Go west young man!

Yesterday we went to Caruaru which is about two hours west of Recife. It sits on the beginning of the Sertão (savanna/desert-see my mission pictures from Tocantins) and it was fun to see the scenery change as we went inland. 

A much different landscape further inland

The Northeast has two types of music that tell the story of the Northeast, the Sertão and the Sertenajos (people of the Sertão-think of Texans, but not winning often...or at all); Forró and Baião. The usual instruments include the accordion (which always reminds me of Grandpa Bob), triangle and zabumba drum. The Sertão can be a harsh place to live with little rainfall so many Brazilians from the Northeast will leave for São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasília looking for jobs. Part of the forró themes is the idea of returning to the Sertão, like the diaspora of the Jews from Jerusalem.

Caruaru is the capital of Forró and for almost two weeks straight has huge shows with singers and quadrilha dances. Instead of writing about what I saw, let me show you.

Caruaru

Example of the Quadrilha

Luis Gonzaga, the Father of Baião and Forró. 

Luis Gonzaga was one of the most influential singers of Baião and Forró. He left the Northeast to Rio de Janeiro. While there he played accordion for all types of music, but found fame among the Northeastern (Nordestinos). His most famous song is "Asa Branca" or "White Wing". Check it out on Youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5r2_wGk1dI 

Josh with his newly acquired Nordestino cowboy hat

Because of the lack of rain the economic backbone of the Sertão was cattle raising. The hat I am wearing above, which I proudly own, is an example of the type of hats used by these cowboys. A really interesting thing about these hats is one of the things that factors into their design was that so Jewish Brazilians could hide their kippahs under them so they could not be identified as Jews after the Northeast returned to the control of Catholic Portugal. Before this the Jews were allowed to practice their religion openly by the Dutch.

I loved the music and the traditional dancing (definitely did not like the newer dancing) and had a great time with the traditions of the Sertão.