Hello List

[bigbdm4]

I just wanted to say hi, I have to leave in about three minutes to pick up my beautiful Brazilian wife, C, from work and drop her off at the local community college.  We have a wonderful life together, almost fifteen years of marriage.

We are Brazilians.  God is Brazilian and Brazilians rule the world with such finesse that nobody realizes who is pulling the strings except the Portuguese, the problem with the Portuguese is that they don't know which way is up, and keep pointing down when refering to Brazil.  

Please watch for my new movie, called "Fire and Passion", about a Brazilian girl who walks all the way to Texas to find her soul mate.  It's a true story.  

Obrigado

Big B

[DallasSteve2]

... in response to Hello List, posted by bigbdm4 on Oct 7, 2003

At least that's what Big B told us on LWL.  So that begs the question "Why talk about Brazil on the Latin board?"

Steve

[bigbdm4]

... in response to Brazilians aren't Latin, posted by DallasSteve2 on Oct 7, 2003

Thanks for remembering me, and my position regarding the true nature and culture of Brazil, and Brazilians.  As somebody mentioned, that is ancient history on the Latin Women List, I am happy that just my saying hello got such a lively response.

More about Brazil.  As at least one person on this list seems to know, I am in the loop when it comes to what's happening regarding Brazilian events, dances, festivals, stuff like that, and I am willing to share with this list.

First of all, go to:

http://www.pelourinho.com/

It's a great portal.  Over on the right is "Humor".  Great jokes!  For example, why do they have interstate highways in Hawaii?  Why do they have brail dots on the drive up ATM's?  

And second of all, send me a message and I will reply with the URL's for the latest events.  There are a lot of Brazilians in the USA.  Maybe you noticed?

Please don't beg, it's unbecoming.  Besides, if you have to ask why Brazil is not Latin, don't ask.  For whom does that bell toll?  

Big B

[CaliAdvisor]

... in response to Re: Brazilians aren't Latin, posted by bigbdm4 on Oct 7, 2003

Interesting site. I agree with you, Brasil is definetly the bomb. Paradise on earth. About the events listed on your sight, do you actually find many Brasilians in attendence or mostly just americans interested in Brasilan culture? You see, from what I have been told and seen in New York, the Brasilian community is not very active and they dont really joing together as much as say the Colombians because hte Brasilians are not actually planning on staying in the USA. They just want to earn some money and then get the hell out. Who could blame them when they have Brasil to go back to. Any thoughts?

[bigbdm4]

... in response to Re: Re: Brazilians aren't Latin, posted by CaliAdvisor on Oct 8, 2003

Hello all.  A very important part of Brazilian culture is who you know, nothing happens unless you know somebody on the inside.  You are not going to get anywhere if you just walk up to the counter and plunk your money down.  They have an interesting idiom, "The game of the belt", which means diplomacy and negotiating as a part of every deal, big or small.  And you need to understand that about ten percent of the people have about ninety percent of all the money, most of the economy and government is run by just a few families, it's been like that for the last five hundred years and although a former shoe-shine boy is now the president, things are not likely to change any time soon in Brazil.

So to answer the question, the event depends on who is on the inside, who is promoting it.  In Los Angeles where we live, "Brazilian Nites" events are attended by mostly Brazilians because the woman who is the owner is Brazilian.

http://braziliannites.com/

We get TV Globo on the satellite and we see events promoted in New Jersey a lot and attended my mostly Brazilians.  Those events are promoted by a Brazilian company.  If you are interested in Brazilian TV:

http://www.dishnetwork.com/

If you are interested in Brazilians in New York there are many URL's, here is a good one:

http://www.zonalatina.com/Zldata132.htm

On the other hand, if Americans promote an event the Brazilians are pretty much absent, except for the mixed couples.  One thing is for sure, the Brazilians are party animals!  I have never seen any nationality, or nation, party like they do in Brazil.  They even party naked when the weather gets hot.  You have to see it for yourself to believe it.

It's true that Brazilians don't hang together in the USA like others.  My opinion is that the reason people hang together when they come here is for help and protection.  Brazilians know that they are safer here than at home regarding street crime and so they don't feel any need to band together, they learn English pretty quickly because in Brazil a secretary who speaks English commands a bigger salary than a lawyer or engineer.

