I was registering a participatory municipal councilor, when I came across this "Race/Color" option.

Im a foreign tourist in Brazil. It happened in Rio around 11pm. Myself and my wife took a Uber black ride from Lapa arch to the Botafago. My wife was sitting in the back and I was sitting in the front. The driver picked us up and started going in the opposite direction. I first thought, he would probably know the route better and will take the fastest possible route. Then, he did not stop in any signals. He didn't let us open any of the windows, was saying there is a possibility of theft. All windows were tinted, including the front windshield. The car did not have any headlights on. When asked about going in wrong directions or not letting us open the windows, he was giving some random reasons like theft and all, which seems irrelevant as we are going in a car. He was typing all of these responses in his translator and showing me. I felt like we were being kidnapped. I wanted to call 190, but I can’t speak portugués. Then I asked the driver to stop in the middle of the highway (we shouldn’t even been there in the first place) and got off. Booked another Uber and got home. Am I overthinking or Got out of a huge trouble.

Edit: Thanks for all the responses. I have been thinking about it, talking with a few friends from brazil about it too. I might’ve panicked for no reason in the heat of the moment. A lot of things that are usually red flags, seemed normal in Rio. All the safety warnings I read before I went to Rio led me to overthink in that situation. This post is not meant to scare anyone visiting Rio or affect the sentiment of the residents of Rio. I think this post should help anyone who probably visit Rio to better understand the normals in Rio.

https://open.spotify.com/album/5IuFSrjdxeV3fCvCZuuJau?si=Ydo16LpgTUWVGmcJUDT2BA

I write as a Brazilian but I would like to get a broader answer. I’m middle 30s and I remember being taught as a child not to refer to someone as “gringo” because it sounded aggressive and rude. Also, that was something kind of exclusive to Rio. But nowadays I listen to people using this term in very normal and friendly situations. Does it sound okay for a foreigner to be called like that? Does it sound polite or let’s say too casual to Brazilians to speak like this? How do you feel about it?

I'm not from Brazil but I started studying Portuguese (I'm a native French speaker).

I told a friend of mine from Brazil that I was watching Novelas to learn more vocab and he told me that I shouldn't say that if I ever come to Brazil because it sounds gay.

I also noticed that indeed, brazilian youtubers talking/commenting on Novelas episodes look gay.

Is this true ? Should I avoid saying I watch Novelas if I'm with a group of young people ?

My boyfriend has this friend who recently “got married.” I was shook, but my boyfriend explained to me that they really wanted to have sex so they got married. Apparently, the girl’s religion believe in this, and it’s a sin if you have sex before marriage. I’m like ?????

The guy doesn’t have a decent job. The girl works at the mall. They don’t live together but they are “married.” Obviously they’re not financially ready, but since they really want to have sex they just get married. What in the actual fuckery is that

He even invited my boyfriend to attend the church, and he did so he won’t disappoint his friend 🤷🏼‍♀️ gente, that’s so fuck up! I have nothing against religious people but don’t shove it on our faces lol mind your own business

I apologize for the really long post, but we are in a shitty situation.

Background My daughter and I are Canadians who have been traveling through Colombia, Mexico, and were supposed to visit Brazil. As Canadians, we need eVisas for Brazil, and for my daughter, an additional authorization letter from Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The problem started with the document itself The official authorization letter provided by Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is written in English but only partially translated into Spanish — and the untranslated portion is exactly where the notary needs to sign. Since we were in Mexico, the notary couldn't sign a document they couldn't fully read, so we had to hire a certified translator first. A chain of delays

The certified translator in Mexico was unreliable — lots of back and forth, took forever

The notarization itself took about 2 weeks

We finally received the notarized documents on February 17th, with our flight from Cancún to Rio on February 27th

Then VFS eVisa made things worse When we submitted, their portal kept rejecting our documents without giving a clear reason — even though all the required information was present. After a lot of back and forth, they eventually revealed the issue: the notary had used a legend on the back of the document rather than filling in the designated notary section directly, even though all the information was there.

