English- Here, to have an English name for your store, or for things you sell, or to wear clothes that have enlgish on them, is very ‘Chic’ and people think it’s almost exotic. For some reason right now, I can’t think of any stores here, but in restaurants, they like to give English names to some things. Now, you would think, that’s awesome for those who speak English, it makes it easier to order things. However, if I were to go into the ice cream parlour and order a milkshake saying it as I would in Canada, I would most certainly get a strange look, then a ‘oi’ as in, what did you say? Then, I can almost picture one of those thought bubbles above their head, “what a weird person, must not be Brazilian, or speak English, they pronounce it all wrong…” Anyways, in order to order something, and actually succeed in getting what you want, you have to master speaking English as a Brazilian does. For example, I would say, um milkyshakee de morango, if I wanted a strawberry milkshake. Anyways, them giving it an English name only makes it difficult for both Brazilians and English speakers to order what they want.
Something you would think couldnt be too hard to order...
Buying food- There are always opportunities to buy food on the street, or at night in the many little squares scattered around the city. Most common are ‘Lanches’ which are pretty much the equivalent of hamburgers, but have more toppings. My favourite is a ‘Filé tudo’ which comes with chicken breast, fried egg, bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, creamed corn, onions, and ketchup mustard and mayo. They also have hot dogs here, that can come with all those toppings as well as small fried potato sticks not very different from Hickory sticks. Here, you never pay when you order, and the vendors trust you to pay when you leave. Even at ice cream parlours, or at the weekly market, you only pay after you have eaten.
Yummmmm
Stores- Here, it is not uncommon to find stores that specialize in selling just one thing. In my city here, there are several stores, which sell only diapers. In Sao Paulo, I saw a store that sells just desk chairs, and beside it, a store that sells just doors. Here, many stores also offer delivery. My family for example, gets a grocery delivery every day from the small grocer that is a block and a half from my house. But, you can also order delivered diapers, paint, hardware materials, pizza (of course, but also any other type of food), or anything from the pharmacy.
A door storeMotorcyclists- There are sooooo many little motorbikes here, and they all seem to be obnoxiously loud. They are generally transportation for students, and people in the lower class, as they are much cheaper to buy than a car. I suppose there would be more motorbikes in Canada too if there wasn’t a snowy season where it doesn’t work to drive a bike. In big cities, if the cars don’t leave enough space for ‘motos’ to pass between lanes, the drivers will kick the mirrors of the cars to make space.
Traffic- To be honest, I am intimidated by the traffic here. I don’t think such thing as a shoulder check exists before changing lanes, never mind so much as a look in the mirror some of the time. I’m lucky to have parents here that drive well, because there are many many people who I have seen driving with very little respect for rules of the road. Also, there are quite a few roundabouts here, yet they lack rules for who enters and who doesn’t. For the first few months, I tried to figure out how you knew when to go, and when to let the people before you go, but now I now that no one follows any rules, whoever is the most aggressive gets to go first.
Motor bikes in Traffic
Lunch- Lunch is the main meal of the day, and almost everyone goes home for lunch. In many families, the maid prepares the lunch, and the family arrives, eats lunch, then goes and runs errands until time to go back to work. For example, in my family, my host mom arrives around 12:30 for lunch, but doesn’t have to go back to work until 2:30. Everyone going home for lunch makes big traffic problems in large cities, making another rush hour where traffic gets to a standstill.
A typical Brazilian Lunch
Salespeople- No matter where you are, you will almost always be able to find someone selling something that you might want. Such as, at a restaurant today for lunch, a young man came by trying to sell plastic tweeting parrots and bobble headed dogs to our table. Whenever you go out at night, to a restaurant, a man comes around, trying to sell flowers to every couple. In the squares often during the day, there are “Pao de Queijo” sales people, as well as frozen yogurt tubes, jewellery and Christian music CDs. In larger cities, you can buy pretty much anything in the streets, as I mentioned in the last post.
Beverage Salesman in Traffic
Long work hours for some- It is not uncommon to start work at 7 in the morning, and not get home until 6 at night. However, this is including a 2 hour or more lunch break, so it isn’t so bad really. My host mom (a dentist) works these hours, and when I mentioned that dentists work less and earn a lot more in Canada, she decided she would prefer to work in Canada, although she can’t.
Undervalued Professionals- I am not sure if professionals get less training here, or if they are just less valued, or if they are just overabundant. However, coming here, knowing that my mom here is a dentist, I thought that she would be pretty rich. When I finally was able to understand Portuguese enough and asked her, she says that a dentist doesn’t earn very much at all. The same goes for physiotherapists and other health workers too. If I were a dentist in Canada, and worked as much as my host mom does, I think that I would be a millionaire.
My host mom- Dentist
Restaurants- Here, when you go to a restaurant with your family, or a group of friends, you hardly ever order separate meals for each person. Instead, you order a couple plates to share, usually a salad, meat and always always rice. Also, always Beer, which comes in either 600 ml or 1 litre bottles, and is divided among the beer drinkers at the table.
Big Bottle of Beer
Beer Trucks- it is not uncommon, actually, it is normal to see a big flatbed truck driving around, with piles of colourful crates of beer bottles. I find it strange that there is no cover over them, as in Canada, drinks are transported in closed vehicles. Here, obviously, there is no risk of the bottles freezing and breaking, but to me, there seems to be a big risk of someone climbing the truck, and grabbing a couple bottles of beer.
Construction- Construction on the streets, at least in my town seems to be an ongoing thing. They are redoing the whole mainstreet this year, which makes a big mess of the commercial center. Currently, for a couple blocks of the maintstreet, the normally cobblestone sidewalk is torn up, leaving a lot of bright red dirt, covered with cardboard so as to not get shoes too dirty. There are large holes, which you must be careful to avoid, and tripping hazards everywhere. I try to avoid this part of town, because I have already tripped several times on such things, and do not want to make a fool of myself again. Also, one day as I was about to cross the street, someone started yelling at me to get out of the way. Looking around me, I saw nothing, so I kept walking, and crossed the street, assuming I wasn’t actually in danger. However, they kept yelling at me, and I looked up, and saw a huge concrete telephone pole dangling above my head. Needless to say, I hurried out of the way, and vowed to myself to now always look both ways, and up before crossing the street.
Table Manners- It is not normal here to put your hands on any food. On occasion, people will eat French fries with their hands, but normally only when eating them at home. If you go out with some friends and orders some fries, it is normal to eat them using a toothpick. This took some getting used to for sure, as it is not actually that easy to eat French fries with a toothpick. The same goes with a sandwich or a burger or other small appetizers; to avoid touching it with your hand, you have to pick it up with a napkin, which is also a skill that took a while to master. People here almost never drink from a bottle where they let their lips touch the top of the bottle. They will preferably pour it into a plastic cup, or if cups are not available, will use a straw.
In case a diagram makes it more clearAnyways, that’s all I can think of right now, I will add to this list as I think of more.
