Facts about Brazil

• 5th Largest country in the world, with 4 different time zones.
• Official language is Portuguese---Link to language help
• Men greet men with a firm handshake, introducing themselves saying, "prazer" (pleasure, pronunced prah-zeyr), followed by their name. You can reply “prazer” and your name.
• Women kiss and will be kissed on both cheeks.
• Other common greetings are "e aí, como vai?" for “how’s it going? (pronounced ee aiy ee, como vaiy), or "fala!", literally "Speak!" used in place of “what’s up”. You’ll surely hear the ever-popular, all purpose "tudo bem?" and “tudo bom?”, literally "everything okay?". If you’re greeted with “tudo bem?” just respond with a cool “tudo bom” or vice versa.
• Foreigners are known as "Gringos", not in a derogatory way, just as a form of identification.
• The term marajá (maharaja or rich person) can apply to anyone (Brazilians included) but especially to any foreigner in Brazil. This is because, in the eyes of most poor Brazilians, you're very rich. After all, you were able to pay an unbelievable amount of money (to them) to buy a airplane ticket just to visit Brazil. That makes you veryrich in their eyes. Again, if you're called marajá, don't take it personally because it's not necessarily derogatory. 
• Brazilians are fanatical about futebol (called soccer in the US and football elsewhere). It approaches the status of a national "religion."
• In both social and business situations throughout the day, Brazilians will often offer um cafezinho (a little coffee). A demitasse of this highly sugared espresso will assuredly wake you up if the weather has made you a little sleepy.
• Brazil is a predominately Catholic country and the Catholic Church is highly respected and revered by many.
• The biggest meal of the day for most Brazilians is almoço (lunch), usually between 11:30 am and 1:30 pm. Dinner or supper in Brazil is usually (but not always) lighter and can start anywhere from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm at night. Arroz and feijão (rice and beans) are basic in Brazil and likely to be found as part of almost any lunch or dinner.
• In most of the larger cities, you'll find at least one McDonald's but, with the array of Brazilian food available, why would you want to unless you're American and want to experience the novelty of ordering a McBurger.
• People who are not from Brazil are told not to drink the local water, and to get all your water bottled. 
• A dazzling variety of fresh tropical fruit is available throughout Brazil—from mangoes, papayas, pineapples, passion fruit, and numerous others you've probably never heard of or seen, to numerous varieties of bananas not available anywhere in North America or Europe. Unfortunately, you can't bring back any fresh fruit with you so get your fill while you're there. 
• Brazil's currency unit is the real (plural = reais) and is made up of 100 centavos.
• Because it lies in the Southern Hemisphere, seasons in Brazil are exactly the opposite of those in the Northern Hemisphere:
  

  winter—	June 22 to September 21
  spring—	September 22 to December 21
  summer—	December 22 to March 21
  autumn—	March 22 to June 21