Getting to Brazil.

I left home at 9:20a.m. on Saturday June 6th, 2009.  Less than three hours later, I was introduced to my first insights on Brazilian culture.  While waiting for my flight, I met Michael, a doctor who lives New York.  He was originally from Israel, where he spent most of his life growing up and he also went back for school.  Besides all that, he has traveled to Brazil a few times.  He said he has been to Belem, Sao Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro.  He told me a lot of what to expect with regard to the food.  He said it would be very salty, filling, and satisfying.  So far, I have found that to be true.  He also said I should listen to the music because it is very beautiful and cannot be heard anywhere else.  

My next introduction to Brazilian culture was on my flight from Miami, United States to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  I met a very nice, Brazilian gentleman named Gustavo.  He spoke Portuguese to the stewardess' yet he was reading a book in English, so I deduced he spoke both languages.  We had a good chat about Brazil.  Although he had never been to Belem, he had a vast amount of information to offer.  He also let me practice some Portuguese and taught me how to pronounce some words.  Also, on the flight, the headrests had PricewaterhouseCoopers advertisements, so we started talking about the Big 4 accounting firms.  He was sure all four were present in Brazil, but was unsure about in Belem.  After researching, I found that there are none in Belem, but there are many locations throughout other parts of Brazil.  I truely would have got lost in the airport if it had not been for Gustavo.  At that point I realized how nice and willing to help people out Brazilian people are.  

After I arrived in Belem.  Joanna, Kendra, and I walked around the area near our hotel.  The religious influence in their culture was extremely evident.  Brazil is composed mainly of Catholics, who believe that Sunday, the sabbath day, must be kept holy.  Therefore, Sunday is not a day of work or even shop, so almost every shop was closed.  That left us to have an uneventful first glimpse of Belem.