The eating habits of Brazilian people.

The brazilian cuisine is a mixing of different ingredients from different continents: European, Indian, African. The Brazilian basic meal consists in rice, beans and meat. The most representative food internationally is the feijoada. The eating habits vary from state to state. 

In the northeast there is a great influence of the African cuisine, we can highlight the acarajé, vatapá and pepper sauce. In the North there is an indigenous influence, the people from the north of country eat manioc and fish a lot. In the Southeast there are various foods like the tropeiro bean and angu in Minas Gerais, and pizza in São Paulo. In South of the country there is a great influence of the Italian cuisine with foods like polenta, and a German influence too. The barbecue is typical from Rio Grande do Sul. 

Although the different characteristics in the eating habits of Brazilian people, a research shows that the feeding in the north is more appropriated than in the south, where the people eat more red meat, fat food and industrialized meals. Because of that, they have more problems with cholesterol diseases The north region is less affected by the fast and industrialized foods, they consume more roots, tubers, vegetables and fish, so they have a better nutrition.

The importance of friendship

I have all kind of friends. Funny friends who make me laugh, friends to cry together, to give love and affection, to talk about nonsenses, serious friends to talk about serious things, friends from work, friends to go to the movies, even friends to argue about anything.

I have a friend who makes me laugh even when my heart is hurting and another who understands me, understands what I am feeling and cries with me. I cannot live very well alone, I am happier when I am with my friends. Life loses his meaning when victories are achieved and we do not have friends to shared them and shared all the challenges faced to get an objective. What is the meaning of a smile if we do not have someone to share a good laugh?

Lack of friends can be so dangerous to health as smoke or consume alcohol drinks excessively, it is what the researchers say. The specialists assure that the isolation is bad to health, therefore it is an increase tendency in the industrialized world, where the quantity and the quality of the social relationships are greatly decreasing. Studies show that a person who has less social relation die before those who have more friends, commitments or family and a good relationship with them.  It is important to have a good friends network and a good family relationships. The human being must live in group and the person who has difficult to meet friends are more unhappy and sad. This could bring some effects to health.

The lack of friends brings the feelings of being out of a group. This decreases the self-esteem. Friends are different of colleagues. Friendship is based on exchanging, it is a mutual interest relation, in what two people can treat well one to another. In friends you can trust. He will be present and will support you in all kind of situations. The friendship makes you feel better, on the other hand, the bad relationship is sick and makes you feel down.

A real friend, someone in whom you can trust, a person who is by your side all time when you need, is a unique gem. Treat well your friend. Learn to listen his problems too, do not hurt his feelings, help him when he is upset or discouraged, and most of all, be honest with him. More honest you are, stronger will be the friendship. It is a relation beyond the time and space.

Local x Franchise: The advantages and disadvantages of fast food chains

Franchise is a business like any other, it requires dedication and insight. However, some differences between a local business, opened in an independent way, and a frachise must be taken into account.

First, from the point of view of market access, franchise is much better than a personal business, because it has a known trademark. It just saves an enormous amount of marketing work with dissemination. When we buy a franchise, we have the rights to use the trademark which has identification with the consumer. When we set up an independent business, we must establish our own trademark. Besides that, it is costly, and we must understand that if is the best mark to our business.

Concerning the product or service, when you open an independent business, you must have a perception what will be commercialized, whereby the franchise just has the concept. This has a good and a bad side, the bad side once you have an innovator idea you cannot put his in your business.  The big success of franchising is because the product brings a trade name associated. Besides the trade, it has too an interesting operational know-how background, and a product or service which had been tested and proved. The trademark is already known and this helps a lot. To invest in a still consolidated trademark costs much more than open your own business. The franchiser must pay the investments made by de franchise owner in the trademark consolidation and maintenance.

The commercial location is another advantage. Theoretically, the franchiser still has the concept of localization and the local business doesn’t, his choice will depend much more of his own criteria than professionals. On the other hand, from the perspective of investments, the independent business takes advantage. You can invest less in your own business than in a franchise, which has construction, local and working capital demands. It has business standardizations, which is known in the market and imply in a huge investment, greatest than if you have your own business.

