*The EMBA progam ended in April 2024. And clearly, the intensity of the final two semesters of the program overwhelmed me and I wasn’t able to complete any blogs! After recovering and taking a bit of space from it all, I’m ready to dive back in and share all the experiences and learnings we had.
“Tudo bem?”
It’s the welcoming phrase that we heard everywhere in Brazil, typically asked with eye contact and a warm smile. Those we knew spoke the phrase, meaning “all good?”, often accompanied by a hug, kiss on the cheek, or a gentle touch on the arm.
Our 9-residency in São Paulo, Brazil in October 2023 was packed full of organized and informal cultural immersion activities, and unique educational experiences.
Fun Facts about Brazil
Brazillian passports are commonly used as counterfeit
I don’t have stats on this, but a few people mentioned this to us. Because of it’s incredibly diverse population, Brazilians don’t have a common ‘look’. The stereotypical Brazilian image shows a person with medium-brown skin, dark hair, dark eyes, beautiful… and while these people exist, there are also physical features that span the spectrum of features.
Brazil’s long and complex history has resulted in people from all areas of the world migrating there in recent history. Language with roots from Portuguese explorers, Samba music and dance from West African slave trade, food and cultural influences from many Europeans who came to Brazil post-WW2, and genetics from basically everywhere. Furthermore…
Brazil has the largest Japanese population outside of Japan
Two million Japanese people live in Brazil, mainly focused in São Paulo. Immigration to South America began in the early 1900s when many left economic hardship in Japan to work in the growing coffee industry. As a result, high quality Japanese food is abundant. There’s a unique structure of all-you-can-eat restaurants called rodízio, which is common in sushi restaurants. According to wikipedia:
Rodízio (pronounced [ʁoˈdʒiziu] in Brazil) is an all-you-can-eat style of restaurant service in Brazilian restaurants but with waiters bring samples of food to each customer repeatedly throughout the meal, until the customers signal that they have had enough to eat.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod%C3%ADzio
With a set price menu, you order your sides, but the sushi and sashimi are presented to you by waiters who walk from table to table asking if you want more. You look at the platter, point, and sign how many pieces you want.
Brazil has a very decorated culture
In my observation (of a very limited sample size), tattoos, piercings, hair colour, make-up, fashionable dress and shoes were accepted and common to see across individuals of all genders in São Paulo. Self-expression through physical appearance seemed to be valued, and people really are beautiful in their own ways (that stereotype is true, haha).
Brazil also is a plastic surgery mecca, with procedures available for everything you can imagine: Brazilian butt lifts, breast implants, and bicep, deltoid, and 6-pack implants.
Meat, meat, and more meat
We had bacon for breakfast, chicken or pork for lunch, and high quality beef for dinner – Brazilian steakhouses are popular for a reason. Picanha is the most popular cut of beef, and was often grilled and served on a board. And of course, at the steakhouse, it was presented on a massive skewer, carved at the table.
There’s a whole world outside North American (no way!)
Of course that’s true, so what do I mean? There are other viewpoints on world conflicts, there are mega celebrities outside of Hollywood, and top music charts aren’t exclusively made up of Drake or Taylor Swift (although they are popular). Many of our top fashion labels aren’t present there, and they have many beautiful brands that I had never heard of. These are things I knew, but spending even two weeks on the other side of the world reminded me that the world is not only how we see it.
Smart phones are hot commodities
“DO NOT use your phone in public.” This wasn’t a ‘fun’ fact, but a truth nonetheless: we were warned this countless times by our Brazilian hosts. Avoid taking photos, don’t look at google maps, don’t text while walking. If you must, step into a store to use your phone and then stash it away before resuming your commute on the street. Phone theft is extremely common, and they can be stolen out of your hands by people walking, cycling, motorbiking, driving by. The scariest part: if you’re using your phone, the screen is unlocked, and the thieves can then access all your information on your phone.
If it sounds like we spent a lot of our time eating food, shopping, and drinking lime or passionfruit caipirinhas… you are correct. We also learned a thing or twenty – see upcoming part 2 of the Sao Paulo residency for all the valuable insights from our classes at FIA.
Join me in the classroom of life!
Andrea Gets Schooled 
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