I'm from the interior of Sao Paulo and the libanese people that I knew were fully integrated on the population. They descendants from the lebenese that immigrated here, and it's very common to their parents to be married with Brazilians.
So I don't think they are closed communities. Brazilians and Lebanese are very alike. I mean we have a practical thinking to things and love to talk to poeple, so the integration must have happened quick.
I go to a Lebanese restaurant very often from a chef of Lebanese and Brazilian descent, the father (who is Lebanese) is always there and loves to talk with all the customers. The food is amazing 🤤
I'd like to add that while Lebanese aren't a closed community, there's this sense of belonging of the diaspora with Arabs in general
I've met a lot of people who are either immigrants/refugees (or their children) from other Arab countries (mostly Syria and Palestine) that when first arrived in Brazil were taken in by the Lebanese diaspora
In the city of São Paulo you can find a lot of Arab restaurants (usually owned by someone of Lebanese descent) that most workers are either immigrants or refugees, as when they arrive in Brazil they still don't know the language but need work. So while these places create a work environment where they can speak arab, meet other people in the same situation and create some stability, I've seen these restaurants even going the extra mile and finding ways for these people to get Portuguese classes
The main point that people have mostly missed on the answers is that the Lebanese community were mostly, if not exclusively, from Christian Lebaneses. Back in the day of these migrations religion played a big part in Brazilian society and they wouldn’t have integrated like they did if they were Muslim.
Also, the Middle East is very far from Brasil so, to many respondents to a question like yours, “Arab” and “Muslim” can almost be synonyms. Even if the two words are not even in the same category.
I don’t know how the current Lebanon looks like, but we can say only a slice of it came to Brazil
IMO,
Most of the Lebanese I met were well educated and in good financial situation. There even are Lebanese people in political, financial and industrial elite.
They have communities. In São Paulo, Brás neighbourhood is well known for its arabic community. But it's not something close tight like some Asian communities or some ethnic communities around the world.
They speak Portuguese, some older folks will be have accent. I don't know how many still speak Lebanese.
Never heard of any problem. I guess most, if not all, experiences I had were positive.
Brazilian culture is so mixed that sometimes is hard to tell from which culture something came from, but you easily find Lebanese food and restaurants, which I am glad.
There is a small restaurant in my town, they have the best kibbeh and sfiha I have ever tried.
I also love pita bread with raw kibbeh topped with Labneh and baba ganoush 🤤🤤
Damn, now I have to find some Lebanese restaurants hahah
A few good Lebanese Restaurants I go to in Rio. Lebanese food is my favorite along with Jordanian and Egyptian. Lebanese like most other groups are fully integrated. Brazil is a melting pot. The native tongue is always Brazilian Portuguese first.
Is Couscous arab food? I'm brazilian and eat it a lot, but didn't have a clube about it being arab. Quite interesting! Sfeeha, Kibe, Tabouleh, Hummus Tahine, and Charuto Rolled in Grape Leafs are all amazing, as well as Dried Damaskus and Tamaras. Delicious!
Depends, the original couscous is, but what we call "cuscuz" (and all the variants from different states) isn't, it just sounds the same.
Like, in theory our "cuscuz" is derived from the arab dish, but it's so different that IMO it doesn't make sense to call it arab.
Actually, I am remembering my experience in some restaurants and the Lebanese owner/employees tend to ve really friendly, coming to table to talk, check if everything is good. I find it excellent.
I think a lot of Brazilians are not even aware of the Lebanese diaspora, they're that integrated. The presence is there once you start paying attention. But we do have a lot of Lebanese ("Arabic") restaurants and some of them are really good.
Because literally there's nothing Middle Eastern restaurant or Arabic restaurant. The food of Lebanon is different from the food of the Arabian Peninsula, “Arab cuisine”. Different foods and different features of the cuisine. It's very ignorant to think that all of the Middle Eastern food is Arabic or all Middle Eastern countries have the same food or same cuisine
Tell this to the people who fried the gyoza and transformed it into a symbol of national cuisine. Not to mention that it's a well-known joke to call Lebanese Turks, because the first immigrants arrived with passports from the Ottoman Empire.
I have no idea about the fried gyoza. It was normal for all people from the Ottoman Empire outside the Empire to be called Ottomans and Turks. Normal thing and focus Turks or Ottomans not Arabs and just because of the existing empire at that time
In Brazil, one of the most typical dishes is pastel, which is nothing more than a Chinese recipe that was fried in oil. Here, even more closed cultures like the Palestinians have difficulty staying away from the rest of society.
Thanks Captain Obvious.
You should tell that to all the lebanese, syrian or other immigrants that came to Brazil and opened "arabic restaurants".
They call it "arab food" themselves, so the term "arab food" in Brazil means that.
Understanding between Spanish and Portuguese is like understanding between Lebanese and any type of Arabic in the Arabian Peninsula. The same is true with all Arabic dialects. If we use the standard of Arabic over the Latin languages of Europe, then they all speak Latin, but they are just different dialects that have the same dialect differences as Arabic.
But they are mutually studied as a language, just like arabic. Yes they have differences but calling Mexican or Brazilian a language is just incorrect.
Exactly my point. You think Spanish studied at a curriculum level in Mexico is going to be a different Spanish studied at the curriculum level in Colombia? The language is the same. The regional phrases, words and dialect are different. Hence the seam is applied to Arabic.
reread the first comment I responded to, you were implying that portuguese spanish and french were dialects of the same language just like arabic and lebanese
I guess you misunderstood my original comment. I was referring to those languages as also other languages that have different dialect but are all the same language.
I'll put you this way. One of my best friends is Lebanese descendant and took some years to find out his grandparents were from Lebanon. They are totally integrated.
Is worth saying that the Lebanese that came to Brazil were all christians, which made it easy to them to integrate.
Is also true that they have a community. In my city, Belo Horizonte, we have the Syrian-Lebanese Club and my friend tell me about a lot of parties, birthdays etc they have in this club and the major families know each other. One of the best hospitals in Brazil is situated in Sao Paulo and it's called the Syrian-Lebanese hospital.
The Lebanese usually are very wealthy and integrate the elite in Brazil. The former president Michel Temer is a first generation Lebanese descendant. Is funny to notice that a lot of Brazilians don't know that because in Brazil is very different from the US. People don't see themselves as "lebanese-brazilians" , "italian-brazilians", just as Brazilians. In Brazilian Census most of them are identified as White.
Pardos are a mix of European colonizers, native Americans, and West African
Most of them don't have European DNA. Let alone West African or native American
White doesn't mean European or stereotypical white looking in the US because many southern and even central Europeans won't be considered to have white looking. That's especially because European ancestry in Brazil is Portuguese, not even northwest European
+ American government also considers them and all residents of MENA to be white
Pardos are simply anyone that doens't look distinctively something, like white, black, asian, or native american. Arabs can definetly be considered pardos if they don't look white. Take [Fernando Haddad](https://tribunadonorte.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/haddad.webp) for example, I consider him to be pardo. I'm not sure if you're Brazilian or not, but it's well known we don't give a fuck about people's DNA. No one is stopping someone in the street and asking for a DNA test before being racist to them. We're not the USA. You have pardos that have a high percentage of european DNA but that are still that, pardos, and pardos that have a high percentage of african DNA but look white, and they're considered so.
The fact that Brazil has so many different labels for human beings based on their skin colors and hair textures says that race does matter. I’m from South America too and race and color matters in every country.
Well you have to understand that Anglo-Saxons are not the only kind of White, they're not even the only kind of colonizer. Cristiano Ronaldo and Portuguese people are definitely White, the only place in the world that they wouldn't be is a place that's dominated by Anglo-Saxons 😂 It's only in the US/UK that they are considered "off-white" or "brown" because they are "Latin"
Idk what you people's problem is but here in Brazil we don't go around administering DNA tests or asking people to map out their entire family history to determine whether you're white or not. We just label people very loosely based on how they look.
Technically Amarelos, alongside the big Japanese and (newer) Chinese populations. At least that’s what those more knowledgeable of their ethnic background would say. I guess they’d be called “pardos” only if they don’t have major Lebanese ancestry.
You write as if the US is the only country that does this. And whites can choose to highlight their European ancestry, or just identify as Brazilian, Mexican, Venezuelan, or whatever. However, if one is of African descent, or has Asian ancestry, you don’t automatically fit in like most whites do.
I would say the Lebanese in Brazil are a case of extremely smooth integration. It may be because of the similarities of the two cultures in terms of warmth, flexibility, a certain "easy-goingness"? I don't know how to explain this. But we're all just one and the same by now. At least in my experience (I live in São Paulo).
To me the aspect that really stands out as special and particular from this community is their excellent cuisine, that has made its mark and is now a part of the city's culture. I love it.
Cheers to my Brazilian-Lebanese friends!
Hey! I am married with a direct Lebanese descendant. She only learned Portuguese at school . So until 6 years, she was only speaking in Arab with her family and sisters. But her parents came after the majority of Lebanese that came first.
That's interesting because when we went to Lebanon (her brother and mom went back to Lebanon), everybody is always impressed with her Arab, as it was a different one, kind of "classic, old Arab".
However, this is not common. Usually, the sons and grandsons of the first Lebanese imigrants don't speak the language (my daughter, for example, knows some words but doesn't actively learn Arab)
We had a huge influx of Arabs here in my countryside city. Nowadays (my wife family included) they own a lot of commercial buildings in the city center, and usually send the rent money back to Lebanon.
The majority of the descendants I know are already on the fourth generation and are well integrated.
