13 Habits of Brazilians That Foreigners Usually Don’t Understand

Do you know where the word “gringo” comes from? Well, the way it came about is not very different from the word barbarian, which means that the term basically points to that or one that is foreign to a culture. And to be a stranger to a culture, it is enough to be outside of it, hey! If you’ve traveled abroad, or even to some of the most picturesque regions of Brazil, you’ve noticed that some customs can seem very strange to those who are not used to it. Have you ever stopped to think that gringos — those outside our culture — might find many of our habits and customs strange?

That’s exactly what the awesome.club will show you now: 13 things we are used to and that many foreigners find very strange. Remember: it’s not about right or wrong, just some characteristics that differentiate Brazilians from gringos.

It’s not news to anyone that our coffee is a national passion, but sometimes a culture shock can cause tremendous confusion! On August 7, 2016, sports reporter Scott Stinson tweeted a “complaint” about our traditional coffee cups. It was the coffee distributed at the media center covering the Olympics here in Brazil.

Many people had already complained about the supposed miserê of the “dose”, but the gringos did not realize that Brazilian coffee is much more concentrated than in most parts of the world. As people from the northern hemisphere are more used to drinking large cups of coffee, our small, but strong, coffee ended up causing a lot of strangeness.

Also in 2016, during the Olympics, many international vehicles were amazed when they saw men on our beaches wearing swimming trunks. The Wall Street Journal even did a report on this habit so… daring! Outside, swim trunks are mostly used by competitors, professional swimmers looking for high performance in the water. For gringos, it’s strange to wear such a tiny piece on the beach or walking around.

Bikinis have also not escaped international criticism. Although they exist in other countries, here they leave a lot on display, according to what they evaluate. They even speculate that heat and indigenous influence are explanations for our habits. What a pale-faced thing, huh?

Sunbathing on the slab, on the beach or even at the aesthetic clinic is certainly a custom practiced by Brazilians from the most different classes. And, for many people, showing off the bikini mark resulting from this is synonymous with sensuality. In fact, there are those who, even resorting to the aesthetic clinic, use tape or something similar precisely to replicate the marks, making them even more accentuated. Who doesn’t remember Anitta’s bikini in the video “Vai, Malandra”?

Fact is that many gringos find this very strange. Like Europeans, who are not only in the habit of going topless, but also enjoying the beach as they came into the world! Interesting, however, that even among Brazilian women, this custom of showing little mark is no longer unanimous. What do you think?

The world knows that the Brazilian people are warm. We are very fond of touching each other when greeting each other and kisses and hugs are distributed with an ease that, let’s face it, does not always reflect the degree of intimacy we have with the person. This is part of our culture, even if not everyone is used to the practice. After all, there are many types of greetings and many reasons to use them. Abroad, however, too much proximity can even cause embarrassment.

Americans, for example, avoid more intimate touches for fear of misinterpretation. That’s why the good old-fashioned handshake is the “safest” greeting in the US. The Japanese are even more reserved, so bowing — or ojigi — is their most traditional form of greeting. Sometimes, in the face of a diverse culture, you have to bow to its habits, don’t you?

Let’s face it: sharing food isn’t that easy, especially when someone puts their hand (or fork) on our plate without asking permission — even if it’s your sweetheart! The fact is that the act messes with our instincts, so it’s natural a reaction of displeasure from those who have their food “stolen”. It is different, however, when we take the initiative to offer what we are eating, even something that is in our hands. Or when we give permission to touch our “cheese”. The attitude becomes a manifestation of intimacy.

What the gringos find strange is that, in these situations, we agree to share everything. A nibble on the cookie, a lick on the ice cream, a sip from the glass of juice, using the same straw! It is when you enter this maximum degree of “sharing” that many turn up their noses. But does it even keep its mouth open? Then, it’s good to be careful, otherwise we end up putting food in it…

There’s nothing more refreshing and “refreshing” than a nice cold drink on a hot day, right? Wrong. It is clear that a cold liquid feels pleasant on a hot day, but in practical terms, it does not really help to cool the body. And it can get worse: if you’ve put your favorite beverage in the freezer, to let it crack before drinking, chances are that much of its flavor will be lost. The papillae on our tongue — responsible for taste — can be inhibited by very low temperatures. “Stupidly” cold, eh? So it is…

Especially in European countries, drinks are not served very cold. It is common even to be at room temperature. Yes, in a tropical country, with places that reach 40°C, it’s hard to imagine that. The issue, however, is exaggeration. In many places, 10 or 12°C is room temperature and people chill drinks below 0°C. In the end, we just anesthetized our “tongue”. So, raising the temperature of the drink a little can be a “question of good taste”?

