Brazzil

maybe its a curitiba thing.....but for me, if im caught in some huge line or have to ride a super crowded bus, what you can be sure of is , somewhere near is going to be 2 or 3 drop dead beautiful women dressed in clothes for the summer heat...

thats how lines and crowded buses go better for me in brazil

of course the thing in huge trafic on a summer beach day that never fails to blow my mind that you see in brazil that you just dont see most other places is the sight of a very young , extremly well shaped girl in the smallest of fio dental bikinis riding on the back of a guys motor cycle , her long brown hair flowing ...she may have one of those sheer see through shirts flapping in the wind behind playing peek a boo with her bikini...or sometimes just the fio dental, and that is some kind of sight to see on a hot crowded bus on the highway...sure makes the ride seem more interesting...

its kind of strange to hear about this war thing as being a differance, the statistics of homicides in brazil are bracing

Two American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan going on for almost 10 years plus photographs in the media of american soldiers not just killing but torturing and raping cilivians and you say it is strange to hear about war ?

Oh dear.. you're so out of sync..

its kind of strange to hear about this war thing as being a differance, the statistics of homicides in brazil are bracing

Brazil has homicides like any other nation, maybe more.. unless you live in a deserted island, you will get homicides everywhere. in the US that notoriously happen in colleges..

BUT, The American author is talking about international disagreements here when he said the US resolves international disagreements with wars. - Iraq, Afghanistan at the moment.

Don't try to be a smart ass by flipping this nice article about the Brazilians around, that makes your nation sound more dumb and arrogant than it already is.

Your arrogant attitude is typical of an American who doesn't give a f**k about other countries, just like you don't give a s.h.i.t if people are nice or not just the beautiful women in the streets that you are not capable of having will do for you as you said. Such an arrogant attitude is typical of you yankees..

Then Your people don't have a f**king clue why the world doesn't like Americans.

any stupid f**k who thinks im trying to turn an article against brazilian people has their head up their ass...

i have the greatest respect and support for brazilian people.i dont go bashing brazil on here...

but there are s**t for brain mother f**kers here who can only watch the world through tracking american hemmoroids and no one elses

any one who cant see the blatent violence all over the world that the usa has nothing to do with , and cant ackowledge that and with the back drop of the histrory of the world just in the last 90 years, has got their head burried in the sand...except hp here has his head up his ass...and you can kiss my ass

im very aware how charming brazilians are, i just dont see it played out in lines and strangers talking to each other

in the big cities, people live in fear of being asaulted, they dont just talk to strangers....any one who has lived in a big city any where knows that you have to be guarded....and i see fear in the faces of people in rio and sao paulo and recife , definitly compared to where i live in brazil...dont think you can bulls**t me...only a jerk ass would try to turn this into some anti american bulls**t....

iraq? a s**t shamful war based on disgusting hype...

afghanistan? its up to the afghan people, but the talaban are pond scum. any one who can watch the cronic reports of what they are doing to their own people bombing them in open markets in pakistan , and not be disgusted , is really living in a self delushioned stupidity

and hp, f**k you

in the big cities, people live in fear of being asaulted, they dont just talk to strangers....any one who has lived in a big city any where knows that you have to be guarded.

Probably the Brazilians in big cities don't talk to you, because they are scared of you.. Because I see every day, in big cities even Rio and Sao Paulo.. strangers talking to each other, on buses, lines, everywhere.

I guess the biggest thing that I admire about Brazilians is that they don't let violence and crime affect their friendliness among themselves.

Even in big cities, you stop a stranger in the streets for directions, they start chatting, asking questions where u come from, what u think about the city, and so on... Sometimes difficult to escape... but it is nice in a way.

Even Rio, despite of its crime, was elected one of the friendliest cities in the world. Google if you don't believe.

Not everyone is a criminal in this country ASP, and Brazilians are well aware of that.. That is why they don't lose their nice friendly attitude not even in big cities.

I guess, if you never experienced that in a big city here maybe because you are one scary ugly f-ucker..

