Monthly Archives: October 2010

Brazilians Are Very Tolerant Neighbors

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Regina at Deep Brazil did a post on the findings of a new study saying that Brazilians are quite tolerant people.

“Brazilians have prejudices, but are among the most tolerant populations of the world. This is one of the conclusions you can draw from the graphs produced by the World Values Society. It  is a worldwide network of social scientists that study changing values and their impact on social and political life. They have been conducting surveys in 97 countries since 1981.” – Source (more here)

The Most Expensive Shopping Centers in Brazil

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“Luxury labels, famous brands, first-class restaurants or the old “bom, bonito e barato” (good, pretty and cheap). The most important shopping centers in Brazil have a lot to offer their many visitors. They are where the consumers are, be it those who have the most to spend or those that look for deals, in high-status neighborhoods or central regions. And the store owners pay the price for a little piece of these privileged locales.

The increase in rental prices in the main shopping centers in Brazil in the last year shows that the expansion of the retail sector is maintaining itself robustly. An annual study by the Cushman and Wakefield consultancy shows that the favorable economic indicators in Brazil and in other emerging nations accelerate the recuperation of these countries after the crisis, in a world that still suffers with the aftermath.

The study took into account the rental prices paid by retail shop owners in 269 shopping centers in 59 countries. In Brazil, just two of the ten localized studies showed devaluation. Of the ten centers whose rents were highest in the Americas, six are Brazilian. The largest valuation in the world, though, was that of Haddock Lobo street, in São Paulo. And Shopping Iguatemi went up a few degrees to become the 11th most expensive locale in the world for retail store owners.

Check out (in PT) the ten most expensive Brazilian shopping centers per square meter – and why they are so popular.” – Source (see link)

American Takes On Lispector in Biography

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“It was during a reading of A Hora da Estrela (The Hour of the Star), 15 years ago, that the American journalist and critic Benjamin Moser saw himself taken by an impetuous passion for the work and personality of Clarice Lispector. These are the kinds of passions that make us travel the world and spend our money, in a way that asks us not to do any accounting and to deliver ourselves to the object of our passion. That’s how Moser, who lives in Holland, became Clarice’s worldwide “embassador”. At the end of last year, he launched the biography titled ‘Why This World’. In Brazil, it was titled “Clarice,” (Clarice with a comma) by Cosac Naify.

The biography is the result of a study that started in 2005, and includes trips to 6 countries where Clarice lived, as well as interviews and a collection of material, an effort that resulted in a chronology of two-thousand pages.

His compliments to her come close to devotion. For Moser, Clarice represents three changes in his life: the discovery of an author that created her own language; the awakening of a will to speak and write in Brazilian Portuguese; and the desire that Brazil should be recognized not only for its attributes such as nature, soccer and Carnival. Traveling through the country, Moser was one of the most well-disposed names at the FLIP festival in Paraty, between August 4th and 8th, when he gave an interview with Língua magazine.” – Source (in PT, interview here)

More Info

Why This World – Amazon
Interview w/ Author (in PT)

Vanessa da Mata – New Album!

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Her new album is called Bicicletas, Bolos e Outras Alegrias (Bicycles, Cakes and Other Joys). You can already listen to some of the new tracks on Youtube or on her site. Just be ready to hear some of these new songs over and over again, especially if you are a Brazilian radio listener.

Tell This To Your 231 Friends

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Brazilians have, on average, 231 friends on their social networks, only behind Malaysians who have 233, according to a study put out this Sunday by the international research company TNS. The study, done with 48.8 thousand people between ages 16 and 60 in 46 countries, shows that the Japanese are still the least ‘friended’ (with 29 friends on average), followed by the Tanzanians (38) and the South Koreans (50). – Source (in PT)

No surprise there but this whole idea of what a friend is has lost all meaning worldwide. There was a time when one reached the end of their life, if they had 4 or 5 real, true friends, that they were lucky. Now, everything has been ‘carnivalized’ to stupidity and we ‘like’ things instead of discuss them and add ‘friends’ instead of make them.

Tropa de Elite 2 – Box Office Hit

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This past weekend, the sequel to the immensely popular film Tropa de Elite came out and so far, it’s a hit at the box office in Brazil. I haven’t seen it yet so I’m not sure whether that’s due to its predecessor or if the sequel really is as good. Over 1.2 million people went to see it in the cinemas (as opposed to buying it from a street vendor, which this time was strictly controlled) making it the fifth best premiere in Brazilian cinema and the best premiere of a sequel ever. So far, it has made R$14 million.

Geoblocking Brazilians – Tsc Tsc

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I came across a post by a guy named Gustavo on Tumblr about how Brazilians are geoblocked on many services. Geoblocking is blocking an Internet service based on where you live. I’m not sure on the specifics behind this practice or why it even has to occur because, for example, if backend agreements are already in place with major record labels, why can’t Brazilians listen to or download songs from those labels? We aren’t talking about giving Brazilians access to music from labels that don’t have agreements with certain services yet, so what’s the problem?