And a crummy job here pays more than a great job in Brazil.  You can buy a nice apartment on the beach in Santos for twenty thousand US dollars.  So yeah, they come here, work a few years, then take the money and buy a nice place in Brazil and retire.  We plan to do that, too.  But a lot of them end up staying, too.  At least in Los Angeles they do, they like the climate, and that's why I live here.  I love New York... when it's not too hot or too cold.

Thanks

Big B

[lswote]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Brazilians aren't Latin, posted by bigbdm4 on Oct 8, 2003

Got to say that my experience with Brazilian's is 180 degrees from yours.  I work for a worldwide company and when employees from Brazil come to our site for extended periods of training (6 months to a year) they invariably hang out with just other Brazilians and no one else.  We have a lot of employees from India, Israel and China that come here also and they do the same thing, so it is not isolated to Brazil, but I haven't found what you said to be true at all.  Actually when I think about it, the Indian and Israeli employees make a pretty good effort to assimilate, going out to lunch with other employees and occassionally even socializing outside of work, but the employees from Brazil and China keep to themselves.

[bigbdm4]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Brazilians aren't Latin, posted by lswote on Oct 8, 2003

Hi hi hi.  That's interesting.  I guess you are talking about an educational environment.  I was talking about renting an apartment in New York or Los Angeles, or the usual for Brazilians, domestic work in New Jersey, where they commonly live in, but also live out.  Sure, a school scene is going to be 180 degrees from a living situation.  Students always chit-chat with other students from their country.  Especially Brazilians because gossiping is considered an important skill, and practiced, I love watching the soap operas on TV Globo.  They have gossiping down to a fine art.  They call it... there is no translation, so here it is in Portuguese: "tin-tin por tin-tin".  Tin-tin is the sound of the glasses when you make a toast and touch glasses.  Basically it means every tiny detail must be expounded upon.  

I think that the Chinese stick together for a much different reason, like the Koreans and the Japanese.  The Asians are different altogather.  The Thai and Burmese like to assimilate, so do the few Molgoians that I know, but they were young men who were engineers, and eager to encounter Americans.

I don't think the Brazilians are going to stick together after they leave the school.  But I do think that the others are going to, at least, more than the Brazilians, especially if they stay for a long time, like six months.  Have you noticed anything about that?  Just curious.

There is an interesting URL about cultures and business:

http://www.executiveplanet.com

It tells the cultures a lot.  They have really grown in the past few years.  I like the new look of the web site.  Check it out.

I notice the Asian students shopping in the supermarket together, as a group, I notice the Brazilian student shopping alone.    

Big B

[Cali vet]

... in response to Re: Brazilians aren't Latin, posted by bigbdm4 on Oct 7, 2003

Isn't all of Brazil like "City of God" with children killing each other in the streets?

[bigbdm4]

... in response to Ciudad De Dios, posted by Cali vet on Oct 8, 2003

Hi from out there and gone, beyond the edge!  I am very happy somebody posted about "Cidade de Deus" (not ciudad de dios, can we please speak the correct language?).  We had the pleasure of going to the AFI film festival here in Hollywood and enjoyed very much meeting the directors and producers and staff who made that movie.  Nice Brazilians, well spoken English, very down to earth people, humble and it was obvious that the story told in the movie was special.  Brazilians watching the film had no idea of what was happening in their own city of marvels.  My favorite part?  When the woman asked the kid with the camera if he would like to take a shower.  He had never taken a shower before in all of his life.  That's the way it is in the city of God, the poorest slum in Rio de Janeiro.  Btw, the same producers and directors made another film, less violent, called "City of Life".  

