Negro and Japones

The other day at an upscale mall in Campinas, I ask Orlando that I don’t see too many black people there. He said black people tend to go to other malls. Here they call mall “Shopping”. He told me he had seen really black people in New York.

Here in Brazil, people have been mixing for the past 500 years. I saw mostly brown people here. There tend to be more black people in the Northeast states. Brazil has one of the worst histories of black slaves. Since it is closer to Africa than US and the Caribbean, the black slaves were treated worst here since a new slave can be obtained cheaply.

The Arabs were the most notorious slave traders. And yet there is Arabic influence here. Quite often, Arabic foods are in restaurant menus. Their kibe and esfiha are practically Brazilian daily snacks. There is a poplar Arabic fast food chain called Habib's.

Wherever I go, Brazilians call me Japones. They can’t distinct Chinese, Korean from Japones. Last I heard there are one million Japanese living here—the largest Japanese population outside of Japan. Even Chinese food items have to adopt Japanese names here. In Chinese restaurants, Chow Mein is Yakisoba; fried rice is Yakimeshi.