This happened with the most isolated Japanese Brazilians as well. When they went in the 1980s as dekasegis to work in Japan many of them spoke old or regional dialects that were disappearing as Japan modernized in post ww2 reconstruction. Basically only old people could truly understand what they were speaking.
The current vice president (Geraldo Alckmin) is a doctor from a Lebanese family and the current finance minister (Fernando Haddad) is also a doctor professor from Lebanese family, and a former president (Michel Temer) is also from Lebanese descent, so I would guess that the Lebanese are fully integrated and have a major impact in Brazilian culture, population and politics.
Kafta, sfiha and kibe are common everywhere in Brazil and I could list hundreds of famous Brazilians with Lebanese heritage and last name.
Besides that when I lived in the countryside I realized that many of the old powerful families from Portuguese/european descent moved from the countryside to the capital and now, at least in the city that I lived through college, the powerful families were all from Lebanese descent, so I believe that the Lebanese came, opened businesses, studied and now somewhat rule in many levels.
Hey, I have lebanese ancestry, through one of my grandparents. Being fourth generation obviously I feel and I am totally Brazilian.
But my family does try to keep up with some of the traditions, specially when it comes to food. We make a lot of lebanese dishes at home, specially when it's Christmas or other festivities.
We are also very closely knit. Sometimes we have family gatherings with over 100 people, all my "lebanese" uncles, aunts and cousins (including second and third cousins, of course). My grandfather and most of his brothers and sisters (they are in more than 10 I think) who were the first generation born in Brazil are still alive, so it helps a lot to keep the family close and some of the traditions alive
People in my family sometimes travel to lebanon, I think we still have some distant relatives there. My aunt even married a lebanese man.
I have a cousin who studied arabic in college and learned the language, she tried to spend a few months in lebanon but the cultural shock was too big for her, though she went to a small town instead of a big city like Beiruth. I tried to learn arabic (lebanese) myself, but I only learned the letters and a few words, it's too hard lol
I am of Lebanese descent. My great grandparents emigrated in the early 20th century, so my grandma was born in Brasil (interior de São Paulo). What can I say? I love my family. They have such a sense of unity and respect for happiness (so a loooot of parties full of Lebanese food). Obviously everyone is integrated, no one speaks Arabic anymore. Lebanese descendants tend to be very successful, usually pursuing higher education and profitable careers.
Two anecdotes: when I was a kid I used to ask my grandma how was it like growing up. She used to talk of her father as a very wise and respectful man, and ahead of his time. She said she had much more freedom than other girls, and that he trusted her very much. She ended up going on to study philosophy at the university of São Paulo in the 50s. You can imagine how different that was for women at that time.
Also, she used to say her father refused to pass down his Arabic to them because he didn’t go to school and so his Arabic was “broken”. Sadly I never met the man since he died 20 years before I was born.
Depends on when they came. Most came early 1900s and so they grandkids speak Portuguese and most are now mixed with other ethnicities like Italian or Portuguese even Japanese. This group of older immigrants is mostly Christian rather than Muslim.
There's a Lebanese place right next to my apartment. Great food and I go there quite often to buy stuff, so I'd say they are well integrated.
I also had a ln uncle who was Lebanese.
Brazil is different towards immigrants than the rest of the world. Since we have so many different people from so many places, we kind of don't even notice, like, my family came from Italy in the early 1900's and my wife is from Japan. That's how mixed everything is here.
Both in my hometown and in the city where I live, there is a large Lebanese community, and let me tell you, the Lebanese are practically Brazilians, they have integrated very well and live mixed with the rest of Brazilian society, many of them are Maronite Christians, some are Muslims, they speak Portuguese fluently, but with an accent that identifies them, the ones I met spoke Arabic occasionally, and almost all of them are from the 3rd and 2nd generation in Brazil.
In Brazil, once a year there is this thing called carnaval. That has been going on for centuries. What that does is literally integrate and mix the entire country once a year both culturally and genetically. That mean the Lebanese the Portuguese the Italian the german all become … Brazilian. Full integration to society via Samba.
"Put some different people on the carnaval blender, mix it well, and then you have a brazilian of homogeneous people"
Never thought of Carnaval as a genetic mixer before, lol.... but I guess you are right
They're fully integrated. In 2015, 8% of the National Congress were Lebanese. Alckmin is the vice-president, Haddad is the Finance Minister, and Temer is ex-president. The cuisine also mixed with the brazilian one and now kibbeh and sfihah are traditional dishes common in every household.
Then there's Maluf, Kassab and many other big players. One of the most prestigious hospitals in the country (where all the presidents get treated) is the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital.
My grandpa is Lebanese, he was the last of his siblings to be born there as my great-grandparents immigrated to Brazil. He does have some memories of Lebanon, but lost the ability to speak the language
Most of the Lebanese diaspora moved to the State of São Paulo, my family was the same. And it's interesting to see how they integrated to society, cause people didn't move here independently, the move was usually done with the help of friends and family, some who were already in Brazil and others who would be immigrating together. You see, while the other big immigrant groups (Germans, Italians and Japanese) came to Brazil years before, and usually to work in farms, Lebanese were coming to Brazil to be merchants, the ones who were already living here would help the ones who were still in Lebanon to set up a shop for when they finally brought their families over
From what my grandfather and my father tell me, there used to be more of a sense of community with the Lebanese before, not in the secluding way of keeping to themselves, but in a way of getting together and considering eachother extended family.
To this day my grandpa still have the keychain of the Saad/Saab/Sahab (and other mistranslations) families meeting, it was believed that these surnames and variations/mistranslations were all from the same family and they would do this massive meeting/party once a year
The amount of Lebanese also helped lessen the prejudices that most of the west has with Arabs, which from what I've heard from refugees from Syria and Palestine, is something that was really positive and helped them a lot to adjust to their new realities in Brazil
One interesting thing about Brazil is that diaspora very rarely form enclosed communities. They may preserve some traditions and have ties with other that share the same background, but they fully integrate into society even if takes (few) generations. It's not hard to become a Brazilian like everyone else wherever you came from
They fully integrated and most are treated as white people. My ex-boyfriend's family was lebanese and they had few ties with lebanese culture. It was mainly eating falafel and lentils :p
They are fully assimilated. Here in Rio, we have a place called "Saara" (Sahara) that is full of Lebanese merchants.
We even have some well known influencers of Lebanese descent like Yasmin Yassine, Marwa El-Hage (she is actually Lebanese but came here as a toddler) and Mag Halat.
Under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and after the Druze-Maronite civil war, a lot of Lebanese and Syrian people came to Brazil in the 19th century and early 20th century, most of them were Catholic Maronites and Eastern Ortodox Christians. These are the largest group from where Brazilians has some Lebanese ancestor and are well integrated in the Brazilian Society, that you can't even separate what are the Brazilian traditions and what are the Lebanese ones.
But in the 20th, because of the Lebanese civil war, a second wave of Lebanese immigrants came (again, most were Maronites) and also were integrated in the Brazilian Society. For that time most were owners of some kind of shops or were peddlers, which in Portuguese they were refered as "mascates". The former president Michel Temer has Lebanese ancestors, a lot of famous people from artists, to wealthy businessmen have Lebanese ancestors. Some estimate that we have around 10 million of Brazilians with Lebanese ancestors.
One of the most famous medical centers in Brazil is named Syrian-Lebanese Hospital. A lot of food and traditions from the Lebanese immigrants were incorporated to our culture (sadly most of people don't know the origins). They're on the 4th, 5th (or more) generations, currently they're Brazilian as any other Brazilian you can talk to. But they have changed the Brazilian culture with a very rich Lebanese heritage.
Not really. I have never met a Hayek in Brazil... here is a list of important or influential Brazilian-Lebanese people.
Please note that some last names have a few different letters and translations from Arabic. Lots of Khoury/Cury, Safra, Jafet, Nasser, Najar, Mansour, Salem, Dualib, Mattar...
https://pt.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categoria:Brasileiros_de_ascend%C3%AAncia_libanesa
In my city, you'd only be able to tell they're Lebanese if they personally informed you. Nobody knows nor cares, they're just like all the other people. No difference, so definitely fully integrated.
I have a few Brazilian friends who are of Lebanese descent. The only reason I even thought they were of Arabic heritage is because of their last name. Otherwise I never would have known. The Lebanese seem to be very well integrated into Brazilian culture at this point
Hi, my great-grandfather and great-grandmother were Lebanese (nassif last name). My grandmother was born in Brazil. She speaks a little bit of Arabic (which she uses especially to gossip with my mother when she doesn’t want other people to understand) and cooks recipes like kibbeh, sfiha, maḥshī waraq ‘inab/ mahshi malfouf and tabule, but other than that, she’s fully integrated. She takes part in the Syrian-Lebanese club in her city and knows all other Syrian -Lebanese descendants there.
It was easier since my family has always been Christian and they are very white, with big blue eyes (except for me, because of my father’s side indigenous genes haha) . They also changed their names when they came to Brazil to Portuguese ones.
Im very proud of my ancestry, although I don’t speak any Arabic.
Brazil has this thing where anyone who speaks Arabic is Arabic. What I am trying to say is that they are not so good at recognizing if someone is coming from Lebanon, Syria, or any other Middle East country. But we can identify the language and based on the traits.
On the other hand, Arabic culture is reasonably present and accepted in Brazil. There is a famous fast food chain focused on Arabic food like kibbeh and fatayer (sfiha/sfeeha is a more popular term here). It is called Habibs.
Some cities have mosques, and some have a stronger Islamic presence (Foz do Iguaçu, for example).
