Well I wanted to write a post about the place I'm going. Not really for me, more for the people following along my little vourney so they will have an idea of the culatural backdrop.So here is a hodgepodge, a smattering, a pulpurii of facts about Brazil.Brazil is not unlike the United States in many ways. Geographically Brazil is the size of the United States (minus Alaska). Brazil is rich in natural resourses (natual gas, oil, dimods, timber, cattel, coffee). One thing to keep in mind in much the same way the US varries greatly from one region so too does Brazil. The majority of Brazil's populations is concentrated along the cost and in major cities centers. The typical imagie of people living among the tropical rainforest as subsistance farmer is simply not the case. Brazil is among the world leaders in develop economies as evidenced by the fact that Brazil was the only country that did not slip into recession during the recent economic downturn. By and large Brazil operated more independly than any other country in South America. Brazil does not depend of forgin oil. Not only is Brazil one of the world leading produces of oil - 90% of the cars in Brazil operate on biofuel. Think about that. Imagine not only an oil independent U.S. imagine producing a surplus - this is the reality in Brazil and this is a large reason Brazil has one of the most stable and productive economies in the world. Socially Brazil is a very diverse coutry. The mega city of Sao Paulo (approaching 20 million) is the economic center. Rio de Janiero the cultural/turistic center and Brazillia the administrative center. Rio recently won the 2016 olympic bid but I will save that for another post.
Rio 2016
Portal Rio 2016 | MySpace Video
Brazil is unique in its social/racial composition. Brazil truly does have influcences for all over the world. Through out its history Brazil has been influced by Europeans, Africans, Asians, and Indigious populations. All these peoples have mixed both socially and racailly to creation a population that is both tolerante and diverse. Equality remains a prolbem.
Brazilians speak Portugese. On a very basic level Spanish and Portugese are similar. However on a mico level Portugese is quite different in pornunciation, structure, vocabulary - everything. Suprisingly Portugese do not frequently learn Spanish dispite the shared Latin base. English is the most commonly studied second lanuage. Here is where I come in. There is a desperate need for English teachers in Brazil. In order to keep pace with the economic growth business frequently hire native English speakers to teach Brazilian busness people to both lanuage and culture. As Brazil becomes a growing econominc power, regionally and globally, the demad of English teachers has outpaced supply. I hope to land a job working for a company teaching exectuives on the verge of business trips. If not there are many oppertunities to teach english to students both privetly and in lanuage schools.
The amazing thing about Brazil is its uniqueness unites the country. Brazil's unique culture and lanuage and huge geographic resources serve as a base for solidarity. Brazil is distincte from the neighboring Spanish speaking countries both economically and culturally. In this way Brazil reminds me much of the idealic United States. Brazil is doing it own thing much is the same way the United States did its own thing. The results look promising. Brazil is defently on the rise and has ambitions to become what the U.S. once was - a political and economic powerhouse.
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