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.


Brazil: Restrictions for Foreigners When Buying Rural Properties

By Jose Santiago
July 31, 2007
There has been an increase of purchases of rural areas by foreign individuals. Nonetheless, pursuant to Law number 5.709/71, there are many restrictions for a foreign person or foreign corporation when comes to the purchase of rural areas in Brazil.
The most relevant restrictions are the following:
1) Only foreign individuals (either persons or corporations) with official Brazilian residency can acquire rural properties, limited in extension by the equivalent of 50 land modules (maximum extension limit for a single property, or group of properties summed up), each land module may vary from state to state or from city to city, therefore a complete due diligence must be done prior to any purchase.
2) The land must be put to productive use.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brazil: This Is The Life I've Always Wanted

By Stephen Thompson
July 30, 2007
This is the life I've always wanted. Capoeira on the beach, or a pelada with our Brazilian football coach, followed by a refreshing agua de coco on the veranda, looking at the hills across the sun-sparkled sea, while listening to a favourite bossa nova or MPB track. Sweet papaya for breakfast! Which car-free island do you think we live on? I'll give you a clue; we are just on the edge of the tropics. It's not Ilha Grande, it's Lamma, just off the Chinese Mainland and my wife calls it "Hong Kong de Janeiro".
Give me a rug, she says. She's an affectionate woman, but she still confuses her H's and R's. When we first met, I used to tease her with tongue twisters like: "the hairy rat in the red hat had red hot".
We get along a lot better these days. Our stay in São Paulo nearly ended our marriage, because I couldn't get a job in São Paulo. My idea of Brazilian life is the same as a lot of Brazilians; to spend a lot of time relaxing at the beach, working out at the gym, maybe enjoying the odd kickabout or samba. I quickly fell in love with the natural beauty of Brazil, and I wanted to enjoy it. I would have compromised with a job in São Paulo, if I could have earned enough to support myself. But teaching English for a school seemed to offer survival rather than a life, in a concrete jungle with all that beautiful nature squeezed out of it, or concreted over.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brazil: The "Italian" Composer from Campinas Part 3

By Joe Lopes
July 30, 2007
Here is part 3 of Joe's article linked with the recent anniversary, on July 11, of the birth of Brazilian-born composer Antonio Carlos Gomes. The article is from a chapter in Joe's soon-to-be-concluded book, 'Brazil's Fat Lady Can't Sing', covering the life and career of the country's own uniquely Brazilian version of Verdi and Puccini.
Down on His Luck
In 1880, the disillusioned and economically hard-pressed composer returned to Brazil, where he set to work on several new projects, but all were prematurely aborted for one reason or another, thus repeating a pattern of fits-and-starts he first displayed back in Milan.
Traveling to and from Italy, Gomes put the finishing touches to his next opera, Lo Schiavo (O Escravo, or "The Slave," 1889), which debuted in Brazil to wide acclaim. The original scenario had called for an African male title character fighting for the abolition of slavery in Brazil around the year 1801, a powerfully "authentic" tale-too authentic, in some critics‘ eyes; he was soon transformed into a Tamoio Indian at the insistence of librettist Rodolfo Paravicini and publisher Giulio Ricordi, in deference to the continuing European taste for "exoticism" in art music.
…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, has an aviation theme: how ofter do you fly, is it just once a year, or more frequently? 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.

Weekly Quiz

This week's quiz question comes from Jacques Allain (thansk Jacque!): during the first half of the last century, a small pork fat factory in Sorocaba, founded by Italian immigrant count Francesco Matarazzo, was to become Brazil's largest industrial conglomerate, but which collapsed into decline after the 1960s. What is the trade name of the toilet soap produced by the single Matarazzo factory still in operation? Send your answer to mark@gringoes.com
with ‘Weekly Quiz’ in the subject line.

We've run out of quiz questions so a special request for 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 Boat Boy, taken by Kevin Raub at Praia do Sono near Paraty. 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.


Brazil Through Foreign Eyes

July 27, 2007
Meet David Johnson, from Bermuda, who is married to a Brazilian and visits Brazil twice a year. David is a motor sports fanatic and closet gourmet chef. Read the following interview where he tells us about some of her 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 Bermuda, one of the last remaining British colonies and a 22sq mile speck in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I‘m 45 and married to Roseli with one son Ayrton Max who is 8 years old. I co-own a company that specializes in low-voltage systems integration like CCTV, building access and security. I spent a good portion of my childhood in the Bahamas as my Father worked on various construction projects on Grand Bahama and the surrounding islands. I also lived in the UK for 2 years for the same reasons. I‘m a motor sports fanatic and a closet gourmet chef. I own a house on Praia Dura, Ubatuba SP and visit at least twice a year for a month or so.
2. When did you arrive in Brazil and what brought you here?
I met my beautiful wife Roseli in Bermuda where she has lived most of her life and I tagged along on the annual family trip home to Sao Paulo in Dec 96. Roselis‘ parents have a home in Mandaqui close to Horto Florestal.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brazil: Tamashin's Tales - The Driving Test

By Tamashin
July 27, 2007
I have been asked by several contributors on the Forum to get together a few of my true experiences of living in Brazil and put them on the home page and/or newsletter.
The driving test.
I didn‘t actually sit the driving test, though some wag suggested that I had to sit a psychological test. Whether that‘s because he had driven with me or it was a requirement of Brazilian law I wasn‘t able to discern. Suffice it to say that it appeared to be the correct thing to do according to the clerk at the delegacia (police station).
I turned up at the testing centre and spent half an hour filling in a form aided and confused by two clerks. "That should have been the test" I thought as I was led into a doctors consulting room. After going through all the questions on the form, again, she gave me an eye test. So far so good.
…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.
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 is currently at R$1.89, and despite a rise during the week remains unchanged over it. The Euro has dropped slightly, down to R$2.58, versus R$2.60 a week ago. The British Pound has also dropped, from R$3.89 to R$3.83.