Newcott Blog

I had a nice work trip to Brazil, or as they say in Brazil, Brasil. My conference was in a small town in the North called Sauipe. The beaches were beautiful. The people are friendly and willing to try speaking English. Total travel time in each direction: 24 hours. This includes a flight from LAX to Peru, a flight from Peru to Sao Paolo, a flight from Sao Paolo to Salvador, and a 1 hour bus ride from Salvador. I’m tired just thinking about it.

I have two main impressions of my trip. 1. I did not visit the real Brazil, like you would experience in Rio De Janero or Sao Paolo. Instead, I visited the equivalent of a cruise line’s private island in the Carribbean. Everything was perfect in the little resort town I visited — 5 deluxe hotels, nestled far outside of a major city, connected by walking paths and a central “village” replica designed to look like Brazillian towns of old. 2. There is no sarcasm in broken English. Sarcasm requires a firm grasp of the language on both sides of the conversation. And sarcasm is, at its root, anger and fear and aggression. In Brazil, I didn’t make or hear a single sarcastic remark.

I heard a famous Brazillian band play in an outdoor amphitheater. I participated in a dance party in the town square, which apparently is common in this area of Brazil, where Carnivale started. I went running on the beach every day. Mix that up with a lot of work and meeting lots of new people. I even got in the warm Atlantic ocean for a little surf session. Too bad the one afternoon I had completely free, it poured rain. Just my luck!