Rio

I got this AWESOME information from Taylor Wilson, who served in Rio a few years ago!

So I thought I would just compile some of the most frequently asked questions I get about Rio. It's a wonderful and beautiful place, and I get lots of questions about it.

FOOD

For breakfast in Rio people usually eat bread and cold-cut meats and cheese. There is a lot of European influence in Brazil. The bread there is wonderful. They have bakeries in every neighborhood, so you're never more than a couple of blocks away from one. The bread they mostly eat is called paozinho, it’s like little French breads.  Some grocery stores have sliced bread loafs like they have in America.

People also have, for example, hard boiled eggs or oatmeal for breakfast. They also will have fruit shakes. And sometimes even cereal, like Frosted Flakes (different brand, though).

Lunch is the main meal of the day. People eat lunch starting between 12:00 and 1:00 PM.  You will have rice and beans pretty much every day with lunch. The only exception is if they serve lasagna. In that case it’s just lasagna.  But their rice and beans are very good. They slow cook and season their beans (in Rio mostly black beans – Sao Paulo, where the MTC is, is mostly pinto beans) in a pressure pot and they are very flavorful. And they kind of sauté the rice before they add water and it is always good.

With your rice and beans they will serve beef stakes (usually thin strips of steak, not thick ones like here) or chicken. You will also usually get a green salad or sometimes fruit salad.

With lunch you will usually be served soda or juice. There are some delicious fruits in Brazil that make incredible juices. But the most common ones are guava, mango, passion fruit, cashew (the fruit the nut grows on) and papaya.

In general Americans will find the food in Brazil a little bland. Just give it a month or so and you will find that you get accustomed to the food and are able to taste all the subtle flavors. For flavoring they use mostly salt, tomatoes, parsley, and a few other green leaf plants like that. They don’t use pepper, or have hardly anything spicy.

For dinner they usually just have some sort of snack. Brazilians will usually have left-over lunch for dinner – chicken, beans and rice. Missionaries frequently don’t eat dinner, or will just grab something from a bakery (like a bread with butter or cheese and ham) or from a street vender.

HEALTH

Everyone asks if missionaries gain or lose weight in Brazil. Most missionaries lose a little weight on the mission. Missionaries are not allowed to bicycle in Rio (no room on the streets for bikes) so you will be doing a lot of walking. And bus riding. I had a pedometer once, and found that an average day was about 9 miles of walking. In some areas it was as low as 5 some days, and some areas would be about 15 miles a day. So, even though the food is good and high carb, because of the walking most people lose a few pounds.

Water – you shouldn’t drink the tap water in Brazil. This seems very daunting to most Americans, but it’s really not bad and not something you even think about once you’re there. Everybody has a big jug of water in their kitchen, with a dispenser to fill up your cup from. Although more and more people are getting water filters installed in their houses.

What happens if you do drink bad water? Usually nothing, but it’s possible to get worms and or parasites. If you do get worms or parasites it’s actually not a big deal. You will know you have something because you will have absolutely zero energy. Like walk 200 meters and be tired. Just give the mission president’s wife a call (she usually handles the health of the missionaries) and let her know. She’ll have you take two pills and stay home for a day, maybe two, then you’ll be good to go.

Because of these water problems you will frequently be served soda with your lunch. Mostly Coke or Sprite or Guarana. I don’t know where you live, but there are a few places in Utah where you can get Guarana. Members of the church in Brazil mostly drink caffeine. But they have seen lots of American missionaries come through who don’t drink Coke, so they are usually pretty understanding if you ask for water.

SAFETY

The most important thing to know about safety is that you will be just fine as you faithfully serve as a missionary. There is no doubt about that, and it has always been true.

That said, when I was in Rio there were a few dangers. One is being robbed. I think in the entire time I was on my mission only two elders were robbed. Just give them your money or side bag and you’ll be fine. Most missionaries don’t carry their camera on the street with them. Most people know that missionaries only have a few bucks on them and a couple copies of The Book of Mormon. Not much value to most thieves.

People always ask about favelas. Favelas are like “ghettos”. They’re just shanty houses in places where there is gang presence. They’re just hand built, with no permits or inspections, and they steal the power and water they use from the city.

Now, since I have left favelas have been cleaned up substantially. I have heard they are all entirely safe now. This has been done in preparation for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio. But when I was in Rio there were a few favelas we did not go in. Most favelas, however, were fine for missionaries. They knew we were spreading the word of God, and that was just fine with them.

