The Brazilian Culture
The weekend started well with an invitation from Micael to go to the Saturday's market. While I walked to the meeting point which was near Lucas' home, I noticed that some buildings really look like the time of colonization. Even it is not my first time that I walked there, I just now noticed there were some nice buildings. What do you think?
Together with Micael and Paula (a Colombian exchange student) we walked to the market. There we went straight to a place were the sell Pastel's, it is a typical Brazilian fast-food. It is a crispy, brownish fried pie of filo dough (I think) and is filled with a variety of food options (meat, cheese or vegetables). If I knew this I wouldn't have eaten so much during breakfast. I tasted some of the sugarcane juice, it is sweet (as you can expect) but not that sweet to. It didn't taste wrong, but its not my taste 🙈. From this place you had a good look over the market, which is how I actually imagine a market. There where you only can fresh vegetables and fruits with some other food.
After the market Micael and I enjoyed a delicious Brazilian made cup of coffee.
Hmm it's been a while since I last visited a hair stylist, so I went to 4 hair stylists only to hear the were occupied for the rest of the day accept for the last one. I must say they didn't look really busy, 3 employees and 1 customer... Well I found a hair stylist and had made an appointment at 2 o'clock. I must say it was an interesting experience. First they washed my hair lukewarm water and dried it roughly (not as gentle as in the Netherlands) 😅. So then I needed to sit in another chair where I waited for another employee who was going to cut my hair.
After showing some pictures as how my new haircut should look like, the hair stylist took a trimming machine and started. At first I was a little worried about the final outcome. But luckily it ended well... I even managed to do some small talk in Portuguese. It is difficult to describe, but in every possible way they do the hair cutting completely different than in the Netherlands.
For the Sunday I was going to meet with one of the Brazilian stranger students I met during lunchtime in the UFV restaurant. We planned to go together to forest near the campus. This time to go more deeper into the forest. So together with Lucas, we went to the entrance of the forest where we waited for Victor (the student). It appears his phone was broken and he was a bit late, maybe longer then a bit 😉. While waiting for Victor, Lucas and I saw a toucan like bird which later appears to be a Black-necked Aracari. So still need to spot a real iconic toucan 😁.
Victor knew the way (one year ago), unfortunately now not anymore. So Victor then appointed me to be the guide, even though I only visit the forest park center one time. So we walked a few times back and forth, to finally start there where I last time saw a beginning of a trail. Not very much later we decided to take a more abandoned trail. It was very overgrown with plants and there were a lot of obstacles. But it was a fun route that only ended somewhere in the forest as a dead end. We didn't get lost, everything was perfectly fine, we just took the same route back. 😇
When we were back at the clear path which we followed till the end. It ended to an asfalt road, there was a waterbassin of the UFV near the route. Victor told Lucas and me that, that is the water before purification (decantation, filtration and chemical (chloride) treatment) which is used for showering and tap water. I tried once to drink the tapwater just to taste how it tasted (didn't like it).
During another Portuguese class we watched a movie in Portuguese, the name of the movie was Tainá a Origem. I didn't understand a thing, its pretty tiring to watch a movie you don't understand for 1,5 hour. As far as I know it was about a native Brazilian boy who was found by an old native Brazilian man and raised in the jungle where animals can talk. At a native Brazilian tribe something weird happend with a blue arrow. Later the boy went into the jungle alone where he found a Brazilian girl from the city and some bad guys were chasing them. In the end they got rid of the bad guys and lived happily ever after, owh and there was another native boy or girl (I think a boy) from the tribe who joined the other two. Down you see the trailer if you want to know more 😁.
During practical class a language student from Brazil asked me to do a assignment she needs to complete for her study, and I said yes (of course)! In this assignment we speak about one hour in Portuguese and one hour in my language Dutch. The objective of this assignment is to see the language differences and difficulties to learn to a foreign student. I am really curious how the Dutch part will go 😁.
I love to write about the culture differences every once in a while when I noticed them. So now I have some pretty weird ones, which will surprise us Dutch people (I think). Sure it surprised me!
So the first thing, I didn't recognized it at first but Ana did. She gave me a little gift twice. First it was simple, just 1R$. But then after, I said I was looking for a plastic cup to use in the university restaurants. While we couldn't find those in the supermarket where they should be, she gave me her cup to keep. She saw the surprise on my face and I recognized that in my experience it is not common that you just get a 'gift' in the Netherlands. Am I the only one? You can comment if you want 😉.
So another thing, the supermarkets. Yeah, quite a difference I noticed, first of all the cashiers are really slow... And it is partly not their fault, the scanner is vertically placed in front of us, while in the Netherlands we have self-service or the scanner is placed in the 'table surface' (just slide it over). Also the scanning tables are a lot shorter than we have in the Netherlands.
And while we are working hard to reduce the amount of plastic bags while shopping, Brazil is working hard to compensate that. Sorry to say this... but all your groceries are putt in several plastic bags (with each around 3-4 products in it). As an environmental science student it hurts me, what are all those people going to do with that many plastic bags when they are home. Sometimes you see a whole shopping cart filled with plastic bag grocery pass by... And when I do groceries, I often leave with around 5 plastic bags in my hand. So this brings me to an idea, next time I will try to offer my foldable backpack to put in my groceries. Even in the beautiful Atlantic forest mentioned above were plastic waste to find.
