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.


Newsletter Update

Welcome to what will probably be our last newsletter before the New Year. The Gringoes.com staff would like to thank all our readers for their support over the year, and wish everyone a happy holidays!


Brazil: João Pessoa Family Fun Day

December 11, 2007
London Lad, from the forum, is organising a Family Fun Day for gringoes in João Pessoa. This will be be on 16th December (Sunday) between 12 and 1pm at Marinas bar and restaurant, Cabo Branco Avenue (the seafront road) then across the road to Bikinis Beach bar (just a little further up the road to the right when facing the beach) where they have a children‘s playground on the beach.
There will be a book exchange and some people have said they will bring "finger food" such as cut fruit and other snacks.
You can contact London Lad via the forum (you will need to be a registered forum user).
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brazil: São Paulo Meet Up

December 7, 2007
Along with the forum user Cenzo‘s meet up, mentioned earlier, another longstanding forum user and equally longstanding meet up organiser Denise is also planning a São Paulo meet up. The meet up is at Páteo da Luz, for 1pm on the 15th December.
If you‘re planning to attend please advise Denise by the 12th, via the forum for the moment, so she can confirm table reservations.
Páteo da Luz
(inside Center 3, at the left end of Praça de Alimentação)
Av. Paulista, 2064
Loja: P 18/19/20
Piso: Paulista
Buffet lunch - R$26,00
www.pateodaluz.com.br
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brazil: BBC Radio 2 Calling British Expats

December 10, 2007
BBC's Radio 2 is seeking expats for Jeremy Vine's programme on Wednesday 19th December. They are aiming to chart a perfect "Ring Around The World", speaking down the line to listeners overseas - country by country. This is something Radio 2 has never attempted before so it is hoped it will work! The UK audience will be able to use an interactive map on the website to follow Jeremy‘s round-the-world journey and learn about some of Radio 2's global connections.
For Brazilian listeners, Radio 2 want to ask two questions: what‘s the best thing about life in Brazil? And what do you miss most about life in Britain?
Would you be interested in planting your flag on the Vine Show World map? And possibly even have a quick chat with Jeremy about Brazil? If so visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/vine/contact_ringaroundtheworld.shtml.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Around South America: Santiago de Chile in Eight Hours

By Marilyn Diggs
December 10, 2007
Santiago is the portal to Chile. All roads and airline routes lead to it. I´d been to Santiago several times but it was the first time for my traveling companion. We had a short stay-over of only eight waking hours before continuing on our trip to Patagonia. How could we make the most of this small slice of time?
I had arranged for a driver to pick us up at the airport and take us directly to our hotel in my favorite neighborhood. Las Condes, one of the city's best residential areas, is a haven for young professionals and gourmands with its gambit of restaurants and nightlife hotspots. We dropped off our bags, grabbed some snacks so as not to waste precious time with lunch, then jumped in the SUV for our city tour.
Heritage at a Glance
Our guide was one I had employed last year, so he and I pow-wowed on priorities and took off. We headed for the Plaza de Armas, a great starting place to take in historical Santiago. A bronze replica of the city map from 1712 is set in the plaza floor. This traditional Spanish city plan has been respected even though the urban silhouette has changed drastically. (Pictured above: Plaza de Armas showing contrast between the old and new)
…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

Last week's poll was on your living preference. Are you a city dweller, a beach bum, or a country bumpkin? The preference was "In the city" (with 52%) followed in second place "By the beach" (with 39%), "In the Country" came a distant third (8%), with "Other" bringing up the rear (1%).
This week's poll is seasonally related. Where will you be spending Christmas this year? In your Brazilian home, elsewhere in Brazil, for gringoes in your foreign home, or somewhere else outside of Brazil? 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.

Photo of the Week

The photo of the week is titled Cooking Fish taken by Rob Morbey in Caraiva, Bahia. 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

December 7, 2007
Meet Stephanie Glennon, from the USA, who moved to Brazil 4 years ago. Read the following interview where she 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 am originally from Los Angeles, CA. I worked in the music industry for 14 years, and I am also a pilot. Rio de Janeiro was my first home in Brazil for 3.5 years but I have also lived in Fortaleza, Ceara for 4 months. I am back in Rio again, and very happy about being back.
2. When did you arrive in Brazil and what brought you here?
My first trip to Brazil was in December of 2003 to Rio, I moved there 2 months later. I came to Brazil for one reason, love. My husband is a Carioca. I knew not a word of Portuguese, nothing about Brazilian culture, NADA. My first year was quite a challenge but after that initial period, things became much easier and enjoyable.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brazil: In defence of CPMF

By The Curmudgeon
December 7, 2007
Much has been made, recently, in the Brazilian media, of the upcoming vote in the Brazilian Parliament on yet another extension of the CPMF. Most of the noise has been stridently against extension. The Curmudgeon will fly in the face of the prevailing winds, and defend the CPMF against its detractors.
For those of you not accustomed to fiscal alphabet soup, herewith a primer:
C is for Contribution, a euphemism for tax;
P is for Provisional, meaning temporary;
M is for Movement, meaning withdrawals; and
F is for Financial, meaning bank accounts.
The way CPMF works is simplicity itself. Every Friday Brazilian banks sweep their bank accounts and calculate how much money has been withdrawn therefrom; they then deduct 0.38% of that amount. So, if you wrote checks totalling R$1.000,00 in a week, your Friday account balance would be reduced by R$3,80.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Brazil: "Tristeza Não Tem Fim" ("Sadness Has No End") Part 4

By Joe Lopes
December 6, 2007
A Certain Mister Jobim
Upon the satisfactory completion, in France, of his Orfeu da Conceição, and after its having attained the formal status in Brazil of an award-winning play of extraordinary merit and substance, Vinicius made the determined decision to have his glorified text set to music.
He went about the task of searching for a composer of equivalent stature, someone who could do his poetic Orphic tragedy the musical justice it so richly deserved.
We can spare curious readers the needless suspense, since, as any reasonably knowledgeable bossa nova fan will tell you, Antonio Carlos Jobim was the individual chosen to perform that estimable deed. How his future songwriting partner happened to pick Tom from among the wealth of available talent that samba-driven Sin City had to offer is a familiar yet infrequently expanded upon topic worth delving into at length.
…click here to read the rest of the article>>


Ask a Brazilian: Female Etiquette

December 6, 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.
Oi, Since arriving in Brazil I have noticed that girls and woman, many ages, seem to be hanging on and touching other girls all the time, rubbing and holding hands, Etc. Can you explain this as I feel it's probably not a sexual thing as it's on public display.
Jim
Hi, Jim!
You probably are not here too long, are you?
…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 again this week, from R$1.79 a week ago to R$1.75. The Euro has also dropped, to R$2.58 versus R$2.62 last week. The British Pound continues the trend, at R$3.59 compared with R$3.63 last week.