Note that: After living in the culture there for a while, it is easy to become accostomed to Portuguese spellings. Therefore, please expect to see me write "Brasil" instead of "Brazil" in a few locations. On some of the English camp teams, members of the teams were doing that after the first few e-mail messages back home.

The Foz do Iguaçu are a major tourist attraction on the Brazil-Argentina border.

Basic Notes for Any Traveler:

• Crime is a major problem all over Brasil, and even in Londrina ( a city of only 600,000 people ) it has become a major problem. Some of this people attribute to desperate circumstances of the nation's poor, while others point to corrupt police departments. In one January article in the Folha de Londrina, one person is quoted in the newspaper as saying "If we can't trust the police, then who can we trust? The criminals?" The problem isn't quite as bad as some countries ( on a 2000 visit to Honduras, for example, we found the Burger King across the street from the Airport in Tegucigalpa had an armed guard that greeted all visitors. This you will not find in too many locations in Brasil quite yet. ), but when I asked Brazilians why they like New York or Los Angeles so much they say that they like how safe these cities appear to be (!!!). For example, a Brazilian will look at an American movie from those cities, and see that there are windows that display store merchandise all the time, and homes that have big, open front yards. An American looks at those cities, and a fair number of them will say "You couldn't pay me to live in New York or Los Angeles because the crime so bad." In Brasil, virtually all residences in any sort of urban area have a wall around them, even those in relatively small communities. All stores have large steel doors that close over the doors and windows so that nothing will vanish. In some areas of the city of São Paulo there are survailence cameras over the public sidewalks. If you are from a place in rural America, where there is no need to lock house or automobile doors or windows, you will have to make an adjustment in Brazil: lock everything, even if you are in a very rural area. While night time is particularly dangerous, remember that crime can happen at any time, and in general just be alert. With the fortified nature of Brasilian streets, it isn't possible to simply go bang on someone's door when you need help either. Follow the safety suggestions that you would use in a dangerous city in the USA: be aware of what's going on, stay in well-lighted areas where you can see what is coming at you from all directions (preferrably where there are also people, at the very least within yelling distance), go out in groups, and if it looks like someone is following you, use some evasive moves to figure out for sure what is going on.

• Using the Toilet:

  People look at my white skin, hear my English, and expect me to be another regular American kid. But I'm not...not really. I've just come from a country where the plumbing is less than efficient, so one doesn't flush the toilet paper. Sometimes I forget that's okay in the United States.

  - Heather Elliott, in the Fall, 2002 issue of The Evangelical Challenge, in an article describing the interesting challenge of starting university studies in the USA, from a background of being an American growing up in South America.

  In virtually all locations of South America, it is expected that someone using the toilet will put the used toilet paper in the trash can provided next to the toilet. This is because, for many years, the sewer line in the building could not handle toilet paper very well. If you forget and put some in, it isn't a sure bet that the toilet will plug up, and most of the newer buildings seem to have adequate pipe size to handle toilet paper now. However, it is still expected that tolet paper goes in the trash, and it is best to do this when you can remember. There is a technique that many Brazilians seem to have, to wrapping the toilet paper around the used area so that there is no exposed soiled surface and most residences have trash cans beside the toilet that have a lid on them to keep any order inside. If you visit and stay in one of the big expensive hotels in Rio de Janeiro or Sào Paulo, then this is something you do not have to worry about, as they seem to be designed for toilet paper to go either way. On the other hand, in most other locaitons the trash can is the expected receptacle.

  Oh, yeah, and be prepared to explain, in a patient and diplomatic way, just why, exactly, Americans flush toilet paper rather than putting it in the trash. According to many Brazilians, it is very strange to them that one would put toilet paper into the toilet.

• Card Phones: are in use all over Brasil. Because of the crime problem (see above) most people seem to agree that coin operated phones would be a bad idea in Brazil - the money would simply vanish. Therefore, a magnetic card is in use. These cards are interchangable: you don't have to have a TeleBrasil phone card to use in a TeleBrasil pay phone: a card for a Sercomtel phone will work just as well. Local calls are cheap using a pay phone ( I calculated it out to about $0.05 per minute using the January of 2001 exchange rate ) and therefore both pay phones and card sellers are common. Look for signs that sell Carterãos Telefonicas, in units of 30, 60, or 100 units, but sales of these cards are so common that a huge number of convenience stores, news stands, and general stores of all kinds sell some sort of card. A unit is approximately 3 minutes ( depending on the mood of the phone company - supposedly the time has been reduced a little bit over the years ) of local calling time, with less time per unit for long distance calls. Therefore, the longer distance the call the more important the time factor is, unlike the USA where phone charges are by the minute. Be careful with the cards. The magnetics inside the paper is fairly fragile, and being close to such things as bank cards and credit cards with magnetic strips may demagnitize your telephone card.

