Tips and Tricks

So, Brazil is done and dusted for us, and we are a little sad to be leaving...

On the whole, it appears to be a great country with many diverse cultures living within its borders. The weather hasn't been too kind to us, but it is the end of Brazilian winter so we can't really complain.

Our time here however has thrown up a few things that we can definitely remember the country for:

When you think of Brazil, you conjure up images of petite women strolling around in revealing swimsuits, and tanned hunks in speedos. Healthly living and even heathlier diets. I'm sure that during summer you would see much more of this, but to be perfectly fair, its more about 'face like baywatch, body like crimewatch' here. The locals are distinctly podgy, which happily for us, made it all the more easy to blend in. Obviously this doesn't apply to absolutely everyone, but in fairness, its not that surprising that they pile on a few pounds...

It's all about the grub you see. In portions that would make most people cry. Everywhere you go is either 'All You Can Eat' or 'Kilo Pay', usually for very reasonable prices. The people in our first hostel were absolutely hanging out for a Curry night that was being held, and we couldn't really see why. But it's all gradually becoming clear... The menu's generally go as follows:

Burger with Salad...
Burger with Cheese and Salad
Burger with Bacon, Cheese and Salad...
Steak Sandwich with Salad...
Steak Sandwich with Cheese and Salad...
Steak Sandwich with Bacon, Cheese and Salad... (you get the idea).
All of the above served with rice, salad, fries (loads), potato salad...

And it's like that absolutely everywhere. Every other building or shop is an eaterie of some kind, and the industry must cater for about 80% of their employment.

And we have never seen sweet toothes like it. You get cake (in many varieties) with pretty much every breakfast. Then there are stalls in major districts or high streets at every 20 yards; serving the likes of Tapioca cakes, popcorn, chocolate bars, peanut brittle, donuts, filled scones and the suchlike. We saw one woman throw 3 spoonfuls of sugar into her 3 year olds orange squash one morning. Yet despite all this, you would be extremely hard pushed to find a dentist. It is crackers (or it would be but they're probably not sweet enough).

It's not all bad though. Brazilians are on the whole a very clean nation. They're always wiping down surfaces, mopping floors, washing things. It makes for a much more pleasant dining experience when you see the levels of cleanliness. And if they're not doing that, they're building things. It doesn't matter what it is, they just build. Hammering, sawing, drilling. Making a general racket is all good.

The people though have been extremely friendly and helpful. Random acts of kindness are not something people from London are generally used to, which is why we've found we are always looking for the negative in someone's actions. Hopefully this kind of thing won't stop just because we are leaving Brazil. A few times however, we have been approached in the street by locals who can clearly see we are a bit lost or looking for something inparticular, but the instant reaction is to back away and say ´no thankyou´... basically because the guidebooks make you believe everyone is out to mug you or rip you off in some way. Don´t get me wrong, there are certain times when you are walking at night in a quiet street when you don´t want to be giving away the fact that you´re English. But, as many of you will know, the idea of keeping Sarah quiet for longer than a 30 second stint is slim at best. Elbow-digs to the ribs just tend to produce louder bursts.

I can deduce however, that they do have issues with their own language. Most of the time, the amount of slurry words makes it sound they are a little drunk. It is appreciated that our South-Eastern English twang is never going to get across the most authentic of Portuguese requests, but their adeptness at looking completely blank is amazing. Pronounciation for us is a big problem, and on a number of occassions we have actually given up trying and just shown them the phrase we're trying to convey straight from the book, in their own language, only to be looked at like we're from a different planet. There's only so much pointing at their own Portuguese words we are willing to do before losing the will to live.

So basically, in a nutshell, if they´re not serving, eating or drinking, cleaning, building or looking blankly at struggling foreigners, they're driving like maniacs to get the passengers to their next meal.

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