This is a resource for Canadians planning a trip to Brazil, or even just those interested in learning more about Brazil. We have travel dos and don’ts, we address commonly held misconceptions, we give other useful travel tips, and we show off a number of potential destinations that might be of interests. You can also follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/acanadianinbrazil/
If you already know you want to go to Brazil, then check out my article on Crossing The Border.
If you are still deciding about whether to vacation in Brazil, or have concerns about going there, you might be interested in my article on Misconceptions about Brazil.
If you are just interested in looking at some beautiful pictures of a Brazil, then check out the Gallery.
Ensopados aren’t the healthiest because of the coconut milk, which is high in calories. For a healthier alternative, Minha Esposa prepared a Healthy Brazilian Seafood Soup.
The final product, served with rice.
Ingredients:
400 grams of shrimp
800 grams of tilapia
1 large Tomatoes
1 Red Pepper
1 Green Pepper
1 Onion
50 ml olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 cup of fresh Coriander
Paprika
Water
1. Thinly slice the tomatoes, onions, and peppers
2. Press the garlic, and combine with the olive oil and tomatoes, onions, and peppers.
3. Mix and Sauté for a few minutes.
4. Separate the peppers, add three cups of water, one cup of coriander, and one tablespoon of paprika to the remainder
5. Blend the new mixture briefly
6. Recombine with peppers, into a pot, and bring to a boil
7. Add the tilapia (set timer for fifteen minutes) – stir constantly
8. When the timer reaches three minutes left, add the shrimp – stir, also using your spoon to break up the tilapia into smaller pieces.
In Canada, we almost have a two-stage greeting whenever chatting with someone. First we exchange some form of “Hello”, and then we exchange some form of “how are you?” This is fairly standard, and even repeated phone calls in a short period of time tend to start with this exchange. No one really cares what the answer to “how are you?” is, and any answer other than “good” is viewed as odd. If you want an actual answer, you have to ask a second time – usually varying the wording slightly.
However, in Brazil this is not done. A person does not ask “how are you” (Portuguese, “Tudo Bom?”) without actually meaning it. So, you don’t have the same exchange of pleasantries before getting into a conversation. For Canadians hearing this, it may seem abrupt, or even rude. But it should not be taken that way. In fact, it is actually a little odd that Canadians do this weird exchange, as it makes no sense to ask questions for which we don’t want an actual answer. I explained to Minha Esposa (my wife) that I even tend to do this when I go to the doctor, when I am notably not “good”, as that’s why I am at the doctor.
This is also something that Minha Esposa is having trouble with in Canada. She does not understand this exchange, or why people do it – she assumes people who ask her how she is doing actually want an answer, and she does not ask unless she is genuinely interested in how others are doing. And, really, that is how it should be. After spending some time thinking about this, the best explanation I can come up to as to why Canadians do this, is that we are essentially offering to let the other person speak first if they have something important to discuss. The “how are you?” essentially means “I would like to discuss something with you, but if you have something urgent, I am offering you a chance to speak first.” So, it is actually part of the stereotype of Canadian Politeness. While I have offered this explanation to Minha Esposa, she makes a good point that it is not actually all that polite to ask a question and not care about the answer. Since Canadians do this almost by instinct, it isn’t something I’d really thought about before. But, I love that learning about Brazilian Culture, it also gives me a chance to learn about my own.
However, in Brazil, it is not uncommon for women to kiss on the cheek when meeting, and men often exchange a pat on the back when greeting one another. Physical contact is important in Brazil for warm greetings. Due to the multicultural nature of Canada, this happens sometimes here, but not nearly as often as you’ll see in Brazil. So, I still find it odd and have difficulty getting used to it. But, it does make me feel extremely welcome.