Isn't all of Brazil like that?  Of course, (NOT), and so is the USA, but with more finesse, they aren't kids who are doing it here, and they don't use guns to do it, that task is left to the faithful soldiers, they use laws that they make, and who among us is to judge which is worse?  Want an example?  OK, why is there a Hooters bar in Santa Monica?  Why are they fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, Cosovo, and so many other places?  Why do we need to be afraid of terrorists?  We know now who they are, their tactics, why the fear factor, induced by constant indoctronation?  Need I go on?  Perhaps you get my drift?  I hope so.  No?  Let me spell it out.  People in power do whatever they want, and stay in power however they can.  Is that simple enough?  Make me afraid and I will do whatever you say.  Did you hear that the sky is falling?  

Mercy ending now.  Brazil is a paradise if you see the cup that is half full, and like it says in the Bible, the devil rules the earth if you believe the cup is half empty.  Finally, I don't think you fully understood the movie, because it wasn't about the violence at all.

Big B

[luvslife]

... in response to Re: Ciudad De Dios, posted by bigbdm4 on Oct 8, 2003

Mr. Big B,
An opinion is not truth.  Too little knowledge on a wide variety of things can be dangerous in any language or country.  Only a fool speaks as an authority on things he or she don't understand.  I am sure that this is not the case here however, you make alot of assertions that really show that you don't know as much about the U.S. you think. We all understand what our personal filter will allow us to understand.  Help me to understand.  Why is there a Hooters in Santa Monica?  Was there fighting in any of the places that you mention prior to the U.S. involvement?  Must you believe that Brazil is a paradise to see the glass as half full?  Lastly, where in the bible does it say "the devil rules the earth"?  I'm just curious.

[Cali vet]

... in response to Re: Ciudad De Dios, posted by bigbdm4 on Oct 8, 2003

Understand the movie? How could I it was in some wierdo foreign language. The poor kids couldn't even speak English! Did you know they are fighting to open Hooters bars in Iraq, Afganistan and Cosovo and so many other places? "...never taken a shower...way it is in the city of God" Are you saying there are no showers in Heaven? You need to clarify that part about the Devil being in his cups. That was pretty opaque.

[bigbdm4]

... in response to Re: Re: Ciudad De Dios, posted by Cali vet on Oct 9, 2003

Hello all.  I am very happy to talk about this movie, but sorry to hear that somebody didn't understand it.  It's such a pity to not understand a movie.  I recommend that the movie be screened again, and screened enough times to obtain full understanding.  The movie did have subtitles, btw.  Of course, that would require being able to read the English, and watching the images at the same time.  

It would have communicated the way they live in that slum.  It was submitted for the Oscar.  If you have never seen it, you are missing a great movie, it became a classic as soon as it was released.  City of God is the name of a slum, the worst slum, in Rio de Janeiro.  Like Watts in Los Angeles, or some other equally terrible slum.  

I had to laugh at the posting.  And no, I had no idea Hooters had plans for Iraq, maybe that's because so many of our people are there?  Or maybe I had no idea because I don't invest my money in Hooters.  If I were a share holder, I would be able to tell you exactly where I put money to work.  Is there a Hooters on Pennsylvania Avenue?  How far from 1600?

No, they don't have running water in the slums.  And only a few houses have electricty, the wires are usually a jury rig affair of attaching wires to the official lines like pirates, then running these wires helter skelter, very dangerous.  Big trucks drive down the unpaved streets selling metal bottles of natural gas, like you commonly see on campers.  The stoves in the homes run on these bottles.  One bottle can last a few weeks or a few months, depending on how many people in the home.

Finally, I will just say that if somebody got nothing more than the violence from the movie which somebody described as impossible to understand because the language of Brazil is wierd, then I say that you are wasting your time every time you even think about Brazil.  I recommend the Ozarks.  White lighting, Abner!

Thanks

Big B

[John O]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Ciudad De Dios, posted by bigbdm4 on Oct 10, 2003

From your description of the Rio favelas, I would say that they are far worse to live in than Watts.

[Cali vet]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Ciudad De Dios, posted by bigbdm4 on Oct 10, 2003

Clearly you are a great admirer of James Joyce and the literary device of focussing on stream of consciousness and word play to the exclusion of narrative.

[chizz]

... in response to Brazilians aren't Latin, posted by DallasSteve2 on Oct 7, 2003

It wasn't a comparison, just trying to make a point. i appreciate the info guys. thanks
Bryan