The lack of flexibility is still a problem. You are not independent. You have to stick rigidly all the franchiser determination. You can not invent. The franchisor specifies the machines, equipments and materials. He selects the best suppliers. The franchisee relates only with the approved suppliers, he does not have liberty to buy from any one.

The decision of coming into the business world is very important. To opt between a local and independent business or a franchise is a challenge. Before the decision, you must do an evaluation of all advantages and disadvantages and identify your entrepreneur. Chose a segment that will bring pleasure working in it, and the things will be alright.

Should we trust the media?

The press and the media are in general very important in a society, it has no doubts. The media through his tools can form opinions and the opinion can bring huge problems or great solutions to the government, but it depends of his partiality.

The press role as a public property and not private has the duty to provide full, correct and fair (impartial) information to the people, and after that, the population has the right to form his opinion based in the received information. The population must form his opinion based in his own reflection, and according to the veracity and seriousness of the information.

But the reality is another. The media are partial and totally manipulated according to his financial and ideological preference. In fact, an impartial media is practically utopia, one person or institution always has his own political preferences and ideological convictions.

There is a saying which says: “Information is power”, and without doubts, it is. An information is so important that can brings politics to power, athletes to top, artist to fame, etc. Information is a gift so precious and can influence the society so much that today the certainty of true information is a constant doubt.

We have thousands of examples of the big press acting in a wrong way to guarantee the wellness of his funders and his own interests. Through the world we can see thousand of cases when the press act in a partial form, it can be favorable to the government or being opposition, which is incorrect inside the activity ethics.

Some countries manipulate the media to create a society with national values considered the only acceptable in a diversified world.

Other countries confronted the freedom of press, they adopt restrictive measures in media. Politics countries have excessive political propaganda and in many cases without true.

Both cases are considered unethical. The true information must be passed and the uncertainty cannot be current. To avoid the uncertainty in population which brings damages to the society, the press and media duties are the clarity and transparency of the facts. After all, information is a social right.

Violence in the media

The media content is a very important issue. The violence and pornography may cause strong impressions in children. Parentes, teachers and authorities are considerably concerned about the influence that a violent content could exerts in the minds of young people. 

We can outline a relation between the increase of violence level in the daily life, particularly the violence against children, and the violent scenes shown on television and films, besides the violence simulated in videogames and computer games. 

The media wants to show us that violence is acceptable; it is ordinary and part of our lives. It is part of our modern culture. Sometimes they show us that violence could be funny too, in a sick and ironic form. 

The media teaches something worth: intelligence is out of fashion and the brute force is in fashion. The morality is no longer popular. The police are stupid and the criminals are smart. There is a jungle out there involving men, women and children, but, everything is alright.

We live in an era of progressive crimes against people and properties, since children and wife abuses, violence in football games, bad treatments to old or undefended people.

The violence in the media is remarkable. A scene that lasts only few seconds  - shown in a small part of a program  - can be remembered for a longer time more than another  scene.  The violence has a contagious message and frequently produces a direct effect.

Children imitate what they have seen. They transform this in games, hurting other children. The violence makes them brutal, it makes people rude and makes others sad. His impact is destructive. The violence in media it is not only physical or verbal, like beat in someone. It represents direct and serious forms of aggression, for example, shooting someone, attacking with a knife, burning a building, cutting someone with glass, there are drastic scenes produced with visual effects.

The popularity of violence in society is a big problem that cannot be resolved so easily.  The parents must be smart and follow the education of their children closely, controlling what they watch on television and what kind of games they are playing. Besides that, the government must protect the most vulnerable citizens and, together, all have to work to make the media a solution to solve the problem  of violence in the world, and no longer an incentive. 

Immigration

Imigration means to enter in a foreign country, a country different from that you were born and there live or spend a period of your life.

Besides the imigration positive way, some countries like United States try to difficult the immigration and, always it is possible, to avoid the imigration because they are afraid about the exaggerated and disordered population growing . Actions are implemented for this purpose and one of them is the difficulty to get an American visa in the passport.

The immigration process had an extremely importance to the Brazilian forming. This, over the years, incorporated characteristics from the four corners of the world. The immigrants influenced the Brazil culture, economy, language, etc. We can mention the Italian cooking, the German agricultural techniques, the Portuguese language, the African musics and much more.

Thanks to all them, we have a country with multiple colors and flavors. A beautiful people who has a diversified culture with great history value.

