How to Adapt to Brazilian Culture

By marsala5, eHow Member

User-Submitted Article

How an American survives living in Brazil.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You'll Need:

Patience
An open mind
A tiny bikini

Get used to kissing strangers. For American's kissing anyone other than your mate or an immediate family member is a bit strange. In Brazil however, it is considered rude not to greet people, even complete strangers with a kiss on the cheek. For me, this practice took some getting used to. It was always uncomfortable meeting someone new and inviting them so quickly into my person space. Then there is the know how of it all. In Sao Paulo we kiss on only one cheek. In Rio de Janeiro they kiss on both cheeks. In the early months of living here in Sao Paulo i would simply make kissing noises in the ear of the person i was greeting without making actual lip to cheek contact. Much later someone informed me that some Brazilian's might take offense to this. Then there is always that awkward dance of the faces when you don't know which cheek the other person is going for and you lean in just a little too close to their mouth before making a quick turn of the head with your lips landing a little to firmly somewhere between the chin and neck of the innocent bystander. The whole maneuver takes some getting used to. But with practice and disregard for your personal space you will get the hang of it.
Get used to unsolicited opinions.
I noticed this more once i became pregnant in Brazil. Simply everyone has an opinion about what you should or shouldn't be doing during pregnancy. Whether it is about food, exercise, medication, what you need to buy for the baby, or how you should feel at any given moment. This is beyond annoying and at times overwhelming. Even people who have never even been pregnant, even MEN for that matter, has an opinion about you and your pregnancy. And once you have that bundle of joy snuggled up in your arms, FORGET about it. You thought the unsolicited opinions of people where bad during pregnancy, once you have that child the advise DOUBLES. It is quit easy to become frustrated when you have opinions coming at you from all angles, this is where the patience and open mindedness comes into play. Brazilians are only trying to be helpful. I found that if you just smile and nod your head even if you disagree you will survive the overload of nonsense.
Say no to that fourth caipirinha!
A Caipirinha is a delicious mixture of fresh fruit, sugar and cachaça (an alcohol similar to rum made from sugar cane). It is our American Pie. It is sweet, full of fruit and absolutely unrefusable. That is where you can run into problems. Under no circumstance should you ever say YES to the fourth Caipirinha, no matter how tempting it may be. Unless of course you are into peeling yourself off the floor of any given chorrosco or waking up with sand in cracks that you never even knew you owned. The correct response to this question would be: Nao, obrigata!
DO butt exercise.
Have you seen a Brazilian Bikini? Enough said.