There are a decent number of expat blogs on Brazil although I have
yet to find any from the South of Brazil specifically Parana, Santa Caterina,
and Rio Grande De Sul. I think it’s because there is less
migration from the South of Brazil to the US so less marriages and
moving. My husband believes this is because the South
of Brazil has a better standard of living so most
people don't feel the need to escape their situation.
Finding these other blogs was great for someone like me
who really needed to understand what I was
getting myself into. I remember when I find out I was moving
there I was so happy to find these few blogs. They have helped me so
much. I like hearing about people's experiences in life.
BUT with some of the blogs when you find out their back story you
feel kind of gypped. In my opinion their experiences are not 100%
authentic.
What I mean is this special set of expat bloggers are
only staying in Brazil for a short period of time. Its starts out
with these expats living a comfortable 1st world life in the US that
they never intend on downgrading. Usually the husbands company has an
international division that decides they need someone in Brazil to expand the
business. The company offers what is basically and all-expense
paid extended vacation to the family. The company
pays for everything and helps with the relocation. It’s always a major
city such as Rio De Janeiro or Sao Paulo. They pay for the shipping of
their household goods, pay for their insurance (the good insurance) and its
private so they can go to the best expat hospitals; the company gives them an
allowance per month for housing, sometimes they get a company car, and
other miscellaneous allowances. They get all the benefits of
their US company helping to guide them through this maze of
foreign exchanges. Then upon arrival they (usually the wife) set up
a blog and talk about the trials and tribulations of living abroad.
They act as if they are living in the real Brazil. When I
find out their backstory I always feel disappointed. I feel gypped.
How can you really be experiencing what it’s like to live in
Brazil if you are on basically what I perceive to be an extended vacation?
These job assignments are almost always a couple of years so they
know when they are leaving before they touch down on the tarmac. To me that’s a wee
bit of cheating, you’re not dealing with the reality I live in Brazil. Its a company sponsored field trip. You get to experience
the best that Brazil has to offer.
Brazil is not going to become your reality and if you asked most
of them they don't want Brazil to be their reality. Isn't that an easier
way of handling cultural and economic differences? How would these attitudes change if the person had to live there
permanently or indefinitely? In other words your not their for research, not there
to pump up there resume's with glamorous foreign language
and job experience, not there for backpacking and photography, not
there for school, but really there to live. Because maybe you’re married
to a Brazilian man/woman who can't stay in the US or your husband/wife
really wants to move home. When you marry a foreigner you're marrying
their country too, something I didn't realize at at the time.
On the flip side most Brazilians who get a visa to the US have to prove they have assets. The American consulate is not a benevolent master. You have to qualify for their lifestyle standards such as a good job in Brazil, a business, and a nice home something that will bring them back. That knocks out about 80% of the population. Ask any Brazilian of modest means visas to the US are hard to get. Americans don't realize how easy life is for them. Americans can basically go anywhere on the globe they want. Poor in Brazil means something totally different than poor in America. A lot of Brazilians live a really tough life. I know all this first hand because I have met the poor Brazilians from areas such as Mines Gerais, Sao Paulo, Rio, and Amazonas. A lot of them don't want to go back. There are simply no opportunities for decent employment. Most of them didn't even have cars before coming to the US, let alone laptops or IPhones.
I'm not trying to offend anyone I am just simply saying that I
think when it comes to real life. You have to really live it to give good
advice. I mean you can tell me how long the lines are and what it’s like
at the grocery store, how the food is. But you’re probably
going to be more positive about the experience because it’s an adventure for
you an exciting exotic long vacation.
Like my Brazilian husband says "my people go to your country
to wash toilets, wash dishes, pick fruit, and do hard labor; Your people
come to my country to do the coveted jobs, or set up businesses exploiting the
"best of my country." "These are things most
Brazilians don't get to experience Americans are spoiled you have the best
of both worlds, and sometimes it pisses me off."
And to this I say isn't that in typical colonial
fashion?