Now that we are able to find flour again, Minha Namorada made an old favourite of hers from Brazil this weekend. These are simple fried dough wraps, which can be filled with whatever you prefer. They work as your main entree, side, and dessert – we had chicken, cheese, and chocolate for ours.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon white vinegar
500 g of wheat flour
200 ml of warm water
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of (Canola) oil
additional Canola Oil (amount depends on size of fry pan)
Filling of your choice (precooked if adding meat)
1. Put the flour in a bowl and add the tablespoon of oil, salt and vinegar.
2. Mix well and gradually add the water and knead the dough.
3. Knead the dough until it is very smooth and even throughout. If necessary, add a little more water to help.
4. Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.
5. Roll out the dough cut it into squares.
Roll out the dough very thinly
use a fork to neatly close the edges once filled
6. Fill with the filling of your choice (I heavily recommend chicken, beef, cheese, or chocolate), close with a fork and fry in hot oil (again, the amount of oil depends on your pan) until golden brown. Note: Make sure any meat is precooked, as this will not cook it sufficiently on its own.
Brazilians don’t generally celebrate Valentine’s Day like we do in Canada. St. Valentine is still associated with couples and romance and love, but oddly, his feast day is not celebrated nearly as much in Brazil. Instead, they celebrate Dia Dos Namorados (kind of “couples day”) on June 12th. This celebration is still associated with a patron saint of couples, Saint Anthony, whose feast day is June 13th (so the holiday is essentially “St. Anthony’s Eve”, like “All Hallow’s Eve” is Halloween. He is supposed to bless young couples for a happy and properous marriage.
The holiday is very similar to the Valentine’s day in Canada, exchanging tokens of love such as letters, flowers, or chocolate. However, it is not viewed as simply a day for the woman – both people in the relationship are to be celebrated. Women are expected to do things for their men as well, and often actually do more (traditional gender roles being stronger in Brazil, its not unusual for women to be more sentimental). This is a gift-giving holiday, so presents are also generally expected by the couples. Many restaurants also do special meals, and packages associated with this special day.
Personally, I do like the nature of the Brazilian Holiday better than the Canadian, as Valentines in Canada has, unfortunately, lost some of the mutual celebration aspects. It is supposed to be a celebration of the relationship, I don’t understand how that can ever only include just half of the couple – although much of our media might make you think otherwise.
Oddly, there is very little influence from North America in Brazil for this holiday. I was in Brazil for Valentine’s Day in February, and there was nothing special in most stores, almost no mention of it anywhere, except by the other Canadians I was with. So, if you are visiting in February, make sure to bring any Valentine’s Day cards with you, because last minute purchases will not be an option.
As for me, I have to plan four months in advance, or I’m stuck trying to find Valentine’s day cards in June for Minha Namorada…
As I near completing Portuguese on Duolingo (I have about half a level left), I thought it would be good to give an update as to how fluent I really am. Nowadays, I can speak with Minha Namorada’s family somewhat, and make myself understood in fairly long conversations. I do sometimes use odd phrasing in Portuguese, but that’s because I don’t yet think in Portuguese. Even though I do it at a faster pace, I still decide what I want to say in English and then translate it in my head. Portuguese also no longer sounds as fast, even when I don’t understand it all. I am able to go to restaurants with my English-speaking friends and order without difficulty, asking questions about the food/service. I can do transactional-Portuguese very well, and I feel I could visit most large Brazilian Cities where there is minimal, but not zero, English, and not feel like a fish out of water. I always apologize for my accent at the outset (stereotypically Canadian, I know), and with how welcoming the Brazilian people are, I can get by just fine.
One unexpected great translation tool I’ve added to my repertoire is Wikipedia – when searching for the right word, Google Translate might give you ten different words with some of them being translations of entirely different meanings of the same word. But, you can look up much more complex concepts and ideas on Wikipedia to ensure you are using the right meaning, then simply switch to the Portuguese page.
The big drawback from Duolingo is listening – I still find it difficult when others are speaking Portuguese to me. Some people I meet I can understand without any difficulty, but the majority of people I still need a lot of assistance from Minha Namarada to understand. You would think this is the easiest skill to practice, since I could just listen to music or watch Netflix in Portuguese, but its not quite as easy as you would expect. Netflix, for some reason, will have different translations for the dubbed over voice than for the subtitles – they are always similar, but the small differences (e.g. using “bom/good” vs. “legal/cool”) make it very difficult to follow along. Music is also very difficult, because the pronunciation changes drastically when words are put to a melody.
