Download - SURVEY SAYS My name is . . . readers responded: Tech ...media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/kidspost/pdf/bruna.pdf · playing with Teca, a Calopsita bird that is native to Australia.

Transcript
Page 1: SURVEY SAYS My name is . . . readers responded: Tech ...media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/kidspost/pdf/bruna.pdf · playing with Teca, a Calopsita bird that is native to Australia.

SPEAK OUTTHIS WEEK’S TOPIC

Summer MoviesThe summer movie

season kicks off this weekwhen the PG-13 rated“Spider-Man 3” swoops intotheaters. Next week,KidsPost will do aclip-and-save guide to flickskids might want to checkout. For now, go to www.kidspost.com and tell us: K If you could see only onemovie this summer, whatwould it be?

A. “Harry Potter and theOrder of the Phoenix”

B. “Pirates of theCaribbean: At World’s End”

C. “Ratatouille”D. “Shrek the Third”E. “Spider-Man 3”

PHOTODISC

D.C.AtlanticOcean

PacificOcean

S o u t hAm e r i c a

BRAZIL

12000

MILES

Amazon

B R A Z I L

BY LARIS KARKLIS — THE WASHINGTON POST

Rio de Janeiro

AtlanticOcean

PacificOcean Brasilia

BOLIVIA

COLOMBIA

VENEZUELA

PERU

ARGENTINA

CHILE

PARAGUAY

URUGUAY

GUYANASURINAMEFRENCH GUIANA

ECUADOR

BrunaMy name is . . .This is the 12th in a series of

KidsPost Journeys around the world to show readers how children in other countries and cultures live and play. Today we JOURNEY TO BRAZIL. See where we go next.

RIO DE JANEIRO4,800 milesFROM WASHINGTON

DAILY 05-01-07 MD RE C13 CMYK

C13CMYK

C13CMYK

Rio de Janeiro means

“River of January” in honor of the

month in 1502 that the site

was first visited by Portuguese

explorers.

TODAY: Some sun;chance of rain.

HIGH LOW

71 59TOMORROW:Early rain possible.High 73. Low 50.

ILLUSTRATION BY ELLIMARI PAUNIO, 9,BETHESDA

WEATHERTRIVIA

WHAT’S THE NAME OFTHE MAY FULL MOON?

ANSWER: PLANTING ORMILK MOON.

WEATHER

TODAY’S NEWSFire Badly DamagesHistoric D.C. BuildingK Eastern Market, a 134-year-oldCapitol Hill landmark, was rav-aged by fire early yesterday.

It took 160 D.C. firefightersabout two hours to put out theblaze, believed to have startedaround 1 a.m. in a trash bin behindthe brick building. About half ofthe market was gutted by flames,which shot above the roof. No onewas injured, but many shopkeep-ers lost their businesses.

“This is devastating,” fire de-partment spokesman Alan Ettersaid. “Basically everything ischarred and destroyed.”

Washington Mayor Adrian M.Fenty vowed to rebuild the histor-ic market, which nearby residentsconsider the heart of their neigh-borhood.

Burning Up the RoadK Imagine a fire hot enough tomelt a highway!

It happened Sunday in Oak-land, California, after a gas truckoverturned and spilled its fuel.

Heat from the fire caused one free-way overpass to crumple onto an-other. The truck driver was treat-ed for burns.

Officials warn that San Francis-co Bay area commuters are in formonths of traffic snarls.

BY PAUL SAKUMA — ASSOCIATED PRESS

A tanker truck fire caused part of aCalifornia freeway to collapse.

BY NIKKI KAHN — THE WASHINGTON POST

Firefighters check the 134-year-oldEastern Market near the U.S. Capitol.

WRITE KIDSPOST, THE WASHINGTON POST, 1150 15TH ST. NW, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20071. K E-MAIL US AT [email protected] K FAX US AT 202-496-3780. PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR NAME, AGE, ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER.

The Washington Post R Tuesday, May 1, 2007 C13

Even though she is 13, Bruna Figueiradoesn’t mind that she rarely leaves homeby herself.

Bruna lives with her mom, dad andtwo younger sisters in an apartmentbuilding in the city of Rio de Janeiro,Brazil. There’s a big playground, a ten-nis court and two swimming pools thatare part of the complex, which is sur-rounded by many tropical fruit treeswhere little monkeys come daily to seeklunch.

The squirrel-sized monkeys jump overwalls and through the court where Bru-na and her sisters, Bárbara, 8, and Bian-ca, 9, have tennis and soccer classes.Just beyond the walls is one of Rio’s fave-las, an area where some of the city’spoorest people live in handmade housesthat often have no running water. The fa-velas are dangerous places, often run bygangs. They can be found in poor areasof Rio as well as in much nicer neigh-borhoods like Bruna’s.

From her apartment’s balcony, Brunacan see two sides of her city: the povertyof the favelas and the majesty of the fa-mous statue of Christ the Redeemer.

Violence that is common in the favelasis one reason that Bruna rarely goes outalone.

She can play inside the apartmentcomplex, but must be accompanied byan adult to go most places in town.

