s01e02 Cultures and Stereotypes

Our guest Joeddan Cantave from Haiti is telling us about her experience of living and studying in Russia. She is on the team of a public page dedicated to Africans in Russia, so we also discuss all the positive and negative aspects of studying in Russia as an African.  Joeddan's IG page: @joecantave21  Africa in Russia IG page: @africa_in_russia

After listening to this podcast episode you will fall in love with Botswana and will definitely add it to your list of countries to visit ASAP. In this dynamic episode, we talk to Katso Thobega, a medical student and a part-time model :) from Botswana. (You can find her on Instagram at instagram.com/_katso._/) You'll learn about different tribes of Botswana, national traditions and dishes, amazing wild nature of the country... You'll even have a chance to learn a few words in Setswana language! She also created a special playlist with the best Botswanan music just for our listeners! (youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQVKRnMbdgyiZyNjw-iC65Fei6HlYLKu5) Dive in! And don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss the next episode!

There are a lot of twos in this episode: Season 2, Episode 2, two twins as our guests! Chude and Sharon Mondlane, two impossibly cute twins from Mozambique. They are medical students in St Petersburg as well as aspiring writers! (You can read their prose here: fb.com/CD-Stone-109580950936288). Along with them, you'll hear the guest from our previous episode, Florbela Cátia Maurício who joined us again for this interesting discussion about matriarchal and patriarchal societies in Mozambique and Russia, about racism, homophobia, expectations and reality, education, and so much more. Make sure to subscribe to our podcast! This way you won't miss the newest episodes!

In the long-awaited second season, we are shifting our focus to Africa. Specifically experiences of Africans in Russia. In this first episode, we are talking to Kristina Nsona and Florbela Cátia Maurício who are both half Angolan, half Russian. You might think their stories would be similar, but it couldn't be further from the truth. In this interesting conversation, we learn how it was for them to grow up as mixed children. We also share our own experiences of struggling with identities and discuss what it means to be a TCK. 

In this final episode of Season 1 we discuss the topic of being gay in Russia with Gabriel Gardeal, a Brazilian medical student in Moscow (who also has a Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGxe2NCVjHK376g5YldMIJA/featured). We look at the foreigner's perspective on the gay propaganda law, at lifestyle of gays in Russia, discuss how different gays in Russia and Brazil are and the overall LGBT acceptance among Russians. And also a juicy surprise is awaiting you in this episode!

Both Brazil and Russia are rather mixed countries, but the history behind the unique mix of people in each country is very different.  In this episode we answer such questions as:  What is the story of the Native people in Brazil?  How did they influence the Brazilian Portuguese language?  How many nationalities are there in Russia?  Who is the Russian diaspora in Brazil?

In our second episode on the topic of racism in Brazil we talk to our guest, Barbara Ferreira Santos (IG: baferreirasantos), a Brazilian journalist living and working in the USA. She shares her knowledge and experience with us, helping us understand the situation better. We raise such topics as the importance of talking about the issue of racism, the Brazilian system of education and justice, what inspires us to continue the fight and much more. 

This is the first out of two episodes dedicated to the topic of racism in Brazil. This time we cover the history of slavery in Brazil, the current situation with racism, what is being done to solve this problem, and the influence it all had on Brazilian culture and language. In our next episode, we will go more in-depth discussing this issue with a journalist from Brazil, Barbara Ferreira Santos (IG: baferreirasantos).

How many times did you have to say "I don't get it!" when learning a foreign language or travelling in another county? In this light hearted episode we share funny moments from travelling in Brazil and Russia. We discuss the Brazilian shower system, Russian train types, awkward language situations and talk about false friends between English and Portuguese.

How many times did you have to answer the same question about yourself just because you are from *insert your country*? Or hear those stereotypes? Do you want to interact with people of different cultures without making a fool of yourself? In this episode we talk about how to do that, how to ask better questions and have better conversations. We also teach how the same words can mean very different things in Brazil and Portugal. This may help you avoid some very awkward situations :) Follow our instagram page to find out where you can find extra materials after each episode.