After two months and lots of questions about how I like Brazil - here what I experienced to be different to good old Switzerland:
First lesson in Brazil: toilet paper has to be put in the bin close to the closet. (Don’t laugh, that’s important or do you want to responsible for a stuck toilet?) Okey Okey, I knew from other countries that this is the way it works but there I was only on holidays - so I somehow did not expect that also in the office I had to put the toilet paper into the bin! However, in my second week I noticed that those bins are getting fuller as longer the day gets. So I finally asked a colleague if I should throw the paper into the bin. As her English was not good enough to understand my question (and my Portuguese by far non existent), in the end the whole office new about my question. And they found my idea of putting paper into the toilet really strange, as they never did it this way around!
Hygiene
But don't think that it smells bad in the toilet - Brazilians are the cleanest people I know! The cleaning lady cleans the office around three times a day and she does this much more rigid than the ones in Switzerland! Luckily, also my cleaning lady for the apartment is very very rigid; not only does she always clean the windows (after having done all the laundry and ironing) - no she goes as far as cleaning my shoes! You can't imagine how dazzled I was to see my shoes clean (I can't remember when I cleaned them myself for the last time! ;) ). But not only rooms are clean, Brazilians also care a lot about personal hygiene. After lunch I was always surprised that all people rushed to the bath room until I discovered that they have some kind of ritual gathering after lunch in there: no, they not only brush their teeth, they also brush their hair, refresh their make up, sometimes change clothes and; they even use dental floss!! First time I saw that in the bathroom I couldn't believe my eyes!!
Transportation
But I also I can't remember that I ever waited longer for a regular bus than here. My way to work is about 15 minutes by bus, and according to the schedule there's a bus every 30 minutes. However, it happened to me more than once that I arrived at the bus stop at 19.55, awaiting the 20.00 bus and then finally caught the bus at 20.25. Pretty annoying! So by now, Nico and I got a car! Juhuu! But with this one we are not allowed to drive on Mondays from 08.00-10.00 and 17.00-20.00 as our car number ends with a 1. This system is called 'Rodizio' and aims at decreasing the traffic during rush hour. If our number would end with a 3 or 4, then we would not be allowed to drive on Tuesday during rush-hour and so on. And about traffic, if you have seen the pics from Guarujà, then you know that it took us 5 hours to drive 80 km home from the beach... (although the beach- breaks were just fantastic and definitely worth the drive!!). So no matter if it concerns Public or Private transport – getting around is always an issue here.
Weather
Another reason for the huge traffic back from the beach besides just too big crowd, was the weather. It was raining heavily. So by now I can reveal another cliché about Brazil - no, the sun does not always shine. Actually, since I arrived, the weather is changing all the time - on one day there can be everything- sun in the morning, heavy rains in the afternoon and then a sunny evening again. All in all, it is raining a lot. But as the climate is tropical, the rains are always short but heavy. So in general the weather is not a big issue and it is very pleasant to always walk around in a T-shirt.
Language
In facts, I am much more worried about my Portuguese - this language does not seem to be easy- at least I experience it to be much harder to learn than Spanish due to the (for me) difficult accent (saõ etc.)! But without understanding the language, I suffer a lot in the office. Have you ever been in a meeting with the management and did not understand if they want to buy or sell something? Ever gotten plenty of emails in a language you do not understand? Trust me, it’s hard to deal with, especially if you would need the information to do your work properly. So to improve my work quality and handle conversation on the street (which I am now more or less a bit able to by now), I have three times a week 1.5 hours Portuguese classes. A lot isn't it? But if I compare myself with Brazilians I am lazy. Here, young people study and work. So after the whole day at work they attend courses at university from 19.00-23.00. And if they do not have classes in the evening, then they at least take some English lessons on Saturday morning or so. All in all Paulistas (people from Sao Paulo) seem to be very eager to learn. The minority of education is for free, so education is a privilege and if they can, they always keep on studying. Just remember that as a Swiss student you already complain when lecture starts at 08.00... . So although 'sun, fun and nothing to do' is associated with Brazil, this is at least not true for Sao Paulo. Regular working hours are 9 per day, and if you do not study besides, you may have a second job. I was quite surprised when I discovered, that the same guy who is in charge of the maintenance of the apartment- hotel I live in, also delivers Pizza in the evening!
