Culture Shock! Brazil: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette (Culture Shock! Guides)

I have read and reread this excellent ethonography. I read Culture Shock! Brazil before coming to Brazil, then again while traveling in Brazil. Volker Poelzl has done his homework. He has given readers brilliant profile of Brazil. This is no easy task, as Brazil is as large as the continental United States and equally as diverse.

Culture Shock! will give you everything that you need for a primer education on Brazil. It will specially be valuable to those who are coming to live for a while and for along with a travel guide like Frommer's (Strongly Recommended - see my review) will open the country up to you. I especially appreciated his sections on synergistic religions: Candomble, Kardecism, Umbanda, Shamanism, Feticaria (witchcraft) etc. Excellent.

Brazil is as dynamic as its Carnivals. It is also contradictory and contrasting, as seen in its wealth and poverty. The towering new high-rise buildings, that look down on the sprawling slums point...Read more

I am Brazilian. This book describes Brazil very well, and the author did a very good job in all the topics he included. It has a good overview of religions, history of the country, Brazilian way of living, and so on. The only thing I would improve is the Portuguese language. There are several mistakes. Here are some corrections: Carro = car (and not carriage), Wine = vinho (not vino), Easter = páscoa (and not pascua), on top of = em cima de (and not encima de); because = porque, why = por que. Boa noite = can be either good evening or good night. The numbers 16, 17, 18 and 19 in Portuguese are dezesseis, dezessete, dezoito e dezenove. The expression "ter dor de cotovelo" (to have elbow pain) is applied to the following situation: A person (A) who is very envious or jealous of the person (B) for something that A wants, but does not have, and B has. It could be anything: a girlfriend, a house, a car, etc. In this case A is said to have "dor de cotovelo" related to the person B...Read more

I recently visited Brazil with my wife who is originally from there. I am just a Gringoe, born and raised in New Jersey, USA. Throughout our stay I would constantly refer to the book to better understand the culture. I have to say that everything I had experienced was mentioned to the detail in this book. My Father-In-Law grew up there and even he was impressed. In fact, I think he even learned a thing or two about Brazil!!! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone traveling to Brazil who is not familiar. Tchau!!!