Dois Candangos

I was looking through pictures of Brazil and saving them to my Brazil Board on Pinterest to serve as motivation on days when I'm dragging, and I came across this really brilliant photo of a famous monument in Brasilia.

The name of the work is Dois Candangos.  And, if you look that up online, the only translation you get is "Two Candangos," which is not very helpful.  What is a candango, I thought?  Why are they important enough to merit such an impressive piece of sculpture?

This line of inquiry took me on an interesting trek into the history of Brazil and its capital, Brasilia.  Many people mistakenly think that São Paulo is the capital, but it is not.  What even fewer people know is that Brasilia didn't even exist 60 years ago.  It was carved out of the jungle and built by the local tribesmen, the candangos, to serve as Brazil's capital in a mere three years of work.  The statue is the brain child of designer Bruno Giorgi and stands 25' in bronze.  The figures represent the pioneering spirit of the people who left their homes to build the city.

This has little or nothing to do with my weight loss goals or my desire to learn Portuguese but, I found it absolutely intriguing, so here it is on the blog.  Click on the picture above or follow this link to learn more about the history of the city of Brasilia.

Next time you will see less of me,

--AnneK


Photo Credit: http://www.wayfaring.info/2009/05/29/%E2%80%9Cdois-candangos%E2%80%9D-brasilia/#more-9939