Greetings! Since I have moved to Brazil last year, I have learned a lot about Brazil. There are a lot of differences between USA and Brazil especially culture, food and language. Here is what I have learned so far…

Brazilians want to welcome you into their home and feed you and have a conversation.

Lunch, eating out or eating at home with family. Also, an emphasis on eating a proper meal for lunch. Then, having tea (I don’t like coffee) and a small meal for dinner which I actually like. The food here is more healthy and natural than in America.

Churrascaria (buffet style BBQ restaurant) was amazing!

Fruits like peaches, cherries, blueberries and raspberries are more commonly eaten in the US. In Brazil, tropical fruits like caja, caju, cupuaçu, graviola and caqui are commonly eaten in Brazil and almost never seen in the US. They do have great exotic fruit juices.

Brazilian families tend to be large, tight-knit, warm, and loving. They generally enjoy each other’s company. Many families all live in the same area for their whole life and get together more often than I expected.  The family unit is seen as a support system.

Brazilians are relatively more extrovert, their physical personal space much smaller than for Americans.

Brazilians are much less formal than Americans are.

Brazilians manage time differently – Brazilians are always late, Americans are relatively more punctual.

In Brazil, time just moves a bit slower. People are very relaxed; you won’t see many people rushing around from place to place.

Brazilians value their inter-dependence in relationships, Americans value their independence.

Most Brazilians exercise regularly to stay fit. I have seen many people here have taken a walk to ride a bicycle often.

Driving here is adventureous! If there are no other cars around, most drivers in Brazil speed through stop signs and red lights. This isn’t something that police will ticket drivers for either. There are always motorcycles flying in between the lanes which is really annoying! They have a lot of cameras for speeding in Brasilia. Way too many speed humps here. The speed limit is a little lower in general, which I actually like here. The infrastructure is tricky. Driving here in Brazil is probably my biggest adjustment to make since I moved here.

For Christianity, Brazilian Protestant Christians tend to have high weekly participation and personal devotion rates, higher than in the United States. They do take their beliefs seriously while Americans are becoming more secular.

Most people moved to other country and learn one language but I had to learn 2 languages, Portuguese and LIBRAS (Brazilian sign language). It took a while to learn both languages. So far, I have learned about 50% of both Portuguese and LIBRAS. LIBRAS is quite different from ASL. It’s been fun to learn!

Overall, I enjoy living here in Brazil. There are some places I want to travel in Brazil like Rio de Janeiro, Fortaleza, Curitiba, Florianopolis, and more. I’m looking forward to get some more experiences in Brazil!