Animals for entertainment

We are acting like our ancestors when we treat animals like entertainment objects without the deserved respect.

The society wins an extra dose of coolness and violence when it promotes shows with them. Rodeos and circus don’t exist without cruelty.

In rodeos, the animals feel pain and stress. The oxes, bulls and horses exposed in arena they are violently forced to behave well with not natural manners. While the high sound and the crowd helps to increase de stress level in the animal, torture tools are used to get them furious in competitions, where their physical integrity is put in risk and could bring them to death. It is not the physical pain, is the mental and emotional suffering, they feel like being persecutes and endangered.

In circus, the animals suffer with punishments in their training and stress during the transportation and shows. They have their teeth and nails jerked to avoid attacks or scapes and they rarely received all the nutrients needed. Everything for a great performance in the circus.

In both cases, they are forced to travel a thousand kilometers annually, suffering with bumpers, wind, cold or excessive hot, squeezed in small jails, chained, generally starving and with thirst, in an environment totally contrary of their natural habitat. For the businessmen, these animals owner, they are only wares, and when expired the consumption term, they are replaced.

Many animals get diseases with the flagellums suffered, they are chained, gagged in mouth, suffer with shocks, belts, pointed objects to “correction”, and in the end they are physically and mentally weak, until their abandonment or death.

The entertainment animals, to behave like the managers and public wishes, are induced by torture to realize tasks that are incompatible with their nature.

Useless and abusive psychological experiments, showed us that animals act by conditioning, by behavior modification, to avoid punishments that are suffered.

All animals, and the human beings too, need have their nature respected, to procreate, live in society, nourish themselves and move about. Otherwise, they get sick and die.

The managers want to show that there are not cruelty, and they hide the earning interests, in opposition, the entertainment animals are not healthy and even happy to enjoy the public.

All creation is with us in the same place, the Earth. While the man is getting conscience, it is necessary to put into practice concrete actions against the use and abuse of animals, finishing these old traditions that only contribute to a miserable life to these animals.

We must change our attitudes to an evolution, instead of be insensible and ignorant.

We don’t have to like animals, but we must respect them, in the same way that we want to be respected.

Shopping@Home

Have I ever told you that one of my dreams is to buy groceries on internet? It is so convenient and comfortable! With just only some clicks I could buy rice, beans, eggs, potatoes, etc, paying with credit cards and receiving at home. Marvelous!

Buying on internet, besides the convenience and comfort, it can help us to save money. There are many advantages, but it is important to be alert to some occasional dangers. I am going to list some advantages and disadvantages about on line shops:

Ins

• There is not queues and not even rush. It is possible to do everything without getting out home. Besides that, the service is available 24 hours, it means that you can buy any time of the day or night, when you prefer, early in the morning or late at night.
• Easy evaluation of differences: it is easier and cheaper to check the product prices on the internet, because you do not need to come or go up and down, searching in different stores for cheaper prices. Just visiting the right sites you can easily make the prices comparison.
• Indication: Generally, comparison sites allow consumers to write comments, compliments and critiques about the products. So, before closing a purchase business, first check the people analysis.
• Calm: you can choose the items without the seller pressure trying to force you to buy any product.
• Unique: If you buy clothes, you will have some that no one else tried on before. Besides that, there are many sites selling exclusive products in their on line stores.

Outs

• Freight: many stores charge for the delivery. But there are promotions: if you buy above a certain price, the freight will be free.
• Payment forms: some sites only accept credit cards. Others emit billet to be paid in banks too, nevertheless, the purchase can linger.
• Trust: Since you do not have contact with a person, only buy in trustful sites with good references. There are many fake offers in the internet. Take care about that!
• Risk: It is well known that you will not try on or touch the product and when it arrived home it cannot be as nice as it was showing in the picture. Therefore, we as clients have the Consumer Defense Code that help us in any case of disagreement, the client has seven days to change or give back the product bought, if he changes his mind about the purchase, and you can receive all your money back, even the freight.
• Delay: Once you have bought on site, you must wait some days for the product delivery. Besides, someone must be at home to receive it.  Urgent shops are sometimes a risk.

Analyzing the pros and cons, to buy at internet is a great and interesting invention, it is very practical. And I am still waiting the day when groceries @ home will be reachable in Aracaju, and then it will be perfect!

