Each day, We will add 1 curious thing about Brazil that we've encountered and find noteworthy.... Here goes...
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| 'requeijão' do Brazil. |
1. In Brazil, there is a delicious cheesy spread called 'requeijão' - it tastes like extra creamy cream cheese and has the consistency and texture of Cheez Whiz but not gross like Cheez Whiz is. Not only is it delicious, it also comes either in a plastic cup or glass, which we have been saving and using as glasses - apparently every Brazilian does this too! Perfect size for cerveja!
2.Which brings me to number 2 (okay 2 entries today!). In Brazil it is common to order a large beer (500ml) to share between a number of people. Each person gets a little glass and more beer is ordered once the bottle is empty. Beer is served extremely cold and to keep it that way, each bottle is served in a beer cooler cup (James says 'temperature maintenance sleeve' !).
3. I know I had heard this before, but here in Rio and I guess in Brazil in general, one must queue for everything! Case in point : you form a line at a 'cashier' to get a ticket printed out, and then you get into another line to get your order - this goes for fast food places, bars/clubs, even in shops!
4. Number four is related to 3 - in Rio, you don't need to have exact change or a pass to get on; besides the driver there is usually a cashier who you pay and they make change for you then - although anything over R20 reis (12 US/CAD dollars) seems to be too high to break.
So, today's post in a nutshell, is about peculiar, different ways of doing things, that takes a bit of time getting used to; At least twice/three times as many people have jobs!
5. Portuguese is a curious language! I knew it was similar to various other romance languages, but I didn't realize what a mixture of vocabulary from Spanish, French and Italian that it had! Generally it is closest to Spanish, so a lot of words are very similar but may be pronounced differently. Then there are words that are completely different!
English : dog. Spanish: perro. Portuguese: cachorro. (What the?!)
English : window. Spanish: ventana. Portuguese: janela.
Here are some French similarities:
English: waiter. Portuguese: garçom.
3. I know I had heard this before, but here in Rio and I guess in Brazil in general, one must queue for everything! Case in point : you form a line at a 'cashier' to get a ticket printed out, and then you get into another line to get your order - this goes for fast food places, bars/clubs, even in shops!4. Number four is related to 3 - in Rio, you don't need to have exact change or a pass to get on; besides the driver there is usually a cashier who you pay and they make change for you then - although anything over R20 reis (12 US/CAD dollars) seems to be too high to break.
So, today's post in a nutshell, is about peculiar, different ways of doing things, that takes a bit of time getting used to; At least twice/three times as many people have jobs!
5. Portuguese is a curious language! I knew it was similar to various other romance languages, but I didn't realize what a mixture of vocabulary from Spanish, French and Italian that it had! Generally it is closest to Spanish, so a lot of words are very similar but may be pronounced differently. Then there are words that are completely different!
English : dog. Spanish: perro. Portuguese: cachorro. (What the?!)
English : window. Spanish: ventana. Portuguese: janela.
English : to forget. Spanish: olvidar. Portuguese: esquecer.
And on and on.
Here are some French similarities:
English: waiter. Portuguese: garçom.
English: vegetables. Portuguese/French:légumes
And many more.
Italian Similarities?
English: I can. Portuguese/Italian: Posso.
English: 'Bye. Portuguese: Tchau. Italian: Ciao.
there are more I can't think of them right now!
See links below for
2) Some differences between Spanish & Portuguese
I have yet to buy some, so I went to browse online. Upon some research, I realized the Jelly shoe was in fact invented by the Brazilians, who knew?! They were apparently first brought to America in 1982 at that year's world fair, by a company called Grendha, which was a new business joint venture between an already existing Brazilian company called Grendene, and an American businessman.
6.In Brazil there are cute shops in the malls called 'Jelly' by Melissa. Here you can find awesome, all-plastic shoes - think Jelly shoes circa 1980's but with much cooler designs, patterns and styles.
Jelly Shoes are all the rage here - at first I was not so into them, but like all things, after a while I found myself wanting to get a pair! In Rio it rains quite a bit, and the streets are pretty dirty, so if you have sandals on, your feet get pretty grubby and so do your shoes - plastic therefore makes perfect sense, as you can wash them easy-peasy.
I have yet to buy some, so I went to browse online. Upon some research, I realized the Jelly shoe was in fact invented by the Brazilians, who knew?! They were apparently first brought to America in 1982 at that year's world fair, by a company called Grendha, which was a new business joint venture between an already existing Brazilian company called Grendene, and an American businessman. Another Brazilian company 'Melissa' these days creates the more stylin (and more expensive) Jelly shoes as mentioned above. Here is list of designers that have designed for Melissa (Zaha Hadid even!):
Jean Paul Gaultier
So next time you see me folks, I will most likely be sporting neon moulded plastic shoes -jump on this Jelly revival train with me!
