Brazilian culture and the international games

This article is made for you, who wants to come to Brazil for the World Cup 2014 and the Olimpic Games 2016.

Brazil is devided into 26 states and a Federal District where the capital, Brasilia,  is located.
There are different ways of saying the same thing according to the state you are, in terms of vocabulay and expressions.

The accent is also something very different from state to state, so if you are interested in learning portuguese here be aware that you can have carioca accent, from Rio de Janeiro or baiano accent, from Bahia and so on. Even inside states there are differences in accent and vocabulary. Things can vary from town to town.

The culinary is very rich. In every state it is possible to eat local specialties and spices.The most famous food inside the country are from Bahia, Minas Gerais and Pará. Although there is this variety it is also possible to find all kinds of industrialized food and fast food everywhere in the country. Of course the further you go north the less industrialized it is because of the forest.

Brazilians, formally, shake hands when they are introduced to people. But together with the shake of hands come  two or three kisses on the face, depends on the region you are, from man to woman and vice versa, woman to woman and gays too, but never man to man.

Brazilians love foreighners and are very curious about their culture and habits. Anyone will be welcomed in this country, as long as the person behaves well. Bad behaviour is not accepted at all. Women dress very small bikinis when they go to the beach but it does not mean you can do whatever you want because they are almost naked. People here are very used to bikinis and small truncs. If you are in a big town on the shore it is possible to even go to the bank inflormally dressed.

Happy and informal people, Brazilians like to make jokes all the time when they get used to someone.
It is very important to pay attention to some regionalism in order not to be missinterpreted by any local.

Restaurant systems are preatty much the same as in Europe and The U.S, no  big deal. But you can find  chicken served together with the bones very commonly in self service restaurants, and all parts of the pig are used in feijoada, ears, feet, tail, etc. Also the animals liver, heart, kidney, lungs, tong, etc are eaten in many places inside the country.

Parking in Brazil is something very complicated. In Rio it is possible that a " flanelinha" charges you R$30,00 before you park the car in order not to destroy the car painting. the price can vary from city to city, but you will have to pay if you don´t want to have the car demaged by them. Unfortunatelly there is no law yet to prevent those people from doing that.

Walking on the sidewalk can be a terrible experience for a first world citizen. There is no line to follow and you have to find your way on that mass. Escalators are not organized either, and if you want to go ahead it is necessary to ask the person in front. Never trust the traffic,  people are very impolite when they are driving a car and the violence is common. In Brasilia it is more organized and this experience can be less dangerous.

It is not possible to smoke inside anywhere in Brazil, there is a law against smoking in enclosed places all over the country. Soft drink and beer cans can be thrown on the street, it won´t be there for more than five minutes. Many people survive from collecting cans on the streets " catadores" and it is a favor to let them somewhere easy to collect.
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If you read this up here and have any question or suggestion please contact me and I´ll be very glad to answer it.

to be continued.....