Brazil - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture (52)

For many people Brazil conjures up images of football, Carnaval and fine coffee, but it is much more than beaches and bossa nova. If you could choose only one word to describe Brazil, it would be diversity. The variety of racial types, lifestyles, wealth, landscape and climate is enormous. Jeitinho is the Brazilian means of dealing creatively with life’s everyday complications. Literally translated as a “little way”, in practice it means that regardless of the rules or systems in place, where there is a will there has to be a way around them. The jeitinho is so ingrained in daily life that you can see examples everywhere; managing to get a seat when all the places are booked up, traveling with more luggage than is allowed or successfully ordering something that is not on the restaurant menu. Culture Smart! Brazil is a concise guide to understanding the Brazilian people and illuminating the complexities of their national identity. Familiarise yourself with their customs, traditions and culture and experience Brazil authentically.