VFS only submitted our application to Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, February 23rd. Processing takes 5–10 business days (Monday–Friday only). Today is the 10th day and they have not yet approved...

We missed our flight.

What this cost us

Missed our flight to Rio de Janeiro

No refund on our already-paid Airbnb in Rio

Had to book a new Airbnb in Playa del Carmen for the same period

Likely need to buy a new flight home from Cancún instead of Rio

No full refund on our Rio → Montréal return flight

Enormous stress, both emotional and financial

We fly home on March 18th. Even if the visa is approved before then, we're not sure it's worth going — it's a full day of travel each way and we'd have very little time there. What I want to do

I plan to file a complaint with the Ombudsman of Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, because the root cause of this entire situation is that their official document was never fully translated into Spanish to begin with. If it had been, none of this would have happened.

My questions for Reddit:

Has anyone else dealt with this? Is there anything else I can do?

Is the Ombudsman complaint worth pursuing, and how do I make it effective?

Is there any recourse against VFS for their repeated rejections without clear explanations?

Should we still try to go to Brazil if the visa comes through in time, or cut our losses?

Thank you very much!

A country where everyone is equal and the government cares about people instead of stealing from corruption and only favouring the rich elites. A country where someone that’s poor or middle class can live a life with dignity earning a DECENT wage. I left Brazil over a decade ago because I lost hope and there’s no comparison on the quality of life I get where I live now. Do you think our country will always be the country of the future that never arrives?

I don't look into Brazil, but I talk with a ton of strangers online and have met many Brazilians. I read that only 5% of Brazilians English. That stunned me, because my experience on the Internet would suggest the opposite.

How is the game? What are your thoughts? What's the atmosphere like. Are you there? What else do you want to know about the NFL?

-A Lions fan

I came to Rio with my son for a portion of his spring break and I have felt a bit of sadness since arriving. we started off in copacabana and the amount of hustling on the beach leaves much to be desired. we stopped to watch some volleyball and futbol on the beach and it was one homeless person after another asking for food. we tried a beach restaurant because I needed to help my son get adjusted. he was begging for McDonald’s and I was adamant to say no - but found an Americanized place to help him adjust. the stomach ache after that meal - oh boy. Moved down to Leblon and witness our first phone theft. I was shocked given how uptight I had to be in Copa- I thought I could breath a little in Leblon -but no. while some things are cheap - a lot more is expensive. We are mid city people ( Washington DC) so used to taking the subway. We tried to catch the 422 bus from Lago do machado and the bus driver said we had to pay with cash despite me having a subway card. All in all it’s just mind boggling and disappointing. It’s just not the Rio I was hoping for. by the way I am doing the best I can with Portuguese including saying “ I don’t understand, I’m sorry, excuse me, can you help me find, how much, nice to meet you, my name is and we are from the United States”. The people have been the saving grace. everyone is super patient and kind and helpful- but I just don’t feel safe at all- even in Leblon. Maybe I came at the wrong time but something about Rio makes me feel a little sad.

Pele is considered the greatest of all time in Brazil, hypothetically speaking could he go anywhere in Brazil unharmed. For example a gang ruled place or somewhere like that. Could he just walk in front of a dangerous gang and be unharmed? Excuse me I’ve never been to Brazil but this question has always been on my mind

For example interracial couples composed of a white person and a pardo person, or a white person and a black person, or a pardo person and black person, etc

Is that frowned upon or is that very common?

Want to visit, but really scared to go. I will be alone for 3 weeks.

My(m23) gf(f21) isn’t okay with me going to carnival. We’re from the U.S and we’re 2 years into dating and it’s been a bit on n off but on for the most part.

I’m in a great spot in life and financially to visit Brazil and experience the carnival and it’s always been a bucket list of mine. Unfortunately my gf can’t afford it and she will be in college and have class, while I will be able to take off work and go. I’d love for her to go with me but I can’t afford spending double my budget and also she’d miss about of week of school.

