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Warm Friendly Brazilians!

By Ligia Fleckenstein

Brazil is a vibrant, exotic and warm country, and the Brazilian people are equally warm and friendly. This is the result of a mixture of many races of people who were either brought here without a choice and those who chose to be here. The important thing is that they all adapted and became like a real big family. So, generally speaking, Brazilians are great hosts: very welcoming, positive and friendly.

Close Conversation

Touching_opt (1)Therefore, it’s essential for someone who’s planning to spend some time in Brazil, to invest in a business or to live here, to understand that Brazilians like to be close to the person they are talking to. They might even lightly touch the other person’s hand, arm or even shoulder during a conversation. They also expect the other person to look into their eyes when talking to them. If you don’t, they might take it as an insult or even prejudice. So, if you come from a culture that considers touching rude or weird, be aware that in Brazil that’s something very normal.

One or Two Kisses

Kissing and hugging is also very common among Brazilians. Hold your horses!  What I mean is they kiss each other on the cheek as a sign of friendship, when they meet someone for the first time, and every time they see each other after that. That goes for females meeting other females and also males. When it comes to males meeting other males, a slight pat on the back will do.  Two kisses, one on each cheek is the most common way to say hello, and sometimes, even three as they do it in Rio de Janeiro, Mians Gerais and Goiânia. The single girls say that the third kiss is to make sure they’ll get married. In São Paulo, however, and other big cities in the south of Brazil, they kiss only once.

Talk Wherever 

Brazilians are very communicative and when they go out, they to talk to each other even without having ever met before. They may start a conversation with a stranger while standing in line at a supermarket, a bank, a store, on a bus, on the subway. Wherever they are, there’s the opportunity to talk.

Foreigners Are Welcome 

Even though all this may sound strange to you, that’s how Brazilians are. They are a people who can easily express themselves and they like to make everyone welcome. And most of all, Brazilians love foreigners; they want to learn about you and about the country you come from, and they will volunteer tips about Brazil to help you adapt more easily.

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Filed Under: Brazilian Culture 2 Comments

Comments

  1. Cristiane Galvão says

    November 30, 2014 at 4:03 pm

    I’m having a lot of fun in your website! Yes, In Goiânia we kiss each other in the cheeks three times to make sure we won’t be single forever! Lol :-) Muito bom o site! Sucesso!

    Reply
    • Ligia Fleckenstein says

      November 30, 2014 at 10:52 pm

      Hi Cristiane, I’m glad you are. Thank you for your comment!

      Reply

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