We caught up with our trainees to see what they thought of Porto Alegre after a few days here. Here’s what they had to say.
Architecture and Landscape
Nique: When you look at the buildings you can tell that there’s a lot of history in the style and structure of the buildings. You’ll be hard pressed to find any modern buildings. I’ve been here two weeks and still haven’t seen a very modern building.
Fortunate: Except maybe the Iberê Camargo Foundation Museum.
Nique: But it’s part of the charm of the city. It makes Porto Alegre what it is. That, and the graffiti. There’s quite a lot of it but I like it. Its detailed and you can see it has meaning; its not just a gangster tag. In New Zealand it would be painted over almost immediately.
Fortunate: The graffiti is definitely one of my favourite things about the city. It’s everywhere! The colour and detail is just incredible. Its a nice element of the city.
Roads and Traffic
Nique: Its a little scary driving here because in both New Zealand and Thailand we drive on the other side of the road. And people here drive like they don’t know how to.
Fortunate: People driving on the other side is weird. Before I came here I read articles that said that pedastrian crossings were merely decorations on the road. It’s so true! Brazilian drivers just don’t care. Its like the pedastrians are borrowing the road from the drivers.
Food
Nique: The taste of food here is very strong; it’s either very salty or very sweet. There’s no balance. I usually have bacon and eggs for breakfast, whereas here breakfast is usually something baked – bread, pastry, pie.
Fortunate: I really miss having eggs for breakfast. A lot of the food I’ve had this last week is in pastry or pie form which I don’t eat that often at home.
Nique: My strangest meal while here has been the rice and beans. Never had that before. And cappuccino with no foam.
Fortunate: I really enjoy how food is shared between friends and family at restaurants. Many different dishes are ordered and each person has a bit of what they want.
People
Nique: People here are very friendly. When you greet someone its with a hug and a kiss which I like because I immediately feel comfortable with everyone. In Thailand you always keep your distance – we dont even shake hands. There are a lot of people with tattooes and many of them look great but I think seeing so many has actually put me off getting one myself. I’ve always regarded them to be meaningful and a differentiating aspect but here a lot of people have a tattoo, and many even of have the same designs which defeats the purpose for me.
Fortunate: One of the first things I noticed about the people is the number of tattooes people have. Big and visible and sometimes a little strange. I quite like it. I think it speaks to the liberated mindset that Brazilians have. I’ve seen a lot of interesting ones and I try take photos of the really cool ones.
Portuguese
Nique: Portuguese is hard, really hard. This is my third languge after Thai and English. I enjoy learning the language but its a little hard becasue I have to translate from Portuguese to English to Thai and back again. So its a challenge.
Fortunate: It’s definitely hard. Lots of nasal sounds which are hard to pronounce. It can be frustrating at times but eventually I’ll get it. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.
Highway to Porto Alegre 