Living in Brazil

There has apparently never been a standard in Brazil.

220, 110, American style plugs, European style plugs, two, three prongs of various sorts.  Some cities are 110 V, some are 220 V.  Countryside is usually 220V.

I’m told that starting in the near future there will be a standard involving some kind of universal adapter, but in the meantime anything goes.  If you’re traveling around inside Brazil, be aware that you may encounter anything on your trip and bring your adapters.  Adapters can be purchased, but plan ahead.

This entry comes to you from my own attempts, with the help of a good friend, to be careful when purchasing a washing machine.  My apartment is on 110 V, but there is one 220 V outlet in the laundry area with a bizarre triple-pronged footprint that is often used for the heavier power requirements.  So, I made sure to get a 220 V washer.  It came with a bipolar plug, and I could have gotten a standard 110 V machine.  And it turns out that there are no readily had two-to-three prong adapters (plenty the other way around).  I decided that the easiest thing to do was to get an electrician in to change the plug, which will cost for the house call, but will let me be able to wash my clothes tomorrow.

I hope.  Everything seems to take multiple, extra steps here.

One of my friends from Rio sent me this yesterday:

Man. Something bizarre happened yesterday.  I went on my run yesterday around Lagoa.  It was a little rainy and there weren’t many people out.  As I got around Ipanema, I saw a kid riding a bike.  Didn’t think much about it.  Then about 5 minutes later, I saw the same kid riding by me.  Naaa.  Can’t be the same kid.  Then quickly, he tried to grab my gold chain.  He broke it, but he didn’t get it.  I was pissed.  Then I turned around and yelled for everyone to stop him.  Several people tried but there were two few people since it was rainy.  I kept running, and saw the police.  I told them what happened, and he said.  No worries, we already got him.  I’m thinking, that is impossible because it happened less than 3 minutes ago.  That cop was really lazy, so I just finished my run, but I was mad.

Crazy.  My buddy is out for a run in the daytime, and a kid tries a grab and dash with his gold chain.

Let me relate a few more instances of how some crimes have occurred, as related directly to me by friends.

Another friend in Rio was out with his girlfriend in broad daylight in Copacabana.  They were surrounded by a gang of kids — preteens or young teenagers — who grabbed for whatever they could reach like necklaces.  He literally was swinging at punching at kids at 2pm in the afternoon.

Another friend in Rio was walking down the street and a couple of guys walked up behind him and quickly reached in his pockets, grabbing what they could, and ran off.  He cursed at them in Portuguese and they apparently dropped his stuff, saying that they thought he was a tourist.

A friend of mine here in Porto Alegre went downtown to shop in the crowded public market.  He was surrounded by three guys, one of whom had something hard pressed into his side.  They rifled through his pockets and took all his money, middle of the day, middle of a crowd.  They gave back his keys when he asked them, too, but they kept everything else.

Another friend in Porto Alegre has a beach house.  He keeps very little of value there because in the off-season sometimes entire houses will be stripped.  Guys will show up with moving trucks, break in, and take everything.  In his case, they didn’t do that.  Just took the gas tank outside.  He replaced it and put a chain on it.  A month later, they stole it again, cutting the chain.  He then invested in some serious security to keep it safe, just pissed off about the whole situation.

Another friend in Porto Alegre, he got mugged at 2AM in the park by a guy.  That was just asking for it.  It was his first and only time to get mugged, until the very next day on the bus!  The robber in that instance couldn’t believe that he had nothing, but he’d had everything stolen already.

I was in a tattoo parlor in Rio when someone ran in, 5pm, and said a woman had just had her purse snatched outside.  I was in a rental agency in Porto Alegre in the middle of the afternoon when an HSBC bank was robbed — they caught one of the men but the others got away.

I have walked too many streets of Copacabana by myself late at night, never having a problem.  I don’t think crime is common in Brazil — not more so than many large American cities, but it does happen and the odds are high that it will catch you if you frequent the wrong places at the wrong times often enough, and broad daylight isn’t completely safe for sure.  I’ve met people in Porto Alegre and Rio who have never been victimized, living in these cities for decades.

I need to be wiser with what I take with me when I go out and how I carry it.  I’ve already switched my wallet from back pocket to front, and I always make sure I keep some money in more than one pocket.  Really though, I probably shouldn’t be carrying a wallet at all.  I’ve only had a couple of occasions when I felt threatened (one here recently in Porto Alegre walking with a friend at night, with a suspicious guy that got a little too close).