Inequality
But Brazilians don’t’ complain about their situation, they get along with a smile on their faces in often hard daily life. They simply accept their situation and are happy about what they can get. “Indeed, there is much resignation in the national character. Some suggest this is a holdover from the military dictatorship that ruled people’s live for 20 years (from 1964- 84).” I quite often hear the sentence ‘I don’t know’ in the office, but it does not really bother them if they do not know why something is the way it is. They simply accept it as it is. May they have no other choice without getting crazy: A Brazilian living in Switzerland told me just recently that less than 10 % earns more than 3000 CHF (around 2000 Euro a month) and that over 70% earn less than 1000 CHF (about 600 Euro). So basically the gap between have and have-not's is huge. As a Guidebook states: “ Contradictions are most severe in the social-class system, where you can find dirt-poor and filthy-rich living in close proximity, often separated by nothing more than a highway.” Something I have difficulties to cope with. But I am in the lucky position to see both sides – I am directly working in the building of a factory, where more people belong to the second group, but I also already visited beach houses of friends of the other 10 %. As I am currently belonging to the upper 10%, I kind of ‘profit’ from this gap, meaning that getting personal services is affordable. So I have a cleaning lady once a week (25 CHF, 15 Euros for a day), weekly massage (5 CHF, 3 Euros) and manicure (7.5 CHF, 4.5 Euros). These Services would be far too expensive in Europe, but I would lie to say that I do not enjoy them!
Safety
Getting along with this huge gap between rich an poor is of course crime. As I was told in Switzerland; “Are you sure you want to go to Sao Paulo? – It’s where people are shot on the street!” Sad enough, this really happens, but most often in the Favelas around the city and not in the well secured areas of the rich. Here I am living in a rather good area, but not in an absolutely rich place and this may makes it a little bit more safe. People don’t expect you to have much money. So until now, I do not have experienced any kind of crime. But this does not mean there is no crime. Out on the street, one should always be precautious. For instance, I always know who is behind and in front of me while walking on the street. Further, I do not dress up in famous brands and rather use my old not so fancy bag. But you can walk on the street in general, although you can go nowhere as the city is by far too big to be discovered by foot, and of course you can not walk around in Favelas. On our second day, Nico and I caught a bus to go to work, but unfortunately we took the wrong one. So we stranded in a rather poor suburb called ‘Pirituba’ and finally arrived two hours later in the office. When I told a Brazilian friend that we got lost and ended up in ‘Pirituba’, she laughed at me and said that she would never have been there in more than 20 years of living in Sao Paulo!! :)
Gringos
Everywhere you go (if you go), Brazilians enjoy a lot meeting foreign people (called ‘Gringos’). There are not that many foreign people here, so always when they discover that I am not Brazilian, they are very interested in what I do here, where I come from and always try to help, even though sometimes they’re help is not very useful. So it took them two hours to organize me a SIM- card, and in the end the phone did not work as I am not allowed to get one as Non- Brazilian. But instead of telling me directly that it is impossible, they just tried hard, even though unsuccessfully. Anyway, it’s really nice how everyone tries to help. I already got some drives around the city, our Portuguese teacher gives a lot of suggestion about which theaters and restaurants to go to or which radio to hear. Further, I was offered a choice of fruits to teach me about Brazilian fruits, I was taken to the beach, to cheap supermarkets, manicure, to special restaurants etc. etc. But you never know if people are only nice and tell you to go out next Saturday evening and then in fact never contact you ( already happened :)), or if they are just coming to pick you up, expecting that you await them, without further notice that they are really coming (also already happened :)). So it’s best to adjust to the Brazilian way, become easy-going and relaxed and don't schedule all activities anymore but rather let yourself surprise. Brazilians tend to be nice by inviting people just as some kind of politeness, but do not expect that every time this invitation will become true.
Food
But if you are finally going to a restaurant (with or without invitation), it’s always very good. In general food is very tasteful. Brazil is a rich country in terms of natural resources. “Brazil is the biggest exporter of sugar, coffee, orange juice, soy and beef, and a major producer of corn, cotton and other crops.” Furthermore it’s a tropical country, so as a European I especially like all the tropical fruits. Pineapple, Mango, Papaya, Passion Fruit are the once, which I knew. But there are many more types and all of them are delicious either as Caipirina (Caipi with Pineapple, Strawberry, Lime, Mango etc.) or just as fresh fruit juices. They are so much more tasteful as the imported onces in Europe and much cheaper! Food in general is really cheap, also meat. And meat tastes much better here, especially beef. So if you really want to get lots of good meat, then a ‘Churrascaria’ is the place to go to. There, waiters are walking around with all kind of pieces of a beef (Rips, T-bone, filet, etc. etc.) and also chicken hearts :) and there of you can eat as much as you can. However, a big difference to Switzerland is that you don’t get any sauce along with the meat or vegetables, it is simply marinated and grilled. May this is because the meat just tastes better here. So Food is kept quite ‘plain’; meat, vegetables, manioc and rice & beans, make up a traditional Brazilian dish. But you do not only get Brazilian food, the variety of different food is enormous here in Sao Paulo. You can get very good Pizza – my preferred one is Chicken & Catupiry (some kind of cream cheese). Besides there is Mexican food, Chinese food, lot’s of Japanese food, German food, American burgers, I even had ‘Rösti’ once at Ilhabela and it was very good!! “In Brazil, eating is, like so many other things, another pretext for pleasure-taking. There is no such thing as Brazilian haute cuisine per se, but the food tastes damned good just about anywhere you go.” Really, I am always looking forward to go out eating here :) .
And that’s what I am doing now :). Nice if you read till hear, I hope you enjoyed!
