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.


São Paulo Meet Up

November 28, 2007
The forum user Cenzo was arranging a meet up for São Paulo based Gringoes at O'Malley's Bar, but it isn‘t clear whether the bar will be reopened in time. So the venue has been changed to All Black Irish Pub, still for 8:30pm, 11th December. All are welcome!
Rua Oscar Freire, 163
Jardins
São Paulo
http://www.allblack.com.br/


Around South America: Puyuhapi - Chile‘s Patagonian Secret

By Marilyn Diggs
December 4, 2007
In southern Chile's Aisén region, mainland Patagonia fractures into a myriad of islands, formed by millennium volcanoes, restless geographical shifting and melting glacial ice. The Puyuhuapi area was a virtual forest primeval by the bay until 1935, when four young Germans decided to emigrate there. They found its exuberant vegetation and climate very similar to their homeland. The resulting small town of Puerto Puyuhuapi was only accessible by boat or horse until 1985. Puyuhuapi (pronounced Poo-you-WA-pee) in the regional Patagonian Indian dialect means "wetlands of the tiny puyu fish," - a small catch in comparison to the salmon and southern hake being exported today from the icy inlets and ocean. With the arrival of the Carretera Austral, Chile´s southern highway, travelers visit the heart of Queulat National Park and relish its forests, rivers, lakes, fjords, glaciers and hot springs. Today, Puerto Puyuhuapi, known for woven alfombra rugs, is also a gateway to one of Chile's most prestigious hot-springs resorts, located close by.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Around Brazil: Aracaju, Sergipe

By Patricia Paul
December 4, 2007
It was my third trip to Brazil and my first to the Northeast and my first ever to the south Atlantic Ocean coastline! I accepted an invitation to participate in a debate table at the X Reunião de Antropólogos do Norte e do Nordeste e I Reunião Equatorial de Antropologia from the 8th - 11th October in UFS, Aracaju, Sergipe. This brought me to Sergipe. At an opening event of the conference, I met the charming Marina Cavalcante, an undergraduate student in sociology at the Universidade de Federal Sergipe. We checked our calendars and commitments, as she invited me to what she called a folk music festival. The festival: Festa do Lambe Sujo e Caboclinhos, took place in Laranjeiras, Sergipe, Brazil. (Laranjeiras is pictured above)
Distante 18 quilômetros de Aracaju, o município de Laranjeiras já foi o mais importante de Sergipe. Berço da cultura, educação, política - which translates to: a distance of 18 kilometers from Aracaju, the municipal of Laranjerais is very important to Sergipe because of it culture, education and politics. At lunch with friends in Laranjeiras, I was told that this was the place historically where the intellectuals would gather and debate the issues of the day. We traveled by car out of Aracaju, onto Highway 101, which my hosts tell me takes you to the frontier of Uruguay!
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brazil: Canucks Canadian Pub

December 3, 2007
Brazils first Canadian pub has opened in Vila Olimpia, São Paulo, owned and operated by a Canadian from Vancouver, Canada. It's described as a place to relax, have good beer and burgers, meet friends or make new ones and also enjoy the best of pop rock music.
This pub has a different feel to it right from the start. As you enter there is a large covered patio raised from the street level. From the patio you have a great view of the bar through the wall of windows and the plasma TV´s where you can watch all the sports. As you enter the pub you face a nice wood and brick bar serving a great selection of beer on tap. They have Guinness, Erdinger, Werstiener, Xingu, Heineken and a first for pubs in São Paulo - Brahma for those that want the old favorite. Inside there are more plasmas for sports and a stage for bands on the weekends with a nice wood dance floor. One thing I didn‘t care for was the bathrooms being upstairs but this did give me a chance to look around. I found there is another bar upstairs with two imported pool tables and more seating and another plasma for sports.
…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.
An extra addition this week, as we've had a couple of article suggestions that none of the Gringoes.com staff feel they are capable of writing. So the hope is that a reader out there would be interested. The two topic suggestions are:
1. Renting Cars in Brazil - covering say any license requirements, insurance (and any related peculiarities), and perhaps a summary guide on the oddities of driving in Brazil
2. Brazilian Swear Words and Slang - we're a bit wary of this topic in case we offend more sensitive readers, but it could also prove a useful guide to not saying the wrong thing (we're aware that Tamashin has already written a large slang guide).
If you are interested in writing then contact mark@gringoes.com.
Equally if you have any article ideas that you'd like to see written, then feel free to drop us a line.


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 your living preference. Are you a city dweller, a beach bum, or a country bumpkin? So far the preference is neck-and-neck between "In the city" and "By the beach" (both with 44%), "In the Country" comes a distant third (10%), with "Other" bringing up the rear (1%). 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

Last week's question came from Angel Juarez: what do Andalusia (a region in the South of Spain) and Kazakhstan (the Asian country) have in common with XVII Century Brazilian anti-slavery leader Zumbi dos Palamares? We didn't have any correct answers, so referring to Angel's answer: They all inspired Paulo Coelho in different parts of his life. Andalusia is the main location for Paulo Coelho’s “O Alquimista”, whereas Kazakhstan is the main location for “O Zahir”. Finally, Zumbi dos Palmares is one of the main characters in the song with title “Eu nascí há dez mil anos atrás”, the lyrics of which were written by Paulo Coelho for Raul Seixas in the 60’s. The song reads: “Eu vi Zumbi fugir com os negros pra floresta pro Quilombo dos Palmares, eu vi”.
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 After the Folia de Reis taken by Aoife Giles in Barra, near Cunha in São Paulo State. 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: Caicó Part 4

