Gay Pride vs "Straight Pride" in São Paulo

The poor oppressed straight people in São Paulo are asking for a little relief. They want some time to stand in solidarity against the horribly oppressive (and supposedly powerful) LGBT lobby. They have been fighting for a so-called “Straight Pride” day. Poor things.

Like so many other indignant bigots, they want to change the subject from common-place violence against LGBT folks (which is at record levels in Brazil) to the terrible inconvenience of actually discussing diversity and tolerance in a civil society. They are so unhappy about having their “freedom” to impose their ignorance and blatant discrimination (often coded into law) over LGBT folks limited that they are taking to the streets.

And the São Paulo government has just co-signed their tirade, issuing a permit for the “parade”.

The good news is that the LGBT pride parade in São Paulo is the largest in the world, attracting something like 3 million participants every year. I’m pretty confident that, in spite of the news coverage, this effort by small-minded straight folks will not get much traction (even though the so-called Evangelicals are the fastest growing organized religious dogma in the country).

On the flip side - don’t forget that the Niterói Gay Pride March is August 21st and the Rio Dyke March is Sunday, August 28th.

History tells us that justice and freedom will win in the end. I just hope I get to see it. It is tiring to be always pushing back against the bigoted majority…

Keeping things real in the USA

Even though I maintain a blog in Brazil, I keep an eye (albeit wearied) on the politics in the USA. In that regard, let’s take a look at the lie that is the Republican’s idea that they are economic conservatives and Democrats are the party of spending. (Barf.)

Just a simple graphic reminder.

 The Conservatives/Republicans have a communication machine that feeds ideas into the general public’s mind – but they are lying, based on the facts.
My cardiologist is so happy I live here. If I had to confront this felony of truth and/or stupidity on the TV every day – I would not be as tranquil as I insist on being…

Good luck my US American friends (and I also vote).

What if you could turn off the TV in a restaurant?

OMG -- Now you can!  I cannot tell you how many times I have been in restaurants or bars in country after country where the blaring TV is seen as a necessary addition to the ambiance.  URRGGGHHHH!!!

Luiz understands my aversion to this rediculous noise and always sits on the side of the table that faces the TV - so I can sit facing the other direction.

Check out this video that shows how to make it all go away.

Brazil top in recycling aluminum cans

It sounds like a good story, but wait…

We’ve all been there: you are enjoying a beer on the beach and a young boy or an elderly woman comes to your table and asks if they can have your empty beer can. Sometimes you are asked three times by three different people before you can even empty the can. Such is the trade in aluminum recycling.

At street fairs there are people dressed in rags crushing cans under their flip-flop-clad feet. It is impossible to walk the streets without seeing a person tipping open the trash containers strapped to light poles looking for discarded cans. People partying in the street don’t think twice about tossing their empty cans onto the ground because they are certain they will be picked up in only moments by a soggy poor soul dragging a large plastic bag filled with cans.

On one hand, being the country with the worldwide highest aluminum can recycling rate for the past nine years might be a good thing. But on the other it can be understood as a symptom of the intense poverty that affects so many families here.

In 2006, aluminum can recycling in the U.S. was only 52%. During the same year, it was 94.4% in Brazil. This comparison reports more than just an enthusiasm for recycling. Read more here.

President Dilma vs. President Obama

Making our way into 2011 I feel a huge gulf between US politics and Brazilian politics. 

My hopes for a strong policy turnaround in the United States have faded.  The obstructionism demonstrated by the obstinate, purely partisan and ethically challenged Republicans, combined with the run-from-their-shadow, strategy-less and forever politically calculating Democrats in Congress have made reading the morning news nearly intolerable.  I do, in fact, feel demoralized. 

Now here comes the emboldened Republicans with their whacko so-called Tea Partiers sure to begin anew with the fear mongering to repeal some of the little progress made.  Get ready for show trials on the taxpayers’ dime.

On the other hand Brazil has just sworn in its first female President who speaks in bold terms about assisting the poor, protecting the environment, and improving national services such as healthcare, education and domestic security. Nowhere in President Dilma’s inaugural address did she hint at tax cuts for the rich, executing wars, corporate welfare disguised as research and development assistance, or phony economic trickle down policies dressed up as  job creators.  Read her entire remarks here.

In fact, Dilma went out of her way to say that taking care of Brazil’s social commitments is expensive and the burden will be felt moving forward. (Duh!)

“It is [economic] growth, together with strong social programs, that will enable us to vanquish inequality in income and in regional development.”