Yes, I heard that Rio was one of the friendliest cities in the world too and Ive found the article and decided to post that here to make ASP feel DUMB about his stupid baseless comments...


Rio is 'world's friendliest city'
By Victoria Harrison
BBC News


Despite its violent rep**ation Rio scored highly for friendliness
A study published in the New Scientist magazine says the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro is the friendliest in the world.

A team of social psychologists from California spent six years assessing the reactions of the local populations of cities around the world to different situations.

And now they have finally published their list of the good and the bad.

But what makes one city more friendly than another?

The psychologists, from California State University, say it has got more to do with the environment we live in than our cultural or ethnic background.

FRIENDLIEST CITIES
1. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2. San Jose, Costa Rica
3. Madrid, Spain
They carried out a study into the way locals treated strangers in 23 cities around the world.

The team conducted their research through a series of "helpfulness" tests, such as dropping pens, feigning blindness or an injury and leaving stamped addressed envelopes in the street.

The results showed that the poorer, less stable cities generally had the friendlier, more open populations.

Rio de Janeiro in Brazil - more often known for its violence and crime - came out top.

Latin American cities in general fared well, as did Spain's capital Madrid.

'Stimulus overload'

But cities such as Kuala Lumpur, New York, Singapore and Amsterdam were deemed the least friendly.

Locals here helped out the researchers in less than half of their cases.

The study concluded that people were more helpful in less dense and more laidback cities.

The psychologists say their research supports the theory of "stimulus overload", which states that in overcrowded, fast-paced cities people often deal with their surroundings by ignoring emergency situations and depersonalising strangers.

I know what you will say to that article!

You will say something that Brazilians think everyone is a criminal in Brazil and they don't talk to strangers in big cities, because we all stop living in big Brazilian cities, we all go hiding in big cities, in big cities people crawl they don't walk.. and the article and the 6 year research done by YOUR country is all wrong because no one talks to you in big cities.

Come to Rio and I will talk to you my dear, as you can read my English is pretty good honey, I am linguistic and speak several languages.. no problem here.. but first you have to hide your ugly face in a box, not taking any risks here.

you dont have to convince me about rio,i love rio and lived there and love to go back...

i apreciete brazilian charm very much, and,it goes down in natural interactions with people you do business with ,in natural transactions and going about the day, at the end of the lines in a bank talking with strangers, unless someone needs help...

and, my observations have nothing to do with whether i talk to people or not, its what i see in every day life of normal line gathering with strangers...i dont see people just casualy striking up conversations with just any one...that doesnt mean people arnt extra helpful if you need it....

and i find it naive and somewhat patronising to just paint brazilians as "innocent happy people "....brazilian people are very smart and street wise...they have lots of guts to fight for what they want in life against enormous odds...they want to start their own busineses and get out from under the thumb of a boss ( a fact that a high percentafe of brazilians try to start their own business compared with other places)

people say they love to party and will party at the drop of a hat...another patronising statement....brazilians have a strong powerful culture that pales against none other...it is rich in ryhthms and dances and a history of popular songs and it has its own unique face and grooves...people see brazilians just naturaly celibrating their culture and people who arnt accustomed to such a powerful culture just think all it is is partying...

people think all brazilians do is have sex...another patronising bs...brazilians are the masters of sensuality and have evolved it to a very high form..people who dont have senuality in thier lives mistake this for invitations to unlimited sex...nothing could be farther from the truth...i value this sensuality a lot and respect the women that allow themselves to express it , since they arnt doing it for the benifit of the men, they are doing it for themselves...

so quit bulls**tting me with any indivuduals punk ass assumptions of where you think im coming from....i dont patronise brazilian people ,i respect them too much...and sympathise with their struggles, their fears, their aspirations and their triumphs...

and f**k any body here who thinks they can peg me in some trick bag

i apreciete brazilian charm very much, and,it goes down in natural interactions with people you do business with ,in natural transactions and going about the day,not at the end of the lines in a bank talking with strangers, unless someone needs help..

do any of you like to have people pat you on the head and patronise you with..

