Introduction

Welcome to the Gringoes.com email newsletter!
This newsletter pulls together some of the articles, photos, polls and other information that has been published on the Gringoes.com web site over the last week or so. Don't forget to visit the Gringoes.com site to checkout our article archive, useful information pages, classified adverts, services, forum and other pages. So read on and we hope you enjoy the newsletter. As always if you have any comments, such as what you'd like to see more or less of on the site or newsletter, don't hesitate to contact us at gringoes@gringoes.com.
Please note that although we are based in São Paulo, the site and newsletter are for the whole of Brazil. We are particularly interested in hearing from people outside of São Paulo city, specifically Rio de Janeiro and the Northeast, so if you would like to write about your experiences or any topic related to Brazil see our request for "Article Writers" below.
If you're interested to know the origin behind the site name, then read the "Dear Gringo" article here by Dr. G.


The American Society of São Paulo

Are you an expat - American, British, German, French, or other - living in São Paulo? Join the American Society and enjoy our expat get-togethers (pub nights, hiking trips, eggnog parties, etc.) as well as our monthly 16-page Forum magazine, while helping contribute to the Society‘s community assistance programs in the city. AmSoc is great way to meet new people: families and singles. We are a civil, non-profit association with no political or religious affiliations. To join, visit www.amsoc.com.br.


Around Brazil: Lençois Maranhenses

By Ricky Skelton
Parque Nacional Lençois Maranhenses is a huge expanse of white wind-blown dunes with fresh water pools in the hollows between them. There is no more photogenic place in Brazil, and possibly on the planet. If you can catch the right day, with clear blue sky and a golden sun reflecting off the sand and the surfaces, the effect is mesmerising. The journey to the nearest corner of the huge park from Barreirinhas is much like the last part of the crazy overlander from Paulino Neves to Barreirinhas. Having been through it all before, we were now experienced North-East travellers, and the people who came on the real road from São Luis were juniors, amazed at how bouncy and wet the sandy road was. They knew nothing.
You arrive at a little clearing by a shallow river, with a dune looming over it. People come down from above with their eyes shining, shining like the tiny fish in the clear river catching the rays of the sun. One steep climb later and Ooooooohhhhh would you look at that! I felt like a kid on Christmas morning, waking up to find the presents he wanted in the distance! I wanted to run, run, down the powdery sand and throw myself into the aquamarine pools, one after the other. They stretch out ahead for miles and miles, smooth curves, defined lines, sculpted dunes, angled shadows and ornamental pools, sometimes with sand bridges between them (I'm the dot in the photo above).
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Around Brazil: Sailing in Paraty

By Marilyn Diggs
Picture gentle cotton clouds in a cerulean sky, emerald green islands with palm tree contours and turquoise water lapping against the sides of a 45-meter sailboat whose puffed sails snap as the wind changes course. Now, see yourself inside that ship with the breeze caressing your face and your untamed hair streaming. Recently this dream became a reality for me.
There are actually three locations close to São Paulo for sailing enthusiasts: Angra dos Reis, Ilha Bela, and Paraty. The overwhelming appeal of Paraty in Rio de Janeiro state (300 km from São Paulo) is that the topography creates a protected ocean with the possibility to visit 60 islands and 300 beaches. Horror stories of seasick landlubbers whose bold intentions to play in Neptune‘s backyard ended in popping Dramamine, made the lure of protected waters in Paraty Bay and Mamanguá Port that much more appealing to me. I didn‘t want green gills for my maiden voyage.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brazil: The Curmudgeon in Alcohol-Induced Dudgeon

By The Curmudgeon
Bush and Lula, the favourite 4-letter words of the Brazilian left, have recently signed an agreement to encourage the development of ethanol as fuel for automobiles, so as to reduce the world's dependence upon petroleum. Ethanol, as everyone knows, is alcohol made from renewable resources - sugar in Brazil and corn in the USA. Hence, this is an environmentally friendly move, correct? Well, perhaps not.
Brazil and the USA produce, together, something like 70% of the world's ethanol, so the media have made a very big thing about an OPEC for ethanol with a rather limited membership¹. But there are any number of countries with huge sugar production capabilities, including Australia, China and India, to name but a few in Asia. Once they get the ethanol technology, which is not exactly high-tech, one can bet they will come knocking on the OEEC² door. Meaning more and more farmers will plant more and more corn and sugar.
And there's the rub. Among potential disadvantages to the use of ethanol as fuel, one seems to be that as the market for ethanol expands geometrically, farmers trying to meet that demand will either expand into new land (e.g. the Amazon or the Mata Atlantica) or take other crops out of production on existing land, or both. In other words, deforestation will increase and the supply of other grains (e.g soyabeans) will decrease. And, most importantly, both sugar and corn are prime sources of food for human beings - the worry is that, if production of these is funneled into fuel for vehicles, there will eventually be a shortage of food for people, so ethanol production should be discouraged if not outright prohibited.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Misunderstanding Brazil's National Anthem: A Crash-Course in the Hymn of the Nation