“This involves high costs for the whole of society, but it also means that everyone is guaranteed a pension and universal health and education services.”

She reminded the titans of business that the national petroleum company, Petrobras, will remain guided by federal policies.  There was no talk of the wizardry of the private sector or the “logic” of lining the pockets of the rich so they can create jobs for the rest of us.

“The prime agent of [a modern policy of investing in research and innovation] was and is Petrobras, the historical symbol of Brazilian sovereignty in the production of energy and of petroleum.  My government will have the responsibility of transforming the enormous wealth from the Pre-Salt layer into a long-term savings account.”

Right on down the list Dilma spoke out for the neediest Brazilians.  There was no walking back campaign promises or gratuitously tossing conciliatory bone after bone to the opposition.

I did a few word searches on Dilma’s speech.  The results demonstrate the distance between what passes for liberal rhetoric in the USA and here in Brazil:

Woman – spoken 10 times

Poverty – spoken 9 times

Social – spoken 11 times

Health – spoken 9 times

Education – spoken 6 times

Commitment – spoken 7 times

Tax Cut – spoken zero times

I know, I know – this is just a speech.  Let’s see how it goes.  But you know what – I’ll bet a good sum that Dilma outperforms Obama in the toughness, fighting, and commitment categories.  Just sayin’.  (Sorry President Obama, I know you have done a lot, but nobody disappoints like a friend and ally.)

Eight years ago all my well-heeled Brazilian friends were decrying Lula’s election and warning that Brazil would go to hell in a hand basket due to his socialist policies.  (Cue the scary music.)

How did that work out?  (Text taken from here.)

Since his election in 2002 the middle class has grown by 29 million people (more than the population of Texas) creating a powerful new domestic consumer market. Another 20 million people — as many as in New York State— were pulled from poverty. The country that received a record $30 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund as it neared economic collapse in 2002 now lends money to the IMF, making up to $5 billion available for loans to other nations.

The value of Brazil's currency has more than doubled against the U.S. dollar. Inequality has been reduced, as the income of the poorest 10 percent of the population has grown five times faster than that of the richest 10 percent (emphasis added). Inflation has been tamed, unemployment is at a record low and illiteracy has dropped. By the time Brazil hosts the Olympics, it is forecast to be the globe's fifth-largest economy, surpassing Italy, Britain and France.

President Lula left office with an 87% approval rating.

Conventional wisdom is that President Dilma will in large part continue the policies established by President Lula, with some tweaking around the edges.

Give me Brazilian “socialist” presidents over US “liberal” ones any day.  While I lament the opportunities lost by President Obama I see in Dilma the fighter we have longed for.  It is my hope that Brazil will continue to economically outperform most countries in the world so that stubborn (and often intellectually dishonest) conservatives have an opportunity to see Social Democratic economic policies triumph.  (Not that they would ever acknowledge this reality.)

I hate cops who shoot gay people

There is an unstated rule over here at Qualidade de Vida: “Don’t go negative.” If people want to hear crappy things about Brazil, or Rio, or Brazilians – they can look elsewhere. There are WAY too many positive things going on in our lives to focus on the down side. Our glass is definitely half full.

(Here comes the exception.) But I want to comment on an incident of homophobic violence that happened right after the Gay Pride parade last Sunday. In general I don’t repeat news stories on the blog, but this one strikes a chord with me.

When the cops shoot gay people for no reason I make an exception to my rules.

In short, three military sergeants from Copacabana Fort were out “patrolling” (?) and came across two gay men in a park. They were not boyfriends or a hook up situation. Not that that should matter – you should see the public displays of affection by straight couples in Brazil. In this case we had two gay friends, in a park.

The armed military men began to harass the young guys (20s maybe) and demand documents, etc. Then they started with the homophobic insults and humiliation. Cops on kids. Nice. Then one of the brainiacs needed to make his homophobia known even more severely. He pulled his gun and shot one of the kids in the stomach. Two young guys in a park – one shot by a f**king a**hole in a military uniform.

The young man is ok. The bullet passed through his torso and missed all organs. He went to the hospital, then the police to report the incident. To their credit the military did a full investigation and brought the young man out to the fort to identify which men were involved in the incident. He identified the shooter and then after some questioning the guy confessed.

The military sergeant is spending some time in jail awaiting trial. Scumbag.

Unfortunately, there is an issue in Brazil with untrained military and police officers who live outside the rules. Don’t get me started. Glass half full…

But I had to smack down the authorities for their offense against my people.