(Porque não me bastou saber escrever muito bem, é preciso escrever bem também em inglês. Ainda estou praticando, portando, perdoem-me os erros.)

How to achieve a healthy aging

While we are young, we are not worried or concerned about some attitudes that can bring big problems in the future. We continue acting in the same way as if we will never get old. Then when we grew up to a certain age, the regrets come together, because of the lack of care with our health, and, in many cases, we need to live with medication, without a right locomotion and a hundred of other problems that come with aging. For this reason, doctors advise people, mainly young people to take care of their health, following the famous phrase: "It is better prevent than repair (or to cure)". If we take the following steps as soon as possible, even if we are young and do not think much about old age, we will be assuring ourselves a healthier and happier life once we hit those later years.

First, we must do routines exams to prevent diseases, because a disease that has been discovered early and treated well has more chances of cure and recovery. Tests to detect diabetes and cardiovascular diseases must be done with a certain frequency and as soon as possible. To avoid unwanted weight gain or obesity it is a way to guarantee an old age without worry, because the obesity brings a lot of other problems too. 

To keep a balanced feeding, eating a healthy diet with all necessary nutrients. Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, some healthy fat - and simultaneously cutting back on processed food, sugar and saturated and trans fats. Do not eat much salt, maintain the right quantity of salt and condiment. 

Incorporate exercise into your life. Do no be sedentary. Exercising goes had in hand with eating right. Do aerobic exercises to maintain your heart in a good shape and avoid gaining weight, or practice yoga or Pilates to prevent the loss of flexibility. Any exercise prompts your body to release endorphins, which give you a sensation of well-being. 

Do not smoke. Stay away from cigarettes, they pollute your lungs, the lungs of others near you, the environment and accelerates aging. People who smoke look much older than they really are. Besides that, smoking increases the chance of developing lung cancer, increases heart and blood pressure. 

At last, control the stress and do not forget your brain, work out him too. 

Getting older is a part of life that can not be avoid, but we have the power to slow the process following those steps which will lead your body and mind to achieve healthy aging. 

Memory loss: causes and effects

When I was in college, it was difficult for me to remember the names of my classmates, mainly when I was coming back from a long university strike. I used to look their faces and sometimes the names did not come quickly to my mind. My memory is not very good to remember names and faces, on the other hand, I can remember my CPF and identity, numbers, even my family's telephone numbers. Recently I realized that some histories from the past were forgotten by me, but I do not forget how to drive a car or ride a bicycle. 

Many people forget where they left the keys, lose some appointments or even do not remember the name of people recently met. Those forgetfulness are normal an in most part benign. The memory loss is a natural aging process, but memory problems can happen even before 50's. Many 20 or 30 years old people can forget names, objects and appointments. The largest enemy is time. In fact, as soon as an information is recieved, the memory starts to fail. Some things disappear immediately, others vanish slowly, there are many velocities of forgetfulness, it depends on how important the information is to you, or the level of stress and other several factors. 

The problem begins when the lapses in concentration and forgetfulness are not normal or they are affecting the normal life. Some common causes of memory loss are: anxiety, stress, Attention Deficit Disorder, depression (sadness), endocrine diseases (problems in the hormone secreting gland), alcoholism, lack of vitamins, infections and the use of medication or drugs. Some causes have effective treatment, and memory loss can be reversible.

Despite this, some diseases bring progressive memory loss and they are not reversible. Among these, the most common is Alzheimer disease, a progressive condition that attacks brain areas responsible for the memory, judgment, intelligence, language and behavior. Some effects of Alzheimer disease are: forgeting an experience or a whole event; forgeting how to drive a car or how to read the hours in a clock's shorter hand; fogeting recently events; having mental confusion and even not recognize family people. In some cases the person affected does not notice the problem. 

In my family there are many cases of Alzheimer disease and because of this I try to work out my brain. The lack of use is on of the most factors to a bad memory. The better way to improve a memory is keeping the brain fit, maintaining him healthy. To continue being intellectual and socially active is probable the most importante thing that I can do to increase my memory ability. Learning new things like a new language, reading new books, writing, finding new hobbies and doing sports I can keep my brain strong and healthy. 

How we can help others?

