Festivals, Caipirinhas and Death Trap Buggies : A Gringo's guide to Southern Brazil

Hello Everyone!

So its been ages since I've put another post up and since I've now left Belo Horizonte and spent my last day in Brazil in a hotel room alone, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to let you know what I've been up to, the places I've visited and my final observations of Brazilian life.

1) General infrastructure here could do with a bit of a sprucing. The roads ( as I've said over and over again) could be compared to some war zones and when I'm back in the UK, I will never complain about a pot hole again! Also another thing is that a lot of telephone and electrical poles seem to always have some stray wires hanging down, dangerously close to eye level. Shocking ( hahaha sorry I couldn't resist that terrible pun!) The best way to describe the situation with these wires hanging down like some sort of urban rainforest was perfectly put by Emily when she said that Brazil is sometimes like "Spot the Death Trap".



2) Talking of death traps, when we went to Buzios, a beach town near Rio with a big nightlife, we decided that hiring a buggy would be the best option instead of walking miles to all the different beaches. Well, as the only man, I felt it was my duty to drive ( also I just did not trust the girls to drive. Chauvinistic? Most probably. Did it save our lives? Most probably. Just saying. This buggy was interesting to say the least. Imagine a Brum in buggy form. Now imagine that Brum had some sort of mental breakdown. Followed by a severe drug problem. That was our buggy. KT was definitely a buggy from the wrong side of the tracks. I don't think I've ever been more scared to drive something in my entire life. It just sounded ready to explode. Now that I have survived that ordeal, I think its OK for my parents to know since Ann and Big Dave definitely would not have approved.


3) Brazilians have amazing teeth. It is something they are incredible proud of and they take their dental hygiene very seriously. For example, I've caught people brushing their teeth between classes, checking them out in class and flossing in restaurants. Maybe a bit excessive from a British perspective but then again, we are apparently world renowned for having bad teeth!

4)There are stray dogs everywhere. Its a really big problem here in brazil. It can be quite cute seeing all these dogs finding food for each other. Just imagine "Lady and the Tramp" but with less romance and more Rabies.


5) Brazilians live olive oil......on everything. Salads, bread, chips.....I mean everything, If their salad isn't literally drowning in a deluge of Extra Virgen, its considered dry.

6) Brazilians have a pretty staple diet of feijao com arroz (beans and rice). If you don't like either one, don't bother coming to Brazil. You will go hungry. It doesn't matter what type of meal you are having, it will always be accompanied by rice and beans. They eat so much of it that in the supermarket the smallest bag of rice we could find was 5kg. That would probably feed a family og 5......for a day......if they skipped breakfast......and lunch.........and were on a "low carb" diet.

7) Nothing will stop Brazilians from enjoying an ice cold beer. I was at a bar near uni with my friend Anna one night when the power went out, We both expected, like back in the UK, we would have to leave due to some sort of health and safety rules. However, the owner just came round with a few candles and said the bar would be open even later until the power came on because she didn't want to shut up the bar in the dark. Incredible.

8) As you would expect, the majority of Brazilians are obsessed fanatics of football and it is a huge part of the culture here, especially in Minas Gerais. However, what I wasn't expecting was the level of outright mania that happens when a match is on. When someone scores, people go crazy. In the streets, there are screams, honked horns and without doubt, some sort of explosion. I'm not even joking, Not fireworks, literally explosions. If New Year's Eve and Guy Fawkes had a love child, that's what happens. Every time there is a goal. Also the fact that we lived near the Mineirao Stadium, it got a bit hectic. Now when Brazil won the Confederations Cup, it was insane. I didn't really get to sleep that night. Every time I nearly drifted off to sleep......................."BRASSSSSIIIIILLLL!!!!!!!"

Pretty funny the first night. After 5 months of it....nightmare.


So now that my time in Brazil are over, I truly am going to miss this incredible country. I feel so lucky to have lived here and I've made some great lifelong friends. The things about Brazil I'm definitely going to miss are :

- Cachaca - I may go in to caipirinhas withdrawal soon.
- The food. - beyond delicious.
- The weather - 20C is considered chilly. RIDICULOUS!
- The generosity of strangers
- the tendency to end every week, day, hour with an ice cold beer.

Now I'm heading back home to what is considered a "heatwave". Look out for me. I'll be the guy in a scarf and gloves. 30C. Please.