This time.. I`m going to be even more disorganized and just put down random things that I`ve found interesting, or just thoughts that have been swimming, recently, in my mind.
1. Bompreço - literally, `good price`, is pretty much everywhere. It`s a store with pretty much everything, as well, so, yeah, I`m glad that there`s something convenient and sort of cheap for the Brazilian population. But, what bugs me about this store is that it is the Walmart of Brazil. And I`m not kidding - it`s owned by Walmart. I think the reason why I`m irked by this store is that I`m a little creeped out by how much globalization is taking part in our modern-day world. Perhaps what I really want is just every country to be independent enough to have their own strong, domestic businesses, instead of foreign ones? Meh! I`m DEFINITELY not an econ or global studies major, so, perhaps globalization really is better for the global economy, but, just morally, in my mind, I`m not quite a fan. This is the reason why I really dislike Starbucks, because it`s just insanely stupid how it`s EVERYWHERE.
2. The title of this time`s blog, means `a knife and cheese.` I find this very cute, since, in Portuguese, if one has a knife and cheese, it apparently means that - all is well, and that one has all that they need. Sometimes I wish I could live without internet, without media, and just live happily and simply with just the few things I need in life. Perhaps this is called retirement?? haha!
3. I still don`t understand how this works, but, our Portuguese teacher told us that apparently, in Brazil, you should keep your receipts (from the store) instead of throwing them away, since you can give them to charity organizations, later? For example, after you`ve kept your receipts for a while, you can either give your receipts to your church, or charity boxes (for hospitals and other organizations) usually in the supermarkets... and no matter how much money was on the receipt, each receipt has the same value of donation (from the government? I guess, through product tax?) to give to the charity organization. Neat-o, right??
4. Pra chuchu - literally means, for/by (or by means of?) chuchu (chayote). WHAT DOES THIS MEAN in HUMAN terms?! Basically, a chayote apparently grows VERY fast. So, if one uses this expression in a phrase, say.... `I`ve been studying pra chuchu`, it basically means that `I`ve been studying so much like CRAZY!` Haha! By the way, chuchu has become one of my favorite veggies, here... :D
5. The social differences are definitely noticeable, here. We were talking in class about the differences between the Brazilian and US economies, and.. basically, it`s just mind-blowing how little people earn, here. I`m not quite sure how accurate this is, but, basically, our teacher was saying how, with minimum wage in the US, one should be earning $640 a week. In Brazil, on the otherhand, sometimes people earn only $R435 a MONTH. Which, is we just round the conversion rate to be $R1 = $2 US, then.. that`s about $217 a MONTH?! I need to do more research online, but, it`s just insane how the majority of the country`s wealth is by so FEW people, but about 20% of the country`s population is below poverty. Anyvays... again, I`m probably a shame to my father for not knowing more about international business or what economical/financial terms actually mean (sorry, Papa, haha!), but, you can definitely see the difference on the streets.
What`s even more insane is that although the Brazilian average income is SO much lower than that of other countries - I tried this website, which claims that apparently the average Brazilian annual salary is $8,723, while the US is $31,410 http://www.worldsalaries.org/) - that things here are not necessarily cheaper... Certainly, some things are cheap depending on where you go, but clothes are basically the same price as in the US.. food`s a lot of the time actually more expensive here... and, yeah!
So... this might be a hint hint to some of my friends that I might not be able to get that many souvenuirs for you guys.... haha! Desculpe!
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That's an interesting observation about Walmart. I agree that it's a shame Walmart crowds out domestic firms. It is similar to how Walmart destroyed the Main Street Mom and Pop shops in the US. And I think something of the local culture is lost forever. But it also helps reduce poverty and improve livelihoods because the prices of clothing, children's toys, and food have dropped by a wide margin. But, perhaps more to your point, the local success of Walmart might also give it an outsized impact on local political affairs. For example, they have every incentive to lobby the local government for benefits at the expense of the local population. If the institutions of democracy are weak, then this can lead to corruption and may severely disadvantage the local population (but a local firm would do the same!).
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