3 Simple Ways You Can Be Less Gringo (And More Brazilian)

We need to face this reality hard and fast. We are gringos.

If you already understand that this word is used in Brazil much different than other parts of Latin America, you are ready to take the next step.

Challenge Update 2 - Atualização de Desafio 2

Nós estamos aqui de novo. Uma outra semana já passou, e mais prática completou. 

Oops, here I am on The Crummy Life. Time to switch back to English. 

This last week was a fun time trying to apply my Portuguese skills to my life behind me. I say behind me because, to practice speaking in the past and making the necessary conjugations in my head, I spent much of the week talking about days and years passed.

I want to give a big THANK YOU to Murillo, the teacher that made the biggest impression on me during the October Challenge. Thanks for all of your help, especially with pretérito imperfeito, which was incredibly confusing before you broke it down and forced me to use it.

That's all for now, so watch the video and have a laugh!

5 Things to Take Home From Brazil

Do you remember how good you felt the last time you stepped into a new city, experienced a new thrill, or met someone that really captured your attention?

When people move to a new place, or even just visit, they start off in "the honeymoon phase." This magical time is filled with the thought that, like a teeneager in a fresh romance, all of these new things are amazing.

It is only natural that a person is going to like some things during this phase so much that they will think, "Why don't I do it like that?" With that idea in mind, I want to offer you five things that have only furthered my fascination of and appreciation for the Brazilian way.

13 Similarities of Brazil and Thailand

One might think that after living in Thailand for three years, living in Brazil must be massively different. Well, not exactly.

While there are plenty of differences, I have spent the first month here documenting things that I feel are similar between the Land of Smiles and the Land of Samba. Since arriving, I have really felt like Brazil is a great balance of my home culture and my first adopted one.

A Name of Sorts: The Crummy Life Exposed

Sometimes people, usually non-native English speakers, ask me, "Jairet, why did you name your blog 'The Crummy Life'?"

I think it's a good, and valid question. For example, consider the following:

Why would someone want to market themselves under a name that implies inferior quality?
Are you trying to give the impression that the standard of the writing, information, products, services, etc. are of low caliber?

10 Important Things Learned Living in Thailand

I can't even be bothered to search the Internet for an estimate of how many people have written X number of AMAZING things that I learned living abroad because I know it's more than I care to acknowledge. I am putting my own spin on this trend to offer my own set of Blah blah blah, this has changed me forever list without taking heed from my predecessors. What follows is a collection of mind blowing, life altering realizations, lessons, and observations that have struck my mind like bolts of epiphanic lightning.

Pun by Pun: Chiang Mai's Best Business Name Puns

Chiang Mai is home to some pretty great business name puns. While there are Punspace coworking space and Pun Pun vegetarian restaurant at Wat Suan Dok, those aren't the puns that I am after. I want the humorous manipulation of vocabulary, not just the word in the name.

Maybe my affintiy for puns comes from having to deal with this surname my whole life. It only makes sense that the name "Crum" would produce an appreciation for the juxtaposition of words for humor. It's not everyday that you get to turn my last name into something laughable (as easy of a target as it may seem), so when the opportunity arises, it must be seized. For example, the name of this blog, The Crummy Life. I couldn't pass it up.