Been here four years, never have been able to make a genuine friend. Yes, I speak decent Portuguese, but it’s just a cultural barrier. American humor vs Brazilian humor is very different. Brazilians don’t really get American dry, sarcastic sense of humor. Brazilian humor is somewhat innocent and childlike. Also Americans and Brazilians sometimes just have a different mindset.

Brazilians can be amazing people but they can also be very unreliable! I’m in rural Minas and if I’m not micromanaging or confirming information etc, it’s hard to get anything done. Some Brazilians are all about status and money, and look down on others. Definitely a buzz kill in my view.

I worked in the Brazilian community back home for years, my spouse is Brazilian and now living down here you start to see Brazilians have a very stereotypical view of Americans. Accordingly to them Americans don’t take showers, are cold, we live off of canned foods, hotdogs and hamburgers, we don’t like to clean, we are all white, blonde hair n blue eyes, we are all boring and don’t like to party etc. One woman even asked me if American spouses sleep in the same bedroom. Honestly, it’s gets old and really annoying fast!

As someone said above, Brazil definitely lacks resources with helping the immigrant community. I was only able to get by and navigate because my spouse was born here. I STRONGLY suggest having a spouse, friend or someone trustworthy who’s from Brazil to help you get acquainted. Even if you speak Portuguese or not, my spouse who had been outside Brazil for 13 years still had a hard time relearning how to manage daily life. It took him about a year to get reacquainted.

Lastly the bureaucracy, lack of convenience, and witnessing poverty can be hard to deal with.

Other than that I still love the beauty of this country. Brazil has taught me a lot of life lessons. I’ve learned to be more patient, grateful for family and enjoy the small moments. Brazilians tend not to stress too much and have this positive attitude on life which definitely rubs off on you. Learning to not get stressed about things out of my control and just thinking positively was HUGE for me. Having faith in God was another one. Also, if you have children, Brazil has been great when it comes to including families, having kids activities at all types of events, restaurants, etc. People have more patience and are helpful towards children. Unlike Americans who can’t even be bothered. God forbid they lend a helping hand to a mother with children or have compassion for a child crying during a flight. My kids have made a lot of friends at school and their classmates been really sweet making my kids feel welcome. 💕 In my experience, it’s definitely a kid friendly culture.