Brazil: The Summary

Ah, Brazil. Rio de Janeiro is just what we imagined it to be. Tropical, beach, delicious drinks, laid back feel, not a care in the world. Sao Paulo was a giant of a city that made these New Yorkers a bit flustered.  Here are our thoughts on Brazil. 

Days in Brazil: 14  (11 in Rio and 3 in Sao Paulo)

The People:
The people we encountered in Brazil were more than happy to help us with anything we needed in both Rio and Sao Paulo. We could not speak the language and we soon found out that most Brazilians do not speak English, but they were all so willing to help you understand a menu or play a game of charades to get their point across. Life slowed down in Rio and it was perfect for our first location as we slowed down right with them. They do not bring you the bill at a restaurant unless you ask for it. People sit for hours at beachside cafes sipping ice cold beers and people watching. Sao Paulo was fast paced. Very fast, the subways were crowded, the traffic was crazy, but the people were still very friendly towards us. (Except for one woman on the metro who almost got in a fist fight with Nelson, see below).

So the million dollar question, yes the people are worth watching in Rio! There are many beautiful people in Rio, but not everyone is a supermodel. There are plenty of "regular joes" but as Nelson says, "There is someone for everyone's taste." Clothing is practically optional on the beach. Thong bathing suits and speedos. Thats it. They let it all out whether they had chiseled bodies or if they haven't been to a gym in years. They are not conservative with their clothing, especially the women out for nightlife. Everyone has a tattoo. Not a dainty little one, big tattoos on men and women, young and old! The perfume/cologne industry must do very well in Brazil as they all seem to wear half a bottle each night!

They are also health conscious. There are many fruit and juice bars. On major holidays and Sundays the main roads are closed and people come out and run, bike, walk, skate board, even rollerblade. It made us get up everyday and run, because if we didn't we would feel guilty watching all the fit bodies running by us while we sip our drinks. There was even an outdoor gym on the beach! We were amazed. Bench press, free weights, machines, on a raised platform on the sand, and it was definitely in use.

Brazilians are very religious. They have small gathering places (one next door to our apartment) that was just a tiny room with chairs and a microphone, they would get together in groups of maybe 20 and read passages from the bible at night. Our cab drivers all had religious ribbons and rosaries hanging from the rearview. One of our cab drivers crossed himself as we passed a church. Our visit to one cathedral was very busy for a Wednesday afternoon with people praying and going to confession. The markets, restaurants, and cafes all have prominent images of Jesus or the Virgin Mary.

The Food:
We liked the food. Typical dish is meat, rice, fries, and pico de gallo. Very good steak and meat. There are plenty of churrascarias to find good meat on coal burning grills, cooked right in front of you. Their pizza was good, but it was not what we expected. Their pizza are served without sauce and always eaten with a fork and knife. You should have seen our faces when our pizza was served with packets of ketchup and mustard!? The food in Sao Paulo was much more diverse with a more diverse population. Japanese and sushi bars are very common as are Italian restaurants. Don't look for wine here. We saw maybe a handful of glasses of wine on tables in Brazil. Cervejas are the drink of choice. They are served in large bottles enough for two and then poured into small glasses. Never to be drank from the bottle. Ketchup was good, not great. Must try acai. Nelson's favorite!

The Climate:
We arrived at the beginning of their summer in November. It was beautiful and perfect weather for the first few days, but then the gray skies came and didn't leave until our last few days. We didn't let this spoil our fun. The temperatures were fairly warm (70s and higher) everyday.

Must do activities:

• Lapa for samba! This was our favorite and wished people had told us about it! A true feel of Brazilian culture
• Sugar Loaf Mountain- beautiful views and plant life.
• Piedra Bonita - excellent views, very secluded.
• Copacabana beach- very clean beach with soft white sand.
• Santa Teresa neighborhood- charming old world feel!
• Christ the Redeemer- felt a bit commercial with several class trips going up at the same time we were, but beautiful views and still a must do.

Travel Learnings:

• Our portable clothesline works excellent for our wet laundry.
• Avoid stress by giving yourself ample time for lines. If you have no where to be, lines don't stress you as much.
• Down days are good for you when on the road. We take time to recharge our batteries too.
• We have learned to appreciate internet connection in the US. 
• Amex is taken at many more places than we anticipated so far. We are very thankful for that! One of the best decisions we (Nelson) made for this trip was to get the platinum Amex card. If you are considering long term travel it is a must have. It saves us so much with no foreign transaction fees and with access to multiple airport lounges. This has already paid for itself three fold.

Random Learnings:

• Portuguese is not Spanish. Do not think that someone who speaks Portuguese will understand Spanish or that if you speak Spanish you will understand Portuguese.
• Brazil is very mountainous.
• Brazil is not nearly as unsafe as we previously thought. We had our guard completely up on our first day, then realized, if you are smart, don't stick out like a sore thumb, or wave your money in the air, you'll be fine. 
• Rio and Sao Paulo are two of the largest cities in South America. Brazil as a whole is very large and even with these two enormous metro regions, they have the most estimated un-contacted humans (tribesman in the Amazon) than in any country in the world! 

Funny moments:

• We had to try corn on the cob on the street since everyone was eating it. When the little old man blatantly tried to keep an extra R$10 (about $5USD) for himself, Nelson called him on it. After that Nelson got a little upset every time he saw a corn vendor. "I still can't believe that old man tried to get me!"
• As we sat on a bench eating a couple apples and looking out at the water a man with two young daughters came up to us. He started saying something to us in Portuguese. We were lost, he was pointing at what we thought were our apples? His voice became louder and louder. Finally he pointed at Nelson's watch. He just wanted the time. 
• Everyone would ask us questions in Portuguese, especially in the metro. We suppose we looked like we were from there, which is a good thing. We had to say "Não falam português" countless amount of times. The metro was very new, some lines only a few months old. We didn't seem to have a problem, but the locals were confused. If you can make it on the NYC subway system, you can make it on any city's metro system.
• One woman was trying to get on a packed metro. Only problem was, Nelson was in front of her, with his luggage. She was pushing him so hard, he turned around and gave her a look like, "Are you serious?" She said in perfect English, "Are you going to go or what!?" This shocked us. We made it into the train and of course she was pushed up close to us. There were plenty of mean looks going back and forth between the two.

Overall we recommend Brazil to anyone who has an interest! It is a beautiful place, full of culture, friendly people and beautiful weather. Try to brush up on your portuguese before you go!