  The phones are so convenient and the system so common and economical that I have decided to purchase a card upon entering Brasil each visit. It is good to be able to make phone calls, and you can't just use coins, so I think it is a good idea to have one. There are some USA-issued phone dial-in (as opposed to magnetic) calling cards that work in Brasil, but my suspicion is that the rate would be horrific to use them for local calls. If you don't use the whole thing, then so what? You can always give it to some new-found Brazilian friend when you go home.

• Electric Showers: Most americans are baffled by these contraptions. You step into the shower, and you find the shower head is this BIG thing with two or more wires sticking out of it. It does not help too much because unless you ask, a Brazilian will not explain how to use these things. On several occasions, in fact, in Brazil I have been given quite detailed and complicated instructions on how to use a two-handled two-pipe hot water system just like we have in the USA, because they are still not that common in Brazil. In Brazil, however, central hot water heaters are not that common. After all, they are expensive to buy, use a huge amount of energy, and it is necessary to wait for a time for the water to warm up if you are far from the central heater. Instead, in Brazil, they use water heaters that heat the water as it is flowing to the shower. These are almost always electric (though a few bottled gas units do exist) and installed in the shower heat itself.

  The traditional Brazilian system also uses a lot of electricity, but only while the water is running. It only provides heat to the shower, and that is generally the only place where hot water is available or desired in the typical Brazilian living situation.

  Where most Americans screw up with these things is that the volume of water determines how hot the water gets. If you pass a lot of water through the heater, it doesn't heat up very well before going out of the shower head. On the other hand, if you reduce the water volume, it will stay in the shower head longer, and get heated. What most Americans do is, if the water isn't hot enough, they turn the water on harder. This has the opposite of the desired effect.

  The wires sticking out of the side of the shower head and going up into the wall? They are insulated, but to connect them to the house wiring sometimes they are connected with a compression screw terminal block. These screws on these are whatever voltage the house wiring is, so don't touch them.

  Sometimes, you will find both a hot and cold water handle, as well as an electric shower head. What this means is that the system has both hot and hold plumming in it, but chances are the hot water system has not been completely installed yet. Therefore, turning on the hot water faucet will only give you more cold water, once again reducing the temperature of the water coming out of the shower head. This is yet another way in which Americans can screw up when trying to use these systems. If there is a hot water handle, but there is also a functioning electric shower head, then assume that the hot water lines in the building do not have hot water yet.

• Physical Contact is an important part of the culture in Brazil. It isn't unusual for male friends to embrace, and the traditional woman to man greeting is a kiss on the cheek.

  However, Brazil has also had many immigrants over the years, as well as a lot of cultural influence from the media in the USA. Therefore, unfortunately, this important part of Brazilian culture at times seems like it is slowly disappearing. Some of the younger generation seem to never touch eachother at all. This is a very, very unfortunate thing when you consider the importance of physical contact for the development of children and its overall function in society. Perhaps it is not just a coincidence that crime rates have been on the increase in Brazil.

  Even as that may be, those that come from a northern European or Anglo-American perspective will probably need some adjustment. Even after being in Brazil on several occasions, and even after knowing that physical contact is different, it is still surprising what happens sometimes.

  I can list a number of incidents where physical contact was surprisingly strong. For example, in one particular case, a woman offered to translate parts of a church service for me. This was very good, and her English excellent. In order to translate quietly, though, she pushed her entire body into mine, so that this woman, whom I had never met, was closer physically than most married couples get while they are sitting in our churches back home. I was a little nervous about this at first, seeing how her boyfriend was seated on her other side, but slowly everything the pre-trip information said about how South American culture tends to have more physical contact simply became a lot more real to me. Friends touching and caressing eachothers hands and arms isn't unusual, but it is one thing to watch this practice among two Brazilians, and quite another to abruptly find someone holding onto your hand and caressing it.

  The two things I offer in the way of advice as far as this goes is:

  • Don't be surprised when the physical contact happens.

  • Considering the wide assortment of opinions regarding Americans and what the practices are in America, plus the fact that in any culture (yes, even in Brazil) there are some people who are more reserved than others, it is best to observe and welcome contact when it happens, but not actually give any of it out - at least not until someone is comfortable giving it to you. This is to make sure that you do not force yourself on someone and become an offense to them.

• Trash is one major difference in Brasil. I think one of the primary differences is that in Brazil there are a number of people who are hired to clean the streets and sidewalks regularly, so that a significant number of people think that throwing trash in any location is acceptable. Some people sweep the trash out of their houses and sidewalks and into the streets. However, a number of the younger people, I have noticed, do not feel this is an aceptable way to live. A number of the teenagers seem to be a lot more careful about where they put their trash. It is an interesting contrast: in the USA there has been a long standing movement to keep trash where it belongs, but a few of the people, many of them teenagers, who don't care about anything except themselves, are a significant problem. In Brazil, the opposite seems to have happened, so that the general culture tosses trash anywhere, but some people, particularly the younger generation, are changing all that.