Eating rice and beans every day is a typical Brazilian habit. In fact, even those who are dieting should not avoid it, keeping it sparingly, at least once a day. It is a powerful combination and very balanced in nutritional terms, but obviously, like all exaggeration, it ends up turning what is ideal into a problem reflected in the balance. Parsimony is the key, remember? But then, if the combination is so good, why do gringos find it strange?

The strangeness comes from repetition, not combination. For most gringos, eating the same thing every day is very strange. The most common is to vary the menu, even though in many cultures some type of ingredient ends up being the basis of food. Just think about when you go to a typical foreign food restaurant. But is this habit of rice and beans here, in Brazil, universal? Prevailing, certainly. But what about you, do you eat rice and beans every day?

Maybe this is one of the secrets to eating rice and beans every day! Cassava flour, or farofa, for those intimate, is almost a wild card in our cuisine. You can combine with a multitude of foods and there are still those who make versions in which the farofa itself becomes the main course. For us this is all very natural, but many foreigners tend to find this wonder strange. Whether by appearance or by the texture felt when eating, some even say that our farofa looks like sand! But in general it’s just an initial estrangement.

Unlike many dishes we are used to, farofa is an inheritance from the Tupi-Guarani people from a pre-colonial period. Even though it became popular with the Portuguese who colonized us, it is not a “common” food in the rest of the world. How unlucky for them, no?

Someone remembers Chef yelling — “Attention, it’s time to starve. It’s on the table, folks!” — at the end of TV Colosso? Always at the same time. Always at noon, right? Of course, in today’s busy life, we can’t consider that we have an official or “standard” lunch time, but everyone agrees that noon is already lunch time. So much so that if you look for a restaurant, at that time it will certainly be open and ready to serve lunch. Sometimes even just before that.

This is not a rule, even if having lunch at noon is not absurd in other places. But, in some, this time is still time to end breakfast. If you decide to travel to Spain, for example, be careful. In some areas, don’t expect to find restaurants serving lunch before 2pm! At noon the habit is to have a snack to prepare for lunch. Open your appetite, will it? Or the secret is not to eat hungry? Jeez, are you hungry?

Tell the truth: how many times have you made an appointment earlier than you intended just to increase the chances of people arriving at the planned time? How many times have you waited for a medical appointment by appointment that started too late? How many times have you arrived at the meeting room at the last minute and still found it empty? How many times have you answered “I’m leaving” and you were still getting in the shower?

Let’s admit, Brazilians are no example of punctuality and on top of that they are very condescending with those who are late. A study has already been done on this that became a question in the Enem! For Americans, for example, this is all nonsense. They really take the “time is money” maxim seriously. And if it is true, we are a really indebted people!

There is no consensus on the exact origin of pizza, but everything indicates that it evolved through different cultures of antiquity. It started out as something very similar to a flatbread and over time it gained ingredients. The Italians gave it a more contemporary form, adding tomato sauce and cheese. From there, pizza gained worldwide fame and arrived in Brazil. And then the Brazilians… Well, Brazilians have no limits! If you have the courage to say that you’ve eaten every flavor of pizza there is, it’s because you’re a gringo, you can’t. Any Brazilian knows that sooner or later they can find an unprecedented pizza flavor.

But this is not necessarily a positive. Inventions often end up de-characterizing the dish. The most classic type of pizza is the Neapolitan, which follows the basic composition: dough, tomato sauce and cheese. For many foreigners, anything that strays far from this is quite strange. And for you, is it worth even pudding in the middle of pizza or does everything have a limit?

Vanity is a strong characteristic in Brazilians, and this has even appeared in research that…