Yes another thing, while in the Netherlands you pack your groceries in your shopping bags yourself, here in Brazil every cash desk is manned by 2 men. One is scanning the products, the other one is packing in your groceries (it kind of a luxury).
Lastly, it surprises me to see people who are walking through the supermarket and just grab something like chips or a refrigerated drink and consume it! Just in the shop, and I am like WHAT ARE YOU DOING!! 😲😲😲
But it seems common I guess, when they are at the cash desk they just place there consumed product at the walking belt and pay.
And it leaves me sooo confused... 😅 (as long as they pay it is okay 👍)
Keep an eye on my blog, next time a Brazilian recipe for those who like to cook!
Forró class is going good, it is only difficult to understand what is coming next in the dancing steps. Because I don't understand a thing about what they say in Portuguese, I and two Italian guys just try to do exactly the same what the person in front of us is doing. This does not goes well always, sometimes I am one step behind only because I noticed the change to late. But I still like it and I am dedicated to bring a little bit of forró to the Netherlands 💪. Lets hope I don't forget my own dancing steps 🙈💃.
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| No, I'm not advertising 😁 |
Hmm it's been a while since I last visited a hair stylist, so I went to 4 hair stylists only to hear the were occupied for the rest of the day accept for the last one. I must say they didn't look really busy, 3 employees and 1 customer... Well I found a hair stylist and had made an appointment at 2 o'clock. I must say it was an interesting experience. First they washed my hair lukewarm water and dried it roughly (not as gentle as in the Netherlands) 😅. So then I needed to sit in another chair where I waited for another employee who was going to cut my hair.
After showing some pictures as how my new haircut should look like, the hair stylist took a trimming machine and started. At first I was a little worried about the final outcome. But luckily it ended well... I even managed to do some small talk in Portuguese. It is difficult to describe, but in every possible way they do the hair cutting completely different than in the Netherlands.
For the Sunday I was going to meet with one of the Brazilian stranger students I met during lunchtime in the UFV restaurant. We planned to go together to forest near the campus. This time to go more deeper into the forest. So together with Lucas, we went to the entrance of the forest where we waited for Victor (the student). It appears his phone was broken and he was a bit late, maybe longer then a bit 😉. While waiting for Victor, Lucas and I saw a toucan like bird which later appears to be a Black-necked Aracari. So still need to spot a real iconic toucan 😁. |
| Forest park center |
Victor knew the way (one year ago), unfortunately now not anymore. So Victor then appointed me to be the guide, even though I only visit the forest park center one time. So we walked a few times back and forth, to finally start there where I last time saw a beginning of a trail. Not very much later we decided to take a more abandoned trail. It was very overgrown with plants and there were a lot of obstacles. But it was a fun route that only ended somewhere in the forest as a dead end. We didn't get lost, everything was perfectly fine, we just took the same route back. 😇
When we were back at the clear path which we followed till the end. It ended to an asfalt road, there was a waterbassin of the UFV near the route. Victor told Lucas and me that, that is the water before purification (decantation, filtration and chemical (chloride) treatment) which is used for showering and tap water. I tried once to drink the tapwater just to taste how it tasted (didn't like it). 
During practical class a language student from Brazil asked me to do a assignment she needs to complete for her study, and I said yes (of course)! In this assignment we speak about one hour in Portuguese and one hour in my language Dutch. The objective of this assignment is to see the language differences and difficulties to learn to a foreign student. I am really curious how the Dutch part will go 😁.
I love to write about the culture differences every once in a while when I noticed them. So now I have some pretty weird ones, which will surprise us Dutch people (I think). Sure it surprised me!
So the first thing, I didn't recognized it at first but Ana did. She gave me a little gift twice. First it was simple, just 1R$. But then after, I said I was looking for a plastic cup to use in the university restaurants. While we couldn't find those in the supermarket where they should be, she gave me her cup to keep. She saw the surprise on my face and I recognized that in my experience it is not common that you just get a 'gift' in the Netherlands. Am I the only one? You can comment if you want 😉.
So another thing, the supermarkets. Yeah, quite a difference I noticed, first of all the cashiers are really slow... And it is partly not their fault, the scanner is vertically placed in front of us, while in the Netherlands we have self-service or the scanner is placed in the 'table surface' (just slide it over). Also the scanning tables are a lot shorter than we have in the Netherlands.
And while we are working hard to reduce the amount of plastic bags while shopping, Brazil is working hard to compensate that. Sorry to say this... but all your groceries are putt in several plastic bags (with each around 3-4 products in it). As an environmental science student it hurts me, what are all those people going to do with that many plastic bags when they are home. Sometimes you see a whole shopping cart filled with plastic bag grocery pass by... And when I do groceries, I often leave with around 5 plastic bags in my hand. So this brings me to an idea, next time I will try to offer my foldable backpack to put in my groceries. Even in the beautiful Atlantic forest mentioned above were plastic waste to find.
