Bathroom DOs and DON'Ts in Brazil

Well, this is sort of a delicate (but very essential) subject that somehow I've overlooked for quite some time, so here goes...

1. DON'T flush toilet paper, throw it into the wastebasket provided next to the toilet. I know that this sounds gross to most of us who come from developed nations, but that's the way it is here in Brazil. If just the thought of this grosses you out, then perhaps you should re-think coming to Brazil completely, it is this way all over South America. Even the major cities don't have adequate sewage treatment facilities, most in fact have only primary sewage treatment if at all. Also, their systems are extremely old and poorly maintained, so they can't handle toilet paper. You don't want everything you've flushed recently coming back for a visit, trust me.

2.  DO wash your hands BEFORE and AFTER doing your necessities, at least in public washrooms. Brazilians are obsessive about personal hygiene. You'll get the strangest looks if you head to a toilet stall or the urinal without heading for the sink first. Brazilians will avoid you completely if you don't wash your hands thoroughly immediately afterwards.

3.  DO get into the habit of always carrying a reasonable amount of toilet paper in your briefcase, purse, backpack, or your car's glove compartment. Public washrooms in Brazil rarely have toilet paper, you don't want to be stuck in there trying to figure out what to do when you find out too late that there's no TP in there. I've even been into major hospitals in São Paulo where there was no TP or paper towels in the washrooms.

4.  DO "liberate" a few paper toilet seat protectors from your office building and follow the same advice as in No. 3. If you ever need to use a toilet in a gas station or other public places you'll be very glad you heeded this advice. For a nation of people who are so obsessive about personal hygiene, it's hard to understand how some washrooms can be so filthy.

5.  DO exercise extreme caution when taking a shower if there is one of the typical electric shower heads. These are rarely if ever installed correctly so in most cases they are not grounded. NEVER attempt to change the temperature setting or disconnect/connect the heat with the shower flowing. Also be extemely careful not to just grab the shower valve handle, always touch test it first. There may only be a slight tingle which means the current is flowing through the water. If you're in an older building with iron pipes you could get a very serious shock especially if the shower is 220V.

6.  DON'T swallow the tap water when you're rinsing after brushing your teeth, or only use bottled water for brushing. Don't drink tap water period, unless it is coming from a secondary filtration system.

7.  DON'T laugh out loud when somebody almost faints at the idea you're going to take a shower after a meal. They absolutely freak out at the idea here. For some strange reason there is an insane urban myth here that if you shower after a meal you could die. (Especially common in the state of Bahia)

8.  DO make certain to open a window if you're taking a shower where there is one of the small (in room) water heaters in the bathroom. They're rarely properly installed and vented. There have been a number of deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning caused by faulty water heaters or improper installation.

Cheers,
James       Expat-blog Experts Team