When I studied abroad in Santiago, my Chilean mom used to fuss over me every morning before I left for the university.  She'd make me put my hair down, put on earrings, wrap a fashion scarf around my neck and cluck disapprovingly at the type of jeans I wore which were brought from home.  One day she surprised me with a new pair of Chilean jeans - they were bedazzled and embroidered on the back pockets and were snug in places that were in the past unbeknownst to snugness.  Needless to say, they were not a pair of jeans that I would normally have been drawn to.  Why was she so obsessed with the way I looked?  She just wanted me to fit in.

Main street in my neighborhood right before a tropical downpour

"If you look like a gringa, people are going to treat you like one," she said.  And she was right.  Looking like a Chilean and fitting in not only made me feel more comfortable and confident but it helped me make friends faster, it kept me safer by not attracting any extra attention and it showed me that a few simple changes can result in a fairly radical transformation.  My Chilean mom's daily makeovers did the trick.  I remember constantly being mistaken for a local, that is, however, until I opened my mouth and spoke Spanish straight from a Midwestern textbook.

The same thing has happened to me in Brazil as I have tried to heed my Chilean mom's advice from the other side of South America.  I try and wear my hair down (though after about 20 minutes the heat and humidty turn it into a twisted, sweaty mass), I put on earrings every day and I attempt to don clothes that are neither too flashy nor too American.  I don't wear my baseball cap even though I really want to.

The only brand of flip flops that people wear here - this store only sells flip flops!

I've received some additional tips from Brazilians for blending in such as: get a tan, wear some Havaianas flip flops (everyone wears them) and don't be afraid to be tight and skimpy with clothing.  In fact, wearing a bathing suit at all times is common and encouraged, at least here in Bahia.  So far I've gotten a tan and bought my first pair of Havaianas yesterday, but I'm not sure I'm ever going to be a fan of the let-it-all-hang-out style of dress.

This week the how-to-be-Brazilian formula has worked and I get mistaken for being a local at least once every day if not more.  Strangers ask me for directions, start chatting to me at bus stops and students that I don't know ask if I want a ride home.  Their eyes always widen a bit when I answer them in heavily accented Portuguese.  Then they usually laugh and say, "I thought you were Brazilian!" or "Where are you from?" etc.  Now if only my language skills could catch up to my fashion sense. . .

Mine are on the left and Loni's are on the right

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