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| Click on the picture to see information about plastic & environment! |
Lastly, it surprises me to see people who are walking through the supermarket and just grab something like chips or a refrigerated drink and consume it! Just in the shop, and I am like WHAT ARE YOU DOING!! 😲😲😲
But it seems common I guess, when they are at the cash desk they just place there consumed product at the walking belt and pay.
And it leaves me sooo confused... 😅 (as long as they pay it is okay 👍)
Keep an eye on my blog, next time a Brazilian recipe for those who like to cook!
Forró class is going good, it is only difficult to understand what is coming next in the dancing steps. Because I don't understand a thing about what they say in Portuguese, I and two Italian guys just try to do exactly the same what the person in front of us is doing. This does not goes well always, sometimes I am one step behind only because I noticed the change to late. But I still like it and I am dedicated to bring a little bit of forró to the Netherlands 💪. Lets hope I don't forget my own dancing steps 🙈💃.
Project starts getting in the right direction and I almost finished my plan of actions. I plan to hand it in this coming week. I find the communication with my professor difficult. But I'm finding a way to have a good communication.
For this month I have planned some trips! I will go to Ouro Preto and a big farm in Goiás, somewhere near Brazil's capital Brasilia. It is about 2 hours driving from the capital and me, Lucas and Katinka will go there by airplane together with professor José who also picked us up from the airport when Katinka and I arrived in Belo Horizonte. So lots of things to look out for in the next coming blog posts. Till next time! 😎
Geinig om weer te lezen. Alleen dat met het cadeautje dat snapte ik niet helemaal?
ReplyDeleteHet is hier ook heel gewoon om alles in plastic te kwakken en de boodschappen worden op veel plaatsen voor je ingepakt. Wel is het in Canada nu zo dat je moet betalen voor die zakjes sinds ene paar maanden. Eerst waren ze gratis. Er zijn een aantal supermarkten waar dit al zo was en daar werd ook niet voor je ingepakt. Een soort Aldi-achtige keten zeg maar.
Zelf trek ik ook wel eens een pak rijstwafels open terwijl ik boodschappen doe en begin die te eten, maar reken ze uiteraard ook netjes af aan de kassa.
Grappig, de verschillen die jij ziet met Nederlands zie ik hier als overeenkomsten met Canada of ook wel de VS.
Foto's weer prachtig, met name die van die oude huizen daar! Nice shot!
Fijne zondag Bart en tot het volgende blog!
Met die cadeautje bedoel ik, dat het voor mij heel ongebruikelijk is dat ik zomaar (zonder reden zeg maar) een klein geschenkje krijg. En kennelijk was dat van mijn gezicht af te lezen.
ReplyDeleteLeuk verhaal weer Bart, ik kijk uit naar je recept 😋
ReplyDeleteSuper leuk verhaal!
ReplyDeleteWe kijken uit naar meer
Er zijn geen woorden om deze ervaring te omschrijven! Ik krijg bijna zelf zin om erheen te gaan. Super leuk nu ook meer over de cultuur te weten te komen. Lief dat ze zo vrijgevig zijn, dat kennen ze hier in Nederland inderdaad niet maar zo zou het eigenlijk wel moeten! Grappig van het eten in de supermarkt, ik heb er ook over na zitten te denken en eigenlijk kan het prima, als je maar betaald achteraf. Alleen dat plastic is een dikke tegenvaller, zeker gezien het in hun eigen wateren zijn en wij ervoor opdraaien.
ReplyDeleteIk wacht met smart op de volgende Forró ;)
Haha ja die cultuurverschillen, daarvan heb ik er nog wel een paar voor je! Heel herkenbaar allemaal! Over die plastic zakjes viel ik ook. Ik werd zelfs vreemd aangekeken toen ik kwam met mijn shopper en mijn boodschappen zelf inpakte.
ReplyDeleteToen ik daar was, heb ik ook een lijstje gemaakt met verschillende beroepen die ze daar hebben en wij niet (die gasten die op scooters rondrijden met een box, voor reclame te maken???, de beveiliging van de supermarkt, de uitkijkpost van de UFV -daar zitten soms meerdere(!) mensen e.d.). Is je dat ook al opgevallen? allemaal van die nutteloze baantjes?
Ik kijk uit naar je culinaire blog en hoop stiekem dat je dan verteld hoe je de cultuur omtrent eten en drinken ervaart!
Fijne reis and keep on writing! :)
Ja die nutteloze baantjes zijn mij ook opgevallen, of de "beveiliging" bij mijn appartement die 24/7 bemand is. Die mannen moeten zich echt vervelen! Maar ja zo lopen er hier ook mensen rond die aluminium afval of karton uit de afvalhopen langs de weg vissen. En wat schrijven over cultuur omtrent eten en drinken is een goed idee, daar ga ik wat mee proberen!
Deleteopnieuw weer erg leuk geschreven bart, fun to read, keep on going, papa.
ReplyDelete