Travel Diary
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Travel Observations
Sometimes when travelling in other
countries, we notice lots of little things which are
different to the way that they are at home. These
are some of the things that I've noticed so far:
- No hot water. We take hot water
for granted in New Zealand, but few houses and
hotels in Brazil or Latin America have hot water.
In most cases the only water available is cold.
Cold water is used for washing dishes, and
laundry. Cold showers are very common in tropical
regions like the Amazon, but further south where
it gets cold in the winter, most showers have a
special water-heater built into the shower head
so that it takes the chill out of your early
morning showers;
- Don't flush the loo paper! This
seems really strange for visitors from New
Zealand, but it is important not to flush loo
paper down the toilets when visiting Latin
America. Instead, it is put into a small
wastebasket next to the toilet bowl. This
wastebasket gets emptied regularly.
- Dinner times. People in Brazil
and Argentina eat their evening meals much later
than people in New Zealand. Usually, dinner isn't
served until after 9pm. People in the cities
often go out after dinner, to dance or meet with
friends – returning home very late;
- Dancing. Many New Zealanders
like to enjoy a night out with good food, wine,
and talking with friends. This doesn't appeal so
much to Brazilians. Instead, one of their
greatest pleasures is dancing. They love to
dance. American pop and dance music is extremely
popular, but Brazilians also love dancing to
traditional Afro-Brazilian music from the region
of Bahia . . . and, of course, the famous
Brazilian samba of the Carnival;
- Soccer. Soccer is the national
passion in Brazil. They currently hold the World
Cup, and have many of the best soccer players in
the world. Most cities have a soccer stadium, and
there is always a soccer field even in the
smallest villages. It seems that every Brazilian
is a soccer fan and has strongt loyalties to a
particular team. The games are very exciting.
When a goal is scored the announcers yell
"Goooooaaaaaaaaallllll" –
stretching it out for at least a full minute.
- Glow in the dark light-switches.
This is just a little observation – but a
good idea. The light switches in Brazil glow in
the dark when they are switched off. The glow is
very faint – but it is very useful for
easily locating the switch again in the dark.
 
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