Things That Are Considered Normal in Brazil but Strange in Other Countries

There is something fascinating about culture: we rarely notice that we are inside it.

We wake up, take a shower, make coffee, greet someone with a hug, ask “How are you?” without necessarily expecting them to tell us about their entire life, eat rice and beans, call our teacher by their first name, put our phone on the table, complain about traffic, arrive a few minutes late to a party and, at some point during the day, probably say “just a minute” about something that definitely will not take just a minute.

We do all of this without thinking.

It is simply life.

Until someone from another country looks at us and asks: “But why?”

And that simple question can be one of the best ways to understand a culture.

Customs are invisible precisely because they work. When everyone around us does something, it stops looking like a choice and starts looking like a natural characteristic of the world. That is why, when we travel, perhaps the greatest discovery is not necessarily finding a beautiful landscape or visiting a famous monument.

Sometimes the greatest discovery is realizing that something we considered “normal” was simply... Brazilian.

Brazil has an extraordinarily diverse culture, and even within the country there are huge differences between regions, families and social groups. There is no universal “Brazilian manual” capable of explaining every person. Still, some behaviors are common enough to repeatedly appear in accounts from foreigners who live in or visit Brazil.

And that is where things become interesting: not because we need to decide who is right or wrong, but because we begin to understand that normal depends greatly on where you were born.

Brazilians Stand Close. Very Close.

One of the first things that may surprise visitors from certain cultures is the Brazilian relationship with personal space.

Brazilians, in general, tend to stand closer to one another during conversations and use physical contact as part of communication. A touch on the arm, a hug, a kiss on the cheek, a hand on someone's shoulder... all of these can happen quite naturally.

For us, this often means warmth, friendliness and affection.

For someone accustomed to maintaining greater physical distance, however, the same behavior can feel intrusive.

And there is something fascinating about this cultural difference: the body speaks too.

When two people stand close during a conversation, they are not necessarily expressing romantic or personal intimacy. They may simply be following a social rule learned during childhood. Likewise, someone who maintains more distance is not necessarily being cold or unfriendly.

They simply have different codes.

Even greetings vary throughout Brazil. Handshakes, hugs and cheek kisses appear in different contexts, and the number of kisses can vary depending on the region and situation.

Imagine a foreigner arriving in Brazil and discovering that meeting someone for the first time can involve a level of physical contact that, in their own country, would be reserved for close friends.

For us: “Nice to meet you!”

For them: “Wait... are we dating now?”

Maybe it is not quite that dramatic.

But the confusion is understandable.

“How Are You?” Does Not Always Mean We Want the Whole Story

There is one question Brazilians distribute with impressive generosity:

“How are you?”

It appears in elevators, bakeries, workplaces, streets, arrivals, goodbyes and even between people who barely know each other.

The curious part is that, in many situations, nobody expects an autobiography in response.

“How are you?”

“Good.”

“Great.”

Done.

End of investigation.

For some cultures, especially those in which such questions tend to be interpreted more literally, this can be confusing. If you asked whether I am okay, why do you not actually want to know?

Because in Brazil, the question often functions as a form of social contact.

It is almost a small verbal handshake.

We are not necessarily asking about your mental health, family problems, financial situation, relationship or five-year plan.

We are saying: “I recognize you. I am being friendly. I am opening the conversation.”

This reveals something interesting about Brazilian communication: we often place greater importance on the social intention of a sentence than on its literal meaning.

Coffee Is Not Just Coffee

Another seemingly ordinary Brazilian habit with deeper cultural meaning is the famous cafezinho — the little cup of coffee.

In Brazil, offering coffee can be an expression of hospitality. Someone comes to your house? Coffee. Someone arrives at work? Coffee. A meeting ends? Maybe coffee. Someone comes to discuss a problem that supposedly will take fifteen minutes but you already know will last two hours?

First: coffee.

Coffee functions almost like a small welcoming ritual.

