Reverse Culture Shock

I have been back in Canada for a few days now. There are a few things that have struck me here, the climate probably being the most painful. I must commend my fellow Canadians who have survived this crazy long winter up till now. And hang in there! It has to end sooner or later! Everyone I meet seems to have this mildly crazed look in their eyes, as they search for signs of spring. It will come. I am fairly certain of this.

I spent some time in a mall yesterday. It was a bit of an overwhelming experience. At first glance, malls in Canada really are not so different from malls in Brazil. The first thing I noticed, though, was how empty the mall was here. It doesn't matter what time of day it is, the mall will always be packed in Brazil. Always. It was also so QUIET! There was music playing in the background and some muted conversation, but there was no samba blaring through the speakers, no one was yelling into a cell phone, or even speaking loudly with their friends. In Brazil, no one goes to the mall by themselves. Here, I would say the majority of people appeared to be by themselves (including myself). 

What really got me, though, was how extremely (dare I say ridiculously) POLITE Canadians are! Some kid on a cell phone wandered within about a meter of me (didn't even touch me), and he got so flustered and apologized profusely. I stopped for a coffee, and was thanked for various things (like placing an order, receiving my coffee, moving out of someone's way) seven times. SEVEN! When I walked into a store, I was promptly offered assistance. When I (politely, with a thank you and a smile) refused, the sales person would smile, thank me, and back off. I even made small talk with the next customer in line in the food court! 

I don't mean to say that Brazilians are rude, because I really don't think they are. There are, however, significant differences in what is culturally expected in terms of etiquette. Please and thank you are words rarely used in Brazil. It is unnecessary to utter these words when your request is part of someone's job description or responsibility. It took me a while to figure this out. I was always mildly put off when, for example, we would pay our employees and not receive thanks, or when someone we were hosting would ask for something and not say please or thank you. But those things were expected of me. I didn't go out of my way, or do anything earth shattering. Why should they?

I guess what I'm saying is that Canadians should be proud of how polite they are. But be aware, to others, you might sound a little silly for how often you say 'please', 'thank you', 'you're welcome' and 'I'm sorry'!

So if you apologize because someone else stepping on your toe and they give you a strange look, just say, "I'm sorry, I'm Canadian!"

Easter Food and Looking Ahead

Last weekend we hosted our fourth group here at Sitio Recanto das Palmeiras. That's right. We've hosted four groups in the three months we have been open for business! 

Our first group was a group of 12 friends over New Year's weekend. Twelve is a nice sized group to get your feet wet. They were fun, laid back, and forgiving of our learning curve. Then we had a group of 15 English teachers. That was a CRAZY time because not only were we cooking all the food, but we also did almost all of the programming. But again, we were so pleased with how it went. Our last two groups have been church retreats, and we have only provided food, not programming. The first was over Carnaval and was a group of 25. Last weekend was a group of 50. Yikes. We have decided that with our current infrastructure, 50 is our maximum for now. 

Imagine cooking 3 kg (6.6 pounds) of rice at a time. Or 3 screaming pressure cookers cooking 3 kg of beans. That was the foundation of every lunch, which is the main meal of the day here. On top of that we would have some sort of salad and a meat dish (chicken with a vegetable cream sauce, a special bean dish with chunks of meat cooked in with it, and we even did a BBQ!) For one supper we did spaghetti and meatloaf (cause we decided meatballs are just WAY too much work). The other supper they had an 'evening of the nations' where they celebrated cultures from around the world. They wanted an international meal, so we did... A WIENER ROAST! I know that sounds ridiculous, but if you think about it, that is one of the most culturally unique things we do in North America. The concept doesn't even exist here. They had a fantastic time roasting dogs and marshmallows. 

After the wiener roast, they had a fashion show, modelling cultural clothing from around the world. Karl and I had the privilege of being the impartial judges! What a fun time that was! We saw Geishas, Bollywood stars, African tribesmen, Sheiks, Flamenco dancers, and more. They did a great job putting everything together.

Overall, it was a ton of work, absolutely exhausting, but a lot of fun. Each group we host, we become a little more organized, tweak a few more recipes, and generally stress just a little bit less. One of the best things we did this time around was hire an extra employee. This freed our regular employee up to focus just on food with us, while someone else kept the bathrooms clean, set up meal tables, washed towels, and helped wash dishes (no, we don't have a dishwasher here).

Looking ahead to the next couple of months, Karl and I will both be back in Manitoba for a few weeks. (If you would like to get together, let us know, we would love to visit with you!) Hopefully we can continue with improvements around the yard in May and June. Then July is going to be English month! July is holiday month here. Government and business run on bare bones staff, if at all, there is no school, and everyone travels and hangs out on the beaches during this time. Each week throughout July, we are offering a 5 day English Immersion experience. We will speak only English with the group, serve typical foods, have cultural activities, as well as some workshops. But this is not something we can pull off with just the two of us. We are looking for a handful of people who are interested in interacting with people who speak English as a second language (Any TESOL teachers or students reading this?!?) Also, we would love to find someone who can help us in the kitchen. If this is something you are interested in, let us know. We would love to tell you more about it and how you can get involved! 

Buying Groceries, Part 2

Just in case anyone was wondering, I went back to my bulk store the other day. I bought bags. The grocery packer packed my purchases in the bags.

My guess? The other guy was just on auto-pilot and packed my bags in the same way he packed all the other groceries coming across the counter, since a lot of people don't use bags there.

And now you know the rest of the story.