Monday, December 31, 2012

Catching up to the 1st world

Brasil is one of the BRIC countries. It has been prosperous for the past ten years.

Like China, the population of the middle class had quite an expansion.

Brazilians go to the malls which they call ~Shopping~.

Inflation is definitely here. 10 years ago a carton of Marlboro box cost about R$25. Today it is R$53 .

Like all currencies, R$ is worth less everyday.

To be like everyone else in the world, Brazilians catch up on acquiring goods. Malls are favorite destinations.

Many of them also buy things they don~t need, with money they don~t have.

What else is new!! Take a look at the ads below.

You can buy things in installments, even shoes and clothes.

The merchants either accept post dated checks or debit their credit cards each month.

Prices you see in Brazil include taxes. When I ask what is the sales tax rate, no one seems to know.

.And I manage to find out from the internet. No wonder they don~t know!

Brazilian Taxes

http://www.brazil-help.com/taxes.htm

Taxes on Goods and Services —

ICMS — Impostos Sobre Circulação de Mercadorias e Prestação de Serviços

is largely a hidden tax.

powdered chocolate	37.84%	gasoline	53.03%
rice	18.00%	pencil	36.19%
car (w/ 1.0 liter engine)	39.29%	bed sheet	37.51%
cookies	38.50%	books	16.72%
toys	41.98%	pasta/macaroni	21.52%
notebook (school)	36.19%	table	30.57%
coffee	36.52%	microwave oven	56.99%
footwear	37.37%	tomato sauce	36.66%
bed	30.57%	toilet paper	40.50%
pen	46.69%	plants/flowers	14.64%
beef	18.67%	cymbals	44.76%
house (average)	49.02%	soda pop	47.00%
beer (canned)	56.00%	clothes	37.84%
cigarettes	81.98%	powdered soap	42.27%
computer	38.00%	bath soap	42.00%
water service (utility)	29.83%	sofa	34.50%
deodorant	47.25%	telephone service	45.65%
detergent	40.50%	bricks	34.23%
DVD	51.69%	television	46.14%
stove/oven	47.25%	wine	47.20%
fruit	22.98%	cough syrup	36.00%

If without 82% tax, a pack of Marlboro cigarette is less than R$1.00, about C$0.55.

Imagine there is no sales tax even in your country! Things are actually very cheap to acquire.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

I have been here over a month now. I don~t have a cell phone or a watch. I cannot drive. It costs over R$200 to obtain a 30-day driver license, plus certified translation of my Canadian license. I just let Adriana does the driving. She is the best woman driver I have ever met, except I am slightly better. Ha!

Every time I come here, I lose weight. I am absolutely spoiled by Vancouver~s Chinese food. Brazilian food is just not my ~bowl of rice~.

I must have been here about 8 times. My curiosity is diminishing. My Brazilian relatives and friends are nice to me. My routine here is similar to Canada - breakfast+coffee, internet, lunch+coffee, internet, coffee, internet, shower, dinner, internet. Cigarette breaks here and there.

TOM365.com provides me a few pretty new HD movies.

I am kind of used to not knowing what the Brazilians are talking around me. I don~t feel left out. Occasionally I get a translation.

Despite different culture, language, customs and traditions, people are all the same regardless of their country origin. People complain. People shop. People here have no lack of passion. They watch TV. They pursue what everyone else is pursuing.

So far it is warm but not hot. I get to sleep in an air conditioned room. The sky is mostly cloudy but only scattered shower. I had only a few mosquito bites. So lucky!!

On Boxing Day, Adriana fell and fractured her left wrist bone. That makes her less active - letting the house works go. Good thing she still can drive.

We~ll be off to the beach again in a week, this time with Rubens and his gf.

New Year firework in Rio de Janeiro is the most grand in Brazil.
2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI6QQoEUgjU

We don~t like crowds. Will watch it at home.

Friday, December 28, 2012

Soda Nation

I drink more soda here in one month than a year in Canada.

According to the internet, US is No. 1 soda consumption nation. But I have not seen any soda line up in Costco or any supermarket as huge as here in Brazil. 2L and 3L bottles are very popular here.
I have even seen restaurant customers having 2L soda bottle sitting on their table.

As I read the ingredient label, I find only sugar - no corn syrup here, but the diet soda contains aspartame - a cancer causing chemical.

Coke Zero here has your name on it!

COKE HAPPINESS REFILL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=M4jPl-nL-YM

21 MOST SODA-CRAZED COUNTRIES, FROM THE U.S. TO MEXICO

http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2012/06/02/21-most-soda-crazed-countries-from-the-u-s-to-mexico-photos.html#slide_0

Condomínio Fechado - Gated Communities

When watching news in Brazilian TV channels, there are always crime reporting. Everyday there are murders and robbery. As a matter of fact, a bar was robbed and bartender shot yesterday in Limeira where we are staying.

When in São Paulo, we have to roll up all the car windows and lock all doors. In some cities, cars are allowed going thru red traffic lights after 7pm.

In Brazil, the most widespread form of gated community is called "condomínio fechado" (closed housing estate) and is the object of desire of the upper classes. Such a place is a small town with its own infrastructure (backup power supply, sanitation, and security guards). The purpose of such a community is to protect its residents from outside violence.