By Hal Sutcliffe
December 3, 2007
The report on my visit to Caicó in RGN continues.
After relaxing Sunday afternoon, Edilma, Maria Rosa, Beatrice (age 9, Edilma's niece) and I went into Caicó centro Monday morning. They went to get in some serious shopping, I to gawk. There are many stores plus a precursor of today's shopping malls: a rabbit warren of buildings with individual merchants offering a wide variety of products from jam packed booths. Think back to the middle ages and booths lining bridges (I'm older than you). I found an internet store.
Product quality seems to me to be good, though it's probably sensible to know a bit about what you are buying. My thumb and forefinger are inexperienced in judging the quality of cloth. But I did buy three shirts and a straw hat sufficiently large to shade my skinny body. I like them, but feel a tad self-conscious in the hat. The shirts have been beaten a bit in washing since then; holding up fine.
Taxi back to casa with four people and a trunk full of essentials: R$6.
I got a little work and reading in during the afternoon and we visited Edilma's sister Edilva (with the great smile) and her marido Josenilson (Jose). Together they brought Jefferson into the world. I'd be smiling too.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brazil Through Foreign Eyes

November 30, 2007
Meet Julien Porisse, from France, who first visited Brazil 15 years ago and has returned many times since, along with building a pub here. 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 Julien; I‘m 45 born in England and have a mix of nationalities - Irish and as the name hints a French father. I own and run Irish Pubs in Paris France, and even had two Pubs in São Paulo in a not so distant past!
2. When did you arrive in Brazil and what brought you here?
I arrived in Rio de Janeiro in February 1992 during the ‘carnival‘. My twin brother had gone, on a coin toss, to Brazil, met up with an ex-girlfriend and got married in just 6 weeks! I bought a ticket to Rio and met him there for three days, ended up in a camarote watching the carnival and wondering if I had just arrived in heaven, then we drove off to São Paulo.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brazil: FIFA Über Alles!

By The Curmudgeon
November 30, 2007
FIFA President Sepp Blatter is nothing if not consistent. Basically, he hates the idea that laws which apply to everyone else should also apply to international football1. To him, football is only a game, to be judged by its own internal rules, not by external laws.
The particular question that now vexes his Swiss heart is that of the mobility of football players. Put more plainly, he objects to European laws that prohibit imposing quotas or other limitations on the nationality of football players2. He proposes a "six plus five" rule, meaning that each side in, say, the UK, must start a match with at least six players with UK nationality3. Not content with that, he rails against those countries who grant nationality to foreigners after only two years of residence. And, finally, he presents his own armageddon-like view of the end of the world cup - in 2014 or 2018, out of the 32 World Cup teams, half will be composed of...GASP! OMIGOD!...Brazilians!
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brazil: "Tristeza Não Tem Fim" ("Sadness Has No End") Part 3

By Joe Lopes
November 30, 2007
A Testament to Black Orpheus, Bossa Nova and the Partnership That Started It All - Welles Raises Kane in Rio
Enter the American director, writer, producer, actor and jack-of-all-media-trades, the inimitable Orson Welles, once known in theatrical circles as the "Wonder Boy of Acting," that master showman - some would say "shaman" - and larger-than-life radio personality (at six-foot, four-inches tall and weighing close to 250 pounds, he certainly was that), now thrust onto the center stage of the cultural cauldron that was Carnival-crazed Brazil.
The Wisconsin-born wunderkind had carved out a fabulous niche for himself in movie-land with his self-aggrandizing maiden effort, the classic Citizen Kane (1941). But during the turbulent years of the middle thirties, before the time that Vinicius claimed he was inspired to put pen and paper to his Carioca tragedy, Welles had successfully experimented with a version, set in Haiti, of William Shakespeare‘s play Macbeth, staged in Harlem by him and his associate, John Houseman, with the Negro Theater Unit of the Federal Theater Project.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Ask a Brazilian: Washing Machines

November 30, 2007
This is our regular column called "Ask a Brazilian", the idea being that you can quite literally ask a question of a Brazilian for those issues you aren't sure about but perhaps dare not ask someone else. It is meant as a bit of fun and answers should not be construed as expert opinion or the definitive reply on the matter. For that reason we ask you to please send comments and experiences in order to add to our replies.
Hi,
I have really enjoyed all the answers to questions in this section, but I have one of my own. I visited Brazil back in June and July and will be returning. Something that I found strange was that most people don't seem to have washing macines. I understand this in the poorer areas, because here in the United States people don't always own one either. But even in the nice buildings lining Paulista, I observed many people doing their washing by hand. Why? Also, since people don't have machines, why are there not more laundromats where you can pay a little to do your own washing instead of the dry-cleaner only places that are expensive?
I am worried about this since I will be there for a while and am not so good at doing my washing by hand. Plus, jeans just don't reshape if they don't get their half hour of dryer time!
Thank You!
Kristen
…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! If you've got some burning question about Brazil, or just want to discuss a particular topic, then you're bound to get an answer there.
There's also a forum which allows you to comment and give us feedback 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, abusive posts and certain types of advertising in the forum will not be tolerated. Make sure to check the Read This First area first before posting. The forum is intended to be a constructive and lighthearted place for discussion about Brazil.


Forex

The US Dollar has dropped slightly this week, from R$1.80 a week ago to R$1.79. The Euro has also dropped, to R$2.62 versus R$2.65 last week. The British Pound continues the trend, at R$3.63 compared with R$3.72 last week.