"oh you nice happy people who are so innocent and like to party and are so liberal with sex....you are so happy even when you are poor"

any of you really like that s**t ?

because i respect you all too much to patronise you with that s**t...i see your struggle and recognise your anger and indignation at much you are forced to suffer with day in an day out...and respect and research your cultural history because i know how strong and powerful it is

i see the troubled look on peoples faces walking on streets that have been plaugued with assaults....

and i do respect and apreciete the cultivated brazilian charm that is the day to day interaction...but i even see more than a few tv shows warning people to be careful of strangers when walking down the streets in crowded streets...

so the rest of you can save the lectures for someone who has lived only a short time in brazil

I´m from São Paulo and when I lived in San Diego, CA, I felt like I was living in a small little brazilian city. If the speed of São Paulo is 100 mph, San Diego speed is like 15 mph. That´s what I felt. Lines? The biggest lines I´ve been in my 37 years are the Six Flags and the San Diego immigrantion line waiting my swiss roomate to renew her visa, 8 hours. I do not wait in line in Brazil. Internet banking, etc..My swiss roomate told me in Switzerland there is no line, but then I replied its cause there is no people there too...
Weird that one of the strangest things in San Diego was the fact strange people would talk too me, like when I was at the jacuzzi, in my condo, people would arrive and start talking, none of them were from CA, they were from other states in the USA. So, I guess, this is a Curitiba thing, not a brazilian thing...

Michael, your claim that Brazilians are so friendly and warm is nonsense. I lived in Sao Paulo and traveled extensively there for nearly 3 years and found the average Brazilian far colder than Americans. I am an open friendly person who talks to people everywhere, so I was very disappointed to see how closed Brazilians were. This contradicts a stereotype people cherish of Brazilians, perhaps based on old Hollywood movies, but it is the sad truth. We lived in an apartment building where our immediate neighbors rarely spoke a single word to us in passing or the elevator. So I don't understand you claim about mandatory friendly greetings in elevators. It took near a year for the people on our street to finally say hello as we walked by them. I said hello, but they just looked straight through me with a sour stern look. Mind you, we had an infant in a stroller so we did not look threatening. Our immediate neighbor NEVER ONCE said hello the entire time we were there. They mostly scowled and passed us quietly, or waited for the next elevator. I got on buses and saw rows of scowling grimacing faces. Rare indeed was the stranger on the streets who smiled at me or greeted me, so different from my hometown in the US. My wife who is Brazilian comforted me in this lonely time saying that many people are overworked, exhausted or depressed with their situation, so don't take it personally if they scowled or didn’t want to talk. Also, because of rampant crime, she thought that many simply did not trust nor want to talk to strangers. You also mention people waiting in long lines that teach patience. Unfortunately, Brazilians wait in extremely long lines to pay utility and other bills, and buy things as Russians did in the USSR, and there is nothing of value or romantic about it: it's just plain stupid. Most Brazilians know this and hate it, yet over the centuries, they have grown accustomed to and complacent with a corrupt unresponsive system of governing and ineffective bureaucratic rules organizing public life. Why can’t they mail in their payment? Like the Russians, they know their place: if you speak out against this mess, you are quickly dismissed or shouted down. So hearing you trying to spin this as something positive reminds me of the noxious fairy tale people love to spin about Brazil as paradise on earth, an investors' dream, with clever enlightened leaders, and a warm friendly culture and people just loving and dancing to samba and carnival day and night. It’s idiotic jingoism. Brazil is not the paradise they peddle in vacation ads; its rivers are poisoned with raw sewage and toxins; beaches strewn with trash; streets haunted by criminals; racism, sexism, homophobia, class oppression and political corruption are rampant. Americans are pleased with Brazils success, yet in contrast, when Lula blamed the recession on the "blue-eyed people" of the North, we glimpsed Brazilians’ deep resentment and even hatred of Americans. But Brazil must stop blaming the US, and take responsibility for its own internal mess, perpetuated by its own people and peculiar cultural practices. I would be sickened if Americans laughed and boasted when our economy is doing well while another suffers, but many Brazilians were not bothered by this. Also, I was still learning Portuguese while there, so when I went out without my wife and ordered food or bought things, I often saw how harsh Brazilians could be as they openly and mockingly laughed when I made mistakes in Portuguese. Mind you, not a friendly laugh, shared with me, but a contemptuous mocking laugh among co-workers. It was humiliating and stressful, since I was unable to express much. Ironically, I am an ESL teacher in the US, and I would be outraged if anyone laughed at my students this way. When some Brazilians had authority over me, no matter how petty, they relished it, and yielded it quite cruelly. Lula promoted the idea of "reciprocity" to Americans who Brazilians believe single them out and harass them unfairly on entering the US after 9/11. In return, some Brazilians quietly or not so quietly exact what they think is fair revenge. My wife got her working documents in a month from the US government before coming here, while I spent almost my entire time in Brazil making numerous lengthy trips (I stopped counting after 12) to the Federal Police and various notary publics and other ridiculous bureaucracy, receiving my working papers as we were about to leave Brazil. Likewise, there is a palpable cruelty in the humor of Brazilians, who laugh at peoples’ appearance, infirmities, troubles, and handicaps that would be offensive to Americans, while ignoring the sufferings of so many poor people on the streets. While the US is no model of civility, Brazil is not the "kinder and gentler" alternative society that you and jingoistic Brazilians claim it is.

