Stuff I miss...
My daughters, 4 grand daughters, and one grandson and my family..but with internet, skype, VOIP phone, and face book.. I have a local Calgary phone number, so family phone daily and the electronic tools help a lot, but miss giving the babies big hugs.
NOT in any particular order..
Books:
Real ones... I have an EReader, and can download books from the Calgary Library, so I have lots to read, and free.. but sometimes... on occasion.. I Miss the feel of a paperback...then I look out the window, see the ocean, and don't miss them so much..
Hot water:
Yup, not common here in the North East of Brasil to have hot water, the stuff out of the tap is luke warm (27 C), no real need for hot water, especially as it is hotter then hell. They do have ( Not Us) what is called electric showers, some times referred to as suicide showers. Just some days, sore muscles, stiff back...ahhhhh a hot shower would be nice..
Shopping:
I'm a man, I don't like shopping, it is in our Genes, I want to go in, grab stuff, go home, the following items DRIVE ME NUTZ..
The stores, all have line ups at the cash registers, they seem to have lots of cash registers, they are just slow.. the cashiers seem to look at all you stuff and roll it around before scanning it, every item, if you have 24 cans of coke,every one of them gets scanned.... never in a hurry, maybe they are to relaxed, they all have chairs the the checkout?
In the isles, when you see someone stocking the selves, they don't get out of your way! they don't say excuse me or sorry, they just keep working ( also very slow) if you want to go to the other side of them, you need to go back and around through the other isle. This i just don't get, this is in a Bom Preco ( Wal Mart Brasil) , you would think they know something about marketing!!
Oh I have stories, I could go on and on.. but won't..
Some stores, like my Hardware store ( you used to see more of this, shoe stores, books stores) , use a weird system, you shop ( or a person follows you with a basket), when your done you go to a counter, they add up all you stuff, and give you a slip of paper, and they take your stuff, you then go to another counter (usually at the back) and hand in the paper, they tell you how much, ( if you use a credit card they ask how many payments, they will usually do up to 10 equal payments on your card with no interest), when you have paid you have to find a 3rd counter, usually far from the one you paid at, closer to the one that took your stuff , show them another piece of paper and your receipt, they then pass you a bag with your stuff.. Fast NOT, Efficient NOT. Fun NOT..
Quality:
Anything here imported has the poo taxed out of it, this is to allow Brazilian manufacturers to compete. But the majority of the stuff they make is crap, all the stuff is like the crap from a dollar store, knives, plates, plastic containers..everything...just JUNK.. if you want good stuff, you would have to buy imported, if you could even find it..and then the Price would be double what we pay in Canada.. eg.. Henkle Kitchen knives IN Canada I paid 60 bucks, here it would have been hard to find and $200 Canadian, electronics, same thing.. It is everything. Some things, cotton, sheets, clothes, shoes are good quality.. and good price..but most things..not so much...Now I know why all my Brazilian visitors bought so much stuff when they visited.. So If you come to visit, I will give you a list of stuff to bring!! You will need a couple of suit cases..
Work:
Ha ha, of course not, just put that in to see if you were paying attention, will never miss work.
My daughters, 4 grand daughters, and one grandson and my family..but with internet, skype, VOIP phone, and face book.. I have a local Calgary phone number, so family phone daily and the electronic tools help a lot, but miss giving the babies big hugs.
NOT in any particular order..
Books:
Real ones... I have an EReader, and can download books from the Calgary Library, so I have lots to read, and free.. but sometimes... on occasion.. I Miss the feel of a paperback...then I look out the window, see the ocean, and don't miss them so much..
Hot water:
Shopping:
I'm a man, I don't like shopping, it is in our Genes, I want to go in, grab stuff, go home, the following items DRIVE ME NUTZ..
The stores, all have line ups at the cash registers, they seem to have lots of cash registers, they are just slow.. the cashiers seem to look at all you stuff and roll it around before scanning it, every item, if you have 24 cans of coke,every one of them gets scanned.... never in a hurry, maybe they are to relaxed, they all have chairs the the checkout?
In the isles, when you see someone stocking the selves, they don't get out of your way! they don't say excuse me or sorry, they just keep working ( also very slow) if you want to go to the other side of them, you need to go back and around through the other isle. This i just don't get, this is in a Bom Preco ( Wal Mart Brasil) , you would think they know something about marketing!!
Oh I have stories, I could go on and on.. but won't..
Some stores, like my Hardware store ( you used to see more of this, shoe stores, books stores) , use a weird system, you shop ( or a person follows you with a basket), when your done you go to a counter, they add up all you stuff, and give you a slip of paper, and they take your stuff, you then go to another counter (usually at the back) and hand in the paper, they tell you how much, ( if you use a credit card they ask how many payments, they will usually do up to 10 equal payments on your card with no interest), when you have paid you have to find a 3rd counter, usually far from the one you paid at, closer to the one that took your stuff , show them another piece of paper and your receipt, they then pass you a bag with your stuff.. Fast NOT, Efficient NOT. Fun NOT..
Quality:
Anything here imported has the poo taxed out of it, this is to allow Brazilian manufacturers to compete. But the majority of the stuff they make is crap, all the stuff is like the crap from a dollar store, knives, plates, plastic containers..everything...just JUNK.. if you want good stuff, you would have to buy imported, if you could even find it..and then the Price would be double what we pay in Canada.. eg.. Henkle Kitchen knives IN Canada I paid 60 bucks, here it would have been hard to find and $200 Canadian, electronics, same thing.. It is everything. Some things, cotton, sheets, clothes, shoes are good quality.. and good price..but most things..not so much...Now I know why all my Brazilian visitors bought so much stuff when they visited.. So If you come to visit, I will give you a list of stuff to bring!! You will need a couple of suit cases..
Work:
Ha ha, of course not, just put that in to see if you were paying attention, will never miss work.
Yes everything takes more time..one of the things I have learned is patience...we are so use to the quickness of things and it appears in many countries this is not the case. When I first started going to China in 1999 the department stores all had the system chose items--get slip--pay somewhere else--go back and get items. Amazing skype as the first time I was in China we couldn't even phone out...so you are lucky...
ReplyDeleteHow is banking in Brazil...in Africa there are long line ups and for the locals it takes hours to get banking done...
Whoops I forgot to sign my name...
DeletePatti Bidart
Patti
DeleteThe banking system is the same, the national bank seems to be the only place to pay bills, there is ALWAYS a line outside the bank, and an even longer on inside..at the start of the month, the line goes around the block..Cris says it is also because of people who are afraid or can't use the machines, either they don't trust the machine or can't read , to complicated.. Cris lives without going to a teller.. We would just go to another bank, but Brazilians are used to the long lines, and don't feel they can do anything about it so they just put up with it..