About Celebrate Brazil

Hello and welcome! We are Onatah and Ridan and have just become the new owners of this wonderful website from our dear friend Mashubi. We have a lot of gratitude for all the good work and love Mashubi put into this site over the past several years. We all share a love for Brazil and Ridan and I are so excited to bring ourselves and new ideas to this site! Here is a little more about us and how we got here.

A Little About Us

I (Onatah) had the blessing a few years ago to meet a Brazilian man named Ridan, who was traveling near my home in the United States. We fell in love right away and this was my introduction to Brazil. Ridan is from Rio de Janeiro and was living there until he immigrated to the United States and we got married in 2018. Before this I didn't know much of anything about Brazil, although I had been very drawn to both Central and South America and travelled there several times. I have always loved traveling and meeting new cultures, people and different parts of our amazing planet.

Meeting Ridan and meeting Brazil changed my life. I first traveled there in 2018 and I felt so at home in a way I was not expecting! I fell in love with the warm climate, the beautiful tropical plants, the gorgeous beaches, the gigantic mountains and rock faces, the open friendly people, the music, the language, the amazing fresh fruits... and this is just from my time in Rio! I always look forward to our next trip and we hope to travel more around the whole country. It is meaningful to me to share my love for Brazil and my desire to learn and grow more into my relationship with many aspects of the country. I am also learning Brazilian Portuguese. It is a big study to become fluent but I long to speak freely in this beautiful language. I feel very blessed to be able to practice often by speaking with my husband.

Ridan (pronounced more like 'Hedon'... a useful tip in learning Portuguese as the 'R' in the front of a word sounds like a hard 'H') was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro right in the city. He spent many years on the beaches of Rio surfing. He is truly a son of the ocean! He has since lived all around the state of Rio and also Minas Gerias and knows many beautiful places. He was a wonderful tour guide for me during my first trip to Brazil! Ridan is a talented guitar player. We have a music project together which includes playing Brazilian music, especially samba! He is also excited to bring his skills as a film maker and journalist to this site.

Now and the New

For now we are mostly living in the United States, but travel often to Brazil. We look forward to one day being able to live about half the year in each country.

We have some new ideas we will be adding them as we get more settled into this website.  Stay posted for changes and updates including more of Brazilian music, programs for learning Brazilian Portuguese, travel blog, and learning more of Brazil from a native's perspective!

Blessings,

Onatah and Ridan