Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais: Language, Culture and Miscilaneous Facts

Here is a random collection of facts that have emerged as notable from my time in Brazil so far:

Cheese bread, or pao de queso, is the go to snack in Minas Gerais. You can eat it at any time morning, mid-day or night acceptably. The bread is two-bite size typically with a crusty exterior and a very doughy inside because of the cheese dough blend which makes it irresistable. You can buy them at any grocery story, bakery, coffee shop or pre-packaged in the frozen isle to bake at home at your convenience.

When you buy bread in the grocery store you first pick up a big plastic bowl then collect all the breads and buns you would like before taking the bowl to the bread counter to be sorted and priced while you continue to shop.

The only ground meat available at the grocery store is beef. I had to ask them special to grind the pork I needed to make tourtiere for my hosts.

You can buy bacon unrefrigerated - it is cured.

Milk and eggs are not refrigerated but on the shelves.

'Ta' in Portuguese doesn't mean yes like 'da' in Russian but is short for 'esta bom'. When I asked someone if 'ta' meant yes like in Russian they laughed because everyone just shortens 'esta bom' without thinking about it and he hadn't been asked that question ever.

Everyone here seems to own a dog. Apparently there are 200,000 people who live in Brazil and 400,000 dogs.

Airbags are not required in cars.

Instead of roosters in kitchen, a lot of Brazilian's have South African guinea fowls.

All women have their nails done weekly because it is so cheap - about $12 for a mani and pedi together.

Jobs that are typically done by machines in Canada are done by people here. For example, you cannot pump your own gas and each pump has its own service person. Also, in stores there are about 8 people to do the job of one person in Canada. When I went to get eye drops I walked up to the pharmacy counter to find eight salespeople behind a little counter ready to help. The government even gives out permits for people to solicit drivers to pay to have their parked cars watched. The irony of this situation though is that if you park in the same lot everyday and don't want to pay the people asking you to, they can easily recognize and damage your car and say it was damaged because they hadn't been paid to focus their 'security' on that area.