Get your burrito plate for R$21

OK – so I am trying to not blow a gasket. Maybe I don’t understand. Perhaps I have it all wrong. Please – I hope I have it all wrong.

Many locals are subscribing to Peixe Urbano (no link, thank you very much!). It is an online super discount coupon service.

The “deal” of the day today in Rio is to offer a Mexican food dinner at a restaurant called MeXdilicía which includes one taco, one burrito and one enchilada. A combination plate. That’s the deal so put forth. The regular price is (sit down) R$42.50. [WTF!!] The super savings price (!?) is R$21.00 (remember: one taco, one burrito and one enchilada)

We’re talking about beans and rice. (If you are from the southwest of the US – the burrito on its own will insult your intelligence.) Trust me, if there is any meat (or other real substance) in any of this it will be an infinitesimal amount. Who makes up this stuff?  Oh – and just try a so-called margarita at a place like this. Enjoy your sour juice mix for R$12.

What a weird reality. The world of Mexican food here is elevated to chic cuisine, instead of the every-day food of regular folks. And what comes on your plate is still regular beans and rice… but much less than you remember. Who comes up with this pricing?

Please tell me I have it all wrong.

[I don’t usually do a rant but this got my goat.]

Get out the vote

Sorry for the political plug, but it looks to me like that light at the end of the tunnel there is actually the headlight of an oncoming train.  Don't be stupid America.

Don't panic people

Brazil just elected their first female president.  Dilma Rousseff is now reported to be the most powerful femal politician on the planet.  That sends shivers down some people's back.  It makes a lot of others very happy (apparently 56% of the people), and proud to be Brazilian.

For those who see the election as a lost opportunity to return Brazil to neoliberal rule, remember when Lula was elected and everyone thought the sky was going to fall?  How did that work out?  20 million Brazilians were lifted out of poverty and another 29 million joined the middle class over the past eight years.  Not bad for a radical leftist.

I know, I know, it's complicated.  Corruption.  I know. The PSDB (Social Democratic Party) is less corrupt... right.

Mostly it's complicated, not suited to blog posts.  But let me just say - relax.  Wait and see.  This story line turned out pretty well last time around.

Make an effort - VOTE on Tuesday

You remember this ad from the 2008 US elections. It still applies. It blows my mind that some folks think a return to Republican leadership is somehow a return to the good ol’ days. Hello!?



Sunday is Election Day here in Brazil to settle the presidential runoff between a politician who is center-left in his politics and a politician who is left-left in her politics.  (The latter is likely to win.)  Other issues aside, the choice is not all that different, policy-wise.

In the US, the Democratic politicians may suck at getting things accomplished, but the Republicans are down right dangerous. The choice could not be more dramatic.

Sigh. Train wreck. It’s gonna be a train wreck.

It totally gets better

Dan Savage is saving LGBT lives; plain and simple. If you have ever thought that one person could not make a difference, think again. I am referring to his recently launched “It gets better” YouTube video project that has exploded across the internet.

It’s rare that I repeat a topic or repost something. But some things just move me too much to stay quiet. Plus, I put all this effort into this blog so if I want to step up onto a soap box now and again – that’s my privilege. Right?

Anyway – I posted a while back about the “It gets better” project posting videos on YouTube targeting hopeful and reassuring personal messages to LGBT youth who are finding it so difficult to make it through another day of teasing, bullying and rejection that they are considering suicide.

I just checked in again with the project and was inspired by more videos. Hope and support are coming in from all corners. Congratulations Dan, you have quite literally changed the landscape for LGBT and questioning youth. Bravo.

If you have yet to link to this project on your Facebook or Orkut page, please do. It may save a life.

UPDATE: Looks who's joining the effort.  This makes me a proud voter for President Obama.  Thanks everyone who emailed me the link to this video within hours of it hitting the net.

For my US friends on Election Day in Brazil

Today, Sunday, is Election Day in Brazil (note to the United States: more people might actually cast ballots if you held elections on a day when not everyone has to work all day. Duh. - Oh, that’s right, the Republicans don’t want regular working folks to have the opportunity to vote.)

Anyway, while Brazilians are touching the voting machine screens for who they hope will be the lesser of the two evils in federal office races, my friends back in the States are grumbling about how disappointed they are in President Obama and how they might just sit this election out, come November.

