I just returned from a 10 day trip to Brazil (just for vacation), and it was fantastic! I never really believed that going on vacation was the best way to explore other countries. In other words, I had a previous "train of thought" that living in other countries and doing something valuable (like work or volunteer service) was the best way to get to know the people/culture. However, after traveling around Brazil, I've realized that one can learn a lot as a "tourist."

I seriously hate that term, "tourist," but at the same time, it is what you make of it. If you want to be an ignorant jerk who refuses to accept certain aspects of a new culture, then that's your right. However, we can also be "good" tourists by respecting the culture and understanding the parts which annoy us. For example, I noticed right away in Rio while taking my first walk to Ipanema beach, that the cars/buses drive REALLY fast and definitely will not stop for pedestrians. In Brazil, like most of Latin America, pedestrians definitely DO NOT have the right of way. You will die. So, this annoyed me for a while; but there were times when I just laughed at it because it's just kinda funny to observe how extremely reckless Brazilians are; there's this "no fear" aura and a sense that death from a bus coming full steam ahead of us is a close reality.

In any case, I had some interesting experiences in Brazil. The first one was hanging out at a local sidewalk bar/restaurant called "Zig Zag" in Rio. I ate most of my food there, watched most of my soccer games, and made my best (or worst) efforts to chat up the locals. I also met a guy named Alex and his girlfriend Paula at the bar - he's an English Teacher and likes meeting native English speakers, or just people from other countries. He also studied abroad in Chicago for a year and seems to understand "Americans." He and his girlfriend (who was visiting from Sao Paulo) back to their place for some beer and capirinhas. Our conversations were exploratory, fun, and at times deep.

I set out for Goias in the second part of my Brazil adventure, where I met up with my old friend Pedro who I went to grad school with at the Monterey Institute in Monterey, California. I honestly didn't know what to expect, but when I arrived at baggage claim in Goiania I was greeted by Pedro, his girlfriend Lorena, and his friend Rodrigo, all of whom greeted me as if I was some celebrity. I knew right then and there that this was going to be "fun," or at the very least "crazy."

We did many things in my 5 day stay, including LOTS of driving around, but I'd have to say the experiences which stood out were the concert in Goiania (can't remember the singer), lunch with Pedro's grandmother in Yeragua, and going out in Rio with Alex and my new Argentine friend Pedro. The concert was this huge outdoor festival (enclosed for ticket entry), with food, beer, games, and of course the singer, who played a sort of mix of rock/country. There I made my first effort to flirt with a Brazilian girl who was sitting alone by herself. I had Pedro and Lorena lead the way by introducing me from a distance - I felt like Jim Carrey in "Dumb and Dumber" when his friend goes to meet the hot girl from Aspen he likes, and while standing over at the bar, he sticks his ASS out towards her so she could get a good look at his whole package.

Anyway, I got my first phone number from that whole ordeal. Lunch with Pedro's grandmother was great because it was a classic Brazilian experience. Just laid back and no rush. After eating rice and beans, meat, potatoes, and a spice called "falofa," which is this yellow bread crumb stuff Brazilians pour over everything, I just took a nap on the couch while the Grandmother watched telenovelas. After, the grandmother told me to take a shower, I think since it was hot and everyone was kind of sweaty; though, maybe it was because I stank. Then, she made me a cafezinho, which is a Brazilian espresso shot with some sugar. She told me that she doesn't take it with sugar, maybe because of her age. I watched her make the coffee -- she was clever and we both tasted it before serving; we agreed that it was too strong, so she added a bit more water to the mixture. Then I drank my cafezinho and chatted her up, which consisted of going back and forth between spanish and portuguese. I believe the Brazilians call it "Portanhol," which is the equivalent of "Spanglish" in Brazil. However, I realized that it was better for me to just speak slowly in Spanish (and actually NOT try to add any Portuguese to my words/accent), and make sure they know to speak slowly in Portuguese. Spanish is still a foreign language to many Brazilians, so I wouldn't agree with those who say that one can get by (or at least "do well") in Brazil with just Spanish. I encountered many language difficulties and communication problems/break downs during my trip.

The last experience which "sealed the deal" for the trip was just hanging out with some dudes in Rio. At my hostel in Rio, I met up with a guy from Argentina named Pedro, and we went out in Santa Teresa, which required taking a 30 minute bus across town. We walked around this big outdoor party scene, which included people from all races and socioeconomic backgrounds, I noticed. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, too. The following day, me and Pedro went to Zig Zag to watch the UEFA Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchested United. Alex later met up with us, and we befriended two old guys, one from England the other from Scotland. The Scottish man was quite friendly, but the English gentleman was surely trying to get on my nerves from the very beginning. I was generally in a positive mood, so it didn't affect me at first, up until he stared me straight in the face and said, "Your country is C-rrrrrrrrrrr-ap!" His theory was that the U.S. is founded on "crap" because the North didn't let the South secede from the Union. I listened to him well, respected his opinion, but he certainly had no time to listen to anything that I said -- which was fine, he's older and was just being a total dick.

So anyway, after that whole ordeal, me, Pedro, and Alex went out on the town, first starting at some small, artsy, electronica concert in Ipanema, then after a few drinks at Alex's place we headed out to Leblon, which is a high-class night spot. We just sat at some Pizzeria throughout the night and admired all of the attractive people passing. I would definitely say that Brazil has the most attractive people in the whole world - by far and away they beat the countries in Central America, and I would ever say they beat the U.S.

After Alex gave us both a lesson on how to be confident with women, and that most of flirtation is "non-verbal," like body posture, eye contact, and such, I met another group of people and stayed out until the sun rose. I then left on my own at 6am and hopped on a city bus loaded with people commuting to work. The bus was jam packed, and I think I was the only one on it who had just finished a night of partying in Rio. I don't know what all those people thought of me, but in my drunken stupor I looked out across the bus at all of them, and just smiled in their direction.

Brazil was fun, eye opening, at times stressful, a learning experience, and an exploration of the positive and negative aspects of its culture. I would now say that the people are generally friendly, but there exists a history, colonial and modern, which still pervades the society because of its clear dichotomy between the rich and poor (e.g. favelas). More so than the poverty is the gang violence and drug trafficking. After coming back home and watching "City of God" (Cidade do Dios), I understand a little more about why the people loath favela life but at the same time enjoy hanging out at the beach.