Gustavo says,

“Here in Brazil I can’t use Playstation Network, Hulu, iTunes (for media), Spotify (just like in the states), Last.fm (actually I need to pay for that) and the Kindle store just won’t allow me to download the newest and best stuff. And the list just keeps getting bigger and bigger as new services are launched.”

Anyone know why this is so, especially when Brazilians are heavy Internet users?

Bringing Business to Brazil’s Slums

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An audio version is available on the link at the bottom.

“Brazil’s economy is growing at an astounding rate, and many expect the country to soon become an economic superpower. The recent success has even begun to spread into Rio de Janeiro’s notorious slums known as favelas. Some residents say movies like City of God or tours that highlight the poverty and drug trafficking in Brazil’s favelas don’t give the whole picture of what life is like here. Inside of Rocinha, one of the largest and most notorious favelas, the government estimates that there are now some 5,000 locally owned businesses.

“People think that there are only dirty and uneducated people here,” Eduardo Casaes, a lifelong resident of Rocinha who serves as a liaison between his community and the Rio government, told PRI’s The World. “But we have jobs, it’s really a middle class neighborhood. People go to work and children go to school here.”

The main problem with Rocinha and other favelas is their infrastructure, according to Casaes. Buildings are dilapidated and the streets are narrow and clogged with motorbikes and pedestrians.

Other people believe that Rocinha’s layout actually works to their advantage. Carlos Roberto de Azevedo, who owns two minimarkets in the favela, told The World, “There are a lot of opportunities for various types of businesses, because it’s a very concentrated area with many people walking around. There’s a lot of demand for different types of businesses.”

More and more companies are trying to get to consumers, according to Andrea Gouvea Viera, a city official working closely with the Rocinha community association. “But we still have a problem,” she says, “that’s the security, and we still have a problem with the trafficked drugs.” There are also problems with people illegally tapping into energy supplies, and tax evaders in an almost exclusively cash economy.

Local business people, however, dismiss these problems. Minimarket owner Carlos Roberto de Azevedo says the setbacks and reputation shouldn’t prevent outsiders from setting up shop. He points out that a Brazilian franchise restaurant opened up a while ago and it hasn’t had any problems. He says:

It will help the favela’s image if more businesses come here. Nothing bad has happened to the restaurant, it’s never been robbed. Companies and banks need to stop being afraid of opening businesses here. PRI’s “The World” is a one-hour, weekday radio news magazine offering a mix of news, features, interviews, and music from around the globe. “The World” is a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH Boston. – Source

Brazil Vote Going to 2nd Round

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I’m sure everyone knows about the elections going for a 2nd round but here’s a report on where things stand as a whole. For those who don’t know, if no candidate wins the first round with 50% of the votes or more, it goes to a second round. Like in the US, when the 3rd place candidate has no chance, they are presented with the opportunity to ally themself with one side or the other in the run-off and such an alliance can tip the scales.

Effecting Change Alone – Observations

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Danielle over at her blog recently posted on why she loves Brazil despite any particular reason an expat might find for eventually going back home. There’s a point she hits on that I think is the heart of the argument. Towards the end she says,

“…I’ve become a lot happier here after learning more and more about Brazilian history and laws and the reasons people have for doing things the way they do. It’s made me realize that I can only compare the countries to an extent, because the social and cultural context is just so, so different. This information also gave me the ability to realize which problems were true for all of Brazil, and which problems were specific to different places or social groups. Without that historical background or awareness, it’s easy to just blame every problem on Brazil in general.”

I think this is the real issue expats face and need to understand. Knowing why problems occur, what the reasons are behind it and just as important, how to approach such problems. Blindly going into a confusing situation, even the most basic one, will probably frustrate anyone, no matter where they are from. If you expect the problem, it is a little less stressful. If you understand the problem, again, you can see it for what it is and hopefully relax a bit more. All of that being said, neither of those solutions are complete. Something that sucks (ie, that even Brazilians complain about) will still suck if it can’t be fixed individually or as a group.

Brazil, when scaled-down to what the individual goes through on a daily basis , is still a country of certain basic processes that should never be complicated, yet they are. I refer to my ATM rant…I mean, observation for an example. Thinking back, I can safely say I expected lines at the ATM machine, though, I can’t say that I understood it as my understanding came in the solution (based on my experience in my own country, of course). It’s like, “well, I understand it’s a problem but I don’t understand why the way it’s done is on an infinite loop.” What I’m interested in is who will fix it and if it can only be fixed by an ‘important’ person, the type that would say, “do you realize who you are talking to?” (as some wealthy Brazilians are known to say to their less-well off fellow countrymen). In the meantime, I long for the day when the commoner in Brazil has power and can exercise it.