What the hell Portuguese?  You have taken my language learning prowess and completely torn it into shreds.  I can honestly say that Portuguese is my kryptonite (green rock that makes superman weak for my international readers).  I can compare the language to what I felt the first time I sent out to explore in Rio De Janeiro, overwhelming.

I have learned to speak many languages, I will be the first to admit that most of them are conversational and not fluent.  This means that I can tell a woman she is pretty and ask her to dance.  What every man would need right?  When I was invited to Israel I made sure I learned Hebrew and even when I lived in Ethiopia I made sure to learn Amharic, a language that hardly anyone speaks.

One of my favorite pictures of a Brazilian father & his son

I have visited Brazil before and I was able to pick up some Portuguese but now that I was living in Brazil and it was time to meet the Devil again.  Spanish is my first language and I am able to understand some of the language.  When I see Portuguese written I am able to grasp most of it.

But it is a completely different story when people try to speak to me

The way I can describe Portuguese is Spanish and English words pronounced with a French, Spanish, and slight Arabic accent.  The language is most similar to Spanish as many of the words are similar but many times you will find English words as well.  One example is the word to dance, in Portuguese its dançar (took me a while to find that squigly line).

Brazilian can understand Spanish speakers almost perfectly, for Spanish speakers however, Portuguese speaking people sound like a confused person with someone holding their nose.  It’s like Speedos, it doesn’t work both ways.

They look much better on Europeans.

I have never had a problem with pronunciation but there are some words I still can’t pronounce in Portuguese.  The language is incredibly difficult to learn, most Brazilians attest to that difficulty as well.  I even had trouble trying to speak to the police officer that tried to arrest me today near a secluded beach that I visited.

He was so upset that I didn’t understand a word that he said but I did have a native speaker with me that was able to speak to him.  You would think after getting arrested and detained in South Sudan I would have a nice corrupt cop to work with in Brazil? Nope!

I kept repeated “is there AN YTHING ELSE we can do”

Now that I have been living in Brazil for close to a month I have gotten used to the language and have learned the basic expressions like “look at that thong on the beach” or the expressions we all know when we are upset, I like to yell “caralho”!  Look that up on google translate, this blog is PG-13.

I do prefer the Carioca accent to others I have heard so far, Carioca is a person from Rio De Janeiro.  Im off to a secluded beach in the north, ciao!

sadf

There is something very unique about not only Rio De Janeiro, but Brazil as a whole.  There are some countries that are similar to others and very few countries that are completely unique.  I wouldn’t consider Brazil to be entirely unique but the way that everything comes together is unlike any place in the world.

• The music is different
• The language is different
• Brazilian Bundas (backsides) are different
• Everything is so different

The only place that I have been that is 100% unique is Ethiopia;  Canada & USA are similar, many places in Europe are similar, many countries in Latin America are very similar and even Africa has countries that resemble each other.  Brazil has hints of other places I have been to but how it is all put together is completely unique.

The sunset from my apt in Rio

This isn’t my first time in the country, I attended the fantastic chaos that is called Carnival in Salvador, Brazil.  Salvador is the city that Brazilians go to for Carnival while Rio De Janeiro is where tourists go for Carnival.  I hope you choose the right city.  I didn’t have many first impressions of Brazil after Carnival simply because I know that I didn’t get to know the true element of the culture.  I only visited one city and it came at a time when everyone is partying and not working.

This time around I would be living in Rio, upon arrival, I happily learned it is one of the most expensive cities in the world.  I debated leaving the city and heading to a smaller one like Porto Alegre or Florianopolis but I did what any day trader would do, I invited my friend Brice from TravelingToColombia and we rented a penthouse together.

When people think of other countries they only think of one culture, one people.  Everyone in the United States considers themselves Americans but we can

Rio & The US & A

Brazil is absolutely massive, it is the 5th largest country in area and also the 5th largest by population.  The diversity that you see in the city of Rio De Janeiro and the country reminds me of the states.  United States is known for being a melting pot of cultures, Brazil is a melting pot of people but they have already assimilated into being Brazilian.

You can find every shade of person here from purple to green, black to white, caramel to Japanese.  Yes there is a massive Japanese population in Brazil.  The diversity I could compare more to Canada than to United States because everyone lives with each other.  In the United States, ethnic groups hang out with their ethnic groups, Hispanics hang out with Hispanics and Asians hang out with Asians.

People don’t usually mix in the United States while in Canada everyone lives together in harmony.  The attitudes of people in the city also reminded me of the United States.  Living in Africa for roughly 5 months made me start getting accustomed to sticking out;

I was constantly getting second looks by everyone in my Somali neighborhood in Kenya, called Farangi (gringo) in Ethiopia, and even attacked by being the only white boy at the club.  In Brazil, there are no foreigner points because there is such a vast array of people.

Sugar Loaf in Rio De Janeiro

The attitudes of the people in the city are hard to explain, there is an I don’t care attitude similar to the states but at the same time once you get to know someone they are some of the nicest people in the world.  We attended a hippie hoppie concert, oops.. that’s hip hop, and people were smoking more than just cigarettes.

It isn’t legal but many people do it,  there was a time my buddy Brice was kind enough to pass the illegal smoking object to someone else.  It was between two women and after the other woman accepted it from Brice, no thank you or smile.  She just snatched it from his hands and didn’t even look back.

Rio & Israel

When I visited Israel thanks to my friends at the Once In A Lifetime project, I was lucky enough to see another side of Israel.  It has become one of my favorite countries in the world because of the people.  Many people mention the politics but I chose to instead enjoy my time in the beautiful country and make new lifelong friends.

Everyone in Israel is so laid back it blew my mind away.  In Tel Aviv, where many of the hi tech technologies that create the 2nd most businesses on the Nasdaq are created, everyone goes to work in jeans and a t-shirt.  In Rio, the beach culture, poverty, and personalities of the Brazilian people have created the same effect.  When people go out to party they wear shorts and sandals.

The famous Arches in Lapa - Rio De Janeiro

In the famous Lapa party district I was amazed to see a giant block party, not clubs and bars that people enter to.  Many times you would have one bar with music blaring and everyone dancing on the streets.  I am still learning how to dance Samba, the official dance of Brazil.

Rio & Latin America

This can be attributed to all of Brazil and not just Rio but there is a Latin American feeling to the country; it isn’t quite western, it’s not quite European, the only way to describe it is Latin American.  The people of Brazil do not speak Spanish but there are a lot of similarities with their culture Latin America with the first being Brazilian time.

From the buses that pass by to the waiting for friends, everyone is usually late.  Like many Latin American countries, when you go out on the weekend you will see people from the 16 years old all the way to 50 and 60 years old.  I am still amazed how older people can still move so well.  Those 1920′s and 1930′s treated them really well.

Even though Rio was overwhelming at first, I am certainly getting acclimated to the country.  As I write this from the beautiful beaches of Florianopolis I am excited to return to Rio to see my new apartment and go out and have some fun.

Welcome to Venezuela de Antier (The Venezuela of yesterday)! This is a tourist attraction in Merida, Venezuela that is found up high in the mountains in Merida.  Merida is one of the most visited cities in the whole country, especially now considering Venezuela is in very bad shape right now.  It is a bit similar to a amusement park where you can learn about the history of the country, try local food, and even get a taste of the local music.  Click here to see how we celebrate the holidays, I was born in the city.  Right now is a good time to visit the country and traveling via the Colombian border is one of the safest ways to get into Venezuela since the capital is one of the most dangerous cities in the world.

Click here see more pictures of Venezuela & check out the top 5 section for more things to do in Venezuela and around the world.