28 January 2023
When I arrived in São Paulo (SP) in August 2022, it felt like coming home in a way. In the last few years I had been to Brazil for longer periods of time, I had written and phoned my Brazilian friend every day and had thought of almost nothing else in the last few weeks before leaving. However, São Paulo wasn’t quite “at home”, because the mega-metropolis is almost 2,000 kilometers away from my friends in Salvador and thus the place to which I had actually lost my heart. At the same time, “Something different” was exactly what I was looking for, because I was on a mission to find “intermediate Brazilian”. In this article, I will tell you whether this mission was successful and what I learned from it.
The time has come: After six months abroad, I have to say the clichéd sentence: The past six months in Brazil have flown by and I can’t believe that I’ve lived in São Paulo for so long. Only by looking a little at the other side do I manage to believe it a little more. Because for six months I didn’t see my family and many of my friends, didn’t do a bike tour through my city, or even just eat a pretzel. If I give in to the homesickness a little, it has been a really long time in which I’ve done and experienced a lot and also learned a lot, so here’s a little review.
Advanced Brazil
Over the past four years I have been to Brazil for extended periods several times, learning Portuguese and getting to know different parts of the country. During this time, the desire grew in me to finally not just be a guest, but to live properly in Brazil, to study, to improve my Portuguese and to get to know other cities. I wanted to find out what else “Brazilian” actually is and how the different sides of this South American giant fit together for me. In short, I wanted a dose of “intermediate Brazilian”.
Have I achieved that now? I think I definitely learned a lot about Brazil and about myself in the process. Here’s an example 🙂
Probiers mal mit Jeitinho
Often translated as the “Brazilian way”, it means a way of getting things done by finding creative solutions, sometimes just a little rethinking, other times turning a blind eye. “We will find a way“So finding a way, no matter what, is something I had to learn first. Because in Brazil, a no doesn’t always mean a rejection, but that you should try again tomorrow and so this “Brazilian way” often means staying patient and optimistic. “Brazilian way“ my friends in São Paulo often comment with a wink when we somehow achieve something against all odds by all means.
And apart from the “jeitinho” I have learned to appreciate the Brazilian way. For me it means staying optimistic and always looking for a solution in a friendly and patient manner. I know from Germany that we complain pretty quickly if something doesn’t work or even turn it into a kind of small talk. I remember a particularly exemplary moment when I was in Brazil for the first time and my friends asked me how my day was going. Then, among other things, I said in a supposedly completely neutral way that I had missed my bus in the morning. My friends then reacted with a lot of pity and asked me if everything was fine now. I was quite surprised by this at first, after all I had only missed my bus, but later I understood that they thought it had upset me quite a bit, otherwise I would not have told about this incident after all. This and other experiences showed me how quickly I concentrated on negative little things in Germany, even if they weren’t really important. In Brazil, on the other hand, I have the feeling that many people are more flexible and therefore less annoyed. This is also something I continued to learn during my time in São Paulo, because often things didn’t work the first time or took time and so I had to approach them with a little jeitinho.
Advanced Portuguese
In Brazil, people colloquially often say “speak brazilian“So speak Brazilian, even if it’s actually Portuguese, of course. But even if it is the same language, it sounds very different in different places in the world and especially in Brazil there are many “praise’ (slang words), which for me also belong to this Brazilian way. In the last few months I’ve noticed how the language has become more and more a natural part of my everyday life, not only through my university texts but also through various slang words. And because I think reading about slang is more interesting for you than reading about how I improved my academic Portuguese ;), here are a few everyday phrases that are so Brazilian to me:
- Sorry for anything! – That’s a phrase I’ve heard a lot when saying goodbye to people, especially after visiting them. Translated, it means “Sorry if anything happened”. With this, people want to apologize if something was uncomfortable, which they may not have considered, and at the same time apologize for not having considered it. To me, this idiom is a symbol of the incredible hospitality in Brazil and I find it a beautiful and loving way to make others feel welcome.
- role – A rolê is an experience, tour or meeting with friends, the word includes almost any kind of activity, it can be an afternoon at the beach, a short walk, or a multi-day trip. In some cases, a rolê is also something that is done alone. For me, the word is so Brazilian because it contains the typical spontaneity, it is not exactly planned, but I have often arranged to meet up with friends for a rolê, i.e. to do something.
- My darling, my darling & my love – my darling, my dear, my dear, these are perhaps some possible translations of these words, but I have a hard time finding German equivalents. There are a lot of such pet names in Brazilian Portuguese, but they are by no means only used in romantic relationships or with family. Instead, I was often addressed like that in the supermarket or on the bus. It’s a bit strange at first, but once you get over the initial surprise, it’s very nice and an example of Brazilian friendliness.
highlights and challenges
As you have probably noticed, I really enjoyed my time in Brazil. This Brazilian style, as I have now described, has particularly contributed to this. Of course, that wasn’t the only thing. During the time in São Paulo there were many major highlights such as the weekend trip to São Bento do Sapucaí, my educational trip to Arraial do Cabo and seeing my friend again, but also smaller highlights such as finding vegan cafés and visiting the Museum of Indigenous Cultures and long walks down Avenida Paulista.
But there were also some challenges, especially in relation to the bureaucracy and the regulation of my stay in the migrant system. I had never had the experience of being an immigrant before, and while I have many advantages as a white European and always got help from all sides, it was a very trying experience. Hardly a week went by that I wasn’t busy collecting documents for my registration with the federal police or encountering obstacles because I was missing something. An example: In order to register your stay with the federal police in time, I needed a cell phone number to get one, but I needed a Brazilian tax number, to get one in Brazil I first had to fill out an application, go to the post office and pay service fees , but these fees can only be paid in cash or via a Brazilian account and are therefore sometimes difficult for foreigners.
Because of such and similar moments, I sometimes longed to go back to Germany where it is easier for me as a citizen and I already have a better understanding of the bureaucracy. Even if these experiences were very frustrating at times, I think I learned a lot from them. For example, I was able to practice reacting a little more “Brazilian”, i.e. with composure and jeitinho.
But I think I also learned something for myself, because I got a small impression of how difficult it can be for a foreigner to migrate to a foreign system that puts obstacles in your way. This experience made me reflect further on how frustrating and difficult it must be for foreigners in Germany.
Intermediate Brazilian? A life’s work!
I think I’ve achieved my goal of getting to know Brazil better and being more than just a guest, and I’m very satisfied with my semester abroad and all the different experiences I’ve had so far. In my opinion, this also includes the challenges. The time in São Paulo helped me a lot to become even more confident in my study interests, and I was also able to get to know many new people and places.
However, I also realize how much more there is to discover. Getting to know Brazil is a life’s work. That’s why I’m all the happier that I got the chance to spend a few more months here for an internship, this time probably in sunny Salvador da Bahia. My Intermediate Brazilian mission has taken a big step forward in the past few months, but it’s far from over!
