Brazilian sings Belarusian rock hits not understanding a word (video)

Criminalist Andrea Jovana has a rather unusual hobby for a South American. The girl learns Belarusian songs and sings them playing the guitar. She is a friend of many Belarusian musicians on Facebook and they help her learn the lyrics. Lyavon Volski, Karen Karapetsyan, Pit Paulau, Rusya, Zmitser Vaitsyushkevich, Yury Paulouski and others are among them.

We suddenly got acquainted with Andrea during the first stage of the project “Show Belarus Show Europe” in Portugal. The girl is studying in Lisbon now. She came to listen to the band Akana as soon as she had found out that the Days of Belarusian culture were organized there.

Andrea used to sing in a Brazilian church before. Having had visited Belarus, its parishioners told her impressive stories about Belarusian musicians. They said that songs in Belarusian churches sounded as if there were a real orchestra. However, Andrea Jovana’s life changed drastically when she met a Belarusian guy who had come to Brazil for a conference.

Andrea Jovana: "I met a Belarusian at a professional conference in Brazil a few years later. I kept making mistakes all the time and it is a shame because I kept asking: oh, are you from Russia? And he kept saying: “I’m not from Russia, I’m from Belarus. These are different countries!” I understood that I knew nothing about former Soviet countries after the conference. I started searching for information on the Internet and I started googling for Belarusian music”.

Andrea saw a forum where the song “Kupalinka” was being discussed. The song “Kupalinachka” by the band “Harli” was also mentioned there. The Brazilian liked the song in Belarusian so much that she learnt to sing and play it on her guitar.

Andrea Jovana: "As a result, “Kupalinachka” was the first song I learnt. It took me 15 days because I was in love with it. It started that way. I downloaded all the songs from the website of “Tuzin Gitov”. Naturally, I got interested in the meaning of the letters; I tried to learn to read the Cyrillic alphabet. Then I read about the Belarusian Roman letters. I have read a lot about your country. Brazilians think that I’m crazy. They do not understand how you can admire a country the location of which they do not even know. Brazilians do not know where Belarus is and they do not understand why I am interested in this country”.

Knowing the names of the bands, Andrea found them on Facebook and she contacts them now. However, the girl has not decided on her favourite bands so far because she does not speak Belarusian and there are very few English translations.

Andrea Jovana: "I have favourite songs and bands but there is a big problem – the language. All I can understand about the bands and their lyrics is a small number of materials translated into English. I do not understand Russian and Belarusian lyrics without a translation. I know that Lyavon Volski is one of the best musicians writing songs about freedom. I have read a lot about his bands. I also read an interview with the singer of “Indiga” – Rusya. I heard her songs before. I have favourite songs, the songs that moved me. I knew a few simple words thanks to them. For example, “I love”.

However, these words are not enough for Andrea to understand the songs although she sings them as if she has a good command of the language. The Brazilian has promised to visit Belarus next year. And the organizers of the project “Show Belarus Show Europe” will organize a joint concert with her favourite Belarusian musicians.