Southeastern Brazil Trip Comments
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Our two weeks in a few of the smaller towns in Southeastern Brazil gave us a view of an area that
was new to us. These colonial towns were very pleasant places in which to be and with much to see:
dozens of extremely ornate colonial churches, a surprising number of different museums, many
colonial buildings, beautiful landscapes, various types of hotels and guesthouses, meeting interesting
people, and many enjoyable serendipitous experiences.
Without exception everyone with whom we came in contact was very friendly and made an effort to
be helpful although usually they spoke no English and we no Portuguese. Whenever we stepped into a
shop for directions the person we approached generally stepped out onto the sidewalk and pointed the
way. In bus stations the ticket sales clerks were patient and genial. As we were in an area with
very few foreign visitors the locals seemed to be amused by our unexpected arrival and entertained
by the novelty.
We generally had no common language with the Brazilians we met but had no problem with basic
communications with taxi drivers, hotel clerks, waiters, and others. Before heading to any
destination we prepared by writing in our small notebook in clear letters the name and address of
the place to which we wished to go, ready to show it when taking a taxi or asking for directions. In
any discussion involving numbers we and they usually wrote them as we "talked". We often used our
fingers to indicate numbers of ten or less. We pointed a lot. We tried to enjoy the experience and
keep smiling.
We had expected that our knowledge of Spanish would help us much in communicating in view of what
we had thought was the great similarity between the two languages. When reading a Brazilian
newspaper, sign, or poster perhaps as many as half the Portuguese words seem similar to Spanish, but
when Brazilians speak with each other (or to us) we cannot even understand what topic is being
discussed.
Prior to our arrival in Brazil we had read and heard much about the prevalence of crimes, especially
pick pocketing, muggings, and thefts. We had no such experiences and never felt threatened but
were as cautious as we would be in our own country.
We enjoyed our interesting two weeks in Southeastern Brazil. But it would have been better if we
had first learned a few Portuguese phrases and brought along an English-Portuguese phrase book and
dictionary.