Art / Culture / South America
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published February 6, 2018 · Last modified February 3, 2018
One of the three or four things that seems inextricably tied to outsiders’ perceptions of Rio de Janiero, Brazil is carnival. The reverse is also true; mention carnival and one automatically thinks of Rio. Well, I recently found out that carnival happens in many places throughout South America. Especially in...
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published February 5, 2018 · Last modified February 3, 2018
Most Americans spent February 2nd watching for the shadow of a cute, but probably overhyped, rodent. At the same time, half a world away, thousands of Uruguayos flocked to the beach in an annual ritual called “lemanjá”. The cornerstone of this fascinating bit of culture is the casting of negative...
Culture / History / Off-the-beaten-path / Off-the-cuff / South America
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published February 1, 2018 · Last modified February 5, 2018
While walking along the Montevideo waterfront, I happened upon a plaque which announced (in Spanish) the Jewish Holocaust Memorial. So I followed the short path toward the waterline to check it out. The memorial itself is very simple yet incredibly powerful. It consists entirely of just two sections of sea...