“Sometimes I stay alone at home, butjust for a short time,” she says whileplaying with Teca, a Calopsita bird that

is native to Australia. Teca had herwings cut; so while she can’t fly, she canroam in the apartment.

Bruna goes to one of the best privateschools in town, not far from her home.In many schools students choose tostudy either in the morning or in the af-ternoon. Bruna goes to school from 1p.m. until 5:30 p.m.She gets a ride fromher family’s driver,which is not uncom-mon, but other fami-lies join together torent a small van totransport the chil-dren.

“I’m not the typeof student thatwants to be the firstin class, but I dowell,” she says inPortuguese, the offi-cial language of Brazil, which used to bea colony of Portugal.

Bruna also has studied English atschool and in extra classes for two years.“When I watch movies in English withsubtitles in Portuguese I can recognizesome of the words spoken,” she says.

Bruna doesn’t think much about whatshe would like to do for a living. “Maybea lawyer,” she says, “but I don’t knowyet.” She still has some years to go be-fore she has to decide what she willstudy in college.

To get into a university, 17-year-olds

must take a difficult public examination.They usually study for the exam for atleast a year. It’s very hard to get into pub-lic universities because the schools aregood — and free. Usually, by the timethey are 16, students have decided whatthey want to study in college so they cando well on that exam. Medicine, commu-

nication, law, man-agement and engi-neering are themost popular cours-es.

On weekends,Bruna often goes toa swimming poolwith her family. Oc-casionally they allgo to one of the fa-mous beaches intown. One of her fa-vorite after-schoolactivities is street

dancing. She also likes to read novelsand listen to music on her iPod on thebalcony of her apartment. In the morn-ing, before school, she studies and doesher homework. After school, Bruna usu-ally watches TV.

Whenever she can, Bruna uses hercomputer to watch videos on YouTubeor chat with friends. But her parents al-low her to use the computer on week-ends and for only a limited period duringthe week. “If I could,” she says, “I wouldbe on it always!”

— Sabrina Valle

How Bruna Has Fun

Favorite activities: street dancing, soccer, swimming andtennis.

Favorite TV shows: “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody,” “HannahMontana” and reality shows.

Favorite subject in school: history.

Least favorite subject in school: English, “but it’s better thisyear.”

What she eats: A typical dinner might be white rice with blackbeans, lettuce salad and a piece of steak, chicken or fish.French fries, corn and pastel — a fried cheese- or meat-filledpastry — also are part of her menu. For breakfast she haschocolate milk, crackers, butter and bread.

About Brazil

Capital: Brasília.

Population: 186 million people; alittle more than a fourth of themare younger than 15.

Size: 3.2 million square miles, alittle smaller than the UnitedStates.

Geography: Brazil has 4,600 milesof coastline on the Atlantic Ocean.The northern half of the country isthe heavily wooded Amazon RiverBasin. The Amazon flows for morethan 2,000 miles in Brazil.

Currency: real (pronouncedheh-ow).

History: Only native Indiansinhabited Brazil until 1500, whenEuropeans arrived. The Portuguesecolonized the country and made itpart of their empire. In 1889 Brazilbecame an independent republic.

School: Kids are supposed to go toschool from age 7 to at least 14.

Religion: About 75 percent of thepopulation is Roman Catholic.

Television: There are 33 TVs forevery 100 people in Brazil,compared with 84 for every 100people in the United States.

Fun Facts

Name: Brazil is named after a treepopular in the region whenEuropeans arrived. Red paint fromthe tree was used to dye cloth.

Weather: Summer in Rio de Janeirocan be really hot. Temperatures goup to 105 degrees Fahrenheit(though they are measured inCelsius). Winter and summerseasons are the opposite from theUnited States because Brazil is on theother side of the equator. When it iswinter here, it is summer in Brazil.The hottest months are December,January and February; the coldestones are June, July and August.

Sports: Soccer is HUGE in Brazil. Thecountry has won the World Cup fivetimes, more than any other country.

BY BERG SILVA — AGÊNCIA O GLOBO

Monkeys often are seen in Rio de Janeiro.

BRUNA PHOTOS BY SABRINA VALLE; RIO PHOTO BY RENZO GOSTOLI — ASSOCIATED PRESS; SOCCER PHOTO BY STUART FRANKLIN — BONGARTS VIA GETTY IMAGES

A giantstatue ofChrist theRedeemerlooks overRio deJaneiro.

Adriano is oneof the stars insoccer-crazyBrazil.

Family 17.4%

Teacher 6.7%

Friends 9.5%

Some or all of the above 55.4%

Haven’t talked to anyone 11.0%

Last week’s surveyasked: Whom have youtalked to about whathappened at VirginiaTech? More than 350readers responded:SU

RV

EY

SAY

S

Bruna and her bird, Teca.

Proofed by: moorescott Time: 17:49 - 04-30-2007 Separation: C M Y K HIGH-RES PROOF. IMAGES ARE RIPPED. FULL PROOF INTEGRITY.Product: DAILY LayoutDesk: STY PubDate: 05-01-07 Zone: MD Edition: RE Page: KIDPST