Apparently keys, and copies of keys, is big business in Brazil (or at least Rio). Throughout the city (quite densely in some areas) you will find small kiosks, supposedly 24 hours, that will make duplicate keys for you "quickly and securely". In some places you can literally stand at one kiosk
Havaianas: The Footwear of Brazil
If you are Brazilian or have been to Brazil, then you (had damn well better) have a pair of Havaianas. From the poorest people of the favelas, to the richest most chique real housewives of Brazil, everyone has Havaianas. Used by most for going to the beach, Havaianas are a simple pair of
Student-Teacher Love Making In Brazil
In the United States students tend to keep relationships with their professors strictly professional (although, as we know, sometimes things get out of hand). However, Brazil has once again afforded me the opportunity to experience things in a new light. Once the workday is over my professors
How To Execute the Thumbs-Up in Brazil
Some things here in Brazil, once strange and unfamiliar customs that confused me in uncomfortable ways, have somehow become second nature to me (and I'm not just talking about eating HALLS). Let us take a closer look at the hand gesture known commonly as the "thumbs-up", beginning with its
Kids in the HALLS
You have a cough. Shouldn't have gotten sick in the first place, but now you have to do something to remedy this. What do you do? Nothing? Go to a doctor? Take some cough drops? Oh, cough drops you say? You mean like Halls? Because Halls are cough drops right? According to their website: HALLS
Why Grocery Shopping In Brazil Is Soul Crushing
If there is one thing you can expect to encounter in Brazil it is lines. Now these may be the kinds of lines you are used to, or maybe they aren't, but the lines I am addressing here are particular to supermarkets. So, you are out of food, toilet paper, cerveja, chokito, nudie mags, whatever and
Brazil Beachwear: The Sunga
Before arriving in Rio de Janeiro I was convinced that I would never find myself wearing anything smaller than a pair of board shorts whilst at the beach. Nothing you could have said would have changed that fact; but Brazil proved a formidable catalyst for change in the bathing suit
A Day In The Life Of A PUC-Rio Student
Brazil is different. Rio is different. PUC-Rio is really different. Let me explain. The following is an account of my typical Tuesday and Thursday morning class between the hours of 09:00 and 11:00. A TYPICAL DAY 9:00 - Class officially begins according to the PUC-Rio schedule of
Feliz Páscoa! Easter And Zombie Jesus In Brazil
Apparently today is Easter (or Páscoa if you are in Brazil). I did not see any egg hunts going on, and I did not see any large rabbits rampaging through the streets scaring the daylights out of children. So it was not truly Easter I suppose, but it appeared that people were having a good time