Common sense rules to follow when possible.  Don’t carry your passport, but rather a copy (notarized to be completely legal).  Carry only the money or other items you really need, preferably spread out among different pockets.  Don’t walk alone, especially at night, if you can help it.  Taxis aren’t that expensive.  Keep your eyes open, pay attention, and don’t be too proud to cross the street or even run if you feel uncomfortable.  Don’t flash your expensive goods around, and, in fact, dress down when possible.  Carry the expensive camera equipment in a cheap bag and only take it out when you’re ready to use it.

Criminals really do look for easy scores.  If you can avoid looking like one, your chances of being a victim go down significantly, although they never vanish.  I’ve gotten away with doing some stupid things.  It’s really not as dangerous as it is walking through the graveyards of Sunnydale, but why gamble when you’re only playing to lose?

Most Brazilians are not overweight, at least not compared to what I’m used to seeing in the United States.  What is hard for me to reconcile with this fact, however, is that such a large fraction of the restaurants here are buffets.  Now, they’re not all “all you can eat” places the way they tend to be in the States, although some are.  Many involve a fixed price per kilogram, but are still buffets.

And, oh my god, the desserts here!  I haven’t seen spreads like this anywhere in years.  We’re not just talking banana pudding and soft serve ice cream.

Today I went to an ice cream shop for the first time.  You guessed it.

Buffet.

All these flavors, all the toppings…scoop it yourself.

I haven’t been gaining weight, but I haven’t been losing either, and I have been exercising.  In general though, living in a city and getting a lot more walking in, and snacking less, a few larger meals haven’t been a problem.

Oh, and something about restaurants in general here.  Many work just like in the United States with waiters and checks (although the waiters tend to actually wait for you to ask for things and hover less), but many places have this ticketing system.  You go in, what you get is marked on a card, and at the end you find the cashier and pay.  The cashier gives you what I think of as a get out of jail free card, which you have to provide to exit.  Same thing in many bars, too, which is convenient.

One thing I found very confusing my first time in Brazil was storefront shopping.  All kinds of signs advertising prices that seemed extremely low, even for someone like me who didn’t know what the prices ought to be and had to do a currency conversion.  There would be a pair of boots, for instance, adverstised like 8xR$39.99, or a TV advertised at 10xR$149.99, and all sorts of other things with different combinations.

And yes, it is as obvious as it looks.  The “x” is for multiplication, and they’re selling things based on payment plans.

Apparently the huge income disparity here has led almost everyone here to advertise prices on a monthly payment basis.  Sometimes there’s a finance charge for this, sometimes not.

But I’m having to figure out what the actual real price is.  They’re not all in multiples of 10x.

Anyway, I thought this was bizarre, that items of a hundred bucks or less would be advertised by their monthly payment.  But I guess it makes economic sense here.

The women in Brazil tend to be fashion conscious and usually dress better than their American counterparts (although in warmer places like Rio the clothing can get quite casual and I expect more of this in Porto Alegre when summer arrives).  One of the striking differences is the footware.  A lot of women here wear fancy, expensive shoes with the pointy toe so sharp they can make a boy of a man with one well-placed kick.  Not that they would, but boy are they sharp.

The other trend in footware, and this seems more common here where the weather is cooler than in Rio, is what I call the Frankenstein Boot.  Here is one example.  All sorts of colors, sizes.  It’s also appropriate to believe that all the women wearing these are in the Kiss Army, some are that extreme.

Why not just strap bricks to your feet?

I wanted to point out an interesting method of advertising they use here in Brazil that I literally stumbled across.

They’re a little more obnoxious here than in the states, with lots of people on streetcorners, riding bikes along the beach, etc., all advertising for their candidate(s), but not too different, except for one technique: ambush!

I was going running in the park with my friend, and as we were crossing the street this old woman bumped into us, holding an open magazine. Before I could even excuse myself she launched into a rant in Portuguese, pointing at the magazine. I didn’t understand (normal for me here).

My friend explained to me that she was going on about how bad this particular party was.

He went on to explain that there were many paid or volunteer operatives like this moving around in public areas, parks, malls, and on the street, ready to engage passers-by with political discussion. Their message, disguised as the random buyt strongly held opinion of the average person on the street.

Clever, I guess. I’m afraid there would be too much violence in the U.S. if this because common there.

In the Matrix, there was no spoon, but at least you could use that non-spoon to scoop up and enjoy the non-existent ice cream.

In Brazil, there is apparently no Mt. Dew, diet or otherwise.

Those readers who know me in real life in the States are probably wondering how I am still alive to type this, and are wondering if an imposter has replaced me.

Well, I am surviving.  I have no vice I can’t do without if I have no choice.

Coca-cola Zero is the poor replacement, in much smaller quantities.  When you have to walk 5-10 minutes from the grocery store, you stop buying three cases of soda at a time.

