Have your cake and eat it too! Reflections on Traveling in Brazil.

Ajay and I are now in Buenos Aires after spending 4 weeks traveling in Brazil. We both felt that there were details to share about traveling in Brazil that we didn´t incorporate into our other blogs...so a special edition. It will be most helpful to those of you considering a visit, but hopefully will be entertaining for those traveling vicariously. It was certainly entertaining for us!

Language
We learned very early on during our connection in the Sao Paulo airport where we arrived from the States that no one in Brazil speaks English. Now of course, we realized that we were in a different country with Portuguese being the primary language. However one would imagine with a tourist industry as vibrant as Brazil´s with the Amazon, Carnival and Rio, Salvador, Iguacu Falls, etc. that over time, folks would see it in their industry´s best interest to learn even a little. Not so...it was pretty evident when no one in the airport spoke any English, the bookstores only sold Port. books (of which we quickly bought a phrase book), and the announcements to major tourist destinations were only in Portuguese. Such as life! However, we were curious about this phenomenon. Typically, as you know, in major tourist destinations, folks tend to speak a little English just to help out the lost tourists. We learned that there are 200 million people who speak Port in the world, and a majority of them live in Brazil. It is an enormous country, kind of like the US. So, folks here really don´t need to speak any other languages. In fact, a majority of folks here don´t need to leave Brazil. They have beaches, mountains, wetlands, cities, country, etc. As for Ajay and I, we figured out the most important words like thank you, good morning, where is the bathroom, and how much does that cost. It worked.

Spring Weather in the Southern Hemisphere
We weren´t sure what to expect given we are in the Southern Hemisphere, and the seasons are opposite. Brazil is also such a huge country with so many different geographic regions, that the weather was anybody´s best guess. During our time in Brazil, we were in hot, humid, sunny areas like Salvador; moist, rainy, hot environments like the Amazon; cool, cloudy, rainy environments like Florianopolis; cool, dry and rainy moutain cities like Curitiba; and hot, rainy, moist regions like Iguacu Falls...The key to Spring down South is that October showers bring January flowers! The weather overall has been fairly pleasant, and we have adapted. The rain has not stopped us from enjoying our trip. The good news that there are many fewer tourists right now bc it is still low season partly due to the weather!

Food
It is quite obvious that Brazilians love life. There always seems to be a reason and time to stop and eat cake! Most importantly however, cake is served as a part of breakfast in Brazil. It is FABULOUS. It isn´t super sweet cake like wedding7birthday cake in the States , rather, it is just right...moist, sweet icing, small pieces...very yummy. Beer is the alcoholic beverage of choice. The beers are served very, very cold (according to Ajay) in 650 ml bottles with individual foam coolers (kind of like a beer koozie for a wine bottle). Ajay got a kick out of this. At any given time, it is common to see Brazilians sitting around in groups of two or four with small glasses sharing these large beers, once again, enjoying life. The juices were also very nice. One could buy fresh, tasty juices at any restaurant or with any meal. A nice option for those of us who don´t drink beer. The rest of the food in Brazil doesn´t deserve too much attention...it was pretty bad overall (lot of hamburgers, pizza, fish with bones, beef, fried food, ugh). Granted, we didn´t go to Rio where I am sure it is better.

Music and Culture
There is no better place if you love music than Brazil, and specifically Salvador. We couldn´t believe how accessible and affordable music and the arts (museums, theater, dance) seemed throughout Brazil. It appears to be part of the fabric of life much more so than in the US. We did see a lot of music during our time here but the theatre was lost on us due to the language. There are so many different types of music in this country it is quite amazing. Brazil basically ROCKS!

Fashion
As I mentioned before, it is obvious that Brazilians love life, and furthermore, that the men love women. Women also seem to take a lot of pride in their appearance and their style. Overall, it seems to be a sensual culture. I was mesmerized by it all. Let´s start with the bikini and lingere phenomenon. It is everywhere, and it is, shall we say, revealing? Then there are the jeans...super tight, spandex-like. And to my surprise, Brazilian women, in general, are not super thin, rather voluptuous. So, put two and two together, and you have well, I´ll let you draw your own conclusion. From my perspective, I am envious that women seem to feel good about themselves to wear a thong, for example, without the perfect body. There is definitely a level of acceptance here that we don´t have in the States.

Overall, Ajay and I both greatly enjoyed our time in Brazil. The country has so much to offer and is quite complex both geographically, politically, culturally, etc. To be honest, I wasn´t nearly as excited to travel in Brazil as I was to head to Argentina and Chile. To my surprise, I learned a ton, was never at a loss for things to do, and was constantly in awe of the culture and the natural environment...one really couldn´t ask for more! Okay, I am sure that I now sound like a travel brochure.

Disclaimer: For those of you who may be Brazilian or who are related to a Brazilian, please know that I have made some generalizations here that may or may not be true. They are solely based on our observations during our very limited stay, without knowing the language.