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.


Forum Update

Just to let our forum users know that the forum is still being worked on, and we're hoping to have the issues resolved in the next few days. Although the forum is up and working, it may need to be taken down at various points to carry out the transfer to the new database and software. Thanks for your patience!


How to Know You Are in Brazil Part 1

By Steven Engler
June 5, 2007
Let's imagine, as a sort of thought experiment, that you are a person from outside Brazil and that you suddenly find yourself sitting at a table in a Brazilian café. Magically transported. No idea how you got there. How do you figure out where you are?
Not a likely situation, you are no doubt thinking. But work with me here.
Perhaps you were teleported down from orbit but a race of alien beings with advanced technology and an odd sense of humour. Perhaps you went out drinking with friends, had a few too many, and were the victim of an elaborate practical joke. (These things do happen. I know a guy who woke up in Amsterdam.) Perhaps you were smuggled out of your home country under cover of darkness, drugged but comfortably attired, spent months on a container ship, were imported semi-legally into Brazil, then were trucked up from Santos in your roomy private container, chemically thawed out, and propped up in this café with the final bit of antidote to the blackout drug in your coffee. Imagine that this is part of a somewhat unethical post-doctoral study in cross-cultural social anthropology. You take that first sip of coffee and, voilá...
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Understanding Brazil: The Kids

By Ricky Skelton
June 5, 2007
One more cultural difference that I have found difficult to get used to in Brazil is the behaviour of the kids that I have come across. I‘m talking more of the awkward 13-16 age bracket than any others. That age when kids start to develop an attitude and believe that their parents don‘t understand them, perhaps stop talking to them, or maybe even stop talking at all. When they start to hide inside their hoods and caps and go out with their friends to hang around the streets as they‘re too young to go to bars, but they want to prove to you and their friends that they‘re grown up by challenging someone older. Reacting is impossible because that is when they act like a little shoal of piranhas.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Getting your Brazilian Steak Fix in China

By Stephen Thompson
June 5, 2007
I got addicted to Brazilian food while living in Brazil, and now that I am living in China I was happy to find out I can satisfy those hungry churrasco cravings here too.
Despite the somewhat misleading name of "Latina", this restaurant, located in the popular Xintiandi entertainment complex in Shanghai, is a good, basic but authentic Brazilian Churrasco restaurant. It is the place to go to get your fix of Brazilian food and culture in Shanghai; it's also the meeting point for the Brazilian community in Shanghai, and many Brazilian business travellers drop in to refuel too.
It is one of the best places in China to meet Brazilians, and I've met many interesting people there, including Brazilian footballers playing for Chinese teams and samba dancers on whisky promotion tours.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Understanding Brazil: Spontaneity

By Laíze De Lima
June 5, 2007
Have you ever noticed how often Brazilians smile? We'll bet you've never met one who didn't smile a lot more than most people.
Have you noticed, Brazilians will start dancing in the middle of a cafe or restaurant? Or invite you to a party, without really even knowing you? These are just some ways that Brazilians exercise their spontaneity.
Brazilians are not very good at following rules or instructions. This trait derives from our indigenous ancestors. Before the Portuguese arrived, the native indigenous Brazilians walked proud and naked, prayed for the Moon and the Sun, painted their bodies according to the ritual or the season, and danced for the fire or the rain.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brazil: Property in the South

By Cipriana Leme
My article is really a continuation to the article written by Richard Conti last week. In my case, however, I am referring to properties in the South which are almost as sought after as those in the North.
I live in Florianopolis and propose that foreign investors in Brazil organize a form of boycott as most Brazilian investors seem to have done.
The prices in the South are absurd and, as Richard wisely mentioned, they also seem to be based on greed rather than common sense. Nonetheless, there are other problems concerning real estate in the South.
Firstly, the land is useless, especially in beach/coastal areas. It is mostly sand and rock, making it difficult to build anything. In the area where I live, foreigners are innocently buying land while the natives snicker behind their backs, relieved they could finally get rid of that useless piece of land. In some areas, it is swamp covered by earth and sand, or too rocky to build anything on. When building, this problem eventually gets in the way and you end up spending fortunes to fill the land with earth or on foundation work.
…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

This week's poll, continued from last week, is on corruption in Brazil. Have you ever experienced corruption firsthand, seen it secondhand, or never witnessed it? An interesting result so far, with 30% of you have witnessed corruption regularly firsthand, 26% infrequently firsthand, and 23% have not experienced it personally but heard the stories. 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 Photo

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 photo for our "Photo of the Week" column by 13th June, from which we'll select a prize winner. Make sure to follow our guidelines for submission. Next fortnight we'll change the competition topic to something else.
Get a copy of the interview questions by emailing mark@gringoes.com with "interview" in the subject, then make sure to submit your answers before the 30th to mark@gringoes.com with "Competition" in the subject.


Weekly Quiz

Last week's quiz question came from Angel Juarez: which driver having won the F1 Championship more than once has won all his F1 Championships at Interlagos while never having won that Grand Prix? Congratulations to Augustino Porta who was first with the correct reply of Fernando Alonso (2005 & 2006).
This week's quiz question comes again from Jacques Allain (thanks Jacques!): The Itaipu Dam on the Paraná river on the Brazil/Paraguay border was finished in 1991 after 17 years of construction, with one of the world's largest hydroeletric plants. Who was the composer so impressed with Itaipu that he wrote a piece of symphonic music with that name? What does the Guarani word ´Itaipu´ mean? Don't forget to answer both questions! Send your answer to mark@gringoes.com
with ‘Weekly Quiz’ in the subject line.
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 Lula and was sent in by an anonymous contributor. 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 competition winner Laura Croll and is: the Portuguese word carne is often translated as "meat". Meat for an English speaker is pretty much all animals. In Brazil carne is used for beef only. I was served both chicken and fish, even though I said "eu nao como carne".
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: Am I Concerned?