Cultural guides for foreigners in Brazil specifically highlight the connection between coffee and hospitality.

And there is something beautiful about that.

Sometimes you are not really offering a drink.

You are offering a pause.

“Would you like some coffee?”

That can mean:

Sit down with me.

Let's talk.

There is time.

Tell me what happened.

Maybe that is why Brazilian coffee can carry a meaning far beyond the cup itself.

Taking More Than One Shower a Day

Now we are entering territory where Brazilians may become slightly offended.

Yes.

We like showers.

A lot.

In some parts of the world, especially colder regions, one shower a day may be perfectly sufficient. In Brazil, depending on the climate, taking two, three or even more showers throughout the day is completely ordinary.

And the reason is not difficult to understand.

Brazil is a tropical country with many hot and humid regions. In some places, you can take a shower, leave the bathroom, stand still for five minutes and begin questioning every decision that brought you to that moment.

Brazilian attitudes toward hygiene also include habits such as brushing one's teeth after main meals, including in workplaces. The University of São Paulo specifically identifies frequent showers and other hygiene practices as characteristics that may surprise foreigners.

The interesting part is that when we grow up with these habits, we stop thinking about them.

Until we travel.

Then we discover that what seemed obvious depended on climate, infrastructure, social customs and history.

Brazilians and Being Late

Few cultural topics generate as much discussion as “Brazilian time.”

And we need to be careful here, because turning a cultural tendency into a stereotype would be unfair. Brazilians are not simply people who are always late. In professional settings, airports, medical appointments, official commitments and countless other situations, punctuality is absolutely expected.

The difference is more noticeable in certain social situations.

A party scheduled for eight in the evening may not mean that the host expects everyone to arrive at exactly eight. In many environments, social gatherings have greater tolerance for delays.

Now imagine someone from a culture where arriving five minutes early is considered respectful.

They arrive at 7:55 p.m.

The house is empty.

The host is taking a shower.

The cake is still in the refrigerator.

Someone is looking for ice.

And the guest begins wondering whether they came on the wrong day.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, someone is probably texting:

“I'm almost there.”

The phrase “I'm almost there” deserves its own anthropological study.

Because depending on the context, it can mean anything between “I'm parking” and “I'm still deciding what to wear.”

Calling Your Boss by Their First Name

Another thing that can surprise foreigners is Brazilian informality.

Depending on the workplace, calling someone by their first name is perfectly normal. Teacher, boss, doctor, colleague, director... social relationships can quickly move away from surnames and formal titles.

The University of São Paulo also highlights the frequent use of first names and nicknames in Brazilian interactions.

In some cultures, however, linguistic hierarchy is much stricter.

First and last names can communicate respect.

Titles can communicate status.

Verbal distance helps preserve social distance.

In Brazil, we often do the opposite.

The director becomes “João.”

The professor becomes “Carlos.”

The colleague becomes “Ju.”

And five minutes later, someone has already invented a nickname.

It is almost a process of social domestication.

Brazilians Make Everything Smaller

We have cafezinho.

Aguinha.

Rapidinho.

Pertinho.

Amiguinho.

Só um pouquinho.

Have you noticed?

Diminutives in Brazilian Portuguese often do not literally refer to size. They can communicate affection, soften a request or make an interaction friendlier.

“Give me a coffee” is a sentence.

“Could you give me a little coffee?” sounds almost like the request came with a smile.

“Wait a little” is neutral.

“Wait just a little bit” feels softer.

It is a tiny social tool hidden inside grammar.

And it reveals something fascinating: language does not simply transmit information.

It also organizes relationships.

Rice and Beans: Our Culinary Marriage

Now we arrive at one of the great certainties of Brazilian life.

Rice and beans.

For many Brazilians, this is not simply a food combination. It is almost an emotional structure.

A typical Brazilian everyday meal often combines rice, beans, meat, salad and some kind of side dish such as farofa or cassava.

And there is something funny about it.

We can travel around the world, eat Italian pasta, Japanese sushi, Thai food, American hamburgers and Indian curry...

