As Melhores Coisas Do Mundo

Brazil... Beleza. Maravilha. Paixão. Alegria. Loucura. Delícia. Felicidade. E Muita Saudade!

It's hard to decide how to start explaining what was for me to live in this country for a year. Maybe it could be summed up in a “the experience of my life”, although I think it's not even close.

It was the first time I went out of Europe and the first time I took a flight longer than 12 hours (until then I had taken flights of 4 hours duration at most). In short, the first time I was so far away from my home. I'm not gonna lie, I was scared shitless a little nervous. But the feeling I had was kind of like when you have to speak in public, that you are nervous at the beginning and your voice is trembling, but after a while you start to talk as if you had been giving lectures your whole life. I took the plane and started to feel excited. I wanted even to shout for joy and I was wishing to get there.

Every time I travel to another country I play the game “Find the 7 differences”; I like to see what things are different in relation to Spain, the customs of everyone, what is consider normal and what is not. One can go totally informed about a country and how to behave there and will end in the middle of an awkward situation even so. The same way not all is flamenco and paella in Spain, not all in Brazil is carnival, feijoada and samba.

In my case, I already had a few Brazilian friends before going there, so I already knew that it was a country “cheio de gente boa”, warm, lively and wonderful. Actually, I felt really connected when I met them, because they remind me of the Spanish people a bit, as I always say we are all Latins. Anyway I found indeed a lot of small details about the culture which attracted my attention:

-Greeting. We are used to kiss twice everybody, no matter how attach we are to them. In Brazil, depending on where do you live, they will kiss you once, twice or thrice (in the cheek are we talking). I lived in Santa Catarina where normal was to kiss just once. The first 3 months I couldn't help it and I used to kiss everybody instinctively twice, which brought me to a few cheek-hits or kisses to the air, until I get used to just one kiss. The worst was when I went back to Spain that I started to kiss once to everybody and had to get used to the 2 kisses again. Other 3 months.

-Bus. The first time I took a bus I had to go standing. A boy who was sat, which I didn't know at all, asked me if I wanted him to carry my bag, so I didn't have to carry it. I said to him (with my “WTF” face) that it was not necessary. Then it was him who stared at me looking funny, because he didn't understand why I didn't want to give him my bag. In Brazil is very normal that people who are sat offer to carry the stuff of people who are standing; something like give your seat up to an old person, the normal thing is to do it. No one is going to take your stuff, they just want to make you a favor.

-Pedestrian crossing. Pure ornamental. I have no idea why they are out there, because there is no way for a car to let you cross. You have to throw yourself in the middle of the road to make them stop, because if you pretend to wait or they see you doubting, you are never going to cross. Decision!

-Can of soda. This is one of the things that attracted my attention the most. In Brazil everybody who drinks from a little bottle of water or a can, if they don't have a glass for it, uses a straw. I was never able to drink from a soda's can with a straw, it was just too weird for me. Although I have to admit that it's much more hygienic than drinking directly from the can.

-Toilet paper. Always in the trash. In bars, in restaurants, in your house, anywhere, always in the trash. Flushing it down the toilet is just unthinkable. All of us who came from abroad though that we could not get used to it but boy, we did. It's the best option if you want to avoid pipes problems. I want to point out too that you will find toilet paper available everywhere, even in the most seedy public toilet. Nothing to do with Spain, where you will have to carry your own small pack of tissues, because apart from restaurants and some bars, it's not normal to find toilet paper everywhere.

-Supermarket cash register. Big supermarkets usually have a special cash register to be used just for old people, pregnant women, people in wheelchairs or with crutches and people carrying kids. A priority line, so to speak. This is something I found out one day when I saw there was a cash register with a couple people and the rest of them were completely full. So cheeky I went to wait in that line thinking why I was the only one who noticed that it was much shorter than the others. When it was my turn the woman there just pointed to me the clear and obvious sign, which I had never seen before, where I could see it was a cash register just for those few people. So I turned around, red-face, and went to wait in some other line with the rest of the mortals.

-To pay in nightclubs. It's normal there to get a little paper or a wristband in nightclubs and bars when you get in. That paper or wristband is going to become your check of the night. Every time you order something, you are not going to pay straight away, it's going to be register in your check. This means that you will pay the total amount at the end of the night before you leave. I recommend to be really careful with that because it's easy to lose count of what have we ordered and pay a lot at the end. And careful again with the check, because you will have to pay a fine if you lose it. The more expensive place the bigger fine.

There are many other things that attracted my attention in Brazil; for instance that fruit juices are 100% natural everywhere, trash is picked up in the morning, music is always live in pubs and nightclubs or that it's tradition to eat feijoada every Saturday (Wednesdays in São Paulo, as far as I know); but these are which I stress. Of course Brazil is a large country and not everything is in the same way everywhere. These are things I observed in the south, especially in Florianopolis, the city where I lived. City that I will talk about in another post and that I recommend to absolutely every one, as much as I recommend to visit Brazil.

Although, no matter what happens, I can't help wondering: wasn't there a better name than “pasta” to refer to a folder? No wonder that everybody looks at me funny when I say “Eu gosto muito de comer pasta”.

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