Brazilian time

By David L.

April 19, 2016



Punctuality in the U.S. is considered pretty important. It would often be rude to arrive late to an event or meeting and leave someone alone, waiting for you in your absence. Interestingly enough, time works differently here in Brazil. So much so, in fact, that if you arrive on time you are actually almost always the first one there.

Let’s take social events, for example. If you are supposed to meet your friends at 1 p.m. at the beach, it is almost always guaranteed that they won’t start getting ready to leave their houses before 1 p.m., arriving anywhere from 3–5 p.m. It isn’t a lack of respect here, but instead time is built into the culture and atmosphere. Brazilians have this code built into them, and somehow without saying anything, everyone knows that they will actually see each other two or three hours after the agreed upon time.

20160328_160008_HDR
A Brazilian flag flies high above Cabo Frio.

But it doesn’t just stop there at social events and gatherings. Even more professional events, like university classes, don’t begin on time. Each class lasts two hours, or is supposed to. For example, for my 11 a.m. Brazilian culture class, the professor usually arrives around 11:15 a.m. and the class starts a few minutes after. My Brazilian literature class is worse; today my professor arrived at 2 p.m. for a class that was supposed to start at 1 p.m. Although this can be frustrating, it also gives university students the chance to talk with friends and even eat lunch as you will usually have half an hour “between classes” even though classes are scheduled consecutively.

In general, the lackadaisical time system in Brazil emphasizes the social connections between people and allows for longer interactions compared to a brief “hello” in the hallway. Once accustomed to this new way of life, it really helps to build those close relationships, friendly or otherwise, with peers and neighbors. It builds a very different sense of community that is recognized worldwide as uniquely Brazilian.

About the blogger

David L. is studying abroad at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.