When I was there favelas worked like this: there are only one or two entrances to a favela, and these were usually guarded by armed men (and boys). We would only enter favelas when someone we met on the streets invited us to their house. So we would usually approach the guards (who are associates of the drug lords and are there to keep other gangs and police out) and would ask directions on how to find Joao, who asked us to visit him. They were always nice and usually showed us the way to the person’s house we were looking for.

I never had any problems with favelas, but it was a very different experience to get used to. For example some favelas had an entrance, and then you would have to walk past tables piled high with drugs, pornography and pirated DVDs. So, it’s a different experience, but it was safe.

Like I said, I think the days of gang-run favelas are in the past. Now people say they are just places poor people live, and are completely safe.

TRANSPORTATION

You will ride a lot of buses  They have pre-paid bus cars that you can just scan when you get on the bus and it will take the $2 off for the fare. We usually planned our days so that we only had to take one bus. We would either bus out the edge of our area and visit people as we made our way back on foot. Sometimes you can’t get everybody scheduled nicely like that, so you’ll have to take another bus or two.

They also have these things called a Kombi. They are VW vans that are kind of like buses. They have a route (sometimes exactly the same as the city bus routes) and you just hail them like a taxi and if they have room for you they’ll stop and pick you up. The nice thing about kombis is you can get off and on at any point in the route. They’re usually the same price as buses.

In a ward with about 40 families there will usually be maybe 5 people with a car. So very rarely will you find members who can give you rides. When they accompany you on visits (which is great and you should do as much as possible) you usually have to plan on walking or taking a bus with them. Sometimes they can’t afford the bus though, so you pay for them or just walk.

CULTURE

Brazilians are incredibly open people, and are very honest. Some Americans can get a little offended by how honest they are. For example you may walk in to sacrament meeting and someone will say “Sister, you’re really getting heavier, aren’t you?”  I think it’s important for missionaries to understand that the culture is different. It’s not better or worse. Just accept it as different.

Brazilians are also very non-prejudiced. So you may go up to someone in the street and ask, “Do you know where Teresa lives?” and they may say, “Is she the short black lady? Kind of heavy, with glasses?” They’re not being rude or racist. They just have no preconception of anybody that it’s not rude to describe them with what they look like.  It’s one Brazilian quality I really miss. People look like what they look like, and that’s just the way it is. It doesn't mean anything to them.

Another example: My companion and I were in a kombi once and I was seated next to a 20-something young lady. I started talking with her – kind of the typical how are you, where are you headed, and just trying to find out a little about her. By the end of the six minute ride I knew her name, address, phone number, religion, her kid’s name, her husband’s name, where he works, what hours he works, her parents name and address, what religion she is, what religion her neighbors are, what religion her parents are, that she was nervous that he husband might lose his job, that it has been really hard for her to have a kid, and that she doesn't like one of her neighbors. This shows how open and trusting Brazilians are.

In Rio we never knocked on doors. To find people to teach we would talk to people on the street, and see if they would like us to come by their house to share a  message. If they didn’t want you to come by they would rarely just say “No thank you.” They would just kind of dance around it, say they’re busy, and if you really pressed them they would give you a fake address. So they never want to offend you. Sometimes Americans new to Brazil would get quite frustrated by this. They would say, “Why don’t these people just say no and stop wasting our time?” But, again, it’s just a different culture. Accept it for what it is and move on.

Brazilians also have less privacy boundaries. Again – they’re not being rude, they just don’t think some things are wrong as Americans do. Most people tend to have a good respect for privacy and other people’s space in public. But in their home, or sometimes just in their neighborhood, this changes. Non-members nurse openly in their houses and sometimes on the street where they live. Most members know that it is very different for American missionaries to see this, so they go in the other room.

CLIMATE

Rio has wonderful weather. Bring a good sunscreen that you know you like that you can use on your face. They have regular sunscreen there, but I couldn't find a good facial one. It is warm all year long, and hot in the summer. Interestingly – Brazilians don’t call seasons Summer and Winter (although they are familiar with the terms). Most don’t even know what Spring, Fall or Autumn is. In Rio it is simply regular weather, or it’s the two to three month long Rainy Season.