By Joe Lopes
When I told my Brazilian wife about an article I read recently bashing her country‘s melodious Hino Nacional ("the world‘s worst national anthem," was the staggeringly forthright, first line of the piece), she grew absolutely indignant - irate, I‘d dare say, all four-foot-eleven inches of her - over what I truly thought was a tongue-in-cheek approach used by the author, Englishman Ricky Skelton, regarding this potentially incendiary subject.
Playing devil‘s advocate for once (but ever so gingerly where my combative spouse was concerned), I jumped to Mr. Skelton‘s defense, and even agreed with some of his shaky line of reasoning, including the statement that of all the soccer nations in the world today, Brazil, with its "uniquely Brazilian genres of music," i.e. samba, bossa nova, axé, Tropicália, forró, MPB, and funk, could certainly "do better, far better" with its national anthem - or so he‘d lead us to believe.
The solution Mr. Skelton offers would be for someone with the musical talent of, say, Martinho da Vila, to "compose a new Samba Anthem which will get the players and crowd infused with the vibrancy and exuberance of their amazing country."
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brazil Through Foreign Eyes

Meet Richard Dougherty, from the USA, who has travelled in Brazil and married a Brazilian. Read the following interview where he tells us about some of his most memorable experiences from Brazil 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 from mainly the Ohio Valley area where I grew up although I spent many years in both Wisconsin area, Michigan, Connecticut, and California. I‘m going to be giving English classes again once back to São Paulo and establishing in and around the Campo Belo area.
2. When did you arrive in Brazil and what brought you here?
I first arrived in Brazil in 2001 on kind of a vacation. I had met a Brasileira via the Internet and after our virtual dating decided to see what reality had in store. I came with a ring, she accepted and we were married in our home in Campo Belo some months later with all the preparations needed.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Article Writers

Are you a "Gringo" (foreigner) living in or travelling around Brazil with experiences you would like to write about, or with advice to offer? Are you a Brazilian who would like to explain about Brazil to foreigners, and help give advice on what to do, and where to go? Perhaps you just write a frequent blog about Brazil, and would be interested in publishing some of this on our site. If you are interested in writing an article, or series of articles, or posting your blog content on Gringoes.com we are interested in hearing from you! Don't be shy! All we ask is that the articles are focused on Brazil, will be of interest to foreigners either travelling or living here, and are written in English.
We are particularly interested in hearing from people who want to write about areas other than São Paulo, specifically Rio de Janeiro and the Northeast, although other areas as well. If you are unsure about a topic then drop us an email or a draft article. Send your articles or any questions to gringoes@gringoes.com with "articles" in the subject.


Interviews

Thanks to those who responded to our request for interviews. We've almost run out though, so if you would like to be in our Brazil Through Foreign Eyes, or Foreigners Through Brazilian Eyes series please send us an email. As you can see it doesn't matter if you're a foreigner to Brazil, or Brazilian, we're still interested to hear from you. The interview series is a fascinating look at how real people are enjoying Brazil, and equally how Brazilians really see foreigners. They also give various tips on what to see in Brazil, and how to survive here.
The interview itself is a set of around 15 easy-to-answer questions, and ideally we like a digital photo of you as well we can place with the interview.
So if you're interested, don't be shy, send a blank email to mark@gringoes.com with "Interview" in the subject. We will then send you the questions, and instructions on how to complete. We'd love to hear from you!
A gentle reminder to those who have been sent questions. Please don't forget to complete and return them!


