What does foreigners knows about Brazil?
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No, our capital is not Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo or Curitiba... and even less Buenos Aires which is in our neighbour Argentina. Tough these are important capitals of States here (yes, we are a Federation of United States in South America), our head city is called Brasília and it's in the center-west region of the country. Not much to see there but for the job of Oscar Niemeyer, very well known by non-traditional constructions. Some people say it's art, others will criticize, but the fact is that the place looks far different from the traditional cities in matters of buildings and structure.
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| National Congress in Brasília. Photo by Pedro França |
E o nosso idioma é o português. No es el español o castellano, ¿vale? ("Googletranslatorize" it). We are Latinos too but, among countries that are mostly Spanish speakers, we have our Brazilian version of Portugal's language. It happened, evidently, because of colonization started in the 14th century by the Portuguese crown, having our independence day just on September 7th of 1822 (but we were a monarchy until 1889). However, not just the language but the culture is similar whether about the behaviour (very warm people) or the traditional food. Of course, we have our peculiarities, but the similarities are what makes our peoples connected in politics and commerce, for instance, expressed by the existence of a regional union called Mercosul (the acronym for the Common Market of South in our languages). And, the most important, if you do speak Spanish, you can chill and come here because we can really understand you... though sometimes the reverse doesn't happen with us...
A question which is never too much: where can I see naked women in the streets? Sorry to say that but... this is really not common. It is mostly seen in the Carnival Parade in Rio de Janeiro city or, eventually, in some balls that happens usually in the favelas of Rio (people who live in the place are usually very poor and it is huddled) under a music gender named as Funk Carioca (and no, it has nothing to do with the original funk music of James Brown). There are many smaller parades in the country whether in the capitals or small towns like Tibagi, for example, that have the "best carnival of a small city". It's a good experience there, especially because near are natural outdoors like the Canyon of Guartelá or the Tibagi River itself.
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| Some of the customs for the parade. Credit of the photo to the communication advisory department of Tibagi city hall. |
But when tourists come here, from several countries to visit our nature, it is a stunning experience. They can go anywhere looking for places to admire and take pictures, have a deep breath, swim or even because of the adventures! Most of them think about Rio, but there is a really awesome place called Iguassu Falls, just one example among hundreds all over the country. Located in a city called Foz do Iguaçu (for a better spell, use the sound of S for the Ç sign) which is the border with 2 other countries: Argentina and Paraguay. You can do a "multinational trip" in just one day if you want. For us, Brazilians, Paraguay is like a paradise to buy electronics for an affordable price and low tax rates, which is a big problem for Brazil's Federal Revenue due to the smuggling.
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| Footbridge over the waters of Iguassu Falls. Photo by Deni Williams. |
Among the main problems in the country is the corruption of politicians (it's not anything new). So, yes, we still have it, but it seems like we are going to have better days in the next few years mostly because since a while ago there is an operation of the Polícia Federal (the Brazilian FBI) called Jet Wash when they arrested a lot of politicians and entrepreneurs involved with money wash, overbilling of contracts and bribe among other things. The total amount of money recovered in the operation is already over billions of Brazilian Reals (1 USD can buy around 3,70 BRL in these days) and count with more than a hundred people arrested and 1 VIP: the former president Lula da Silva (though some people still claims he's innocent) from the Workers' Party. The main judge, Sérgio Moro, will take the chair of Minister of Justice in 2019, the year when the elected president Jair Bolsonaro will assume the presidency. If you compare to the USA, for example, it is like if the whole time the "Democrats" (so-called leftist here) were in the power and now, finally, the "Republicans" (the rightists) will take over. There are a LOT of controversy in politics here these days so... it'd better if we don't go deep for now. But the fact is that the country and (some) surroundings are getting optimistic about this situation with investments happening in the country and foreign money coming.
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| The elected president Jair Bolsonaro and the judge Sérgio Moro. Photo by José Cruz. |
In short, we are becoming a safe country but we were always a good place to come, though the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Natal and some others were not safe for tourists for years. The south of the country would be a great option replacing the traditional trips. The examples posted are in here! You might think "why there's nothing soccer and Neymar Jr., pretty models like Gisele Bünchen or even the Amazon Forest? Well, to be honest, I'm not that fan of soccer, pretty women are everywhere (some cities more than the others) and there are several other big forests all over the country (like the one in Serra do Mar - Sea Sierra) which are also important. So, Brazil is made of this: good people, stunning places to go and each day safer for a trip. Movies and reports will never say how the thing really is. You will never know what is an orange, for example, if you keep just reading and studying about it. You need to taste it, to prove it. Então, seja bem vindo ao Brasil!
The work of Blog Oficial do Instituto Brasilipino para integração das culturas Brasileira e Asiática of Giovani Fernandes is licensed under a Creative Commons - Atribuição 4.0 Internacional License.
Based upon the work avaiable in https://brasilipino.blogspot.com/.
