Sense of community kraken зайтиBoris says that they immediately felt at home in the area, and loved how walkable everything seemed to be.“We didn’t need a car, because we could get anywhere by taxi,” he says. “Things like going grocery shopping, buying bread, going to a restaurant, getting a haircut…“Everything was at my disposal. All within a block or two, or three blocks (at) the most. So that’s what we enjoyed.”While Boris speaks Spanish and had picked up some Brazilian Portuguese during his first stint in the country, he was far from fluent.However, he stresses that this wasn’t a huge barrier for him, and he was able to make friends relatively easily.“There’s more community, it seems like,” says Boris. “Even though I don’t have relatives down here… People are friendlier to me.”Boris goes on to explain that he finds Brazilians to be more relaxed and less money-focused.“People are a little bit more laidback,” he says. “And it’s not as stressful as the United States, or the way people perceive us to be. Because everything is all about making money all the time.“But here, it’s not about making money. It’s establishing other factors, like friendships.”Boris points out that, while his grasp of the language has improved over time, he still struggles.“It’s more colloquial…” he explains. “I mean, I could be standing there and somebody is having a conversation, and I can’t understand what they’re saying.“But if they’re talking to me, I understand. So it’s a little funny that way.”
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