- THE FOOD! I cannot describe how good the food was, especially "rice and beans". Also, what amazed me was how available fresh food was, everywhere! All food was prepared daily from fresh ingredients. After a month of having such good food always available, one of the hardest things is coming back to the US knowing that finding the quality and flavors will be impossible to find!!
- The incredibly efficient bus system. As wild as the bus rides are, the transport system works well and is very efficient for getting around. Nowhere in America can I think of a place were public transportation works as efficiently as the Brazilian inter and intra city bus systems. Simply amazing.
- The weather. I imagine after a full year, the weather would be boring as it doesn't vary much except during the rainy season when its wetter. But warm nights, nice breezes and temperatures not overbearing makes it nice to be outside anytime of day.
- Brazil's obvious effort to promote alternative fuels. All gas stations have: regular gas, alcohol fuel, natural gas, diesel and bio diesel. Brazil has the highest percentage of cars capable of running "flex fuels" of any nation in the world. In part its what's fueled the huge sugar cane plantations as a large portion of sugar cane is now used in manufacture of alternative fuels.
What I won't miss
- Severe water pollution: While there's not a lot of air pollution, in Recife the water pollution and open sewer systems is overbearing. They've managed to keep the main beaches free of polluted water, but all inland waterways are indescribably filthy and smelly. While we may complain about "environmentalists" in the US, after visiting a country and cities where there is no environmental controls, I'll take our environmentalists any day.
- Power systems are antiquated and water systems are poor and unreliable.
- Cost of things: Brazil is not a cheap country to live! Despite almost a 2 to 1 exchange rate (2 reais to 1 dollar) I was shocked at the cost of certain things. Electronics are more expensive than the US by far. Simple cameras costing $100 US will cost you $250 to $300 US Dollars in Brazil. This is due to high import taxes. Want to buy your basic Honda Accord in Brazil? Figure to spend $43,000 USD in Brazil costing $30,000 in the US. Again import taxes. Even the most basic cars manufactured in Brazil (Volkswagen & Fiat) will cost you $25,000 to $30,000 USD. Food from the grocery stores is on par with US food costs. Though the vendor food, some restaurants and the "cafes" are definitely cheaper than the equivalent in the US. The two things significantly cheaper in Brazil than the US: real estate and services labor. I didn't know this, but Brazil has the highest tax structure of any country in the world. Its a shame there's so much corruption hindering this country from moving forward. Again, we have it pretty good in the US despite what we think.
Two of my most memorable moments (both "bus" experiences)
- On Sunday bus fares are half off. This is to get people out, shopping etc. As a result the main bus terminals around shopping centers and beach destinations are crowded. Long lines and people pushing to get on buses. After dealing with the crowd in a long line, as we approached the front of the line for the next bus, I saw guys crowding the gate and their wives or girlfriends would hang back out of the pushing. When the gates open these guys would fight their way onto the bus and run to get seats. Then as their wives or girlfriend finally get on the bus to where their man was, the guys would get up and give the seats to the ladies. I don't know why I found this so impressive, but I know we'd never see this kind of thing in the US. I can say (for the most part) men treat their ladies properly and it really impressed me.
- When traveling with Paulo, it made thing easy as I would tend to stop trying to speak Portuguese and let him speak for me when interfacing with people. What made it worse, is Paulo is learning english, so he wanted to speak to me in english with me correcting him when needed. So I became lazy and would talk to him in english and when he was around I'd look to him to converse with whoever in Portuguese. One day we got on the bus --at which point I could buy tickets, pay, take change and ask the most basic questions in Portuguese. Anyway, Paulo had gone ahead as I was paying for my ticket. The ticket taker asked me a question I didn't understand and I responded, "Eu nao fala Portugues" (I don't speak Portugues). Paulo turned and said in a very surprisingly loud voice -he was always soft spoken and the loud voice shocked me-- Sim! voce fez fala poqueno Portugues (Yes, you do speak a little Portugues). He turned to the ticket man and told him, "voce de vaga, e ele irie entendo voce" (you speak slowly and he will understand you). We both looked at him in shock. With both of us looking like scolded school children, finished the transaction, in Portuguese. What was kind of cute, the ticket guy got a bit of a twinkle in his eye, with the slightest of smiles and shaking his head, he kept saying "voce nao fala portugues, sheesh" (you don't speak Portuguese). In that moment I knew I had to begin being responsible for my communications going forward regardless of who was around!!
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