Gringoes Poll

Last week's poll was on flying in Brazil. Had you been affected by the strikes over the recent months, or been trouble free? It was a close call, but first with 27% was those once or twice, 26% many times, 24% haven't flown, and the remaining 23% were unaffected.
This week's poll was suggested by our resident Portuguese tipster, Teacher Claudia. How often would you like to see Portuguese tips on the site, once a week, or more? If you haven't yet voted go to our homepage and look for the poll in the left-hand column.
If you can't stand our poll ideas and have better ones, or are curious about some aspect of the Gringoes.com readers, then send your ideas to us at mark@gringoes.com with "Poll Idea" in the subject. If we choose your poll you will get a credit in the newsletter, as well as the satisfaction of seeing what the answers are!

Please send this email to anyone you think might find it interesting. If you have not yet registered with gringoes.com and would like to receive future newsletters click here. If you have mistakenly received this message, or would no longer like to receive mail from us, then please reply to this email with the word 'take out' in the subject line. If you are unsubscribing because the newsletter doesn't meet your needs then please let us know how we can improve it.

Competition! Submit a Tip

There's another chance to win our regular fortnightly competition, with a prize of a R$150 voucher for the Tabu Restaurant located in the Sonesta Hotel, in São Paulo.
To win the prize this fortnight you need to submit a tip for our Tip of the Week column by 2nd May, from which we'll select a prize winner. Next fortnight we'll change the competition topic to something else.
Send your photos to mark@gringoes.com with "Competition" in the subject.


Weekly Quiz

Last week's quiz question was from Luciane Conceicão and was: name the writer of children's stories and the TV programme shown in the 1980s adapted from his stories. Congratulations to Michael Roy Smith who was first to reply with the correct answer of Monteiro Lobato (José Renato, and later, José Bento de), with the TV programme being Sítio do Picapau Amarelo. We've run out of quiz questions, so a special request for some more! Do you think you can stump the Gringoes.com readers? If so then please send your quiz questions to mark@gringoes.com with ‘Weekly Quiz Ideas’ in the subject line. Don't forget to send the answer to the question also! Remember it needs to be relatively difficult, and not something that can be found from a simple Internet search.


Photo of the Week

The photo of the week is titled Ouro Preto Easter and taken by Landon Wright. Click here to see the photo.
Thanks to all those who've sent in photos based on our request, but we can always do with more. So if you have a funny or unusual photo depicting life in Brazil please send it to gringoes@gringoes.com with ‘Photo of the Week’ in the subject line. Ideally we are after photos that are of something a little different, not traditional shots of beaches and sunsets. Please send relatively high resolution images (0.5 Megapixel / 640 x 480 or bigger), and let us know where you took the photo and if you have a title for it.


Tip of the Week

Our tip of the week again comes from Ethan Munson (thanks Ethan!) and is: as mentioned in a previous tip, Jon Stinson said traveler's checks don't work well for travelers in Brazil. It can be hard to find a bank that will accept them and the wait for service can be lengthy (easily 30 minutes total). Still, traveler's checks can be a useful backup and a good way to get those first Reais in your pocket. The easiest place to cash them is at the airport. Both Guarulhos and Tom Jobim airports have AmEx offices that will cash AmEx checks at a fair rate and without any commission. Service is not fast, unfortunately.
Is there something you wish you had known while travelling, or something that makes life easier while living here in Brazil? Then share it, and let our readers know. Don't worry about the subject, it can be either a big or small piece of useful information. Send your tips to mark@gringoes.com with ‘Tip of the Week’ in the subject line.


Brazil‘s Politicians Share the Spoils

By John Fitzpatrick
Trying to explain Brazilian society to western Europeans and Americans can be frustrating. When you tell people, for example, that public employees can go on strike and receive full pay and then retire in their mid-40s with a lifetime pension, that one of the country‘s leading politicians is widely believed to have ordered the murder of his son-in-law, that college graduates who turn to crime have special cushy prisons to keep them apart from the unwashed majority of common criminals, and that there are more private security guards than police, they think you are exaggerating. This article attempts to highlight another feature of life which many foreigners will find hard to believe - the blatant way in which politicians slice up the national cake among themselves.
Almost four months into his second term, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva finally announced his government. His new ally, the PMDB, and his own Workers Party (PT) have been given the main ministries. However, the second tier of power is where the real wealth lies and the parties within Lula‘s alliance are now scrambling to get their hands on much of the country‘s assets as they can. During this process politicians gain control of state-owned enterprises, organizations and agencies and use the resources to benefit their own parties, reward allies, repay favors and enrich themselves and, in many cases, their relatives and friends. We are not talking about ambassadorships, for example, which are often used as gifts of patronage in other countries, including the United States, but utilities and commercial companies like Petrobras. These entities have enormous budgets which fall into the hands of the politicians who are free to do with them as they please. This often leads to technically competent key people being fired and replaced by people with no experience.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brazil: Weekly News Roundup

