Brazilians are "carinhosos"

Brazilians describe themselves as “carinhosos” (warm/loving) and I very much agree; even here in Sao Pualo where the big city culture is very prevalent. Since I arrived in Sao Paulo, my experience has been that, in general, people are very helpful. Contrary to what people in Rio said about “Paulistas” (people from Sao Paulo). There is a very strong rivalry between the two cities. At school students help me to obtain texts for class and even let me use their internet password so that I can actually use the internet! The willingness to help has also been very important when I get lost, which is not an unusual occurrence. Now this is obviously less helpful when the person has no idea what they are talking about or enjoys the idea of sending the poor foreigner in the wrong direction. But I am not alone when it comes to getting lost in Sao Paulo. ALL THE TIME, as I walk through the streets, I see someone asking for directions.

One of the gestures that I have noticed different from the US that demonstrate the “carinhoso” character of Brazilians includes physical touch. For example, people here hold hands more. I notice this often when people are at a table they hold hands here more than we do in the US. For example, it is not strange for a father to hold his teenage sons hand or a pair of friends. Another gesture I find more common here is sharing food. People always offer to share their food with me: fellow students offer me part of a sandwich they brought, a woman in the waiting room in the hospital that I did not even know offered me some of her snack.