Your missionary packet has a good packing list. You will want a sweater of some kind for the cooler months. There is one city, right outside Rio, called Petropolis. It’s in the mountains above Rio and it can get cold and foggy there for about a month or two. There were a few weeks there that the Elders wore long sleeve shirts, and a few weeks even that we wore sweater and suit coats.

For the rainy season you will most likely just want an umbrella, as any kind of jacket will just add heat to an already hot and humid day.

The heat can really get to you at first. But don’t worry – you get used to it quickly and you start to not even mind. I have pictures from both of my New Years eves in Rio of a watch showing 12:00 AM January 1^st, and a thermometer showing 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

So one thing to just accept is that you’re going to be sweaty. But so is everyone else in Rio, so it’s not a big deal. People understand that it’s hot and you’re outside walking around. In fact, many times in the year you will be simply sitting at your desk in the morning studying and will find that you’re sweating. There’s nothing you can do about that.

Because it is so warm, practically everyone sleeps with a fan blowing on them. And if it’s super hot many people dampen their underclothes before going to bed, so they evaporate and cools them off. It cools you off enough to get to sleep, plus it keeps mosquitos off you while you sleep.

Bugs aren’t that bad in Rio. They have their fair share of mosquitos, but as long as you sleep with a fan blowing over you (or in a house with closed windows) you’ll be fine. During the day you walk fast enough that they can’t even land on you. Most houses there do not have AC, so you’ll have the windows open at night. They all have bars over them to keep people out, but I don’t think any of the houses I stayed at had screens.

A question I get a lot is what kind of garments work best in warm climates. There are two schools of thought here: 1) Wear a thin or mesh synthetic. They are lightweight and let lots of air through. 2) Wear a natural fabric (like something with cotton in it), that will soak up the sweat and keep you more comfortable.

I personally subscribe to the second school of thought on this issue. I figure I’m going to be sweaty no matter what, so I might as well be comfortable in Dry-Lux garments (they’re a cotton-poly blend, and are pretty lightweight). If I had to guess I’d say 70% of Elders take that side, and the rest take the synthetic stance.

LANGUAGE

Portuguese is a beautiful language. I hope you’re excited to learn it. Portuguese in Brazil has a few regionalized slang phrases, but structurally is almost the same all across the nation. What differs by geographic location is the accent, or pronunciation of words. In Rio, people speak Portuguese like they’re Sean Connery – talking like they have marbles in their mouth.

The Rio accent is to change the “s” sound in the middle and end of words to a “sh”. While it can be very pronounced in many Cariocas, most missionaries choose to only adopt that accent very slightly, if any. Another trait of the Rio accent it to use a “gee” sound for words ending with “de” (usually pounced like the letter D in English). For example the word city in Portuguese is cidade; pronounced in Rio as see-da-gee, pronounced in the rest of Brazil as see-da-dee.

The most important thing to remember is to just always keep trying. Most Americans can be speaking good, understandable, but with lots of American accent, Portuguese by 2 months in the field. But I will say - those first few weeks out of the MTC are really hard. Your companion will be teaching most of the lessons, with you just chiming in for the parts you know how to say. But that’s all right. Always keep trying.

When I was in the MTC (I went straight to Sao Paulo) I was in a district of 12 Elders, all going to Rio. All of them except me had studied Spanish in High School. I took two years of German. In the MTC they had a much easier time with the pronunciation of words, and were able to convert over many vocabulary words from Spanish to Portuguese. In the MTC they were speaking much, much better Portuguese than me. That was hard – I was trying as hard as I could to learn the language in the MTC but it just wasn’t coming. Well, at our first transfer meeting I saw most of the Elders from my MTC district and I’m pleased to say they voted me as the best Portuguese speaker of the group. Once I was out in the field things just really clicked. The point is that The Lord will bless the missionaries He chooses with the tools they need to do His work.

When people ask how they can prepare to learn a new language, I tell them the key is having faith. Yeah, go ahead and try to study the language a little before you go. Try to learn how to conjugate verbs, what the sentence structure is and try to learn a few words. But it’s really true what people say about learning a language in the MTC. You learn more in two weeks there than you do over four years of high school language classes.

Well, sorry this became so lengthy. Hopefully it provides some insight as to what to expect in Rio. And hopefully it has given you a lot to be excited about and look forward to.

Let me know if you have any questions. I would be happy to answer them, no matter how trivial they may seem.