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Brazil Through Foreign Eyes
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August 13, 2008
Meet Jase Ramsey from the USA who recently moved to Brazil to work. Read the following interview in which he tells us about some of his most memorable experiences and gives some useful advice to newcomers.
1. Tell us a little about yourself, where are you from, what do you do etc.?
I‘m a 34 year old male who was born in the United States. I grew up in the Midwest (Kansas), and have lived on both coasts for work reasons. Most recently, I was living in South Carolina. I have lived in Mexico, Spain, Moldova, and Barbados.
2. When did you arrive in Brazil and what brought you here?
I arrived in Brazil in April, 2008. I moved here without ever setting foot in the country in order to take a professorship at a business school in Belo Horizonte. Furthermore, I moved here alone without knowing a single person.
3. What were you first impressions of Brazil?
Three things; that the percentage of people that speak English is considerably lower than what I had envisioned. Secondly, people genuinely care about me and what I‘m doing. Finally, not just is there an incredibly daunting bureaucracy, but the people here accept it.
4. What do you miss most about home?
Efficiency and Air conditioning. Here in Minas Gerias, the weather is pretty stable, and so most people and businesses don‘t have either air conditioning or heating. While coming from South Carolina, where it is infinitely hotter than here, I find myself sweating a lot more here; especially in a suit.
5. What has been your most frustrating experience in Brazil?
Not communicating effectively. Even after being here for four months, I feel like my ability to communicate has been reduced to that of a 3 or 4 year old child. For individuals that come here and their livelihood is based on the ability to communicate complex ideas, this is a seriously painful experience.
6. What has been your most memorable experience in Brazil (specific incident)?
After being here for about a month, a colleague, who I didn‘t know very well at all, invited me to go with her husband and two other Brazilians to their parents‘ home a few hours from the city for the entire weekend. I had heard that Brazilians were notorious for these kinds of invitations that don‘t materialize, and thus I accepted. Naturally, I was thinking "how is it possible to invite a Gringo to spend the Festival de Junho in their hometown with their family and friends?!?" Well, the day of departure came and indeed off we went (all 5 of us drinking beer in this tiny car whirling through the mountains). Although there were 20+ individuals at their "Sitio", and only one person kind of spoke English, the entire gang completely welcomed me, and really tried to make sure I was having a good time.
7. What do you most like about Brazil (in general)?
In continuation from the prior question; the feeling of acceptance based on nothing other than merely being a human in their atmosphere is mind-opening. It gives one pause to think about what the planet could be if everyone were so giving.
8. What is your favorite restaurant/place to hang out here?
Someone will have to explain to me the Brazilian‘s fascination with Sushi, but you can get sushi here in a huge proportion of establishments. So, I guess I‘d have to say Kei in Lordes (in Belo Horizonte). The presentation there, as well as, the service is top notch. I also like this little beer place in Savassi called Frei Tuck; handling an amazing selection of beer, but bring your credit card.
9. Do you have any funny stories/incidents to tell about your time in Brazil?
I was living near a lake for the first month here. And one afternoon, I was doing the Gringo thing of jogging alone with my iPod, and came across a dozen pigesqe/rodent looking animals (capivara) in my path. They stared at me, I stared at them, then they all jumped in the lake for a swim. I was laughing aloud thinking, "If only my conservative mother could see me now".
10. What difference between your homeland and Brazil do you find most striking?
I would agree with some past posts on this site that the difference between classes is huge and uncomfortable to witness. While the GDP per capita in the USA is much higher than Brazil, the gaps in wealth here are more dramatic. You see new Ferraris (despite the large, dare I say crazy vehicle tax) at a stop light right next to a guy physically pulling a makeshift cart with cardboard boxes on it.
11. How is your Portuguese coming along? What words do you find most difficult to pronounce/remember or are there any words that you regularly confuse?
Portuguese is going rather okay for me. I work all day in English and that doesn‘t help at all. Furthermore, knowing Spanish really well initially helps, but then hinders your growth due to the similarities. The word I mess up on a lot is the preposition "do" or the combining of prepositions and pronouns.
12. What advice do you have for newcomers to Brazil?
An eye-opener for me was the huge cost of living here. A Honda Civic literally costs twice as much here as in the United States. Rent here in the nice districts is at least as much as big cities in the USA. And since access to capital is unbearably high, if you want a car or house, you have to slap down the money in cash. Thus, the concept/hoax that life is going to be great here because things are so cheap is simply not so. I had more material things as a graduate student than I do as a professional here.
13. What are some things that you would recommend for a visitor to do in São Paulo (or anywhere else in Brazil)?
Here in Minas, I‘d suggest going to Ouro Preto. Classic colonialism is always a good time for most Gringos, and they are very hospitable to tourists. Finally, leave your timidity at the door. If you even attempt to converse with most Brazilians, you will be surprised with how eager they are to chat with you.