Nobody can disappoint like a friend and ally (remember Bill Clinton?). But as pointed out in this clip, there is a big difference between a disappointing friend and a deadly enemy. Get over yourselves and get out and vote to keep the Democrats in office.

Don’t make me come up there and pull your ear!

For a little comic relief check out Bill Maher’s “New Rules” segment from a recent show where he channels President Obama’s alter ego “Barry Whitehouse.” (NSFW)

The "It Gets Better" project

My heart breaks telling stories like this one. But tell I must. How many of these reports must we read before we take action? This is from back in the good ol’ US of A. (There is a positive response in the end.)

I post this to encourage my friends (Brazilian or otherwise) to TALK with your family and friends and FORWARD a link to your young LGBT family members so this does not happen to other young people.

INDIANA TEEN COMMITS SUICIDE AFTER ANTI-GAY BULLYING AT SCHOOL

15-year-old Billy Lucas' suicide appears to have been inspired by anti-gay bullying at school.

"The 15-year-old never told anyone he was gay but students at Greensburg High School thought he was and so they picked on him.

'People would call him 'fag' and stuff like that, just make fun of him because he's different basically,' said student Dillen Swango.

Students said it was common knowledge that children bullied Billy and from what they said, it was getting worse. Last Thursday, Billy's mother found him dead inside their barn. He had hung himself.

Students said on that same day, some students told Billy to kill himself. 'They said stuff like 'you're like a piece of crap' and 'you don't deserve to live.' Different things like that. Talked about how he was gay or whatever,' said Swango."

"Friends of Lucas say that he had been tormented for years. 'Some people at school called him names,' Hughes said, saying most of those names questioned Lucas' sexual orientation, and that Lucas, for the most part, did little to defend himself. 'He would try to but people would just try to break him down with words and stuff and just pick on him,' Hughes said."

The creator of this project said:

"Billy Lucas was just 15 when he hanged himself in a barn on his grandmother's property. He reportedly endured intense bullying at the hands of his classmates—classmates who called him a fag and told him to kill himself. His mother found his body.... I wish I could have talked to this kid for five minutes. I wish I could have told Billy that it gets better. I wish I could have told him that, however bad things were, however isolated and alone he was, it gets better.

"But gay adults aren't allowed to talk to these kids. Schools and churches don't bring us in to talk to teenagers who are being bullied. Many of these kids have homophobic parents who believe that they can prevent their gay children from growing up to be gay—or from ever coming out—by depriving them of information, resources, and positive role models.

"Why are we waiting for permission to talk to these kids? We have the ability to talk directly to them right now. We don't have to wait for permission to let them know that it gets better. We can reach these kids."

OK – so to respond there is an amazing YouTube effort started by Dan Savage, the long-time sex advice columnist in Seattle, WA.

“It Gets Better”

Savage has encouraged everyone with an interest in intervening in the ongoing travesty that is bullying of LGBT kids in schools to post a brief video on YouTube reminding these kids that It Gets Better.

Take a look --- and pass this posts on to others in your network!







Link your young LGBT family and friends to the It Gets Better Project for words of hope and reassurance. It may save their life.

Sports and social clubs

One common feature on the sports and social landscape here in Rio/Niterói is the prevalence of private clubs. They come in every style (read: class) and vary in focus from yacht clubs to tennis clubs to clubs associated with Schools of Samba. There is even a sports club near our house sponsored by the city (so the rest of us can enjoy a swimming pool and a maintained futebol field).

I’ll admit right up front that my working class bullshit detector goes off when I hear about or visit private clubs in Rio, Niterói or other places. I can’t help it. Maybe it’s me, but there is often an air of “we are better than those poor people (read: brown people) who go to the beach and swim in that nasty water.” Ok, maybe I’m being too harsh. I don’t think so.

Stopping short of a complete generalization I want to be clear that there are clubs for everyone, but they are definitely stratified by class. But alas, so much is so in Brazilian society. What’s the big deal? If class stratification were restricted to social clubs, then not much. But I fear the clubs are more an outgrowth of the gaping separation of the haves and have-nots in Brazil and that they reinforce and normalize this gap.

Sports and social clubs definitely have their perks and advantages and many, many are not only for the rich. They may bring swimming options to those living far from the beach. The grounds are safe for kids to wander and play on their own. Food and drink can be cheaper than on the street (since your monthly dues subsidize the environment). They are certainly a place to find tennis partners or to socialize with people self-selected as like you. They can be a quiet respite from the cacophony of the surrounding neighborhood.