I used to give money to boys who asked me to take care of  my car on the street. One day I only had 15 cents and I gave them, when he received and he realize that it was only 15 cents, he came back to my car and gave me the coins back, saying: “With this I can even buy a bread. Take it!”. My chin dropped and I was left speechless. From this day on I promised to myself never to give money to boys in street.

But how can we help people without giving them money? In many cases the best way of helping people is using our time, energy and resources to do jobs to others. 

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man how to fish; and you will fed him for a lifetime”. Some people, like intellectuals and teachers, think that the best way of helping others is teaching them how to fish and not giving him the fish. Some people are against philanthropy, donates and charities. They think that charity is bad because brings dependence and reduce the self worth. 

But we cannot despise the charitable organizations, they give assistance to young single-mothers , others serve soup to hungry people, etc. There are many organizations around the world and another option to help others is being a volunteer.  This is a great way to help the less fortunate, like donating food or money to the poor and homeless. Hospitals and youth groups have many volunteering opportunities.

Although I hate people calling me at home to ask if I want to donate money or something to some entities or organizations.  I think they are demanding and if you do a donation one time you have the “obligation” to give them money every month. Some people have prejudice against these entities because of that or because they do not know very well what the organizations do, they have never seen hungry children more closely or a person suffering without resources to treat a disease.

There are desperate people in bad situations of misery, abuse, diseases, in panic with problems they are living, these people do not  need to learn how to fish, they need assistance, affection, sympathy. Alcoholics need help, they need somebody to listen to them and not exactly learn about the alcohol effects. Chemical dependents need compassion, caress and friends to help them to be strong enough to walk by themselves. 

In charities organizations, with the donations they can buy a wheel chair or glasses to a blind person, or simply food for those who need. The money goes to those who were in need. 

Otherwise, charity does not doesn't mean just only money. You can say a plain Good-morning to your neighbor who lives alone and abandoned. You can help people to find a job, you can ask somebody who is sick to join you for a walk. Just be gentle and available to listen to other people's problems even if you cannot  can't  help them it would be a great solace.


(Porque não me bastou saber escrever muito bem, é preciso escrever bem também em inglês)

Stressful life of Brazilian students

Stress is a problem that can reach any person in the world in minor or major scale. In Brazil schools it couldn’t be different, researches show that with Brazilian students the level of stress can be noticed and can provoke diseases like: diabets, high blood pressure, gastritis, among others. Even in adolescents this can be noticed.

The competition to do the vestibular in the better and more competitive universities of country, the parents insistent call for better grades, the fear of flunking, of missing some year, the excessive extra activities and doubts about the professional choice can bring situations of stress and consequently, diseases.

The most common symptom is insomnia when the difficulty to sleep appears , it’s a signal the stress problem is present. Besides the insomnia, other characteristics of Brazilian students stress are discouragement, impatience, headaches, lack of concentration, excessive tiredness or even sudden exaggerated enthusiasm without a real motive.

Another problem in Brazilian schools which can bring a stressful situation is the intimidation of classmates, the knows bully. And recently we knew about the murders in a school of Rio de Janeiro, that caused certainly a lot of stress to his students, but this was a punctual situation.

Despite the presented examples, my opinion is that most of the Brazilian students are not really worried and stressed at school and they know how to get fun studying and enjoying the moments with the classmates. 

Information: Useless and Useful

No one has doubts about the benefits that information technology has given to everybody. In real time we can have information about everything in the world and we can make contact with people who are far from us. The access is easy with the internet, and the quantity of information is huge. On the other hand, we don’t have capacity to absorb all and a lot is useless information.

A thousand of books are published every day; the newspapers have a lot of information, more than humans can absorb; there are billions of home-pages on the internet;  a great quantity of scientific magazines; besides the information which comes from the television and its uncountable  channels.

We receive every day in our e-mails a lot of information and most of all is useless information, duplicated or spams. In mobile phone happens almost the same.  The real problem is the storing of data, most of the time, we keep it all we received and don’t throw away, keeping a lot of data or useless information with an absurd volume. Most of this useless information is silliness, e-mails jokes, gossips, among other things.

To deal with the excess of information is difficult because every day there is something new coming to us and we must be alert, in many cases, reading too much doesn’t mean learning more.