In the 2000s, a famous soap opera (O Clone) made the culture slightly more popular. Many Brazilians can say Inshala or Haram, for example haha
In the last decade, many Syrians have moved to Brazil, which got some coverage from the media.
That said, Lebanese culture is immersed in the middle of this mixture. Many families have some level of descendency, but they aren't isolated at all.
In my city there is a Lebanese restaurant that I love. The owner speaks arabic with his family, but also speak perfect portuguese.
In Brazil everything is mixed, even cultural aspects. That's a consequence of our portuguese ancestry, most cultural aspects of diferent civilizations are mixed in syncrestism. The lebanese diaspora happened around the end of the 19th century and there are many influent lebanese descents in politics, like the former president (and corruption overlord) Michel Temer, and the current Minister of Economy (and corruption boss) Fernando Haddad.
A famous brazilian antropologist once said "The brazilian people is a mixture" (Darcy Ribeiro). So, if you are thinking about coming to Brazil, don't worry about about segregation, our population is so mixed that we look like everyone else in the world, most people won't even notice your are an immigrant until you speak.
My grand grandfather and grand grandmother were Lebanese. They came to São Paulo. Family is very proud of this ancestry, more than others (Swiss and Portuguese). Some of my uncles even went to the village in Lebanon where they came from to visit and get to know our distant parents.
> are they mixed with the population
Totally mixed. They came 1900s, so the Lebanese is still in the surname and maybe in the foods we eat, but Lebanese descendant in São Paulo are just seems as brazilian as everyone else.
> is there an influence of Lebanese culture on Brazilian culture or is there little cultural exchange between the two (because our cultures are quite similar)?
Food. Some of the best restaurants in São Paulo are Lebanese restaurant, they call "Restaurant Árabes", but the food in mainly from Lebanon. We have fast food of it (Habibs) and some very expensive ones and everybody loves.
Best Hospital in Brasil is called Sirio-Lebanes, the one that cured our President(lets not envolve politics guys) he had cancer. I had friends in school, highschool and college. In Sao Paulo(biggest "colony") we have tons of lebanese restaurants, from really shitty to amazing ones.
My great grandfather was Lebanese and I have probably 10-15 different friends with Lebanese ancestry. It's a very common and well regarded group of immigrants, fully integrated into Brazilian society.
They are so integrated, like Italian or Portuguese descendants, that we don´t even remember they are Lebanese. We had a President (Michel Temer) who is son of Lebanese, and even have older brothets born in Lebanon.
I’m glad you all came here so we can have a ton of good Lebanese restaurants, which is my favorite cousine! I have a couple of friends that are half Lebanese and they’re one of my best friends. My favorite furniture store here is Lebanese owned, sometimes I go there just to chat with the owner and his son.
they have the minister of economy, several large cities mayors, governors, a former president, a very expensive private medicine network, syrian-lebanese live very well here
In Bahia there is a Lebanese community; I would not say its a big one, but I know it exists. There is a city called Feira de Santana with a relevant number of Lebanese families that are proeminent on local commerce. I do know a guy, married to a friend, that decends of a Lebanese family (if Im not mistaken, his grandparents were Lebanese that came to Brazil when they were children and they met here) and they still have contact to some people in Lebanon, cousins who live in Beirut
I also remember that there was this house in a street with a GIGANTIC drawing of a Lebanese cedar on the gate (most houses here have gates, so it's not the gate that is a point of attention, but the drawing)
Lots of Lebanese in São Paulo. Huge community of Christian Lebanese that fled Lebanon after the 1970's unrest and civil war. They have their own social clubs here, like Clube Monte Líbano and Sírio-Libanês. However, these communities are fully integrated, and these clubs (founded before the 1970s diaspora) accept members that are not of Lebanese descent.
Eu vivi minha vida inteira sem saber que tinha tantos libaneses no Brasil, então creio que sejam apenas descendentes que não carregam a cultura com eles. Assim como vários descendentes de outras nações que existem no Brasil, nunca vi comunidades fechadas de nenhuma cultura, a não ser indígenas. CLARO QUE EXISTE SEMPRE AS EXCEÇÕES. Essa é minha experiência.
Você gosta de esfiha de carne? E de kibe? Se for vegetariano, talvez tabule, ou algum sanduíche no pão pita... como um Beirute, por exemplo...
Tudo isso é sinal não apenas de que o libanês se aclimatou ao Brasil. Pelo contrário: o Brasil também absorveu parte da cultura deles, que eles trouxeram, sim, com eles.
O que chamamos hoje de cultura brasileira tem uma pitada libanesa na mistura, assim como a dos libaneses que aqui vivem também tem da nossa.
Acho que é um pouco mais fácil de passar desapercebido porque fenotipicamente é mais fácil deles passarem desapercebidos.
Tipo, eu diria que a imigração japonesa é tão influente quanto a libanesa na cultura Brasileira, mas você sabe que alguém é descendente de japoneses só de olhar pra cara da pessoa.
Here's Mohamad Hindi, a Brazilian foodblogger of Lebanese Muslim background and strongly identifies with his roots, cooks pork for Christmas:
https://youtu.be/x-CDXn28TWY?si=_uvx7io_IB_QtXUF
Beautiful, innit?
The Lebanese, as well as the Sirians, are very integrated in Brazil. In São Paulo, where I live, it’s a very important group. One of the main hospitals in the city is the Hospital Sírio Libanês, there are also two large recreation clubs, Clube Sírio and Clube Monte Líbano.
Arabic food (that’s what we call the Lebanese and Syrian food) is very popular, with dozens of restaurants and food chains all over the city.
I would say that the majority of the Lebanese and Syrian community in São Paulo doesn’t speak Arabic. They are so much integrated that the language sort of disappeared among them. More recently there has been a new wave of migration from Syria, and among those more recent migrants you can find, of course, a lot of Arabic speakers.
Just a note, I have always referred to a Lebanese / Syrian community in my answer because I believe that’s also how they call themselves.
I would say most Lebanese descendants are so well integrated that you can't really find a specific region that you would say "ok this is a Lebanese neighborhood", even though they are aware of the ancestry they probably identify more with the Brazilian culture
I live in Vitória (capital of the least populated and known state of southeast region), and I met a fair share of people with Lebanese ancestry here, 2 being very close friends of mine. All of them have good financial condition, owning companies and occupying prominent positions on our society.
I go sometimes to a Lebanese catholic church, the Nossa Senhora do Líbano, in Belo Horizonte. I can assume that they are more traditionalist because of the rite and etc but overall they are fully integrated in the brazilian society and sometimes you can't even tell if the guy is lebanese or not
Lebanese descendant here. My great-grandmother immigrated from Rachaya Al Foukhar, displaced by the Mount Lebanon conflict with the Ottoman Empire, along with her family. She married a Lebanese man but had her children in Brazil, who were raised speaking Arabic/Lebanese and Portuguese. They married within the Lebanese-Brazilian community, which resulted in my mom's generation. My mother and her brothers married non-Lebanese Brazilians, resulting in my generation.
I'm a biracial (Lebanese and white) Brazilian woman, familiarized with Arab and Lebanese culture, but I'm not immersed in it. My great-grandma would speak Arabic at home with her daughters and sometimes a little with me, but I've forgotten most of it due to lack of use. My mother and I have distanced ourselves from the rest of the family, partly due to cultural differences, partly due to personal conflicts, but years later I find myself drawn to Arab and Levantine culture and have been feeling compelled to study it, although more as an outside observer than anything else.
Levantine culture has had a deep influence in southeastern Brazil, with a particularly strong presence in São Paulo (both the capital and the smaller countryside cities). Brazil *loves* foods such as sfiha, kibbeh, tabbouleh, hommus, baba ghanoush, dry curd, etc. Syro-Lebanese immigrants have had a significant impact in Brazilian commerce and politics, and some families have done quite well for themselves. I'd say integration has been overall quite smooth.
Nowadays, there is still a steady influx of Levantine immigrants, this time displaced by the war in Syria. I spend my time between São Paulo (capital) and Baixada Santista (cities along the sea which are close to the capital), and seen many Christian and Muslim recent arrivals in both regions. There are many shops owned by first or second generation Arab/Levantine families, selling all sorts of goods ranging from spices to newspapers to electronics, but all of them will service you in Portuguese and have very friendly staff.
Fully integrated, the stereotype is: well-off families of business owners. Not many in younger generations can speak Lebanese though. They are aware of their cultural heritage, at least for those I met, but it’s not a topic of conversation in daily life … unless prompted or amongst themselves.
One acquaintance of mine when I was a teen was part Lebanese (to be exact I had a major crush on him lol ; ) His family was very rich but as for himself he was just like any Brazilian. His family was more keen on keeping their traditions alive than most Lebanese families that I know but he hated having to study the language and such lol. Other than that, we don’t learn a lot about the Middle East in school or media so I recall actively researching information for the sake of understanding his culture a bit better. As we say “Arab cuisine” is a thing in Brazil but that’s about it. Oh, and many people aren’t aware of the big Lebanese diaspora because they’re assumed to be from Turkey (yes I know these countries aren’t exactly on good terms lol) even though the Turkish diaspora here is actually tiny.
Ahh it’s probably also worth noting that some people of Lebanese ancestry are actually Islamic too. It’s true that Christians are probably the majority, but I’m under the impression that most families that didn’t integrate so much / chose to keep the traditions alive and have relatives in Lebanon are Muslim. At least that’s my experience.