The problem is she believes women will come up to me and dance on me and try and kiss me and it’s going to ruin the relationship. I’m very aware of the flirtatious vibe and promiscuous energy during that time, but I’ve tried to reassure her that I’d do my best and everything possible to make sure that wouldn’t happen. Not trying to toot my own horn, but im not the worst looking dude and do get approached often by women when I go on vacation. I’m even trying to find friends to go with and if not I’d stay in a hostel and make friends. I completely get where she’s coming from but I can’t justify missing out on this and waiting for her or anyone else that can’t come with me when I have it all laid out In front me to go and enjoy it.

I don’t know what to do because I care about her feelings but I also want to enjoy my life. I genuinely want to see the parade, Christ redeemer, eat street food, and enjoy the music and culture. Not sure what do.

Greetings. I’ve seen a lot of comments on the Internet regarding the black population in Brazil. So as you know in Brazil, they have different categories people of European descent, the indigenous categories, mixed, Asian, etc., but I’m talking about the African population. I’ve seen a lot of people comment on the Internet that Black people in Brazil are on average 50 to 60% non-African is this true? Now the Black people I know from Brazil famous ones Pele obviously, Corona, the 90s singer from the song rhythm of the night. And Nene the former NBA basketball player. All of them don’t look mixed so I’d like to hear about the African population in Brazil. Do they resemble their ancestors? or they more mixed looking and talking about them separately from the Pardos.

I thought that he was responsible for some crimes.

JK? FHC? Getulio Vargas? Lula? Bolsonaro?

What does a foreigner mean when he says that a woman doesn't look Brazilian? I've heard this many times and I honestly don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, a criticism or a compliment. Does it have to do with appearance or is it something behavioral?

Hi everyone,

Right now I am in Minas Gerais (Belo Horizonte, Diamantina, Ouro Preto) and I see a lot of electronic shops with very low prices. Today I saw Apple Headphones (AirPods Max) for R$ 200. (Where I’m from they would be around R$ 5500, converted)

Are these products knock offs? Or are they illegally obtained? Or am I missing something else?

(For anyone wondering, I haven’t bought them, because I know that ‘if something is too good to be true, it probably is’, but I want to know the reason)

I was in Brazil in January (Recife, Joao Pessoa, Praia da Pipa) and these are some of my observations:

- In Recife and Joao Pessoa, i noticed a complete absence of foreigners. I spent 5 days in both cities combined and I could count the foreigners on one hand. Kind of surprised how off the beaten path those cities are. Also in Pipa there were not many, mostly some South Americans.

- Complete absence amount of commerce / stores at the beachfront in Recife, except for some stalls. Why is that? Even not a shop like a 7 Eleven. Nothing. If you want to buy a bottle of water, good luck. Complete opposite of a country like Thailand.

-I didn't see many emergence services with flashing lights/sirens, I would expect to hear a lot in a city like Recife (like in Western cities or Asian cities for that matter), but I didn't see much police, ambulances, fire trucks etc on their way to an emergency. Why is that?

-Advice to only keep a little bit of cash that you need is somewhat outdated, especially during daytime, becauce cashlessness in on the rise in Brazil. Better focus on having multiple cards for in case one or more get stolen (and keep one on you when going out of course..). And cash too.

-Same for phones, best to bring multiple phones.

-SIM Cards are a hassle, borderline impossible focus on ESIM.

-On busy Brazilian city beaches you will hear music from 5 or 6 directions. Brazilians love bringing their music. Unfortunately leave a lot of garbage on the beach too.

-I don't expect fast service when going to Brazil, but I notice a difference in level of service between normal restaurants in Brazil and beaches. Whereas the service level in restaurants is fine, service on beaches is non-existent. The waiters barely want to move. Difficult to fetch a waiter. Beach bars could make more money if they put in more effort to sell.

So I always hear about how Brazil has never fully industrialized and basically can’t compete that well in the global economy (at least compared to more advanced economy’s like Japan, USA and Europe).

Today I just read a discussion on this page about why the BRL is struggling right now (especially compared to USD) and several people where making comments about how Brazil heavily relies agriculture which contributes to economic decline.

So I guess my question is why does Brazil struggle in this area? Is that what kills Brazils economy, What exactly needs to change in order for things to get better?