Who is Brazil?

I am lucky enough to have had the opportunity to travel to multiple countries in Latin America, and I have certainly fallen in love with the region as a result.  This past month has marked my first time in Brazil, but because of my previous experience in Latin America, I sort of felt before coming as if I already knew the answer to the question, “Who is Brazil?”  I have spent only a month in Brazil with somewhat limited cultural exposure, so I will attempt to answer that question while understanding that there is a whole lot that I still do not know much about when it comes to Brazilian culture and identity.

Much of my answer has to do with the same stereotypes as those outlined in this essay prompt: that Brazilians have in fact, proven to generally be very nice, welcoming and generous people.  I can think of countless examples of people the group encountered in the past month who were friendly and openhearted to an incredible degree.  For example, it was Tiago and Vanessa’s job to be our guides throughout our time in Sao Paulo and Curitiba, but they were certainly not required to open up to us the way they did, invite us out with them at night, or give us so many personal recommendations for places to go or things to do.  They definitely went above and beyond their normal duties, as did our teacher Thomas, who was more than happy to share his love of Brazilian music with the group outside of class.

On top of our wonderful guides, I continued to meet other amazingly nice people along the way.  Just this past week in Curitiba, I met a family at the futebol game between Coritiba FC and Flamengo who seemed genuinely thrilled to see Americans taking an interest in their team.  They helped me learn the words to the chants and songs of the rest of the fans so that our group could participate more fully in the action.  I was very thankful for their help, but what stood out to me was how helping me out made them so happy.

A few days later, when the group traveled to Morretes, I had another similar encounter.  While wandering through the streets of the historic town, Evan, Saule and I stumbled upon a restaurant situated in a beautiful spot next to the Nhundiaquara River.  We went over to check out the view and were immediately greeted by a man who worked at the restaurant who introduced himself to us as Leandro.  Leandro bent over backwards to make us feel at home, offering us free drinks, encouraging us to take as many photos as we wanted and even putting up hammocks for us to relax in.  He was so incredibly nice that I felt obligated to ask him if he had any bottles of cachaça for sale, just so I could support his business somehow (the group was leaving soon so there was no time to sit and eat at the restaurant).  It turned out there were no bottles for sale, but Leandro didn’t mind one bit, seemed perfectly content to see us enjoying his place, with or without any financial reward for his business.  Our enjoyment was good enough for him.  As we were leaving the restaurant, we ran into the owner of the building, a man named Luis Antonio.  Luis Antonio was thrilled to see us admiring his property, especially the beautiful tree sprouting up from the center of it.  He couldn’t wait to share everything he knew about Morretes and about his property, and our interest in what he had to say seemed like a real delight to him. 

Other examples of Brazilians’ generosity and welcoming nature were plentiful throughout our time here, including Victor the hostel bartender who was always happy to see the group and more than willing to point us in the right direction when we wanted to go out at night, the waiter at the burger place down the street who was always thrilled to see us, and many other good souls encountered during our stay. 

I somewhat expected this type of treatment because I had somewhat similar experiences when I traveled to Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Ecuador.  Friendliness had always seemed to me like a hallmark of Latin American culture, and Brazil has proven to be no different.  It felt especially unsurprising after Thomas taught our group about the concept of the Brazilian “cordial man,” whose fundamental tenets could be observed over and over again in the people who seemed to work so hard to have positive interactions with the group. 

However, the treatment I’ve received has been particularly interesting this time around, given the current state of the world.  From terrorist attacks across the world to conflicts with the police, these are contentious times.  This has been especially evident during the presidential election cycle in the United States, where a lot of xenophobic rhetoric has come to the surface.  Latin American people have become the target of a lot of the cacophony emanating from the United States at the moment.  It would therefore be understandable for Brazilians to be somewhat wary of Americans coming to visit their country.  My stories and experiences have shown their attitudes to be quite the opposite of wary. 

Perhaps much of the treatment I encountered can be chalked up to Brazilians’ long-standing adherence to the way of the cordial man, but it is also very admirable.  All the friendliness certainly made me feel good and made me want to strive to be the nicest person I could be.  I suppose in answering “who is Brazil,” I would say that Brazil is someone I want to be.