Man, you surely rang a bell when you said "Like the Russians, they know their place: if you speak out against this mess, you are quickly dismissed or shouted down". As a Brazilian, I grew tired of speaking out things that were wrong; but yes, by doing that, I was the "whiny guy", I "just needed to get laid" and stuff like that. So I just stopped trying and actually got out of there, and have been living peacefully in North America, where people are actually polite and friendly.

arent you the "anonymous" who said you were a "mineiro humilde..."?

or is this another stolen identity case?

ASP: guess it's a case of mistaken identity, bro. Never heard of "mineiro humilde".

Glad to hear it is working out for you in the US. Best of luck to you! Don't get me wrong, I still wish the very best for Brazilians as well. I just don't have delusions about how Brazilians are the friendliest people and Americans are very cold and unfriendly. I guess people are people everywhere. There are jerks and good-hearted folks in every country. I just don't buy it what I hear at this blog often about Americans being so cold and Brazilians so friendly. I have been to various countries and continents and I have worked with people from all over the world, and Americans (like Africans) in my opinion seem to be one of the more open cultures I have met. Maybe my problem was partly a Sao Paulo experience, but I did travel throughout Brazil and I just didn't find the people to be the excessively warm and super friendly people as the stereotype of Brazilians claim.

Eduardo: I strongly disagree with you about the line situation in Brazil vs the US as you can tell from my lengthy post above. Yet it is interesting how you sounded surprised that while in San Diego strangers from all over would just come up to you and talk. This is the heart of the issue for me. I didn't find this in Brazil so much. I am very used to this in the US. I talk to people everywhere and anywhere. So I felt I had lost this while in Brazil. Of course my language was limited while there, but I lived in Prague knowing very little Czech and I found that when people want to talk, they find ways to communicate with whatever limited language they have, even if they have to draw pictures, use charades, and act things out. People just didn't seem to have the urge or curiosity to speak so much compared to what I was used to in the US. Now, it may be that friendliness has less to do with this. I mean, it could be that some cultures just have an unspoken rule that you don't go up to strangers and start talking. I can't speak for all americans since I know many would not do this, but coming from someone who just loves to reach out and talk with others everywhere, I was surprised to see this was not as much the convention in Brazil.