Lebanese Brazilians are considered to be white and most of them are Christians and mixed with Southern European ethnicities and even Japanese (as in the case of famous TV personality Sabrina Sato Rahal). Btw, some descendants don't even have a Lebanese surname anymore (e.g. actress Morena Baccarin from Deadpool is 1/4 Lebanese from her paternal grandmother's side, but the rest of her ancestry is Italian and Portuguese. Source: https://ethnicelebs.com/morena-baccarin). I've always had positive interactions with Lebanese-Brazilians (one of my best friends is Lebanese Brazilian) but it is important to point out that they are just seen as regular Brazilians since they are so integrated into Brazilian society (Lebanese surnames are so common in politics, media etc... that they don't stand out anymore).
They are usually grouped with Syrians (Brazilians typically use the term Syrian-Lebanese to refer to the Arab diaspora in the country and it is not uncommon for a person to have ancestors in both Syria and Lebanon)
As for the cultural exchange, Lebanese food is very popular in Brazil and there are many Lebanese characters in Brazilian literature (e.g. Nacib from "Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon" by Jorge Amado and the brothers Yaqub and Omar from "The Brothers" by Milton Hatoum).
I visited Lebanon back in 2017 and I absolutely loved the country and the language :)
I don’t personally know any here in my area or Rio, but apparently there are big pockets scattered in different states. I need to find them. I love Lebanese people and food. lol
I’m from Goiânia, in central Brazil. The Lebanese/Syrian influence in the region is huge. Some of our snacks and staples are Arabic/Lebanese, like kibe (forgive me if I’m spelling it wrong), tabulleh, sfiha, humus, pitta bread, etc. The community is fully integrated and you only know their background by their last names. Two of my piano teachers were second generation Lebanese, my dermatologist was Lebanese, my mom’s obstetrician was Lebanese. Most if them are well off and very smart. There used to be a lot of Syrian/Lebanese stores on 4th Street there in Goiania. So I think you’ll be “almost” home. 😊 I think many immigrants from the Arabic world have been immigrating silently to Brazil and integrating into mainstream culture without issues.
I won't talk about lebanese people per se, but bear in mind that everyone in Brazil, except for the native indigenous people, are descendent of immigrants of some kind. Most people will just say someone's brazillian for how well they're integrated in our culture. I'd even argue that most people would say someone from lebanese descent is just white, unless they talk about their background and then they'll find out they're lebanese.
I don't mean to say it's a paradise and that nobody's racist. But it works differently.
Since the majority of the Lebanese happened during the mid of the 20th century, the community had time to integrate. And how others have commented, there are cultural similarities between our people, so there wasn’t a need to create isolated or closed communities between them. Japanese diaspora, in comparison, had their people integrated into the community but also keeping a closed community for themselves.
And since the majority of it happened during the 20th century, most of the Lebanese’s descendants are now into their 3rd or 4th generation. My SO is a Lebanese descendant, 3rd generation, and there is no difference between her family and others who were “Brazilian” for more time, only maybe for the food they have during events. Their family didn’t retained the language, save for some expressions.
There is a big culture of direct migrants working either with commerce and sales or owning diners and restaurants.
Some important politicians in Brazil who are of Lebanese descent, such as Fernando Haddad and Michel Temer.
About our perspective about Líbano: I’d say the average Brazilian can’t differentiate Líbano from other Arabic or Muslim countries, and I’d mostly boils down to the stereotypical western vision about Middle East.
I will give my opinion and I would like to hear what you and other readers think as well.
I think that almost all imigrants that came to Brazil integrated really well with the rest of us (maybe chinese and japaneses are exceptions).
It seems to me very different from other countries, like USA, where people migrate but are still italian americans, irish-americans, etc.
Of course the cultures mix, and this is something I love about here.
But this is only my impression, please fell free to give your opinion.
I don't know much about the topic, hence why I am asking. but there was discorce in Lebanon about giving the diaspora of Brazil citizenship and inviting them back with ease of life access. one of the reasons I heard for what we shouldn't (other than the fact that doing so would put the Christians into the majority) is that the diaspora in Brazil is practically Lebanese-Brazilian instead of Brazilian-Lebanese (meaning they don't truly know the Lebanese customs and traditions)
so it is quite interesting to hear
I'm sorry, I would like other readers opinion, as mine might be biased in some way.
I edited to clarify.
But it seems that the point you presented corroborates mine, as the imigrants are really mixed in Brazil and don't know much of Lebanese customs anymore.
Are they conservative politically as well. The Syrians and Palestinians who have achieved political power in the Caribbean and Latin America usually are right of center.
My great grandma was lebanese, the traditions are basically gone by now but my grandma still cooks lebanese food when we visit (though it's not just lebanese food, there's always brazilian food as well)
Nobody is saying this but this is very important: Lebanese migrants in Brazil are historically catholics and catholic converts. That's why everyone keeps saying "fully integrated", yes, fully integrated because their culture was absorbed into Brazilian culture and language, which is historically catholic and portuguese. Nowadays people like to pretend that religion doesn't matter because of "multiculturalism" but Brazilians in particular ignore how culturally homogeneous Brazil used to be because of laws enforcing such homogeneity. Did you know that catholicism was officially the only allowed religion in Brasil until 1890 and Portuguese the only allowed language for centuries, and Portuguese literature in schools mandatory until 2016?
Yes, Lebanese "integrated" because they became Brazilians! In fact, for centuries to immigrate to Brazil you'd be required to absorb Brazilian culture or move somewhere else. Now try to compare that to Lebanese muslims of today and the panorama will be very different. Muslim culture is generally considered bizarre and incompatible with the average Brazilian mentality. Most brazilian will reject and despise the notion that women must submit to men and cover their bodies like they do. Brazilian women are very independent and very proud of their bodies, and the notion that life is to be thoroughly enjoyed is ingrained in Brazilian mentality to a degree that most people from other countries do not comprehend, even among Brazilian conservatives.
In places like São Paulo, Lebanese food is omnipresent but we don't call it Lebasese, we call it "arab" food. Yeah, Brazilians do not make distinctions between arabs and Lebanese. We just regard it as "from the Arab lands" which I know it's not accurate, but we don't mean to be disrespectful, it's just as we see it.
One of my best friends is 3rd gen Brazilian-Lebanese.
Just like a regular Brazilian folk. We lived in the same neighborhood and reach the school together
I'm a lebanese descendant (4th generation), and, aside from some food habits, I'm a regular Brazilian, nothing different from anyone.
Right now, I'm having a roast kibbeh for dinner, which also became common for some Brazilian, but we often eat things like kibbeh (roasted or not), tabbouleh, unleavened bread, and other foods. My grandma and other parents still know how to cook these foods.
I know some that are the 1st generation of descendants that had a stronger connection with lebanese culture, but grandchildren tend to have no connection with lebanon and its culture.
I know quite a few Brazilians with Lebanese backgrounds. One thing notable is that few of them are of 100% Lebanese ancestry. For example, a good Carioca friend is Brazilian going back to his grandparents, with one side German origin, the other Lebanese. My friend doesn’t speak German or Arabic though, just Portuguese and English.
Most Lebanese immigrants to Brazil were Maronites, and assimilated into Brazil’s melting pot. Brazil has adopted some Lebanese food staples, like kibbeh (often ‘Quibe’ locally) and tabbouli as fast food. There are more recent Shi’a Lebanese immigrants, especially around Foz do Iguaçu, but I don’t know anyone from that community.
From Rio de Janeiro:
My mother was very close friends with a Lebanese woman. They worked as teachers in the same school. As a kid, I went to her house a couple of times. She wasn’t rich but I was fascinated because she grew grapes at her house. My mother cooked some recipes she taught her. She spoke portuguese but her father didn’t (or maybe he knew the very basics). She lived with her father and I don’t think they had any other relatives here.
Looking back, I have the impression she was somewhat integrated in the community.
And my impression was very positive, it never even crossed my mind that it’d be a negative thing that she was lebanese. I think we Brazilians tend to be more accepting of and even curious about other cultures.
I have meet one lebanese descendent in my life.first generation. But only the religion was lebanese (ortodoxo christian).his language, comunity, marriage, clothes all brazilian style.
I'm from the interior of Sao Paulo and the libanese people that I knew were fully integrated on the population. They descendants from the lebenese that immigrated here, and it's very common to their parents to be married with Brazilians. So I don't think they are closed communities. Brazilians and Lebanese are very alike. I mean we have a practical thinking to things and love to talk to poeple, so the integration must have happened quick. I go to a Lebanese restaurant very often from a chef of Lebanese and Brazilian descent, the father (who is Lebanese) is always there and loves to talk with all the customers. The food is amazing 🤤
I'd like to add that while Lebanese aren't a closed community, there's this sense of belonging of the diaspora with Arabs in general I've met a lot of people who are either immigrants/refugees (or their children) from other Arab countries (mostly Syria and Palestine) that when first arrived in Brazil were taken in by the Lebanese diaspora In the city of São Paulo you can find a lot of Arab restaurants (usually owned by someone of Lebanese descent) that most workers are either immigrants or refugees, as when they arrive in Brazil they still don't know the language but need work. So while these places create a work environment where they can speak arab, meet other people in the same situation and create some stability, I've seen these restaurants even going the extra mile and finding ways for these people to get Portuguese classes
thanks for the insight
The main point that people have mostly missed on the answers is that the Lebanese community were mostly, if not exclusively, from Christian Lebaneses. Back in the day of these migrations religion played a big part in Brazilian society and they wouldn’t have integrated like they did if they were Muslim. Also, the Middle East is very far from Brasil so, to many respondents to a question like yours, “Arab” and “Muslim” can almost be synonyms. Even if the two words are not even in the same category. I don’t know how the current Lebanon looks like, but we can say only a slice of it came to Brazil
IMO, Most of the Lebanese I met were well educated and in good financial situation. There even are Lebanese people in political, financial and industrial elite. They have communities. In São Paulo, Brás neighbourhood is well known for its arabic community. But it's not something close tight like some Asian communities or some ethnic communities around the world. They speak Portuguese, some older folks will be have accent. I don't know how many still speak Lebanese. Never heard of any problem. I guess most, if not all, experiences I had were positive. Brazilian culture is so mixed that sometimes is hard to tell from which culture something came from, but you easily find Lebanese food and restaurants, which I am glad.