So in the meantime I am embracing my inner Neo and trying to understand that there is no Mountain Dew is merely a new way of understanding the reality of Brazil, such as it is.

I’ll talk about illegal drugs in Brazil, what little I know anyway, another time.  How about the legal ones?

Pharmacies work differently here than in the States.  You only need a prescription for narcotics-based drugs, not the more common stuff like antibiotics, or even Viagra/Cialis.  You can just walk in, ask for what you want, and get it.  Given this easier access to medicine, the pharmacists are better trained in diagnosis than their U.S. counterparts and can make suggestions given symptoms, and do.

I imagine there will be more problems here with antibiotic-resistant bugs, and more danger from mixing medicines, than in the U.S.

But I also have to say that the U.S. system can be a pain in the ass.  If you come down with an ear infection Friday afternoon, you’re shit out of luck until Monday at the earliest unless you want to brave the emergency room to get some antibiotics.  You know what you have and what you need 95% of the time, but you have to jump through a number of extra hoops.

Moreover, in Laramie, WY I’ve been screwed over twice by my doctors up and moving away without even sending a postcard to let me know.  I take a very small dose of thyroid medicine daily and only need to get the prescription renewed every year or so.  Twice now I’ve had to scramble to find a replacement doctor, who usually doesn’t have access to my old medical records (there must be a supermassive black hole in the medical profession where they put these), in order to get this renewed.  Not this time.  This time I just walk into a pharmacy in Brazil, ask for what I want, and get it.

And it’s cheaper, too, even without insurance.  In the States a month’s supply, using my insurance, costs $10.  Here it costs under R$10, about half as much.

The language can be an issue.  I once needed some Neosporin for a cut that looked like it might be getting infected, and it was a hassle communicating what I needed (the cut was not on my arm or hand where it would have been trivial to point out).

I looked into how to deal with telephones quite a bit this past summer, trying to figure out what to do.  I have a Verizon account in the U.S., and discovered unlike some other phone/company situations, I could not unlock my phone and use it in Brazil with a local prepaid plan.  I looked into Verizon’s international calling plans and rates, and, frankly, they’re crap.  Ridiculously expensive.

Because I am also traveling to China for a month or two this year, I looked into international cell phones.  Here is a series of articles about world phones, and I seriously considered it for a while.  There are a lot of complications involving the charges and types of technology used around the world, but it seems possible to get good capability at a reasonable price if you’re a short-term traveler hitting a lot of different countries.

For myself, staying mostly in Brazil for one year, it didn’t make sense.  I decided I needed to keep my US cell phone, but have service suspended, and to get a local cell phone for Brazil (I’ll do another post on the local options).  Verizon is a pain, but they let me call and shut down the phone for three months.  In another three months I will have to call and do it again.  I’ll be back in the U.S. for a couple of weeks then and will actually want my cell phone service, so fine.  Verizon would NOT let me keep my phone or number and switch to a prepaid plan for this year, which would have been ideal.  Apparently Brazilian phone companies do let you switch back and forth this way.  I’m not real happy with Verizon, but they have the best coverage in Laramie, WY by far.

The international calling rates to the U.S. are not very good on the local phone options however.

OK, the final solution: Skype.  It’s a quick and painless download to your PC.  You need to have a microphone and speakers/headset.  You can talk to other people using skype for FREE and see them if they have webcams (and vice versa).  Sound quality is good and so is picture quality.  You can also easily do conference calls.  What makes it the real winner, though, is that you can call any number around the world at a very low rate.  I’ve been calling back to the U.S. for 2.1 cents per minute.  I called my grandfather last week.  He’s never touched a computer in his life, and from his end there was no issue.  Someone else on one call said I sounded like a “robot” but that was only one isolated call.  You can set up an account with a credit card, load it with $10, and you’re good for hours and hours of international calling.  You can recharge the account easily, or set it up to do so automatically when it gets down to $2.

And you know what else?  You don’t even need a computer or anything.  There are cheap internet cafes all over Brazil, all over the world, and they’re all loaded with skype these days.  For an extra $2 an hour, I can just rent the computer, skype, and the headset and talk away.

International communications are way easier than international travel these days, which isn’t that hard to manage.

Anyway for me the final situation: local U.S. cell phone, temporarily suspended + local Brazilian cell phone (Claro) + PC with Skype for international calling and meetings.

Brazil is not a napkin-lover’s paradise.

Napkins are not ubiquitous like they are in the states, and when they are, they tend to be these little plasticized things that, frankly, should be embarrassed to be called napkins.

Is it so freaking hard to make a decent napkin?  And once you know what one is, why use anything else?