(… but I suppose that depends from where you’re looking)
By Alex Kirsch.
1. “God is Brazilian”
The Brazilians claim that “Deus e Brasileiro”, and that says it all because no other place is as beautiful and paradise-like than Brazil. Fair point – there are more beautiful beaches, landscapes, cities, rainforests and so on than anywhere else on this planet, and the Brazilians are mighty proud of this. The all year long summer sunshine not least underlines this statement even more. Is there any better place to be?
2. The economic rise to power
Brazil is one of the newly emerging global power houses, together with China, India and Russia. Mainly due to the Chinese hunger for Brazilian iron ore, it has created a vast demand for relatively cheap exports to other parts of the world, a fairly stable currency (compared to other South American countries) and the creation of huge wealth amongst the Brazilian elite. However, this increase has not been proportionate across all of the population, and social divides are unfortunately not getting any lesser.
3. Political stability
In common with many other South American countries, Brazil has seen decades of dictatorships, military regimes and corrupt politicians. Since the more recent presidency of Ignacio “Lula” da Silva, and his successor Dilma Rousseff – the current president and first female post holder of the country – there has been a time of relative calm. This may well be due to the fact that Lula & Dilma follow a rather central-left course, in contrast to the far more radical neo-marxist policies of neighbouring countries such as Venezuela and Bolivia, and without the raging, never ending civil war which we still see in Colombia between left-wing Guerrillas and a pro-American government. Brazil for sure has internationally far more friends than foes, and no doubt this will reflect positively on the country’s global reputation. Internally, however, there have been recent unrests, and it remains to be seen how the situation may develop in the future.
4. Good food and a healthy lifestyle
Brazilians eat a lot. Certainly the wealthy and the middle classes, but to a certain extent also the poorer, albeit less quality may be, but certainly some quantity. But Brazilian food and drink are delicious, natural and also very nutritional – barely a surprise given the vast resources in plant and animal contributors to their staple menu. Luckily Brazilians also exercise: there is no urban beach front which is not populated with joggers, cyclists, in-line skaters, five-a-side footballers (beach style, of course) and beach volleyballers, from dusk to dawn. But sadly, obesity rates are now on the up, caused by the increasing popularity of McDonald’s & co, especially amongst the younger population.
5. The world’s best Carnival!
Yes, there are also Notting Hill, New Orleans or Trinidad (sorry if I’ve forgotten anyone), but who can beat the few days of “loucura” (literally: “craziness”) each year, when the whole country comes to a standstill and all eyes are focused on the absolute hot spots of the Brazilian carnival: Olinda and Salvador in the North
East, with their distinctive local practises, and most famously, the parade of the Samba Schools in Rio de Janeiro. Those events are televised day and night, and preparations for the parades take up most of the year, bringing together whole communities, mainly from the “favelas”, Rio’s sprawling shanty towns. The winner of each year’s parade will be as celebrated as, let’s say, the winner of the Champions League in European football. Only that the Sambadrome is by far more colourful …
6. A mix of all races and colours
Modern day Brazil had been inhabited by indigenous peoples for a long time, before in the 15th century the Europeans arrived. First the Portuguese, then followed the Dutch, later came more Japanese, Italian and German immigrants. In the meantime, African slaves were “imported” as anywhere else in the Americas, to provide free labour on plantations and in mines. After slavery was abolished in 1888, most remained and joined happily the melting pot of races the country had become. This distinguished Brazil from their other South American peers, where the mixture of ethnic origins seems far lower, and gives Brazil as much of a unique status as does its national language, Portuguese. This accidentally goes back to a whim between the kings of Portugal and Spain, who in the days of the conquest drew a line across the South American map, separating Portuguese speaking Brazil from the Spanish speaking rest of the continent.
7. A nation of unrivalled football players
Every Brazilian loves football, and it’s played anywhere in the country, from beaches to cobbled streets until the remotest indigenous reservations amidst the Amazon rain forest. No wonder Brazil has produced some of the most unforgettable players: Garrincha, Pelé, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and – who knows – maybe even Neymar. And to top this, they’ll get to host the FIFA World Cup in 2014. Who could ask for more?
8. Bossa Nova
Brazil has the Samba (and the Forro, Frevo, Choro, to name a few more), whilst North America has the Jazz. And what did a group of “Carioca” (people from Rio) Bohemians decide to do in the 1960ies? That’s right, they blended the two styles together into one tropical rhythm! The result was this highly sophisticated, exotically swinging sound, mostly recognisable in world hits such as “The Girl From Ipanema”. And be aware, this is indeed the name given to the bar in Rio’s Ipanema district where composer Jobim and his poet De Moraes hung out daily to watch the real girl from Ipanema passing. Worth a visit even today!
9. Friendly people
Although ordinary Brazilians have as much, if not more, of a struggle to cope with every day’s life than anywhere else, they will always great the stranger with a smile. Of course, they will slap their thighs when a “Gringo” stares open-eyed and with gaping mouth at the beauties of their country, but they will never fail to introduce their culture to the visitor, no matter how little time there is to do so. The author will never forget how – on one of his first visits to Rio – he was introduced to samba dancing in a tiny “botequim” (bar) in the downtown district by total strangers, sharing local beer and “cachaca” liquor in generous quantities. Luckily, this was before mobile phones had cameras …
10. Fashion and style
As we said before, there are Brazilians of great wealth and Brazilians who live in great poverty. But there are no Brazilians who are badly dressed, badly groomed or of otherwise displeasing display. This is because the people’s sense for fashion and style is unparallelled. The combination of colours and shapes, the integration of their natural resources and inspirations, and overall, the pure joy of Brazilians – males as much as females- to show the world how to dress to impress, leaves me without words to describe it. Just look at the people – there is no other way to say but: “Deus e Brasileiro”!
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