I've been in Brazil for 11 days now and it has definitely lived up to expectations. There are a few interesting unexpected things I've learned though:
1) children/their parents can decide a time slot for children to be at school. School is not an all day affair. There are 3 time slots lasting 4-5 hours each- early morning, midday and late afternoon. From 16 years old, you can start working. And being able to choose the time slot that suits you to go to school, work and school are not mutually exclusive.
2) open bar parties are a common phenomenon in Brazil. This means that a night club will charge something like R$40 for entrance and you can drink as much as you like; or if you prefer, you could pay R$25 for entrance and then pay for each drink. It's a no brainer (unless you're a teetotaler) since a can of beer costs R$8-10 in a night club in Rio.
3) Brazilians really DO love their Havaianas. I knew they were a Brazilian thing, but I didn't know just how common they were. I've never seen so many Havaianas in one place before. And they're cheap, you can buy them at the local green grocer on every corner, at street stalls and also in the specialty stores in fancy malls.
4) everyone knows that Brazilians love a good party, and the Brazilians I've met outside of Brazil have all confirmed this for me. What surprised me is how genuinely warm Brazilians are. Especially in Belo Horizonte, which is a smaller town. But even in busy Rio de Janeiro - people are polite, they greet, they are helpful if you ask for directions, they talk to each other on the bus or subway.
What stood out for me was during a bus ride in Belo Horizonte: A blind man got on, and obviously everyone made room for him and gave him a seat. But when he got off the bus, two strangers walking by on the side walk noticed him. They were walking in opposite directions, so they didn't even know each other, but they both stopped to make sure he was alright and that he made it up onto the sidewalk. He was fine and they didn't need to help him, but they both stopped without even thinking about it.
5) in Brazil, there's a zero tolerance policy for drinking and driving. If you're driving, you're not even allowed one drink. And if you're caught having had even one drink, there's no points system and phaffing around. You go to jail, you go directly to jail, you do not pass BEGIN, you do not collect R200. Since most Brazilians drive faster than I'm used to as a South African, it's very reassuring to know that most of them wouldn't risk drinking and driving. I'm not sure what their road accident statistics are like though.
6) Brazilians do not like cuticles! This was a painful lesson. I went for a mani and pedi and instead of just pushing my cuticles back, the lady cut them OFF! While it looks fine, I prefer to not to loose blood during my grooming. I don't think I'll be cutting off my cuticles in the future.
Unfortunately I can't post pictures at the moment, but I will do so as soon as I can. I have two more days in lovely Brazil, and then back to South Africa for a little while.
1) children/their parents can decide a time slot for children to be at school. School is not an all day affair. There are 3 time slots lasting 4-5 hours each- early morning, midday and late afternoon. From 16 years old, you can start working. And being able to choose the time slot that suits you to go to school, work and school are not mutually exclusive.
2) open bar parties are a common phenomenon in Brazil. This means that a night club will charge something like R$40 for entrance and you can drink as much as you like; or if you prefer, you could pay R$25 for entrance and then pay for each drink. It's a no brainer (unless you're a teetotaler) since a can of beer costs R$8-10 in a night club in Rio.
3) Brazilians really DO love their Havaianas. I knew they were a Brazilian thing, but I didn't know just how common they were. I've never seen so many Havaianas in one place before. And they're cheap, you can buy them at the local green grocer on every corner, at street stalls and also in the specialty stores in fancy malls.
4) everyone knows that Brazilians love a good party, and the Brazilians I've met outside of Brazil have all confirmed this for me. What surprised me is how genuinely warm Brazilians are. Especially in Belo Horizonte, which is a smaller town. But even in busy Rio de Janeiro - people are polite, they greet, they are helpful if you ask for directions, they talk to each other on the bus or subway.
What stood out for me was during a bus ride in Belo Horizonte: A blind man got on, and obviously everyone made room for him and gave him a seat. But when he got off the bus, two strangers walking by on the side walk noticed him. They were walking in opposite directions, so they didn't even know each other, but they both stopped to make sure he was alright and that he made it up onto the sidewalk. He was fine and they didn't need to help him, but they both stopped without even thinking about it.
5) in Brazil, there's a zero tolerance policy for drinking and driving. If you're driving, you're not even allowed one drink. And if you're caught having had even one drink, there's no points system and phaffing around. You go to jail, you go directly to jail, you do not pass BEGIN, you do not collect R200. Since most Brazilians drive faster than I'm used to as a South African, it's very reassuring to know that most of them wouldn't risk drinking and driving. I'm not sure what their road accident statistics are like though.
6) Brazilians do not like cuticles! This was a painful lesson. I went for a mani and pedi and instead of just pushing my cuticles back, the lady cut them OFF! While it looks fine, I prefer to not to loose blood during my grooming. I don't think I'll be cutting off my cuticles in the future.
Unfortunately I can't post pictures at the moment, but I will do so as soon as I can. I have two more days in lovely Brazil, and then back to South Africa for a little while.