The better option, I find, is to find a YouTube channel (pick any topic) in Portuguese, you want a higher-quality YouTuber so that they have proper subtitles, and set the video playback speed to seventy-five or even fifty percent. That speed allows you to still follow along in the subtitles while the spoken words still sound approximately the same. That’s my plan to improve my Portuguese now that the finish line with Duolingo is in sight. Not that I’m going to stop the Duolingo, mind you. It is a quite useful tool to practice Portuguese, and I plan to use it as long as I can.
Like in Canada, Brazilian Mother’s day falls on the second Sunday in May. Oddly for Brazil, this is not a holiday widely linked to a Catholic celebration, despite there being many countries around the world that do so.
Also similar to Canada, everyone celebrates it somewhat differently. Meu Cunhado (my brother-in-law) sent Minha Sogra a ready-made breakfast, whereas the distance makes it hard for Minha Namorada and me to do anything more than call. However, a big distinction with Mother’s Day in Brazil rather than Canada, is that in Brazil you celebrate all mothers. If you have friends/family that are mothers, you wish them a happy Mother’s day too. I am of two minds when it comes to this.
I really like the sense of community that the collective celebration entails. It reminds everyone of the important role that mothers play in our society. Canadians, of course, realize this, but I still like the idea of having everyone together taking a day to recognize that importance. It also makes it into a bigger celebration, since everyone is taking part with everyone else in celebrating all mothers. There also tend to be lunch or dinner with the extended family, as all the mothers are feted together, and I always find the holidays with big family meals are better. They also keep the whole family close. Finally, it would be much harder to forget the day in Brazil than in Canada, which is always useful for us forgetful types.
However, on the other hand, I like that we celebrate our specific mother on Mother’s Day. It seems more special that way, and I would feel almost like I was betraying my mom by wishing someone else a Happy Mother’s Day (grandmothers excepted). Especially, since Mother’s always make birthdays all about the child, when really she’s the one that did more work that day. Other than the first couple of birthdays when babies don’t really understand what is going on, and so the husband does make it about the wife, there is very little done to celebrate one’s mom on the day she became a mom. So, I like that there is a specific day set aside when everyone is expected to celebrate their specific mom. Ideally, having a small intimate dinner with just the immediate family, where everyone is there to celebrate just that important woman in their life. It is the same as that I don’t want Valentines Day to be about celebrating all couples. for me, I want it to be celebrating just Minha Namorada. So, why would Mother’s Day be for celebrating all mothers, and not just mine?
Shrimp – 400 grams
Garlic – 5 cloves
Onion – one large
Green Pepper – Half of one
Cilantro – 1/2 cup
Tomato – one large
Tomato sauce – two spoons
Coconut milk – 1 can
Olive Oil
Water
In a pan, add the shrimp, two cloves of garlic (grated or pressed), half of the onion (grated), a splash of olive oil, and a small amount of water. Cook until the shrimp becomes pink – the actual cooking time can vary, but it should be fairly quick.
Strain the water into another bowl and set aside the water and the shrimp for later.
In another pan, add 3 cloves of garlic (grated or pressed), the other half of the onion (grated), another splash of olive oil, and cook until slightly browned.
Not yet browned
Chop up the Cilantro, Green Pepper, and Tomato, then add to a pot.
Combine with the browned garlic and onion, and heat until warm. Then add the water from the shrimp, two spoons of tomato sauce, 1 can of cocounut milk, and 1/4 cup of additional water.
Pre-blend
Once all ingredients are warm (not hot), pour into blender and blend briefly until there are no large chunks.
Post-blend, with shrimp added
Return to a pot, add the shrimp, and heat until hot. Your Ensopado is ready.
When I was visiting Minha Namorada over Christmas, Meu Sogro (my Father-in-law) invited us to visit his hometown, Picuí, as he was excited to show me where he grew up.