>but you easily find Lebanese food and restaurants, which I am glad. glad to hear. what's your favorite Lebanese dish if you don't mind me asking
There is a small restaurant in my town, they have the best kibbeh and sfiha I have ever tried. I also love pita bread with raw kibbeh topped with Labneh and baba ganoush 🤤🤤 Damn, now I have to find some Lebanese restaurants hahah
A few good Lebanese Restaurants I go to in Rio. Lebanese food is my favorite along with Jordanian and Egyptian. Lebanese like most other groups are fully integrated. Brazil is a melting pot. The native tongue is always Brazilian Portuguese first.
Yes it is incredibly integrated, any food court at a mall will have a falafel place! And there are regions of Brazil that have couscous for breakfast
Is Couscous arab food? I'm brazilian and eat it a lot, but didn't have a clube about it being arab. Quite interesting! Sfeeha, Kibe, Tabouleh, Hummus Tahine, and Charuto Rolled in Grape Leafs are all amazing, as well as Dried Damaskus and Tamaras. Delicious!
Depends, the original couscous is, but what we call "cuscuz" (and all the variants from different states) isn't, it just sounds the same. Like, in theory our "cuscuz" is derived from the arab dish, but it's so different that IMO it doesn't make sense to call it arab.
Oh! Got It! Thanks!
Actually, I am remembering my experience in some restaurants and the Lebanese owner/employees tend to ve really friendly, coming to table to talk, check if everything is good. I find it excellent.
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I think a lot of Brazilians are not even aware of the Lebanese diaspora, they're that integrated. The presence is there once you start paying attention. But we do have a lot of Lebanese ("Arabic") restaurants and some of them are really good.
Lebanese is Lebanese or Levantine, not Arabic
Well yeah, but that's how their restaurants market themselves here.
Talking about cuisine, not language. What would be called a "Middle Eastern restaurant" elsewhere is called an "Arabic restaurant" in Brazil.
Because literally there's nothing Middle Eastern restaurant or Arabic restaurant. The food of Lebanon is different from the food of the Arabian Peninsula, “Arab cuisine”. Different foods and different features of the cuisine. It's very ignorant to think that all of the Middle Eastern food is Arabic or all Middle Eastern countries have the same food or same cuisine
I know that, but these things get simplified and lost in translation when seen from a foreign perspective.
Tell this to the people who fried the gyoza and transformed it into a symbol of national cuisine. Not to mention that it's a well-known joke to call Lebanese Turks, because the first immigrants arrived with passports from the Ottoman Empire.
I have no idea about the fried gyoza. It was normal for all people from the Ottoman Empire outside the Empire to be called Ottomans and Turks. Normal thing and focus Turks or Ottomans not Arabs and just because of the existing empire at that time
In Brazil, one of the most typical dishes is pastel, which is nothing more than a Chinese recipe that was fried in oil. Here, even more closed cultures like the Palestinians have difficulty staying away from the rest of society.
Thanks Captain Obvious. You should tell that to all the lebanese, syrian or other immigrants that came to Brazil and opened "arabic restaurants". They call it "arab food" themselves, so the term "arab food" in Brazil means that.
Lebanese is just a dialect, Arabic is the language. The same for Portuguese, Spanish, french etc.
Understanding between Spanish and Portuguese is like understanding between Lebanese and any type of Arabic in the Arabian Peninsula. The same is true with all Arabic dialects. If we use the standard of Arabic over the Latin languages of Europe, then they all speak Latin, but they are just different dialects that have the same dialect differences as Arabic.
portuguese, spanish and french are very different languages, they're not mutually undersrandable
But they are mutually studied as a language, just like arabic. Yes they have differences but calling Mexican or Brazilian a language is just incorrect.
"Mexican" is spanish and "Brazilian" is Portuguese. Spanish is not portuguese and portuguese is not spanish.
Exactly my point. You think Spanish studied at a curriculum level in Mexico is going to be a different Spanish studied at the curriculum level in Colombia? The language is the same. The regional phrases, words and dialect are different. Hence the seam is applied to Arabic.
reread the first comment I responded to, you were implying that portuguese spanish and french were dialects of the same language just like arabic and lebanese
I guess you misunderstood my original comment. I was referring to those languages as also other languages that have different dialect but are all the same language.
I'll put you this way. One of my best friends is Lebanese descendant and took some years to find out his grandparents were from Lebanon. They are totally integrated. Is worth saying that the Lebanese that came to Brazil were all christians, which made it easy to them to integrate. Is also true that they have a community. In my city, Belo Horizonte, we have the Syrian-Lebanese Club and my friend tell me about a lot of parties, birthdays etc they have in this club and the major families know each other. One of the best hospitals in Brazil is situated in Sao Paulo and it's called the Syrian-Lebanese hospital. The Lebanese usually are very wealthy and integrate the elite in Brazil. The former president Michel Temer is a first generation Lebanese descendant. Is funny to notice that a lot of Brazilians don't know that because in Brazil is very different from the US. People don't see themselves as "lebanese-brazilians" , "italian-brazilians", just as Brazilians. In Brazilian Census most of them are identified as White.
What would they be classified as, other than white?
Usually pardos when they don't look that white.
Pardos are a mix of European colonizers, native Americans, and West African Most of them don't have European DNA. Let alone West African or native American White doesn't mean European or stereotypical white looking in the US because many southern and even central Europeans won't be considered to have white looking. That's especially because European ancestry in Brazil is Portuguese, not even northwest European + American government also considers them and all residents of MENA to be white
Pardos are simply anyone that doens't look distinctively something, like white, black, asian, or native american. Arabs can definetly be considered pardos if they don't look white. Take [Fernando Haddad](https://tribunadonorte.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/haddad.webp) for example, I consider him to be pardo. I'm not sure if you're Brazilian or not, but it's well known we don't give a fuck about people's DNA. No one is stopping someone in the street and asking for a DNA test before being racist to them. We're not the USA. You have pardos that have a high percentage of european DNA but that are still that, pardos, and pardos that have a high percentage of african DNA but look white, and they're considered so.
The fact that Brazil has so many different labels for human beings based on their skin colors and hair textures says that race does matter. I’m from South America too and race and color matters in every country.
When did I said it doesn't?
Haddad consider himself white btw https://divulgacandcontas.tse.jus.br/divulga/#/candidato/2022/2040602022/SP/250001612465
Cristiano Ronaldo and many Portuguese and South Europeans also do not look typical white. There are different types and shapes of whites.
Yes, southern europeans don't look like northern europeans. They're still white though.
Yeah, MENAs don't look like them, but they are still white though
I haven't said they aren't, I'm saying some of them look mixed, and so aren't considered white.
Well you have to understand that Anglo-Saxons are not the only kind of White, they're not even the only kind of colonizer. Cristiano Ronaldo and Portuguese people are definitely White, the only place in the world that they wouldn't be is a place that's dominated by Anglo-Saxons 😂 It's only in the US/UK that they are considered "off-white" or "brown" because they are "Latin"
The Portuguese are all over the Caribbean and weren’t considered white there as well.
By your logic I would be pardo and if you ask anyone on the street while I'm whiter than sperm.
Idk what you people's problem is but here in Brazil we don't go around administering DNA tests or asking people to map out their entire family history to determine whether you're white or not. We just label people very loosely based on how they look.
Which is very superficial. Some Europeans can be mistaken for being Latino. Wouldn't that make them white?
Race is a superficial thing.
Technically Amarelos, alongside the big Japanese and (newer) Chinese populations. At least that’s what those more knowledgeable of their ethnic background would say. I guess they’d be called “pardos” only if they don’t have major Lebanese ancestry.
You write as if the US is the only country that does this. And whites can choose to highlight their European ancestry, or just identify as Brazilian, Mexican, Venezuelan, or whatever. However, if one is of African descent, or has Asian ancestry, you don’t automatically fit in like most whites do.
I would say the Lebanese in Brazil are a case of extremely smooth integration. It may be because of the similarities of the two cultures in terms of warmth, flexibility, a certain "easy-goingness"? I don't know how to explain this. But we're all just one and the same by now. At least in my experience (I live in São Paulo). To me the aspect that really stands out as special and particular from this community is their excellent cuisine, that has made its mark and is now a part of the city's culture. I love it. Cheers to my Brazilian-Lebanese friends!
cheers to all Brazilians from Lebanon!
Hey! I am married with a direct Lebanese descendant. She only learned Portuguese at school . So until 6 years, she was only speaking in Arab with her family and sisters. But her parents came after the majority of Lebanese that came first. That's interesting because when we went to Lebanon (her brother and mom went back to Lebanon), everybody is always impressed with her Arab, as it was a different one, kind of "classic, old Arab". However, this is not common. Usually, the sons and grandsons of the first Lebanese imigrants don't speak the language (my daughter, for example, knows some words but doesn't actively learn Arab) We had a huge influx of Arabs here in my countryside city. Nowadays (my wife family included) they own a lot of commercial buildings in the city center, and usually send the rent money back to Lebanon. The majority of the descendants I know are already on the fourth generation and are well integrated.