That is all very reasonable. But at the end of the day, some of these places do not pass the smell test when it comes to self-selected class stratification – for whatever the reason. To suggest otherwise is to ignore reality.

Like I said, the hair goes up on the back of my neck. I flash on a memory of being the guest of a friend of mine in San Francisco for the annual LGBT physicians’ association dinner. We wandered the room meeting and greeting new colleagues and old. EVERYONE extended their hand to me first and introduced themselves. In turn I would introduce them to my host who had a PhD in psychiatry from Harvard, an African American man. We left early. Harold was worried that when it came time for people to leave they would be giving him their car keys and asking him to go fetch their BMWs.

On the other hand, I do enjoy going to some private clubs and having my class stereotypes contradicted by the openness and inclusivity shown by their members. And I have been to many clubs for us working class folk and they can put on one hell of a party.

Can we bury this controversy?

Ok - I know this is a blog about Luiz and my life in Brazil, but forgive me if I continue to feel the pinch of injustice against LGBT folks in my country of birth, especially in the state where we recently lived for the past 24 years.

Here is a great video that takes on the propoganda against gay marriage in California (and elsewhere).  Make no mistake, this battle has not been won.  Talk to your friends and family. Check it out.

Dare I say: Qualidade de Vida

Luiz and I enjoy a rather slow paced life. We have left behind the frantic 9 to 6 or 7 or 9 or 10:30 lifestyle we endured while working in San Francisco. With few exceptions nowadays neither Luiz nor I work a Saturday (never a Sunday). Outside of the ambient heat, I don’t think either of us has broken a sweat since we got here.

It is a different world. It is a world we anticipated, created and embrace. We did not move to Brazil to be frantic entrepreneurs seeking to make a gazillion dollars. Slow and steady wins the race down here.

Since every day seems like Sunday I do on occasion think “should I be working more?” but then I snap out of it and say “WHY?” That is the USA trap I have escaped from. I know who I am. I am not defined by my business accomplishments. Luiz is more than that which he might produce.

It has been hard for us to let go of the dynamic so endemic in the United States that defines you by your economic achievements, by your job, by your title.

Been there. Done that. Now we live here. Graças a deus. These are different times.

We worked hard to prepare for a different reality here in Brazil. The numbers are on our side. It is important that we not fall back into the stressful dynamic of our past – because the growing middle class in Brazil seems to be adopting these preoccupations and would encourage us to work, work, work to buy a side by side refrigerator.

We are happy. We got off that train a couple years ago. And we are doing just fine, thank you very much. No stress. More travel. Quiet afternoons. Much more beach time.

It is possible. Run the numbers. Just say no/yes.

0 for 2

Today I must be in a critical mood. Or maybe it’s just the ignorance that sometimes surrounds me that has gotten me started.  Today that ignorance was displayed by two Americans.

First, earlier this morning I came across this post at Pam’s House Blend LGBT news/commentary blog that really twisted my skirt. It’s about the joys of being a gay person in Brazil, written by a straight guy. I will not re-post it here. Follow the link to watch the fireworks. After reading his brilliant remarks I just had to smack him down point by point. Again – the fun is after the jump.  I posted comment #5.

Don't sell Pam's blog short however, I generally enjoy it and visit it a couple times a week.  This particular post was from a visiting author.

Then a little later I chanced upon this brilliant video from a bartenders’ school (of all places!) that demonstrates how to make a caipirinha. It is hilarious in it’s ignorance. I have never, ever seen anyone make this common cocktail in this manner. Take a look.



He basically gets it all wrong, from the pronunciation of everything (generally excusable, but not really if you are an instructor at a bartender school) to the choice of cachaça (that reed-wrapped bottle of Ypioca he holds up is a dark variety and most people would recommend a white cachaça for caipirinhas), to the use of simple syrup (never seen this, although It would work just fine), to the inclusion of club soda (WTF?) and then the use of sweet and sour mix (never!). Then he does not stir/mix/shake his cocktail. Also I noticed that he used a different cachaça from below the bar than he showed in his explanation.

Oh well. I don’t mean to go negative today, but these two encounters begged me to.

Racism in my Brazil

I may get in trouble for this one. Talking about race in Brazil is nearly as fraught with landmines as it is in the States. But then, I have never been one to shy away from danger zones.

Having grown up in suburban Detroit in the 1960’s and 70’s (can you say riots?) I have had my share of spoon-fed racism as well as against-the-current anti-racist learnings. Dare I say I have spent the 30 plus years since I left Detroit deliberately trying to un-learn the racist lessons of my youth. Lucky for me my parents were always models of resistance against the racism in our surroundings, but the resistance did not extend much further than that.

