Brazil expects crisis to be tangent

Everything in Rio was different from what we saw in Buenos Aires. The Argentineans are serious and introverted people. They are dark skinned but there are no blacks. The Brazilians gave the impression that they ate caviar and drank champagne everyday and were not interested in anything else but amusement, samba and football. Of course one cannot generalize based on observations during a short period of time. Nevertheless, some impressions during the short period may be approximately correct.

Even their way of dancing is different.

The Argentinean tango is filled with emotions, sex, and ambition, and is an introverted dance. Two people sharing their inner feelings. Whereas the Brazilian samba is extroverted and opposite to tango. It is wriggly, and colorful and flamboyant. It excites people with its rhythm and figures. Tango is danced with people but samba is shared among hundreds.

I didn’t cite "caviar and champagne" for no reason. Daily life of people in Rio is full of entertainment and beauty. According to some, there are 7 million, according to others there are 11 million inhabitants. Brazil is a country measuring more than 8.5 million square kilometers with 178 million people living in it.It is a region where the income imbalance reaches its highest ratio and a country where a minority group has a yearly income of $25,000 the middle class earns $5,000 per annum and the poor earn $1 at the most per day. And they all live together. For this reason the biggest concern in Rio is still public order. Burglary, theft, murder and large robberies are a part of everyday life. The largest service sector is made up of security firms. Every house and every shop has special security and is surrounded by an iron fence.

So how come there are no explosions taking place despite the huge imbalance?

One observer said "Two mutual elements link the poor and the rich together: one is samba and the other is football." He said in general Brazilians prefer a relaxed and amusing lifestyle over money.

Who is Brazilian?

You can recognize Argentinean or Scandinavian people more or less when you see them. But it’s difficult to recognize a Brazilian. Imagine, the Portuguese first discovered and occupied the country of people who lived in the Amazon forest. Then the Germans, the Dutch and the Italians came. In order to make up for the manual labor deficit as the coffee production grew black people were imported from Africa.

Now mix all the different races, colors, and genes of very different people. As you may guess a gorgeous cocktail is the result. A new race has been created where black people with deep blue eyes or blond people are to be found but in general a race that is tall, slim and very beautiful.

Rio, not different from heaven
I don’t know what heaven is because I’ve not been there yet. but I have an idea, like we were all made believe, what it may look like. One of these heaven images I have seen in Rio.

God spent some time and braided this city like a lace. No matter from which angle you look at you’ll always encounter a beauty. It is different looking down from the hill where Jesus’ statue is and very different when you look down from the sugarloaf hill É

Very different when you walk on the Ipanema boardwalk or go swimming at Copacabana É and do all this while listening to the samba rhythm É then do the trip at night. It is probably difficult to see such a magical natural beauty. Mankind enjoys places where he spends money. But Rio is probably the best city. It is enough to just watch the beach with its beautiful people, one more beautiful than the other. I have experienced this while walking under generally cloudy skies and one day when it was raining. I said to myself "If I were to watch Rio on a bright shiny day or moonlit night I’d probably get dizzy from the please." I usually look at the bright side of places I go. I don’t like to examine misery or hungry people’s situation. For I do cope with this in my own country everyday. But in Rio they take you to Favellas (similar to our shanty towns), if you like it or not. It’s included in the tourist program. While walking among the Favellas one can observe the difference between rich Brazil, which I admire, and poor Brazil.

Your finger would turn green
I heard it from people who walked across Brazil from one end to the other. They say, there is no other country with this many natural resources. Because of the rich rain the country is green all over. The soil is so fertile that if you where to stick your finger in it, it would turn green É Can you imagine, there is a tropical forest in the midst of Rio and they protect it like the apple of their eye. The majority of the country is green. There are places still not accessible in the Amazon that are said to be used up and ruined É And add to this beauty 350 million cattle. Brazil is together with Argentina the world’s meat barn. I don’t count other natural resources (with enough petrol for itself).

Despite all this, no balance can be established in income. Political fluctuations cannot be prevented. Speaking of "politics" I cannot pass without mentioning the only similarity between Brazil and us.

Like us, Brazil experienced big inflation. Like us, started with reforms in the beginning of 2000 and growing since. On international markets Turkey, Brazil and Argentina were always considered equal. External resources were allocated to these countries. In the end the crises knocked on our doors.You wouldn’t believe but Head of State Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks just like Erdoğan. He used different words but exhibits the same attitude. "Thank god we are not in a bad position É the crises is a tangent, there’s nothing to fear," he says. And just like Prime Minister Erdoğan he hates the word "prevention package." But contrary to us, Brazilians believe and trust their head of state. They spend plenty, dance plenty and continue with their "caviar and champagne" life.