But after a few days, someone inevitably says:

“I want rice and beans.”

It is almost edible homesickness.

A foreigner, meanwhile, may look at the plate and think:

Rice and beans together?

Yes.

Together.

On the same plate.

And, depending on the family, with farofa on top.

Maybe an egg.

Maybe potatoes.

Maybe everything mixed together.

Because Brazilians do not always understand food as isolated elements. Often, the pleasure lies precisely in the combination.

Brazilian French Bread Is Not French

There is another small cultural irony worth mentioning.

In Brazil, we call one of our most beloved breads pão francês — “French bread.”

But it does not exactly correspond to what many people in France would recognize as French bread.

This happens with foods and names all over the world: words travel, meanings change and objects acquire new identities.

The name remains.

The thing changes.

And that is culture.

There is not necessarily an “original” version waiting somewhere to prove the other one wrong. Culture is full of adaptations.

Brazilians Turn Strangers Into Familiar People

Perhaps one of the most interesting characteristics of Brazilian social interaction is the tendency toward informality and closeness.

We may call people we have just met “my friend,” “dear,” “sir,” “ma'am,” “boss,” “brother,” or other affectionate expressions.

Of course, this varies by region, age, context and personality.

But there is often a cultural willingness to reduce distance.

Perhaps this helps explain why some Brazilian interactions seem to create familiarity very quickly.

You can get into a taxi and leave knowing where the driver was born, how many children he has, which soccer team he supports and what he thinks about the price of tomatoes.

You only wanted to get to your hotel.

Now you have a new friend and an opinion about the local market.

The Bathroom and the Trash Bin

This may be one of the most surprising differences for visitors to Brazil.

In many Brazilian locations, toilet paper is commonly placed in a waste bin beside the toilet rather than flushed directly. This is related to the plumbing and infrastructure characteristics of particular locations. The University of São Paulo also identifies this as a habit that foreigners may notice while visiting Brazil.

And once again, the lesson is the same.

What looks like a universal rule may simply be a local solution.

When we travel, we discover that even bathrooms have geopolitics.

So What Is Actually Strange?

Perhaps this is the most interesting question of all.

After listing so many habits, it would be easy to say that Brazilians are strange.

But we are not.

Or rather, we are just as strange as everyone else.

There are customs in other countries that may seem completely absurd to us. In some places, removing your shoes before entering a home is an important social rule. Some cultures have very different relationships with silence, punctuality, physical contact, food, family, hierarchy and privacy.

And somewhere, someone is probably looking at one of those customs and thinking:

“How do they live like that?”

The answer is simple.

The same way we live by taking two showers a day, putting beans over rice, calling our boss by their first name, hugging people we barely know, offering coffee to visitors and saying “I'm almost there” while still looking for our keys.

We simply learned that this is normal.

That is what culture does.

It takes historical, climatic, economic, family, religious, linguistic and social choices and turns them into everyday life. After enough time, nobody notices that there was ever a choice involved.

Until they travel.

Perhaps that is why traveling is one of the most fascinating ways to study human beings. When we encounter another culture, we do not only discover how other people live.

We discover that we could live differently.

And that realization can be uncomfortable.

Because if our way is not the only possible way, some of our certainties begin to lose their ground.

Maybe that is the real journey.

Not crossing an ocean.

Not visiting ten countries in fifteen days.

Not taking pictures in front of monuments.

But realizing that there is more than one way to greet someone, organize a family, eat, work, live, show affection, understand time and even define what it means to be polite.

In the end, perhaps no culture is strange.

What is strange is believing that our own culture is universal.

And perhaps that is precisely why discovering the world is so fascinating.

Because every time someone from somewhere else looks at us and asks, “Why do you do that?”, we have the opportunity to look at ourselves and answer:

“Good question.”

And perhaps, after thinking about it, we realize that we had never asked ourselves that before.

Writhen by: Cinthia Lacerda