Things We Love About Brazil

Here are a few of the things that we love about living and serving in Brazil:

* The people ... Brazilians are generally very warm and friendly people; typically more so than many Americans. The vast majority are also more humble and genuine. The people are Brazil's greatest asset.

* Open to the Gospel ... people here are far more open to hearing about God and the Gospel than in the US and other places such as Europe. Because there are many poor and needy people, they know they need God and His help in their lives. Many people are genuinely grateful when you share about God and His love for them.

* Brazilians treat foreigners very well, and are very accepting of people from other countries. There are large numbers of Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Arab, Korean, and people from many other ethnic groups as well.

* The Culture ... family and God are very important parts of life here. Families often live close to each other, and they get together often to eat, to talk, and to have fun.

* The food ... Brazilian food is very good. Our favorite is "churrasco", which is Brazilian steak. When you go to a "churrascaria" (Brazilian steak house) they serve a large variety of steak and meats. Some of the best food is the homemade Brazilian meals. You find a large variety of food here in Brazil, since there are many people from other countries living here.

* The beaches ... Brazil has literally thousands of beaches on it's coastline, which is close to 7500 km or 4500 miles long.

* The scenery ... Brazil is a beautiful place with mountains, tropical forests, beaches, palm trees, tropical plants,...

* Simpler lifestyle ... the Brazilian lifestyle is a simpler one. The exception would be in the large cities such as Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, where life happens at a much faster pace.

One of the things that I personally do not like about Brazil is the driving. It is better in Santos than when we lived in Sao Paulo, but still driving here is difficult. There are so many bad drivers here, and many people do not respect the laws or other drivers. Besides that there are not many things that we do not like here.