By Tamashin
I was duty bound to reply to Richard Conti‘s article of May 24th particularly in defense of João Pessoa in the North East of Brazil.
First though, I would like to say that not only do I live in JP, but I also speak with many locals and gringos, consider myself to be well read on most things JP and have indeed written many posts and articles on this fair city. Further, in my attempts to buy a property here, I have befriended many estate agents.
What I will attempt to do is finish off some of the statements made by Richard with facts. All, of course, meant in the nicest possible way.
The value of the Dollar is falling but are people just spending the dollar in JP? No there are people from all over the world and you do meet a wide range of travelers here. Those that choose to stay need to be catered for, homes are built, if you want one in a particular area or of a particular quality then you have to pay a little more or less. I am currently home hunting and can provide a detailed list of all the properties in my main areas of interest. I can honestly say I haven‘t noticed prices "severely inflating". Greed of estate agents was mentioned but is it not just the laws of supply and demand coming into play?
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brazil Through Foreign Eyes

Meet Paul James, from Canada, who moved to Brazil two years ago. 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.?
My name is Paul James, I‘m from Port Dover, Ontario, Canada. I started out as an English teacher like almost every other gringo. I then moved on to golf instruction, and then to work for a big (blue) US IT company.
2. When did you arrive in Brazil and what brought you here?
I first arrived here in late September of 2004 for a vacation after getting sick of working on a production line in a country with a less than ideal climate. I am half Brazilian and half English and was born in Canada, so I have travelled to Brazil on several other occasions when I was younger. I originally came down here to get know my family and learn a little Portuguese. So far my "vacation" has lasted almost 3 years.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Portuguese Tip: Diminutives

By Teacher Claudia
Jun 1, 2007
Dear readers, I had just explained a topic to my American student when he went, "Nossinha!" showing his surprise. I corrected him immediately, because no one can say "Nossinha", as it refers to "Nossa Senhora", the mother of Jesus Christ. People may speak "Nossa!", and not even recall what it originally means, but that‘s a different issue. Robert then asked something very interesting: if Brazilians often use the diminutive degree, how can he know when or not change a noun into it? Here it is.
Activity 1 - Introduction
Read a piece of the song "Mulher de Fases", by Raimundos.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brazil: Weekly News Roundup

Jun 1, 2007
US Man Killed Outside Nightclub
Joseph E Martin, from Massachusetts, was shot last Thursday outside a nightclub in Lapa, Rio de Janeiro. Martin had been in Brazil for 2 years teaching English, and friends said he loved both Rio and the country. Witnesses said two men got into a fight outside the nightclub, and then one stood back and shot the other twice in the abdomen. It transpired that the shooter was an off duty policeman who has been arrested on homicide charges, although he claims self defence.
Senate Chief Denies Corruption Claims
Senate President Renan Calheiros has denied claims that both he and his family had personal expenses paid by a lobbyist, reported in Veja. The claim from Veja is that Calheiros had expenses paid by a lobbyist from a construction company, which included apartment rental and support for a child from an extramarital relationship. Energy Minister Silas Rondeau resigned over similar charges last week.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Bringing People Together: Electronic Voyages to Brazil Part 3

By Joe Lopes
May 31, 2007
Here is part 3 of Joe's article, recounting some of the stories he has had resulting from articles he has written. To read the previous parts click the relevant links at the end of the article.
Along different but no less memorable lines, there was this poignant message from a reader, written in delectable Brazilian Portuguese:
"I just finished reading, ‘Brazil: A Fever Called Corinthians,‘ with tears in my eyes, for I am the daughter of Professor Júlio Mazzei [the former coach of the New York Cosmos and much-beloved mentor to Pelé and countless other Brazilian sports figures].
"My father now has Alzheimer‘s disease and no longer recognizes me or even speaks, much less talks about futebol. Can you believe it? I try looking for anything at all about him para matar as saudades ("to satisfy the longing").
"I loved what you wrote about your father. I‘ve always wanted to do an homage to my father, but do not write well in either language. God bless your talent for writing! Your dad is very proud of you, wherever he is. As my dad used to sign off: ‘Your friend in soccer,‘ Marjorie Mazzei Raggo."
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Popular Brazilian Expressions Part 7

By Tamashin
May 31, 2007
Here is part 7 of Tamashin's article on popular expressions in Brazilian Portuguese that he has been collecting. To read the previous parts click the relevant link at the end of the article.
121. Fazei o bem mas olhei a quem.
122. Quem pode mais, chora menos.
123. Cade cabeça é uma senteça.
124. O pior dos mentirosos é que acredita nas suas proprias mentiras.
125. Quem pode, pode, quem nao pode se sacode.
126. Nao se amarra cachorro com linguiça.
127. Burro quer patada.
128. O que os olhos nao veem, o coraçao nao sente.
129. Mentira tem perna curta.
130. O pior dos cegos é aquele que nao quer enxergar.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Discussion Forum

As the discussion forum has not yet been stabilised there is no recommended post of the week.

Forex

Despite a drop earlier in the week the US Dollar has rallied and remains unchanged over the week, at R$1.95. The Euro has faired similarly, and is unchanged over the week at R$2.63. The British Pound has risen slightly over the week, from R$3.88 to R$3.89.