  Brazil, however, is far better about its trash problem than a number of other countries. Despite the large amount of trash beside the roads in Brazil, they do at least have public trash cans in many locations. Honduras, for example, seems to be far worse. Paraguay also seems to have a lot of trash problems.

• Tips in Restaurants are not generally done the way they are in the USA. Part of the problem is the huge amount of petty theft. Leaving any amount of cash sitting on a table after you are done eating is an invitation to have it stolen. Therefore, many restaurants have the fees included in the final bill, and you pay when you pay the bill.

• Cafezinho means "small coffee". It is customary for a guest to drink some when visiting.

Special Notes for Christian Travelers:

• Church services, even among the Roman Catholic churches, tend to be a lot more physically demanding. Expect clapping, mild dancing, and hand movement among the congregation, even if, in the USA, churches of that sort are traditionally reserved. This isn't the USA, and church services of all types tend to be a lot more involved than those of the USA.

  Keep in mind as well what it says above about physical contact. In most churches in the USA, people greet eachother with a handshake. In Brasil, expect hugs, and maybe a kiss on the cheeck between man and woman, during the time that members of the congregation greet eachother. Expect this to be a longer process than is typical in the USA, as well.

• Use of English Curse Words is quite common among the population. This is because the words are used all the time in the movies that are exported to Brasil. Therefore, the people hear these words used all the time without social reservation, and therefore they use the words all the time without social reservation. Please note that this includes racial slurs and other things that almost no American would want to use in public today. I have even purchased a historical documentary that, I found when I played the video tape, uses the n****** word to describe black people. Therefore, don't be surprised to hear any of these things, and understand that the people are not trying to be offensive. They are simply using the language that they hear Americans in the movies speaking.

• Celebrity Treatment and Responsibilities: In many ways, the Protestant church in Brasil is doing a better job spiritually than that in the USA. There are still problems, of course. However, the church in our country is in no way superior to that of Brasil, and due to the poverty and the history of the people there is probably a lot more day to day dependence on God than in the USA, and the basic level of spiritual things seems to be better.

  However, despite all these things, many in the Brazilian church look to those in the church in the USA for spiritual guidance. People will be watching you to see what you do, and try to remember Romans chapter 14, and in particular verses 13 to 15:

  I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it is unclean. If your brother is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died.

  Now, I am not saying that you need to be careful about what you eat in Brasil, because eating is one thing that does not seem to have many social restraints in Brasil. On the other hand, you may need to be careful about what you do, say, and react. You may not always like what people put on the table in front of you. I have found that a number of Americans don't like the fact that beans and rice are eaten at almost all Brazilian meals. Tough. Chances are that is what the family can afford, and worked hard to prepare it. At least you are not on the mission field in some rural place in Africa where they will feed you grasshoppers. Would it kill you to act as though you really enjoyed eating it? Remember that these are probably brothers and sisters in Christ, and to treat them with respect due to a fellow family member. Furthermore, you will find that combining it with various other foods, as the Brazilians do, adds to the variety of tastes. The basic material is the same, but some days there may be chicken or fish or beef or any number of other things mixed in. It may not be much, due to the cost, but enough to alter the taste from day to day.

  You may be invited to stand in front of the church you visit. Be prepared to look presentable. In Brazil, most of the churches have a sort of casual/formal dress code. This is similar to what you will see in many of the churches in the Pacific Northwest. It is probably best to avoid wearing shorts, even if many of the people in the rest of the church are wearing them. Remember, many of the people look to you as someone worthy of respect, similar to the pastor of the church, and may expect you to be dressed somewhat better than the average person for the church service.

  Once again, it is important to maintain some sense of what others are doing around you, and try to understand what they expect from you, while maintaining some personal liberty and yet also keeping in mind the verses from Romans, above. This is all a delicate balance, but possible with help from God.

• Invitations to people's homes: It may happen. It happened to me. Unless you get to know the people, have you really and truly visited the country?

  Return with me for a moment to the James A. Michener quote at the top of the page. Understand what I have that on this page: if you don't understand how the people live, it is quite difficult to minister to them. Complete understanding is not necessary, but some measure of understanding of the culture is very important. This understanding could be helped by visiting people in their homes. As possible, please try to let God lead in what happens, as some wonderful opportunities to meet brothers and sisters in the faith may open up.

  Communication may be difficult, but hand signals, patience, a good smile, and Christian love expressed as well as you can will go a long way. Expressing Christian love can fill in the shortcomings of many things.