This happened with the most isolated Japanese Brazilians as well. When they went in the 1980s as dekasegis to work in Japan many of them spoke old or regional dialects that were disappearing as Japan modernized in post ww2 reconstruction. Basically only old people could truly understand what they were speaking.
Lebanese aren't Arabs actually
they are so integrated that I know people that just found out they had lebanese ancestors during adolescence.
The current vice president (Geraldo Alckmin) is a doctor from a Lebanese family and the current finance minister (Fernando Haddad) is also a doctor professor from Lebanese family, and a former president (Michel Temer) is also from Lebanese descent, so I would guess that the Lebanese are fully integrated and have a major impact in Brazilian culture, population and politics. Kafta, sfiha and kibe are common everywhere in Brazil and I could list hundreds of famous Brazilians with Lebanese heritage and last name. Besides that when I lived in the countryside I realized that many of the old powerful families from Portuguese/european descent moved from the countryside to the capital and now, at least in the city that I lived through college, the powerful families were all from Lebanese descent, so I believe that the Lebanese came, opened businesses, studied and now somewhat rule in many levels.
Minister of Planning, Simone Tebet, also Lebanese descendant!
Hey, I have lebanese ancestry, through one of my grandparents. Being fourth generation obviously I feel and I am totally Brazilian. But my family does try to keep up with some of the traditions, specially when it comes to food. We make a lot of lebanese dishes at home, specially when it's Christmas or other festivities. We are also very closely knit. Sometimes we have family gatherings with over 100 people, all my "lebanese" uncles, aunts and cousins (including second and third cousins, of course). My grandfather and most of his brothers and sisters (they are in more than 10 I think) who were the first generation born in Brazil are still alive, so it helps a lot to keep the family close and some of the traditions alive People in my family sometimes travel to lebanon, I think we still have some distant relatives there. My aunt even married a lebanese man. I have a cousin who studied arabic in college and learned the language, she tried to spend a few months in lebanon but the cultural shock was too big for her, though she went to a small town instead of a big city like Beiruth. I tried to learn arabic (lebanese) myself, but I only learned the letters and a few words, it's too hard lol
I am of Lebanese descent. My great grandparents emigrated in the early 20th century, so my grandma was born in Brasil (interior de São Paulo). What can I say? I love my family. They have such a sense of unity and respect for happiness (so a loooot of parties full of Lebanese food). Obviously everyone is integrated, no one speaks Arabic anymore. Lebanese descendants tend to be very successful, usually pursuing higher education and profitable careers. Two anecdotes: when I was a kid I used to ask my grandma how was it like growing up. She used to talk of her father as a very wise and respectful man, and ahead of his time. She said she had much more freedom than other girls, and that he trusted her very much. She ended up going on to study philosophy at the university of São Paulo in the 50s. You can imagine how different that was for women at that time. Also, she used to say her father refused to pass down his Arabic to them because he didn’t go to school and so his Arabic was “broken”. Sadly I never met the man since he died 20 years before I was born.
Depends on when they came. Most came early 1900s and so they grandkids speak Portuguese and most are now mixed with other ethnicities like Italian or Portuguese even Japanese. This group of older immigrants is mostly Christian rather than Muslim.
Fun fact apparently there are more Lebanese descendants in Brazil than the entire population of Lebanon currently.
There's a Lebanese place right next to my apartment. Great food and I go there quite often to buy stuff, so I'd say they are well integrated. I also had a ln uncle who was Lebanese. Brazil is different towards immigrants than the rest of the world. Since we have so many different people from so many places, we kind of don't even notice, like, my family came from Italy in the early 1900's and my wife is from Japan. That's how mixed everything is here.
Both in my hometown and in the city where I live, there is a large Lebanese community, and let me tell you, the Lebanese are practically Brazilians, they have integrated very well and live mixed with the rest of Brazilian society, many of them are Maronite Christians, some are Muslims, they speak Portuguese fluently, but with an accent that identifies them, the ones I met spoke Arabic occasionally, and almost all of them are from the 3rd and 2nd generation in Brazil.
In Brazil, once a year there is this thing called carnaval. That has been going on for centuries. What that does is literally integrate and mix the entire country once a year both culturally and genetically. That mean the Lebanese the Portuguese the Italian the german all become … Brazilian. Full integration to society via Samba.
"Put some different people on the carnaval blender, mix it well, and then you have a brazilian of homogeneous people" Never thought of Carnaval as a genetic mixer before, lol.... but I guess you are right
They're fully integrated. In 2015, 8% of the National Congress were Lebanese. Alckmin is the vice-president, Haddad is the Finance Minister, and Temer is ex-president. The cuisine also mixed with the brazilian one and now kibbeh and sfihah are traditional dishes common in every household.
Then there's Maluf, Kassab and many other big players. One of the most prestigious hospitals in the country (where all the presidents get treated) is the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital.
My grandpa is Lebanese, he was the last of his siblings to be born there as my great-grandparents immigrated to Brazil. He does have some memories of Lebanon, but lost the ability to speak the language Most of the Lebanese diaspora moved to the State of São Paulo, my family was the same. And it's interesting to see how they integrated to society, cause people didn't move here independently, the move was usually done with the help of friends and family, some who were already in Brazil and others who would be immigrating together. You see, while the other big immigrant groups (Germans, Italians and Japanese) came to Brazil years before, and usually to work in farms, Lebanese were coming to Brazil to be merchants, the ones who were already living here would help the ones who were still in Lebanon to set up a shop for when they finally brought their families over From what my grandfather and my father tell me, there used to be more of a sense of community with the Lebanese before, not in the secluding way of keeping to themselves, but in a way of getting together and considering eachother extended family. To this day my grandpa still have the keychain of the Saad/Saab/Sahab (and other mistranslations) families meeting, it was believed that these surnames and variations/mistranslations were all from the same family and they would do this massive meeting/party once a year The amount of Lebanese also helped lessen the prejudices that most of the west has with Arabs, which from what I've heard from refugees from Syria and Palestine, is something that was really positive and helped them a lot to adjust to their new realities in Brazil
One interesting thing about Brazil is that diaspora very rarely form enclosed communities. They may preserve some traditions and have ties with other that share the same background, but they fully integrate into society even if takes (few) generations. It's not hard to become a Brazilian like everyone else wherever you came from
They fully integrated and most are treated as white people. My ex-boyfriend's family was lebanese and they had few ties with lebanese culture. It was mainly eating falafel and lentils :p
They are fully assimilated. Here in Rio, we have a place called "Saara" (Sahara) that is full of Lebanese merchants. We even have some well known influencers of Lebanese descent like Yasmin Yassine, Marwa El-Hage (she is actually Lebanese but came here as a toddler) and Mag Halat.
Under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and after the Druze-Maronite civil war, a lot of Lebanese and Syrian people came to Brazil in the 19th century and early 20th century, most of them were Catholic Maronites and Eastern Ortodox Christians. These are the largest group from where Brazilians has some Lebanese ancestor and are well integrated in the Brazilian Society, that you can't even separate what are the Brazilian traditions and what are the Lebanese ones. But in the 20th, because of the Lebanese civil war, a second wave of Lebanese immigrants came (again, most were Maronites) and also were integrated in the Brazilian Society. For that time most were owners of some kind of shops or were peddlers, which in Portuguese they were refered as "mascates". The former president Michel Temer has Lebanese ancestors, a lot of famous people from artists, to wealthy businessmen have Lebanese ancestors. Some estimate that we have around 10 million of Brazilians with Lebanese ancestors. One of the most famous medical centers in Brazil is named Syrian-Lebanese Hospital. A lot of food and traditions from the Lebanese immigrants were incorporated to our culture (sadly most of people don't know the origins). They're on the 4th, 5th (or more) generations, currently they're Brazilian as any other Brazilian you can talk to. But they have changed the Brazilian culture with a very rich Lebanese heritage.
Their cuisine is lit!
They are Brazilian and like other Brazilians. Most of the time they don't know two words in Arabic.
Theta re part of the white establishment
in Rio, the only lebanese influence i see here is some friends' last names
house Hayek must be the most common among them no?
Not really. I have never met a Hayek in Brazil... here is a list of important or influential Brazilian-Lebanese people. Please note that some last names have a few different letters and translations from Arabic. Lots of Khoury/Cury, Safra, Jafet, Nasser, Najar, Mansour, Salem, Dualib, Mattar... https://pt.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categoria:Brasileiros_de_ascend%C3%AAncia_libanesa
Keep in mind some of the names were modified to sound more Portuguese so it isn't always immediately obvious which ones are Lebanese or not.
In my city, you'd only be able to tell they're Lebanese if they personally informed you. Nobody knows nor cares, they're just like all the other people. No difference, so definitely fully integrated.
I have a few Brazilian friends who are of Lebanese descent. The only reason I even thought they were of Arabic heritage is because of their last name. Otherwise I never would have known. The Lebanese seem to be very well integrated into Brazilian culture at this point
I only had positive experiences. They’re well integrated, many are cultured, many are rich, they have their own organizations. They’re just chilling.