Getting there was an adventure on its own. Driving in Brazil is already a scary concept for a Canadian, but the drive between Joao Pessoa and Picuí has its own special set of fears. As we had to drive uphill, there were fifty-six button hook turns on the highway. The roads in this area were well-maintained, but the numerous monuments to loved ones on the roadside attested to the danger that drove the need for well-maintained roads – we would hardly pass 50 feet between the roadside crosses. However, this does not slow down the Brazilian drivers. Every car I saw was travelling well above the speed limit, and cutting the corners, lightly honking the horn to tell any driver on the other side of the turn that they were coming. I have rarely feared for my life while driving, but this was definitely an exception. Later I was told there is another, slightly slower, route that has no such turns, and we took that way home.
When Minha Namorada and I went to step outside, she asked me if I was “ready for hell”, because of the heat. And, while I do admit it was hot (definitely above 30 Celsius), I told Minha Namorada that it wasn’t nearly as bad as Joao Pessoa. It was hot, but much of the Brazilian Interior is extremely dry, and Picuí is one of the driest of those. As people will often attest, its the heat, not the humidity, and a little bit of shade went a long way in Picuí. Picuí is located in a place called the Polígono das secas (Drought Polygon). It has droughts unrelated to Climate Change (although that doesn’t help), and, when I visited, they had gone five years without rain – the former river beds had become football fields, and most farms in the area raised goats, which can eat cacti. It actually rained above two weeks after we left Picuí, and Meu Sogro sent me a video of the people outside cheering and watching the giant storm. It warmed my heart to see their prayers for water had finally been answered.
No rain for years
A former farmhouse
Still a beautiful farm
Clouds don’t always mean rain
Still a beautiful landscape
Now, Picuí is a small town, and small town Brazil is a lot different than the big cities. They are very reminiscent of small town North America, and while there are still a few more walls and gates than you might normally see here, there isn’t the need. Crime levels are generally less, because everybody knows everybody, and watches out for one another. There is also not the same level of distinction between rich areas and favelas. Very nice houses can be close to poor ones, and so you never know until you get somewhere what the place will look like. The Priest for the small town is one of the most important people in the city, and things tend to move at a slow pace.
The Churches in small towns are some of the most beautiful buildings. I didn’t actually make it inside this one, as Meu Sogro knows the Father of the church in a nearby city, Cruzeta.
Inside the Cruzeta Church
Inside the Cruzeta Church
The Church in Cruzeta
Prices in restaurants are very cheap – Minha Namorada and I had a large stuffed crust pizza, with four beers and a pop for less than 30 Reals (about $10 Canadian at the time) – including a cover charge for the band. I don’t necessarily recommend travelling to these towns for the average traveler, as there is a lower chance people will speak English. Accents also differ significantly, as they do anywhere, but I can never really guess who I will understand when speaking Portuguese. Trained politicians are sometimes harder for me to understand than an average joe off the street. But, I will say that everyone there is extremely welcoming, even compared to the warm greetings I have always found in the rest of Brazil.
The big event of the year in Picuí, as it is for all the small towns in the region, is their Carne De Sol festival. The centre of many small towns we drove through were clearly built with this in mind, as I couldn’t imagine many gatherings that would require so much space in any small town otherwise. During these events, all the surrounding towns visit, and the places are packed to the brim. These events appear to happen regularly, but varying from town to town, and create a wonderful sense of comraderie and good natured rivalry between the cities.
I can’t say for certain if Picuí is a good representative of small towns in general in Brazil, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
Venice, or Venezia in Italian, is probably the most beautiful cities Minha Namorada and I have ever seen. Wherever we walked, we couldn’t help but stare at all the beautiful buildings nearby.
