O Supermercado (The Supermarket)

the gas stations are pretty much the same here. the red one is 1,79 reais/liter, the green is 1,85 reais/liter, and the blue is 2,75 reais/liter.

wow!

guarana! the minas way! its a brazilian soda made with guarana, some sort of energy booster. its put in lots of energy drinks in the united states, and sometimes even gum! and because of this pictures content, i have to give a shout out to my pops!

ahhh! look! i'm shopping in Brazil!

milk! they don't refrigerate it here until after opening! and even then, they're kinda lax about how long it sits out before it gets put back in the refrigerator! its 4,85 reais for 4 liters. about $2.50.

Shopping, at least in my house, is done mostly in the supermarket. Which, by the American standard, isn't really, all-that super. The two supermarkets I have been to are about one-eighth of the size of the teeniest, tiniest, Wal-Mart in the United States. However, other than size and the milk part( I just can't get over that), its pretty much the same. There is a bakery section, padaderia, a butcher section, acougue, dairy, fruits and vegetables, canned and dry goods, ect. The bakery section is by-far my favorite. They have all sorts of yummy breads. One of my favorites is pao de queijo. Its name means cheese bread but its not the sort of cheese bread you are thinking of right now. Its sort of like a roll, and the inside is kind of gooey, I guess. The cheese is kind of baked in and the flavor of cheese is not super strong. Its very yummy and most of the time its homemade. Mmmm, que sabor! Also, the oranges here are green on the outside! Its a little strange but the orange itself tastes much better. Just like the pineapple. They are sweeter and juicier and just more gostoso. Which I guess means good, or flavorful, or yummy. Somethings just don't translate that easily. On my first trip to the supermarket, once we were done shopping and my host mom had paid and all the groceries were bagged, we just left. Empty-handed. No groceries. And I had no idea why or what was going on but my Portuguese was even worse than it is now and I didn't know how to ask and was positive I wouldn't be understand to her response so I just decided to wait this one out. And about an hour after we got home, someone was at the door. It was a dude from the supermarket delivering our groceries via motorcycle! It was very cool.

Speaking of shopping, its sort of different here. All electronics here are more expensive than in the United States. And imported electronics cost about twice as much as what you would pay in the United States. In my city, Sao Gotardo, there are no shoppings, malls. It's sort of downtown Jefferson City-style shopping. Only with a wider selection of stores which are open more business hours. And there are no chain stores. Everything is a little, privately owned shop. The downtown area is very cute! Most clothing items cost about the same as what you would pay in the United States. One huge difference I've noticed is that when you go shopping, there is usually one of each thing (for example, one floral top, one pair of dark-wash, straight leg jeans), no same style, array of sizes and colors like in the United States. And if you like something you just try it on. Forget about checking the size. Also, very few stores here accept debit cards and ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE accepts American money.

Which leads me to my next experience. O banco! The bank! The banking experience is very different here from in the united states. I haven't seen a bank yet with a drive-up teller or ATM lanes. You always have to park the car, get out, and go in. Also, the banks have a lot more security. Not in all banks, but lots, you first walk in through the outside door into a sort-of-lobby. Then, you go through a revolving door with metal detectors, to enter the area where you actually do your banking. And only one person at a time can go through the revolving door. And there are usually couple of security guards with huge night sticks and guns wearing vests. And some of the bank employees are behind those panes, like the ones you find at the ticket window in the typical American cinema. And its a little strange to walk up to an ATM, put your debit card in, do everything just as you would in the United States, then get this colorful paper back, that looks nothing like the money you've looked at and used for the last eighteen years. But I just love how here in Brazil, what would be a dreaded hassle in the United States, is a fun, new, exciting, learning experience!