Brazil is a beautiful country – no doubt about it. It is a vast land of modern and ancient architectures, a tropical paradise, a melting pot of ethnicity and so much more.
But there are some things that are not so nice about Brazil, and in addition to that, some things that might not suit your taste and some things that will “irk” you.
Here’s a few examples of things about Brazil which you might not like or which might “irk” you.
Brazilians don’t use the Mop
There is no mop as we know it in the Anglo Saxon culture. To clean the floor, Brazilians use something called a “roda” which is used to pull water across the floor. They spread a cloth over it and use that to clean the floor. If you are not from Brazil, and you have to clean the floor this way, you might find it uncomfortable.
Brazil has a different type of Wall Socket.
If you’re coming from an English-Speaking country, the plug of your laptop or phone charger might not plug into the wall socket. Upon arrival, you may have to visit a variety store and purchase an adapter for your appliance. The good news is that they are easy to find.
Brazilians don’t flush toilet paper.
Ewww. When I first came to Brazil, this took some getting used to. Brazilian toilets are desinged in such a way that if you flush the toilet paper, the pipes will clog and the water will back up. Instead, you have to throw the used toilet paper in the small bin next to the toilet which contains a black plastic bag which is eventually knotted and dumped. Ewww. When I first visited Brazil, I stubbornly flushed the toilet paper even though I was told about it. I had some bad results and I learned the hard way never to do it again.
Why don’t Brazilians flush toilet paper? It’s because the plumbing doesn’t allow for it. Apparently the pipes that drain the toilets are too narrow or something of the sort. But why it is being designed this way in the first place is the question to be answered.
On the bright side, not all toilets are designed this way in Brazil. If you built a house, for example, you can give instructions to the plumber to design your toilet drainage in a way that can flush toilet paper. I’ve also been to a few places where the paper could be flushed. But the general rule in Brazil is not to flush toilet paper. Throw it in the bin.
Brazil is full of “slums” or “favelas.”
Even though Brazil is generally full of friendly and beautiful people, there’s a dark side to the population: poverty-ridden, drug infested, crime controlled slums, also called favelas. Be careful not to mistakenly walk into one of these.
On the other hand, I spent three nights in the favelas of Manaus during a trip to Sao Paulo and the people were really nice to me. They treated me well and sent me off to the airport when my plane was ready. But I can’t guarantee that everyone will have the same experience if they mistakenly end up in a Brazilian favela. How I ended up there is another long story which I will you more of later.
Needless to say, as we travel from place to place, things are done “a little bit differently” everywhere. And Brazilian is no exception. In fact, it is a good example.
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