Stephanie: I read a bit from that study in the New Scientist. I found it interesting, but questionable research. They rate Rio as the friendliest because someone would tell you that you dropped your pen, or help a blind person across the street. Well, such things may happen more frequently in Rio, but some other things happen often in Rio as well, and they seriously diminish the quality of life and do not make people feel safe or welcome: violence, assaults, robberies, kidnappings, muggings, car-jacking, beach purse snatchers, marauding gangs, murders, etc. Who cares if someone returns your pen, but around the corner is the possibility that someone might shoot you, steal your car, kidnap your child, etc ???. This is a likely reason why I found so many people on the streets there as tense, and sour, since they are just trying to put on a strong front to stay safe. Michael: your evidence for the diplomatic talkative nature of Brazilians is anecdotal at best. And Harry Potter: You say "maybe" Brazil has some more problems with violence. MAYBE??? You are in denial. Read the international papers: For decades, Rio and Sao Paulo have taken turns as the "kidnap capital of the world". You unfairly and viciously attack the guy who rightly points out that these homicides are bracing. As an American living in Sao Paulo pushing our toddler around in a stroller, I had to take precautions and be alert constantly to keep us safe. Your defensive comments (Potter) won't fix the situation. One reason I won't be back to this blog is that rather than being a neutral unbiased, in-depth strong investigative journalism, it sounds like an amateurish 24-hour non-stop infomercial for all things Brazilian as being extraordinary. And the comments and postings are often vicious ad hominem attacks rather than measured thoughtful responses that encourage dialogue and and exchange of ideas. They can be summarized as: the US is evil, and Brazil is paradise. There are so many blind jingoistic Brazilians on this blog writing nasty hostile attacks filled with cursing and insults, which have nothing to do with strong reasoning and thinking about the issues. I met many wonderful thoughtful, kind people in Brazil, so I don't take these childish responses as representative of the country. Many Brazilians know of the problems of violence. They have come to think it is ordinary to live behind gates, bars, with security guards everywhere. And they are suffering immensely from the violence as if living in a war zone. So please don't attack someone for simply noting the violence is bracing. It is that and far more. It is a crisis. This is no rhetorical metaphor to compare life there to war zones: the homicide and assault statistics resemble war casualties. While I am no apologist for the stupid wars of Iraq and Afghanistan, that is another topic. The article is about how Brazilians talk everywhere and are so friendly, not about the war in Iraq which was clearly wrong. Also American wars have not diminished the quality of life for Americans. Although I think it is wrong, many even think they made the US safer. Michael: I am no sociologist, but I think your conclusions sound like someone recently arrived to Brazil, a little starry-eyed, making sweeping generalizations. I guess I can also agree that some Brazilians do talk a lot, and from what I see on this blog, much of it what we call up North "hot air", quite often like Lula, making loud showy pompous speeches and promises that they don't make good on. I don't mean to rain on your parade, since it will take quite an effort to deal with many of the problems you will find there, and long lines in the senseless idiotic notary publics so common to Brazil, where you wait and wait to get something for some guy pretending to look official who takes your documents, goes in the back room has a cigarette and coffee break, then comes back, calls your number to confirm that your documents have been stamped and carefully examined and verified. But, seriously, I now believe that indeed Brazilians don't talk as much to strangers on the streets as we do in the US. In fact, feedback I hear from people visiting the US from around the world, is that few countries are so easily open to talking to strangers. I think Brazilians (especially Paulistas) are less likely to talk to strangers due to crime, and just being exhausted from overwork and long commutes on packed buses, etc. Yet, I also think it is a convention of public life, which they inherited from the Portuguese, who are equally more private in public than Americans. But I would rather see research on all of this rather than these angry jingoistic rants so common to this blog.

this appears to be true,,,, unfortunately the majority of the time they are pathological liars,,,,especially when they are illegally in the u.s.a. ...

illegal are all over the planet, they call them aliens, like that movie...

"In the US, it's not polite to talk to anyone you don't know, including the people next to you on a line."

Not entirely true. In fact, more wrong than right. It's quite normal to begin conversation with a stranger, something called "breaking the ice". At least that's how it is in the southern part of USA.