You can contact Jase via ramseyjr@yahoo.com.
Are you a foreigner who has lived in, or is living or travelling in Brazil? Are you a Brazilian who has a lot of contact with foreigners and/or lived outside of Brazil? Are you interested in telling your story? If you would like to volunteer for our interview series, or if you would like to recommend someone, please send a blank email to gringoes@gringoes.com with "Interview" in the subject. We will send you the interview questions by return email.
To read previous interviews in the Brazil Through Foreign Eyes series click below:
Ben Pearce - UK
Nitai Panchmatia - India
Johnnie Kashat - USA
Jeni Bonorino - USA
Eric Jones - USA
Bill Martin - UK
Bernard Morris - USA
John Graves - USA
Deepak Sapra - India
Alison McGowan - UK
Brent Gregory - USA
R Dub - USA
Tara Bianca - USA
Jack Hurley - USA
James Woodward - Canada
Tony O'Sullivan - Ireland
Anna Belavina - Russia
Jim Kirby - USA
Linda Halverstadt - USA
Michelle Monteiro - USA
Chris Mensah - UK
David Sundin - USA
Stephanie Glennon - USA
Julien Porisse - France
Hans Keeling - USA
Jim Adams - USA
Richard Murison - USA
Will Periam - UK
Jan Sandbert - Sweden
Jim Jones - USA
Mike Stricklin - USA
Edward Gowing - Australia
Adrian Woods - USA
Kevin Raub - USA
Pierpaolo Ciarcianelli - Italy
Zachary Heilman - USA
David Johnson - Bermuda
Cipriana Leme - Argentina
Timothy Bell - USA
Patti Beckert - USA
Timothy Bell - USA
Paul James - USA
David McLoughlin - Ireland
Pat Moraes - USA
Richard Dougherty - USA
James Weeds - USA
Tom Sluberski - USA
Peter Kefalas - USA
Sylvie Campbell - UK
Kathleen Haynes - USA
Matt Bowlby - USA
Alan Longbottom - UK
Eric Karukin - USA
Eddie Soto - USA
Kieran Gartlan - Ireland
Bryan Thomas Scmidt - USA
Emile Myburgh - South Africa
Bob Chapman - USA
David Barnes - USA
John Milan - USA
Chris Coates - UK
Matthew Ward - UK
Allison Glick - USA
Drake Smith - USA
Jim Jones - USA
Philip Wigan - UK
Atlanta Foresyth - USA
Lee Gordon - USA
Carmen Naidoo - South Africa
Lee Safian - USA
Laurie Carneiro - USA
Dana De Lise - USA
Richard Gant - USA
Robin Hoffman - USA
Wayne Wright - UK
Walt Kirspel - USA
Priya Guyadeen - Guyana
Caitlin McQuilling - USA
Nicole Rombach - Holland
Steven Engler - Canada
Richard Conti - USA
Zak Burkons - USA
Ann White - USA
Monde Ngqumeya - South Africa
Johnny Sweeney - USA
David Harty - Canada
Bill McCrossen - USA
Peter Berner - Switzerland/Brazil
Ethan Munson - USA
Solveig Skadhauge - Denmark
Sean McGown - USA
Condrad Downes - UK
Jennifer Silva - Australian
Justin Mounts - USA
Elliott Zussman - USA
Jonathan Abernathy - USA
Steve Koenig - USA
Kyron Gibbs - USA
Stephanie Early - USA
Martin Raw - UK
Sean Coady - UK
Hugo Delgado - Mexico
Sean Terrillon - Canada
Jessie Simon - USA
Michael Meehan - USA
Thales Panagides - Cyprus
Tammy Montagna - USA
Samantha Tennant - England
Ron Finely - United States
Bob Duprez - United States
Peter Baines - England
Youssef Bouguerra - Tunisia
Van Wallach - USA
Lesley Cushing - England
Alexander von Brincken - Germany
Hank Avellar - USA
Ed Catchpole - England
Penny Freeland - England
Yasemin de Pinto - Turkey
Amy Williams Lima - USA
John Naumann - England
Marsye Schouella - Eygpt
Rita Shannon Koeser - USA
John Fitzpatrick - Scotland
Liam Gallagher - Northern Ireland
Lorelei Jones - England
Adam Glensy - England
Tommie C.B. DeAssis - Japan
Aaron Day - Canada
Graham Debney - New Zealand
Silke Tina Tischendorf - Germany
Tanya Keshavjee Macedo - Canada
Frank de Meijer - Holland
Carl Emberson - Australia
Kim Buarque - Wales
Damiano Pak - South Korea
Jonas Helding - Denmark
Pari Seeber - Iran
John Milton - England
Ken Marshall - Australia
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8/13/2008
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