Portuguese, BRASA can mean flame, hot coal, or “pimentinha”, i.e., a person with a spicy personality. Many of us have heard that Brazilians have a warm and extroverted personality perhaps as a result of our Latin ancestry or because we come from the tropics. Well, I disagree with the latter stereotype due to the fact that Brazilians are one of the most “metis” (mestico, “misturado”) national groups in the world and, the tropics do not make us, necessarily, warm or cold, outgoing or shy.
Some might find my initial statement to be controversial, I dare say. Many Brazilians, indeed, look like, sound like, and behave like those stereotypes described above -warm, extroverted, outgoing, and spontaneous. Thus, many of us agree with that.
At our association’s first meeting in 2007, we brought some suggestions for naming our new organization. The majority voted for BRASA.
To me, the word “BRASA” transports my thoughts and memories back to past snap shots of my life: where I met lots of “warm” people, went to “warm” beaches, sat under shady coconut trees, ate hot, succulent and fragrant feijoada, met chatty countrymen, joined noisy dancers and loud street walkers; arrived in and left airports packed with people of all colors, sizes, shapes, and more! Do these images ring a bell with you? Do they resemble Brazil? Do they reflect a bit of each one of us?
When BRASA –Brazilian Association of Saskatoon- was established, it seemed very natural to us that the name of our organization fit the Brazilian personality. And it still fits well today. It somehow represents us as people.
My first conversations with Renato and Sueli de Freitas about the need to create an association for Brazilians living in Saskatoon happened 5 years ago, in August of 2007. From that point on, BRASA has been in my mind and soul.
And like BRASA, that is – Hot. Pimenta. Warm. Sheltering . Cozy. Loud. Colourful. Welcoming! We Brazilians, bring to the “True North Strong and Free” land a little of who we are as individuals: warm, cozy, welcoming, hot, chatty, loud, and embracing. I hope that we keep ourselves this way. Stereotypical, yes. I don’t care. It is good to be BRASA!
By: Elizabeth Freire, past co-chair of BRASA from 2007 to 2011, lives in Saskatchewan, Canada, since 1988. She has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Regina and is the Executive Director of the Saskatoon Sexual Assault & Information Centre
BRASA - “OUR CULTURE HAS NO BOUNDARIES” 