Brazzil

Hey Move to Florida!! Or Long Guy Land!! Oy Vey!!

Ha, the barking doesn´t bother me as much as the massive piles of cocô that I have to dodge as I walk down the sidewalk (in Salvador, in São Paulo, but not so much in Rio). That´s what bothers me.

Hey, it's good luck to step in a pile in France. Where I live it's just disgusting. And, I'll admit that I am as annoyed by the barking dogs in Brasil as is the author.

you mean you moved to brazil and chose to live in sao paulo, you must be barking mad.

Ahhh yes, the barking dogs of Brasil. I think it's almost cultural requirement to have at least a dozen of them on every street. You may however, consider yourself lucky not to be in the position of my in-laws which had the misfortuneof living next door to a rooster with a broken clock.

At 3 hours before sunrise every monring this miserable creature started it's crowing. My sister-in-law was reduced to throwing blocks of ice at him, hoping that she might hit him on the head hard enough to cause him to become someone's dinner.

Fortunatly she accomplished her objective one night, the evidence having melted by morning. Unfortunatly the owner, in his sorrow has taken to crowing like his departed pet, sort of like a surrogate ghost, in an effort to irritate my in-laws, whon I sure he suspects of killing off his rooster. The fact is, quiet is a word incomprehensible to most brasilians.

There is a lei de silencio from 10pm till 6am - If you go to the police with a recording of the noise. They might do something about it.

I believe that many dog owners in Brazil don't always treat their dogs so well because they see them as guard dogs, not pets. I lived in Brazil for 5 years and always wondered myself why people didn't get electronic garage door openers and electronic home security systems. Electronics are more reliable, they don't require food, water, or exercise, they don't pee and defecate everywhere, and best of all, they aren't constantly barking. But Brazil is Brazil: the same place where people park on sidewalks, put ketchup and mayonaisse on pizza, and clap outside someone's house when wanting to speak with someone inside (ever hear of knocking...or, God forbid, using a doorbell?)

Well, that must have been just hell for you having to put up with people so different from you. Like Henry Higgins asked, "Why can't a woman be more like a man?" You ask, "Why can't Brazilians be more like Americans (or wherever it is you're from)?" All I can say is thank goodness not every place is the same. Unfortunately, with the pervasiveness of US culture, the world's becoming more and more homogenous. How sad.

By the way, most police will tell you that a dog is the best security. And as for "mistreatment," well, how else should you treat a "gaurd dog"?

Look, this isn't a subjective matter. Dogs constantly barking, and pissing and crapping on your lawn undoubtedly lessen your quality of life. As for the pizza, there's no subjectivity here either. Squeezing out little packets of ketchup and mayonnaise onto a pizza is not only bizarre but disgusting. If you disagree you've never had real pizza.

Michael Jacobs, it was about time you contributed to this website. Welcome!

Mr. Give me a Break: I totally go along with on that one. It's funny to read some peolpe's rant about the unwillingness others show to be like themselves.

I'm a Sao Paulo native, born and bred on pizza, let me tell you, and I keep hearing people talking about "real pizza", now what the hell is that supposed to mean for s**t sake?

Could it be that these people so jaded about diversity that they cant get over the fact that some like ketchup on their pizza? Or whatever?! Jee, get a life!

I know this article is about dogs, not pizza, but you asked. I lived in a small city in Northeastern Brazil for 5 years. All the pizza restaurants there made the same kind of pie: cheese and very little tomato sauce. And they serve it to you with little packets of ketchup and mayonnaise so you have to spend 5 minutes opening them and squeezing the condiments onto the pizza. I have no qualms about diversity but as an American I love good pizza and pizza without tomato sauce simply sucks. A "real pizza", then, is pizza that actually has tomato sauce on it and not gobs of ketchup and mayonnaise. Disgusting.

You wrote:

And as for "mistreatment," well, how else should you treat a "gaurd dog"?

First of all, it's spelled "guard". Secondly, ever hear of the little phrase "animal cruelty"? Probably not. Regardless of whether the dog is a pet, a guard dog, or even a mangy stray, it needs to be treated with caring and respect. Dogs need to exercise regularly to stay healthy. Depriving them of this necessity is cruelty but I'm sure this is falling on deaf ears.