The canals in Venice were wonderful, we just took the bus (read: public transport boat) and looked at all the beautiful architecture
One important thing to know about Venice before visiting is that there are no cars, or motorized vehicles of any type. In fact, it was only on one island where we even saw bicycles, and those were owned by little kids. So, if you aren’t into walking, including many stairs, then Venice isn’t for you. Minha Namorada and I didn’t know this when we first arrived, and so we had some confusing times searching for a taxi stand; there are taxis, but only water taxis, which are expensive, and they can’t even take you everywhere. Generally speaking, you’ll do better to buy a water bus pass for however long you are there – Venice isn’t big, so you can easily walk lots of places, but if you need to get to the other side of the canal, a short distance can still be a long walk if you need to find a bridge. Minha Namorada also found it was wonderful to ride the water bus and see the sites.
In the center you can see the Water Bus, with outdoor seating in the front and back, and indoor seating in the middle.
Minha Namorada and I probably chose one of the best times to visit Venice, as we arrived when there was the Covid-19 scare, but nothing was shut down yet. That started about 36 hours after we left. So, we had a city that was nearly empty, but all the stores were still open. We got discounts at every store we went to, and never had to wait in line once. The only place we weren’t able to visit was St. Mark’s Basilica, which was only open for prayer – we still went and prayed, but there was obviously much more inside that we couldn’t explore. If you could be guaranteed to not get sick, I’d highly recommend you visit a place right before a plague hits.
Venice was empty enough, but we managed to get other inhabitants to pose for our pictures.
When in Venice, you’ll see all these things that look like tables stacked near buildings. Minha Namorada and I couldn’t figure out why until out last day, when we saw first-hand an obvious fact about Venice; it floods a lot. The tables are actually mobile elevated walkways that they move so that you can get around the City even when the water level is high. Some stores get flooded, but they just discount that merchandise, and continue about their day. Flooding is just a part of life in Venice. As much as you might save money on the discounted merchandise, you don’t want it. The water in the Venice canals is not very clean at all.
This is inside Piazza San Marco on a normal day. It was so devoid of tourists that the birds were actually land on people en masse trying to get food.
And here it is just a couple days later, as Minha Namorada and I passed through on our way to the airport.
Venice is a very expensive city. Even meeting other tourists, they complained about the prices. The cheapest places we found to drink were actually Irish Pubs. And, it is always interesting to see one culture’s take on another culture. McDonald’s was the same, as always, though. Even so, Minha Namorada and I spoke extensively about how nice it would be to move there.
The airport in Venice takes quite a long time to get to. It is over an hour from the grand canal to the airport (again, by boat – not included in your normal water-bus pass), and then probably a fifteen minute walk to get from one side of the airport to the ticket counter.
Easter, or Pascoa in Brazil, is a time for celebration. Of course, coming before it is Good Friday, a quiet day for reflection in Brazil. Religion is part of everyday life in Brazil (nearly 90% are christian), and so Good Friday has many norms. Drinking and partying are both inappropriate to do on the Friday, and you’ll probably get weird looks for doing so. Many families actually eat fish the entire weekend. But Holy Saturday can be treated much more like a normal Saturday, and there aren’t the prohibitions that exist for Good Friday. Many families do keep at least Easter Sunday to be like the sabbath commonly was followed in Canada. No television, no internet, and the time should be spent visiting with relatives. But, no matter the family, Easter is a big day for celebration.
Churches, that have the Crucifixes covered for Lent, reveal the imagery of Jesus. The chocolate eggs are often elaborate, and filled with brigadeiro and other chocolate – they cost a pretty penny to boot. The Easter Bunny, however, is not a common character associated with the holiday in Brazil – probably, because by keeping closer to the religious aspects, there isn’t as much room for secular aspects that exist in Canada.
I can’t say that Easter is much different in Brazil than Canada, I think its because Easter in Brazil just seems bigger than in Canada. But, given that the holiday is a defining part of Christianity, you would find very similar celebrations in any christian church or family in Canada. And, most of the differences are just in the degree of commitment to the holiday. The cultural aspects tend to drift away, because so many religious traditions are the same across the continents.
If you are in Brazil and feeling homesick, the holidays can sometimes still feel just like home.
a Canadian In Brazil 