Rise in Support for Death Penalty
A poll published in Folha shows that 55% of those who answered would vote to reinstate the death penalty, which is up 4% from last year. Capital punishment was abolished in 1979, aside from treason during war. It is believed that the decline in public safety is behind the increase in public support for capital punishment.
Minister of Health Provokes Abortion Debate
The newly appointed Minister of Health, Jose Gomes Temporaro, has stated that he feels the abortion debate needs to be moved from the realm of religion and morals to that of public health. Over 200,000 women a year are treated for complications rising from a vast majority of illegal abortions. Opinion polls show though that 65% of Brazilians are against changing the current law.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brecht, Weill & Buarque: The Brazilian Play‘s the Thing! Part 1

By Joe Lopes
Returning now to Ópera do Malandro and the two quotations by Kurt Weill that have occupied our thoughts since the outset of this essay-to wit, the difference between "serious" music and "light" music, and the legitimacy of its being filled out with new musical content by the use of popular songs-we should keep the following in mind as well: to what extent has Chico Buarque's "trans-cultural reading" of Brecht-Weill's better known theater-piece proved itself to be a worthy successor, in its own right, to Threepenny Opera's stated "urgent purpose"?
In the same sense, was the choice by Chico of a pop-derived music-score for this strictly Brazilian product the "correct" one for him to have used in expressing, to an equivalent degree, his own deliberately high-minded goals?
This was, in fact, an old argument, which has often been trotted out by purists whenever the built-in dichotomy found in the fecund Brecht-Weill partnership and their brief, albeit liberal, brush with musical theater are inevitably brought up-especially where it concerns their two most substantial stage collaborations, The Threepenny Opera and The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1930).
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Popular Brazilian Expressions Part 1

By Tamashin
I started collecting Brazilian expressions in 1993 when I first came to Brazil. Asking people to explain them was a good ice-breaker though you would be guaranteed to get a slightly different explanation each time as people put their own slant on it. No harm in that as it just shows the flexibility of the language. I was told that some were offensive but the same expression would be regarded by others as harmless. Many came from the favelas where I was working and appeared to be self deprecating. I confess that some don‘t mean anything to me whatsoever.
Some have a direct relation to English, others are unique. No translations have been given so that the expressions don‘t lose their unique "flavour". I hope people enjoy sharing them with others as much as I did. At no point was there any intention to offend anyone.
1. Ser descontente é ser homem.
2. O patrimonio é um conjunto de bens, o matrimonio é um conjunto de males.
3. O pobre só enche a barriga quando morre afogado.
4. Pimenta nos olhos dos outros é refresco.
5. Trabalhae para pobre é menidar duas vezes.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Discussion Forum

If you've not had a chance yet then pop over to our web forum, register, and start joining in the discussion about Brazil. There are many forum areas such as Living in Brazil, Teaching English, Visas and Documentation, and even a place to Vent Your Frustrations! There's also a forum which allows you to comment on Gringoes.com, either with your views about past articles, areas of the site, or to make suggestions for future articles and content.
Each week in the newsletter we will choose a Post of the Week to give you some idea of what's happening in the forum, and a good thread to visit and read. This week we recommend the post "used car" started by the user meh2000 in our "Living in Brazil" forum. The post is discussing used car prices in Brazil.
If you have a recommendation for Post of the Week then send an email to mark@gringoes.com with "Post of the Week" in the subject.
Note that foul language and abusive posts in the forum will not be tolerated. The forum is intended to be a constructive and lighthearted place for discussion about Brazil.

Forex

The US dollar has dropped slightly despite a rise earlier in the week, currently at R$2.03, compared with R$2.04 a week ago. The Euro has shown a slight rise to R$2.76, from R$2.73 a week ago. The British Pound has shown a similar trend to the Euro, and risen slightly to R$4.06, against R$4.02 last week.