It’s generally considered common wisdom among the gainfully employed in Brazil that the issue of racism is over stated. “We’re not like America,” people say, “We got over it after the African slaves were emancipated. We never had a Jim Crow period. Even before then, Portuguese slave owners always loved f**king black women. Our being a brown population is proof of our lack of racism.”

This line of thinking never took me in very far, even when I was all starry-eyed about Brazil and its culture. I don’t buy it. If anything, look around: who are the black characters on television (mostly maids and drug dealers)?; who lives in the expensive neighborhoods and who cleans their toilets?; who drives the imported cars and who parks them?; who are the bosses and who are the laborers?; who dominates in political life?; historic and institutionalized racism has a way of being plain to see in everyday life, if you are willing to look.

But rather than being academic I want to share some personal experiences which remind me I am not from here and which keep me confused. Applying my liberal American anti-racism sensibilities to my Brazilian experiences does not always balance out like I would have thought.

First and foremost I must report that after having lived in urban African American neighborhoods for most of my adult life (with all the concomitant experiences therein), I have never seen the level of racial integration of neighbors, friends and family that I have seen here in Brazil. But let me highlight some experiences here that twist my racism antennae.

We have a black friend who introduces himself to everyone by his nickname: Neginho (little black one).

People will refer reverently to a powerful, captivating and often sexy black man as a “Negão,” (big black guy).

Popular artwork from more Afro-Brazilian parts of the country will feature caricatures of black folks I find offensive and racist. But they are available in souvenir stores and galleries alike and are in the homes of our friends, including our black friends.

At a birthday party we were at last night (and why I write this today) they had a “dress up” area with dozens of costumes and masks. Two of the masks were of the exaggerated nose and lips features of some Afro-Brazilians. Yet most of the guests who wore the masks had skin colors darker than those of the masks. All in great fun. WTF?

So either the internalized racism among Brazilians of African decent is worse than I imagined and the overt racism among light-skinned Brazilians simply goes without challenge – or there is a dynamic afoot that is not easily understood by progressive anti-racist thought from the US. Probably both…

Generally I keep my mouth shut and follow up after the fact. But so far, not having Brazilian sociologists among my friends as yet, I am not getting satisfying or enlightening explanations. Maybe my circle of friends and colleagues is too narrow and I am just getting a distorted impression. I need a reading list.  [I found one here.]

[Make no mistake – I see plenty of overt, offensive racism, but this post is meant to hover in more blurry, personal territory.]

What do you think?

The US can learn from Brazil

This is both a personal and a political post.

I have posted recently about the differences between health care costs here in Brazil and back in the US. I think I may have commented in other posts on the differences between sick time off for employees here and in the US.

Now I would like to comment on a very real situation which highlights the differences.

Right now – today - I am worrying about a very dear personal member of my close circle who has just undergone life-threatening surgery in the United States. S/he is doing fine – thank the heavens.

What strikes me as outrageous is that back in the States s/he is grateful that his/her employer will not fire him/her for being sick. His/her medical situation requires at least four weeks off from work, yet his/her employer will grant only two weeks – the rest will be without pay.

S/he has expressed appreciation that his/her employer will "allow" him/her to work the other two weeks via laptop in bed at home. S/he is GRATEFUL to be able to work from her/his recovery bed at home so she can at least make a little income during her unpaid leave time. WTF?

Hello?!

Call me crazy, but I prefer a country that gives workers the time they need to recover – without stripping them of their income. Here in Brazil a worker would not be forced to choose between medical recovery and paying one’s rent.  You would be given the time to recover, with pay.  It is a worker's right.  Greedy, heartless companies do not have a say in the matter.

Hello America! Your system is broken!!

Brazil’s good news and bad

Brazil’s unemployment rate hit an eight year low in May, registered at 7.5% according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. That’s the good news. Lowest in eight years – it’s like opposite land here compared to the US.

The bad news is that, while up 2.5% from a year ago, the average working Brazilian’s wage was just US$795 a month. Ouch.

So when I mention the high cost of living here it should be understood as a combination of both high consumer prices and the low wages we earn. Unfortunately neither Luiz nor I work for an American firm earning US dollars. We’re right here on the ground in Brazil, livin’ like the locals.

Não é facil. (But then, it seems every week we have a holiday.)