Brazil - a place of paradoxes

My posting today is about the paradoxes that we've seen in Brazil thus far.

It is a place where a vast majority are living in poverty however most of them are doing it among people who have a vast amount of wealth. The haves and the have-nots live side by side. Although, the "haves" go to great lengths to keep the have-nots away from their property.

It is a place where all races and nationalities seem to be able to live together in peace. Inter-racial marriages are very common. However, there is a constant battle along social class lines.

It is a culture and a people known for their warmth and hospitality yet when we were talking to a director of Latin American sales for a major hotel chain she readily admits that customer service is not their thing.

The people appear to be very proud of their country yet the Brazilians that we talked to say that there is a sense of an inferiority complex.

The people we talked to say that they are "short term" in their orientation yet relationships matter and they take a long time to build.

They are proud to be the "B" in BRIC and show an optimism about the future yet they are not very quick to invest in their stock market because they recall days gone by when inflation was running rampant. In fact, approximately 70% of investors in their stock exchange are foreigners.

These are just a few of the things that jumped out at me in the first few days here.