I want to tell you a little about Brasilians. I know that people can generalize all the time about different cultures, so instead of doing that I want to share some real life examples that have happened over and over again.
First of all Brasilians are the nicest people ever...I know, I am using an unnecessary superlative, but none the less. In one of my conversation classes we were talking about different expressions, and I was told that one of the common expressions in Brasil is translated roughly to "your problems are now my problems." Meaning, I will take care of this, you no longer have to worry about it. Now, Americans are nice people too. I am not saying that they aren't. But generally, if an American were to use this expression, they would be talking to a close friend or a relative. I have had plenty of friends and relatives really go out of their way for me, and that's great. But Brasilians will do this for co-workers, casual acquaintances...even strangers...which is how I have encountered it.
So, on the bus (I know, I know, I am always talking about the bus) when the elderly…or women with children get on they are offered a seat…nothing surprising, right? Well, I of course have never been offered a seat, on any bus, ever…which is fine, and is still true here in Brasil. Well, the other day, I was in a pretty crowded bus, standing towards the middle, desperately trying not to fall on someone, or knock someone out with my heavy briefcase when I got poked in the side. Startled I looked down and this young women was gesturing something to me…something about my briefcase…I wasn’t sure at first, did it hit her in the head? No, she wanted to know if she could hold my briefcase on her lap for me. Huh? What a strange concept. I politely declined but said thank you. Honestly, that was nice of her. Then I started to notice it. This was not a unique experience. Every single time that I got on a bus with my bag, someone offered to hold it for me. It makes perfect sense. It doesn’t really inconvenience them at all, having something else on their lap…and I am standing right over them, so it’s not like they are going to take anything. So eventually I started taking people up on their offers, so much so, that I now count on it. Today it was a good 3 minutes before anyone offered and I was starting to get worried that I would have to hold my bag, but eventually someone noticed. This is the type of thing that they do all the time. It’s not as if they go extremely far out of their way, but the difference is, they notice when there is something little that they can do for someone else. It really amazed me.
The other, completely unrelated thing about Brasilians, is that appearance is really important. It’s not just a rumor that Brasilians are attractive people, but truthfully, they probably just put a lot more though into their appearance then any other Latin country…but it’s not just the appearance of the people. Everything is packaged really well, but is often totally junk inside. The school I work at, Yes! They clearly spent plenty of time designing it. It is well coordinated, clean and new. The colors are red and white and everything is red and white. The desk are all matching, the chairs are padded red chairs, even the blinds are red. But before I got to this school, (and it is a new school, but they have been open since February) they had no scotch tape, no masking tape, no stapler, no markers, no construction paper, no lined paper…actually no paper at all except what is used in the printer…which is a printer/copier/fax machine…they don’t have any copier for copying books. Anyway, my point is, they have this clock downstairs. It is really a cool looking clock. It is red and silver and totally matches everything. And ever since I have started it has said 9:00. I asked Bruno (my boss) one day…why does this clock always say 9:00, does it need new batteries? He said, no, it’s completely broken, it’s no good. So I said, then why is it still up there? And he said, well, it looks nice, it matches everything. So there you have it. The clock looks nice.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I had someone hold a package for me on the bus too! As first I declined, but when I realized she couldn't go anywhere with it, I let her hold it. So much easier to not fall over!
Yes! And today was the first day that I held someone else purse. It is such an easy thing to do that makes such a difference. I am glad to hear that his is common in Mexico too.
Post a Comment