Actually, you are in the wrong place for pizza in Brazil.

It seems that you are trying, by what you described, a very lousy pizza style.

"…little packets of ketchup and mayonnaise”? Well, I do not blame you. Yuck!

Now in the southern Brazil the story is very different.

We have pizzas of all kind and some are very exotic. Because of the massive Italian immigration, we have tradition of cooking good pizza.

Dear Mistreatment,

Your ethnocentrism is showing! The more you try to convince us what "real pizza" should be like, the deeper you get yourself into that US right YOU wrong frame of yours.

I don't do ketchup and pizza myself either. But really, calling who does that disgusting is pathetically far out!

Again: get a life, buddy!

Correction,

The message above is meant to Mr/Ms Give me A Break.

Well, I only had one pizza in Brasil, but it was one of the best I ever had. It was a Barril 1800 in Ipanema. Certianly not an "American" pizza, and I was glad for that. It had a very thin and crispy crust, with a light topping of healthy ingredients. I didn't notice anybody slathering their pizzas with ketchup and mustard, but then again I wasn't looking out for that.

What DID disgust me was the fact that Domino's Pizza is so popular in Rio. It's among the most disgusting American pizzas. I didn't go to Brasil to eat Dominos! I hope that there aren't TOO many Brasilians who think that this is the best of American food!

I only saw one McDonald's. I took a picture of a poster for the McColsso, some kind of shake, which I found somewhat amusing. But I think odd things are amusing - I also took a picture of "Posh" toilet paper. But Domino's was EVERYWHERE.

I only had one "quakka quala" while there (after figuring out that "Coca Cola" would only get me a blank look), prefering Guarana Antartica for my non-alcoholic beverages.

I have to say that the food and drink was one of the highlights of my trip (I have acquired a Cachaca habit which is rather expensive here in San Diego - Ypioca is $20/bottle here at Beverages and More - the only place I have found to get it.) I only had one disappointing meal, which was at a "kilo" cafeteria resturant that was recommended by the American owners of the beachfront condo we rented. The food had just been left out too long. But it was the ONLY negative food experience I had while I was there.

BTW, the food surprise of my trip was at the Academia de Cachaca. A really excellent meal that I was not expecting.

I am afraid that I probably did not scratch the surface beyond tourist havens as much as I would have liked, but I did note that we were often the only Americans in a resturant (as at Barril 1800, Cousinaire (sp?), and Bar Luiz. Some Brasilians later were mortified when we told them about the latter. "You went to CENTRO? We would NEVER go to Centro!" It was fine, and we lived to tell about it! We took a nice walking tour suggested in a guide book.

Anyway, I just wanted to let people know that not all Americans want things to be the way they are at home. I enjoyed every aspect of our stay - even my comical efforts to locate a "batteria" for my cell phone! And pantomiming in a clothing store that I was looking for a shirt with a picture of a bird (for my friend back home whose last name is "Bird"), and getting directions to the airport instead! I think it helped a lot that we were staying in a (not terribly upscale, but certainly adequate) condo, rather than a hotel or a more upscale place. (I HATE the creepy feeling I get around the mafia-looking guards in some places. We had an attendant at the door who didn't have the dark suit and sunglasses, and no locked gate. But the attendant was "wise" and that is what matters.) Really, (in the areas that tourists come in contact with), things are so familiar, and the language barrier not that difficult, that I do not understand why some American tourists seem to have so much trouble adjusting or seem so disappointed that things are not more Americanized. I loved that we were "on our own", and had no concierge to send us to worthless tourist spots. (We did have some pointers and a couple of meals and nice conversation with the woman who handles the condo rental for the American owners, and her boyfriend. This was just enough to get us oriented.)

Sorry for going so off-topic. Just wanted to say that not all of us Americans are the same. Anyway, it could be worse - the Germans are even louder, have more rediculous looking shorts, and whiter legs showing under them, and at least we don't wear white socks with sandals!

"First of all, it's spelled 'guard'"

Jesus Christ! Haven't you ever seen a typo before? Particularly on a message board. What a dips**t you are!

And second, you implied that having a dog as a guard dog is per se cruel. That is wrong. That's really the only point I was raising.

