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Unknowingly many, many people in US, think that Brazil is "same thing" like Central America and Caribbean and the country is a big jungle with jaguars and snakes in the streets, bananas tree, where everybody speak spanish, dance calypso and rumba
Here is very, very much different.
Admitingly the US is one of if not the most insular country in the world. Alot of people here can't tell the difference between Argentina and Mexico.
Admitingly the US is one of if not the most insular country in the world. Alot of people here can't tell the difference between Argentina and Mexico.
I have a college textbook book on the economic and social decline of Argentina that I picked up for 50c in a bin at a used bookstore across the street from the Harvard campus when I was a teenager in Mass - there was a hot Argentinian girl in my class, and I figured it'd give me a leg up on the competition to know something about her country.
Thanks to that book and lots of Excite searches, I knew more about her country than anyone else, and got laid. Thank god for that book.
In any case, the point I was getting at is that yes: the average American from the baby boom down to the current crop of kids is so depressingly insular because we've all grown up with our country being the "top dawg" in the world. There's an attitude with a lot of people here that we don't need to know these things, because we're the best. I love America, I'm proud of my country, I really am, and I know that we do have a good thing going on here.
But we aren't the only melting pot on the face of the earth. We aren't the only non-homogenous society. We aren't the only place that has immigrants from all over the world who come here looking for better things, we aren't the only country with pop culture. For people who think that Brazil is all samba dancing: Rock in Rio is the biggest rock festival in the world! Most of the Brazilians I've met listen to hard rock and metal, which of course runs in the opposite of what most people expect (I dated an exchange student for a couple months and was a fan of my favorite hardcore band, Refused, from Sweden). The bigger cities are a lot more European in feel than a lot of people realize.
So yeah, all things told, I definitely hope to see that part of the world someday Mexico/Guatemala/etc... not so much.
But we aren't the only melting pot on the face of the earth. We aren't the only non-homogenous society. We aren't the only place that has immigrants from all over the world who come here looking for better things, we aren't the only country with pop culture. For people who think that Brazil is all samba dancing: Rock in Rio is the biggest rock festival in the world! Most of the Brazilians I've met listen to hard rock and metal, which of course runs in the opposite of what most people expect (I dated an exchange student for a couple months and was a fan of my favorite hardcore band, Refused, from Sweden). The bigger cities are a lot more European in feel than a lot of people realize.
The music. Yeah, true, American genres of music are just as popular in Brazil as anywhere else.
What I find most amazing about Brazil however, it the many genres of music that THEY produce. Well beyond just samba, bossa nova, but there are also many completely different other styles as well. Axe, forro, and more.
Whereas when I think of 'Europe' for example, the music is pretty much just variants of music that is in America. Or in Asia, where the most popular bands are just pop, rock, hip-hop, etc..
Brazil is just a world to itself. It has all the american-inspired genres of music...and a completely different unparalleled genre of diverse music who has its origin directly from Brazil as well.
Plus some of the musical intruments. Some real interesting completely different tuned string instruments, that are quite unfamiliar as well.
I mean, its cool that Brazil has Brazilian-rock and Brazilian-hop-hop....but a completely different genre of music is what personally fascinates me the most. Plus, its quite different from the Spanish Latin America producing salsa, merengue, etc. as well.
Location: The world, where will fate take me this time?
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I lived in Brazil for 2 years and a half, I traveled all around the country, I go there once every year and I stay for a at least 3 months, my portuguese is way better than my english and I wouldn't hesitate to live there again, btw my friend from Brazil (Londrina) is staying at my place for 3 months and he says he wants to stay in Mexico LOL hehe
You're right.
Anything I say about Brazil, will be considered a biased opinion. After all, I am Brazilian.
However, I can say that Brazil is very different (for better) the stereotype created by media over the years about us.
As for violence, we have problems in some regions really, like all countries, but our government is working hard to reduce it to tolerable levels.
That's OK. The more time it takes people from the rest of the world to get over the old stereotypes of life in Brazil and how "dangerous" the country as a whole is, the more time I have to get down there and invest before prices have gone through the roof.
Brazil is one of the few economies in the world that is growing and the country has a very bright future. Sure, it still has problems, but I believe things will get much better in Brazil before the get any worse (which I can't confidently say about the US).
I wish that more people in the US were aware of Brazil's history and culture... from my experience, it seems like a lot of people think of it as a mix of the caricatures of Mexico and Cuba, just with more sex...
You're right.
This is a people's big mistake.
Unknowingly many, many people in US, think that Brazil is "same thing" like Central America and Caribbean and the country is a big jungle with jaguars and snakes in the streets, bananas tree, where everybody speak spanish, dance calypso and rumba
Here is very, very much different.[/quote]
That, or they expect to walk down the street in "any city, Brazil" and see people samba dancing along through the streets as they go about their daily business.
I would love to move to Brazil and live there for some time. However I do think I'd prefer to keep most of my money (what little I have) in US dollars, at least until salaries and other investment opportunities in Brazil increase. If you can earn passive income in US dollars and live in Brazil with the significantly lower cost of living (I live in Berkeley, CA, near San Francisco) then you have a good life ahead of you.
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Mexico/Guatemala/etc... not so much.
