I’m still months away from being validated. But at least 95% of the paper work is in. It was easy, really: -Sent Diploma and full academic transcript to Brazilian consulate in Houston (closest consulate to graduating institution). $10 verification. -Had documents sent to Brazil. $93 -Had said documents verified by a notary: $11 -Documents translated Read more about The Brazilian Validation of my Ph.D.[…]
Carol and I have been watching political candidates advertise their wares on TV. The Brazilian election is just around the corner and as I mentioned before, it’s not looking promising. Things are good economically, so there’s little incentive for reform. I am reluctant to venture the opinion that someone “looks” corrupt – as the adage Read more about Moralistic Blockaders versus Subversive Altruists[…]
These were a few of today’s not-to-be-missed headlines in Brazil’s most respected newspaper, Folha de São Paulo. With the presidential election less than one month away, this news would appear to be a thinly veiled attempt to laud Lula’s time in office and, by association, his chosen candidate, Dilma Rousseff. Yet no… and yes… it Read more about “Number of people using internet more than doubles in last four years (118%)” “Income goes up by 20% over the last five years” “The country now has more houses with washing machines”[…]
Last post I spoke about a few economic reasons why the citizen-government connection in Brazil needs strengthening. In this post I want to talk about geography. Cities that combine economic, cultural, and political centers, like Washington, London, Paris, among many others, tend to make for a charged political environment. Where this environment has remained mostly Read more about Why Political Geography Matters[…]
Most gringos don’t realize that Brazil and Latin America’s experience with democracy is relatively recent. Brazil has come a long way since it returned from dictatorship to democracy in the late 1980s. It only drafted its current constitution in 1988, just over twenty years ago. Today, politics is less polarized, the military has less influence, Read more about Economic Progress, Political Complacence, and the Tenuous Citizen-Government Connection[…]
Well, perhaps not the end of inequality, but the beach certainly is something of an equalizer. Although the beach has its classes and groups, it is the closest Brazilians come to indiscriminate association. Perhaps you have a few class indicators, like a pair of sunglasses or a fancy bathing suit, but except for some very Read more about The Beach and the end of Inequality[…]
Carolina and I were eating our breakfast at a little joint we favor for mixto quentes com ovo (ham, cheese and egg sandwiches) and açai. Today was a busy Sunday, and late-morning there were quite a few people trying to put in their order for açai and salgados. Up walks a police officer, a short Read more about Rio’s Unfortunate Police Force[…]
For Gringos to write about certain words in the Brazilian vocabulary has become somewhat cliché. “Saudade” is probably the most recurringly discussed word, a term combining the idea of nostalgia and a fond recollection. A Brazilian might say s/he has “saudade” for his family when s/he is away from home. Perhaps the second most spoken Read more about Jeitinho[…]
I admire Brazil most for its self-possession. Its culture is uniquely distinct and, as I will write about next entry, it even follows political and economic policy that is out-of-step with the dictates of first-world orthodoxy. For the most part, the country’s self-possession is accidental– it’s the sole Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas, and its Read more about Brazil: Culturally Self-Possessed.[…]
The current trend toward rogue debtors in Brazil is a result of at least two phenomena: first, the conditions surrounding a boom in credit, including the way purchases are parceled out over time and a society with little credit experience; second, the phenomenon I wrote about last entry–the fantastical price of consumer durables here in Brazil.