Hey, I shudder at the ketchup and mayo thing too, but really! I agree with the person who suggests that you get a life. What on earth would you do in a really strange land where they eat dogs for example? You sound like a schoolgirl screaming "eeeeewwww! Ketchup and mayonaise on PIZZA? Grrrross!"

hehe. People who make their point by correcting a typo are such weenies. You really are a prissy thing, aren't you?

I was hoping to find a discussion/constructive advice/posts regarding Mr Jacobs problem of noise.

So you decided to post that instead.

Yes, how disappointing not to find serious discussion of this most serious article that tackles an important topic (nay, crisis) facing Brasil!

No, moron, you said that the only way to treat a guard dog is to mistreat him and, yes, that is called animal cruelty.

You are all missing my point. I spent 5 years in a small city in northeatern Brazil where I immersed myself in the culture, never being afraid to try new things. I stayed there for some long not out of obligation but because I love the culture, the people, etc and I had a truly wonderful and unforgetable time there. Regarding northeastern cuisine, I tried every regional dish I could find and liked 99% of it. If fact, food I had never tasted before, like barbecued chicken hearts, sun-dried meat, acarajé, vatapá, quibebe, canjica, moqueca, etc became staple foods for me. Now, I also ate the pizza there and liked some of it but it, as someone here mentioned, southern Brazil has more of a traditional Italian style of making it and that's just one thing I missed. The point I was trying to make is that in this city I couldn't find any other kind of pizza, just pizza with no tomato sauce, which I am not fond of. I apologize if I offended anyone.

What I love about this country is that a (completely legitimate) complaint about dogs barking, becomes a nationalistic rant about people dissing paulista pizzas! You can get a decent pizza here, some seriously good, and, ketchup is a reasonable addition (pimenta is better), though preferably not out of a small plastic fast food sachet, but dog barkingt is a problem. If you want a guard do, get one of those trained to just attack (no barking), and, preferably, trained to crap in only a restricted area (of the considerate owners choosing). Then we can all live peacefully in this God given country!

No, moron, you're the moron. I didn't write that, moron. You said people mistreat dogs in Brasil becuase they treat them like guard dogs and not pets. Your premise is moronic that a guard dog is mistreated. Good lord you're a moron. You can't read or wirte.

What I love is that the dope who wrote "Redfish" is so upset about the banter on pizza and dogs and mischaracterizes it as "nationalistic." Some say what Brazilians do to pizza is egregious, others say, whatsamadda? de gustibus non est disp**atum.

OK, you utter moron, here is a direct quote from you:

"By the way, most police will tell you that a dog is the best security. And as for "mistreatment," well, how else should you treat a "gaurd dog"?"

Anyone with half a brain would surmise from your second sentence that you think it's ok to mistreat guard dogs. Now run along and practice by stubbing out some cigar butts on the poodles in your neighborhood. (By the way, telling a college professor that can neither read nor write says a lot more about you than it does about me.)

It was directed toward your comment about mistreatment, moron, wanker, idiot, liar (if you're a college professor, that explains the decline in education in the US). And what is that about cigar butts and poodles? Are you insane as well as an "educated" fool?

P.S. You utter and complete, quintessential moron!

Now go back to teaching remedial English at your local community college (or is it P.E. that you teach?). “Those who can do, do. Those who can’t do, teach.” And as Woody Allen added, “Those who can’t teach, teach gym.”

"practice by stubbing out some cigar butts on the poodles"

You are one sick bastard.

Hey idiot! The Germans have tans,dont wear socks with sandles,or those stupid american 'tourist shorts' (you dont know what u look like).And what is wrong with being loud?

"Anyone with half a brain would surmise"

That rules you out, "professor."

Where do you think you are -- the West Bank? You moved to their country.

I had the same problem in Ipanema with two high-pitched mongrels - so I wrote several letters to the neighbor suggesting that she close the blinds and windows during the day so the dogs would not bark at passing dogs, people and cars. I heard from the porteiro that the owner of the dogs, an elderly lady, was saying that if that person took to poisoning her dogs she would have the letter writer killed!

I competely understand the reasoning of the author of this article. If any of you have eer been to Sao Vicente, SP; it has to be the dog capital of the world.