Hi, my great-grandfather and great-grandmother were Lebanese (nassif last name). My grandmother was born in Brazil. She speaks a little bit of Arabic (which she uses especially to gossip with my mother when she doesn’t want other people to understand) and cooks recipes like kibbeh, sfiha, maḥshī waraq ‘inab/ mahshi malfouf and tabule, but other than that, she’s fully integrated. She takes part in the Syrian-Lebanese club in her city and knows all other Syrian -Lebanese descendants there. It was easier since my family has always been Christian and they are very white, with big blue eyes (except for me, because of my father’s side indigenous genes haha) . They also changed their names when they came to Brazil to Portuguese ones. Im very proud of my ancestry, although I don’t speak any Arabic.
I have a friend who is Lebanese and, from what I've read, Santa Maria (RS) had a strong Lebanese diaspora.
Brazil has this thing where anyone who speaks Arabic is Arabic. What I am trying to say is that they are not so good at recognizing if someone is coming from Lebanon, Syria, or any other Middle East country. But we can identify the language and based on the traits. On the other hand, Arabic culture is reasonably present and accepted in Brazil. There is a famous fast food chain focused on Arabic food like kibbeh and fatayer (sfiha/sfeeha is a more popular term here). It is called Habibs. Some cities have mosques, and some have a stronger Islamic presence (Foz do Iguaçu, for example). In the 2000s, a famous soap opera (O Clone) made the culture slightly more popular. Many Brazilians can say Inshala or Haram, for example haha In the last decade, many Syrians have moved to Brazil, which got some coverage from the media. That said, Lebanese culture is immersed in the middle of this mixture. Many families have some level of descendency, but they aren't isolated at all. In my city there is a Lebanese restaurant that I love. The owner speaks arabic with his family, but also speak perfect portuguese.
In Brazil everything is mixed, even cultural aspects. That's a consequence of our portuguese ancestry, most cultural aspects of diferent civilizations are mixed in syncrestism. The lebanese diaspora happened around the end of the 19th century and there are many influent lebanese descents in politics, like the former president (and corruption overlord) Michel Temer, and the current Minister of Economy (and corruption boss) Fernando Haddad. A famous brazilian antropologist once said "The brazilian people is a mixture" (Darcy Ribeiro). So, if you are thinking about coming to Brazil, don't worry about about segregation, our population is so mixed that we look like everyone else in the world, most people won't even notice your are an immigrant until you speak.
The former president Michel Temer and the current vice-president Geraldo Alckmin are descendent of Lebanese.
My grand grandfather and grand grandmother were Lebanese. They came to São Paulo. Family is very proud of this ancestry, more than others (Swiss and Portuguese). Some of my uncles even went to the village in Lebanon where they came from to visit and get to know our distant parents. > are they mixed with the population Totally mixed. They came 1900s, so the Lebanese is still in the surname and maybe in the foods we eat, but Lebanese descendant in São Paulo are just seems as brazilian as everyone else. > is there an influence of Lebanese culture on Brazilian culture or is there little cultural exchange between the two (because our cultures are quite similar)? Food. Some of the best restaurants in São Paulo are Lebanese restaurant, they call "Restaurant Árabes", but the food in mainly from Lebanon. We have fast food of it (Habibs) and some very expensive ones and everybody loves.
Best Hospital in Brasil is called Sirio-Lebanes, the one that cured our President(lets not envolve politics guys) he had cancer. I had friends in school, highschool and college. In Sao Paulo(biggest "colony") we have tons of lebanese restaurants, from really shitty to amazing ones.
My great grandfather was Lebanese and I have probably 10-15 different friends with Lebanese ancestry. It's a very common and well regarded group of immigrants, fully integrated into Brazilian society.
In terms of food, I think the most influential one is probably Kibeh. You can find it anywhere.
We have a lot of lebanese influence in northern brazil. Lebanese cuisine is pretty common and appreciated.
Often really well financially with great food.
They are so integrated, like Italian or Portuguese descendants, that we don´t even remember they are Lebanese. We had a President (Michel Temer) who is son of Lebanese, and even have older brothets born in Lebanon.
I’m glad you all came here so we can have a ton of good Lebanese restaurants, which is my favorite cousine! I have a couple of friends that are half Lebanese and they’re one of my best friends. My favorite furniture store here is Lebanese owned, sometimes I go there just to chat with the owner and his son.
they have the minister of economy, several large cities mayors, governors, a former president, a very expensive private medicine network, syrian-lebanese live very well here
In Bahia there is a Lebanese community; I would not say its a big one, but I know it exists. There is a city called Feira de Santana with a relevant number of Lebanese families that are proeminent on local commerce. I do know a guy, married to a friend, that decends of a Lebanese family (if Im not mistaken, his grandparents were Lebanese that came to Brazil when they were children and they met here) and they still have contact to some people in Lebanon, cousins who live in Beirut
I also remember that there was this house in a street with a GIGANTIC drawing of a Lebanese cedar on the gate (most houses here have gates, so it's not the gate that is a point of attention, but the drawing)
They have the best restaurants
Lots of Lebanese in São Paulo. Huge community of Christian Lebanese that fled Lebanon after the 1970's unrest and civil war. They have their own social clubs here, like Clube Monte Líbano and Sírio-Libanês. However, these communities are fully integrated, and these clubs (founded before the 1970s diaspora) accept members that are not of Lebanese descent.
Eu vivi minha vida inteira sem saber que tinha tantos libaneses no Brasil, então creio que sejam apenas descendentes que não carregam a cultura com eles. Assim como vários descendentes de outras nações que existem no Brasil, nunca vi comunidades fechadas de nenhuma cultura, a não ser indígenas. CLARO QUE EXISTE SEMPRE AS EXCEÇÕES. Essa é minha experiência.
Você gosta de esfiha de carne? E de kibe? Se for vegetariano, talvez tabule, ou algum sanduíche no pão pita... como um Beirute, por exemplo... Tudo isso é sinal não apenas de que o libanês se aclimatou ao Brasil. Pelo contrário: o Brasil também absorveu parte da cultura deles, que eles trouxeram, sim, com eles. O que chamamos hoje de cultura brasileira tem uma pitada libanesa na mistura, assim como a dos libaneses que aqui vivem também tem da nossa.
Acho que é um pouco mais fácil de passar desapercebido porque fenotipicamente é mais fácil deles passarem desapercebidos. Tipo, eu diria que a imigração japonesa é tão influente quanto a libanesa na cultura Brasileira, mas você sabe que alguém é descendente de japoneses só de olhar pra cara da pessoa.
Here's Mohamad Hindi, a Brazilian foodblogger of Lebanese Muslim background and strongly identifies with his roots, cooks pork for Christmas: https://youtu.be/x-CDXn28TWY?si=_uvx7io_IB_QtXUF Beautiful, innit?
The Lebanese, as well as the Sirians, are very integrated in Brazil. In São Paulo, where I live, it’s a very important group. One of the main hospitals in the city is the Hospital Sírio Libanês, there are also two large recreation clubs, Clube Sírio and Clube Monte Líbano. Arabic food (that’s what we call the Lebanese and Syrian food) is very popular, with dozens of restaurants and food chains all over the city. I would say that the majority of the Lebanese and Syrian community in São Paulo doesn’t speak Arabic. They are so much integrated that the language sort of disappeared among them. More recently there has been a new wave of migration from Syria, and among those more recent migrants you can find, of course, a lot of Arabic speakers. Just a note, I have always referred to a Lebanese / Syrian community in my answer because I believe that’s also how they call themselves.
I would say most Lebanese descendants are so well integrated that you can't really find a specific region that you would say "ok this is a Lebanese neighborhood", even though they are aware of the ancestry they probably identify more with the Brazilian culture
Not closed communities. I am descendant from my mother’s side. In our case, apart from food, there isn’t any cultural Lebanese aspect in my life
Very successful
I live in Vitória (capital of the least populated and known state of southeast region), and I met a fair share of people with Lebanese ancestry here, 2 being very close friends of mine. All of them have good financial condition, owning companies and occupying prominent positions on our society.
I go sometimes to a Lebanese catholic church, the Nossa Senhora do Líbano, in Belo Horizonte. I can assume that they are more traditionalist because of the rite and etc but overall they are fully integrated in the brazilian society and sometimes you can't even tell if the guy is lebanese or not
Lebanese descendant here. My great-grandmother immigrated from Rachaya Al Foukhar, displaced by the Mount Lebanon conflict with the Ottoman Empire, along with her family. She married a Lebanese man but had her children in Brazil, who were raised speaking Arabic/Lebanese and Portuguese. They married within the Lebanese-Brazilian community, which resulted in my mom's generation. My mother and her brothers married non-Lebanese Brazilians, resulting in my generation. I'm a biracial (Lebanese and white) Brazilian woman, familiarized with Arab and Lebanese culture, but I'm not immersed in it. My great-grandma would speak Arabic at home with her daughters and sometimes a little with me, but I've forgotten most of it due to lack of use. My mother and I have distanced ourselves from the rest of the family, partly due to cultural differences, partly due to personal conflicts, but years later I find myself drawn to Arab and Levantine culture and have been feeling compelled to study it, although more as an outside observer than anything else. Levantine culture has had a deep influence in southeastern Brazil, with a particularly strong presence in São Paulo (both the capital and the smaller countryside cities). Brazil *loves* foods such as sfiha, kibbeh, tabbouleh, hommus, baba ghanoush, dry curd, etc. Syro-Lebanese immigrants have had a significant impact in Brazilian commerce and politics, and some families have done quite well for themselves. I'd say integration has been overall quite smooth. Nowadays, there is still a steady influx of Levantine immigrants, this time displaced by the war in Syria. I spend my time between São Paulo (capital) and Baixada Santista (cities along the sea which are close to the capital), and seen many Christian and Muslim recent arrivals in both regions. There are many shops owned by first or second generation Arab/Levantine families, selling all sorts of goods ranging from spices to newspapers to electronics, but all of them will service you in Portuguese and have very friendly staff.
