 2022, o pico da temporada de férias em consequência do natal e fim de ano, o número de centimilionários aumentou exponencialmente, o que sugere que

existe mais proprietários de “casas de veraneio” nessas áreas.

Essas dez cidades no topo da lista sao por ordem: 1) Miami, Flórida, 2) The Hamptons, Nova York, 3) West Palm Beach, Flórida, 4) Napa, Califórnia, 5) Aspen, Colorado, 6) Santa Bárbara/ Montecito, Califórnia, 7) San Diego, Califórnia, 8) Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 9) Carmel-by-the-Sea, Califórnia, e 10) Boca Raton, Flórida.

Miami, Flórida, ficou em primeiro lugar na lista com o relatório afirmando que em dezembro de 2022 havia mais de 800 centimilionários. Vale mencionar que Miami também teve uma taxa de crescimento de milionários de 75% nos dez anos entre 2012 e 2022. Segundo o relatório, em dezembro de 2022, a cidade abrigava 38.000 milionários, 160 centimilionários e 12 bilionários.

The Hamptons, em Nova York, já tem sua fama como `playground” de ricos e famosos de anos e o relatório afirma que em dezembro de 2022 existia 700 centimilionários residentes durante o pico da temporada de férias contra

apenas 25 residentes permanentes. O relatório também acrescentou que The Hamptons era um ponto fácil de acesso para os residentes da Big Apple e que uma flexibilidade teve relevância graças ao aumento do trabalho/vida híbrida.

De acordo com dados recentes da WFH Research, os “trabalhadores híbridos” ganham mais do que as pessoas com empregos totalmente remotos ou presenciais. É uma tendência que também surgiu em centros tecnológicos emergentes como Austin no Texas. Os ambientes favoráveis aos negócios nessas cidades as tornaram novas capitais do mundo da tecnologia.

Outra cidade da Flórida completou o top três: West Palm Beach, que inclui a ilha de Palm Beach e a cidade de West Palm Beach. O relatório afirma que, em dezembro de 2022, a cidade tinha mais de 400 centimilionários contra apenas 64 residentes durante o resto do ano. West Palm Beach é o lar de muitos rostos famosos, incluindo Tommy Hilfiger e Sylvester Stallone.

Vista de dentro de mansão à beira mar em West Palm Beach, Florida.

Santa Barbara e Montecito na California atrai muitos ricos e famosos de Hollywood.