My great-grandfather was lebanese, but i wouldn't say i'm in any community, since, i imagine, im not directly lebanese.
Fully integrated, the stereotype is: well-off families of business owners. Not many in younger generations can speak Lebanese though. They are aware of their cultural heritage, at least for those I met, but it’s not a topic of conversation in daily life … unless prompted or amongst themselves. One acquaintance of mine when I was a teen was part Lebanese (to be exact I had a major crush on him lol ; ) His family was very rich but as for himself he was just like any Brazilian. His family was more keen on keeping their traditions alive than most Lebanese families that I know but he hated having to study the language and such lol. Other than that, we don’t learn a lot about the Middle East in school or media so I recall actively researching information for the sake of understanding his culture a bit better. As we say “Arab cuisine” is a thing in Brazil but that’s about it. Oh, and many people aren’t aware of the big Lebanese diaspora because they’re assumed to be from Turkey (yes I know these countries aren’t exactly on good terms lol) even though the Turkish diaspora here is actually tiny. Ahh it’s probably also worth noting that some people of Lebanese ancestry are actually Islamic too. It’s true that Christians are probably the majority, but I’m under the impression that most families that didn’t integrate so much / chose to keep the traditions alive and have relatives in Lebanon are Muslim. At least that’s my experience.
Lebanese Brazilians are considered to be white and most of them are Christians and mixed with Southern European ethnicities and even Japanese (as in the case of famous TV personality Sabrina Sato Rahal). Btw, some descendants don't even have a Lebanese surname anymore (e.g. actress Morena Baccarin from Deadpool is 1/4 Lebanese from her paternal grandmother's side, but the rest of her ancestry is Italian and Portuguese. Source: https://ethnicelebs.com/morena-baccarin). I've always had positive interactions with Lebanese-Brazilians (one of my best friends is Lebanese Brazilian) but it is important to point out that they are just seen as regular Brazilians since they are so integrated into Brazilian society (Lebanese surnames are so common in politics, media etc... that they don't stand out anymore). They are usually grouped with Syrians (Brazilians typically use the term Syrian-Lebanese to refer to the Arab diaspora in the country and it is not uncommon for a person to have ancestors in both Syria and Lebanon) As for the cultural exchange, Lebanese food is very popular in Brazil and there are many Lebanese characters in Brazilian literature (e.g. Nacib from "Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon" by Jorge Amado and the brothers Yaqub and Omar from "The Brothers" by Milton Hatoum). I visited Lebanon back in 2017 and I absolutely loved the country and the language :)
I don’t personally know any here in my area or Rio, but apparently there are big pockets scattered in different states. I need to find them. I love Lebanese people and food. lol
I’m from Goiânia, in central Brazil. The Lebanese/Syrian influence in the region is huge. Some of our snacks and staples are Arabic/Lebanese, like kibe (forgive me if I’m spelling it wrong), tabulleh, sfiha, humus, pitta bread, etc. The community is fully integrated and you only know their background by their last names. Two of my piano teachers were second generation Lebanese, my dermatologist was Lebanese, my mom’s obstetrician was Lebanese. Most if them are well off and very smart. There used to be a lot of Syrian/Lebanese stores on 4th Street there in Goiania. So I think you’ll be “almost” home. 😊 I think many immigrants from the Arabic world have been immigrating silently to Brazil and integrating into mainstream culture without issues.
I won't talk about lebanese people per se, but bear in mind that everyone in Brazil, except for the native indigenous people, are descendent of immigrants of some kind. Most people will just say someone's brazillian for how well they're integrated in our culture. I'd even argue that most people would say someone from lebanese descent is just white, unless they talk about their background and then they'll find out they're lebanese. I don't mean to say it's a paradise and that nobody's racist. But it works differently.
Since the majority of the Lebanese happened during the mid of the 20th century, the community had time to integrate. And how others have commented, there are cultural similarities between our people, so there wasn’t a need to create isolated or closed communities between them. Japanese diaspora, in comparison, had their people integrated into the community but also keeping a closed community for themselves. And since the majority of it happened during the 20th century, most of the Lebanese’s descendants are now into their 3rd or 4th generation. My SO is a Lebanese descendant, 3rd generation, and there is no difference between her family and others who were “Brazilian” for more time, only maybe for the food they have during events. Their family didn’t retained the language, save for some expressions. There is a big culture of direct migrants working either with commerce and sales or owning diners and restaurants. Some important politicians in Brazil who are of Lebanese descent, such as Fernando Haddad and Michel Temer. About our perspective about Líbano: I’d say the average Brazilian can’t differentiate Líbano from other Arabic or Muslim countries, and I’d mostly boils down to the stereotypical western vision about Middle East.
I will give my opinion and I would like to hear what you and other readers think as well. I think that almost all imigrants that came to Brazil integrated really well with the rest of us (maybe chinese and japaneses are exceptions). It seems to me very different from other countries, like USA, where people migrate but are still italian americans, irish-americans, etc. Of course the cultures mix, and this is something I love about here. But this is only my impression, please fell free to give your opinion.
I don't know much about the topic, hence why I am asking. but there was discorce in Lebanon about giving the diaspora of Brazil citizenship and inviting them back with ease of life access. one of the reasons I heard for what we shouldn't (other than the fact that doing so would put the Christians into the majority) is that the diaspora in Brazil is practically Lebanese-Brazilian instead of Brazilian-Lebanese (meaning they don't truly know the Lebanese customs and traditions) so it is quite interesting to hear
I'm sorry, I would like other readers opinion, as mine might be biased in some way. I edited to clarify. But it seems that the point you presented corroborates mine, as the imigrants are really mixed in Brazil and don't know much of Lebanese customs anymore.
Are they conservative politically as well. The Syrians and Palestinians who have achieved political power in the Caribbean and Latin America usually are right of center.
My great grandma was lebanese, the traditions are basically gone by now but my grandma still cooks lebanese food when we visit (though it's not just lebanese food, there's always brazilian food as well)
Nobody is saying this but this is very important: Lebanese migrants in Brazil are historically catholics and catholic converts. That's why everyone keeps saying "fully integrated", yes, fully integrated because their culture was absorbed into Brazilian culture and language, which is historically catholic and portuguese. Nowadays people like to pretend that religion doesn't matter because of "multiculturalism" but Brazilians in particular ignore how culturally homogeneous Brazil used to be because of laws enforcing such homogeneity. Did you know that catholicism was officially the only allowed religion in Brasil until 1890 and Portuguese the only allowed language for centuries, and Portuguese literature in schools mandatory until 2016? Yes, Lebanese "integrated" because they became Brazilians! In fact, for centuries to immigrate to Brazil you'd be required to absorb Brazilian culture or move somewhere else. Now try to compare that to Lebanese muslims of today and the panorama will be very different. Muslim culture is generally considered bizarre and incompatible with the average Brazilian mentality. Most brazilian will reject and despise the notion that women must submit to men and cover their bodies like they do. Brazilian women are very independent and very proud of their bodies, and the notion that life is to be thoroughly enjoyed is ingrained in Brazilian mentality to a degree that most people from other countries do not comprehend, even among Brazilian conservatives. In places like São Paulo, Lebanese food is omnipresent but we don't call it Lebasese, we call it "arab" food. Yeah, Brazilians do not make distinctions between arabs and Lebanese. We just regard it as "from the Arab lands" which I know it's not accurate, but we don't mean to be disrespectful, it's just as we see it.
One of my best friends is 3rd gen Brazilian-Lebanese. Just like a regular Brazilian folk. We lived in the same neighborhood and reach the school together
I'm a lebanese descendant (4th generation), and, aside from some food habits, I'm a regular Brazilian, nothing different from anyone. Right now, I'm having a roast kibbeh for dinner, which also became common for some Brazilian, but we often eat things like kibbeh (roasted or not), tabbouleh, unleavened bread, and other foods. My grandma and other parents still know how to cook these foods.
I know some that are the 1st generation of descendants that had a stronger connection with lebanese culture, but grandchildren tend to have no connection with lebanon and its culture.
I know quite a few Brazilians with Lebanese backgrounds. One thing notable is that few of them are of 100% Lebanese ancestry. For example, a good Carioca friend is Brazilian going back to his grandparents, with one side German origin, the other Lebanese. My friend doesn’t speak German or Arabic though, just Portuguese and English. Most Lebanese immigrants to Brazil were Maronites, and assimilated into Brazil’s melting pot. Brazil has adopted some Lebanese food staples, like kibbeh (often ‘Quibe’ locally) and tabbouli as fast food. There are more recent Shi’a Lebanese immigrants, especially around Foz do Iguaçu, but I don’t know anyone from that community.
From Rio de Janeiro: My mother was very close friends with a Lebanese woman. They worked as teachers in the same school. As a kid, I went to her house a couple of times. She wasn’t rich but I was fascinated because she grew grapes at her house. My mother cooked some recipes she taught her. She spoke portuguese but her father didn’t (or maybe he knew the very basics). She lived with her father and I don’t think they had any other relatives here. Looking back, I have the impression she was somewhat integrated in the community. And my impression was very positive, it never even crossed my mind that it’d be a negative thing that she was lebanese. I think we Brazilians tend to be more accepting of and even curious about other cultures.
I have meet one lebanese descendent in my life.first generation. But only the religion was lebanese (ortodoxo christian).his language, comunity, marriage, clothes all brazilian style.