Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Brazilian Jeitinho: A home visit

Check out the jeitinho of my husband.  I couldn't get the gate to stay up.  He managed...

The Brazilian jeitinho is an art form.  It means "way" but basically signifies maneuvering in a creative manner, usually bending or breaking the rules. 

This phrase is not only used to define certain governmental practices but also things in everyday life.

My husband displayed a wonderful example of Jeitinho Brasiliero with his putting up of the baby gate.  Looks normal up top, right?  Check out below

 
Is that what I think it is?


Why yes. A cork is a versatile object after all.

4 comments:

  1. Did the cork work? I have the same gate and it never worked, whatever "jeitinho" we used just ended up in the kids throwing the gate down or on top of them (I had my 3 nephews at home then). We gave up, it's been rusting in the back since then. But my father is a specialist, McGyver type of guy. He'll find a way to make anything work, it's very ingenious. You can actually see his brain working the minute you tell him smth is not working or just whenever he looks at smth and believes it's not perfect for some reason. I think he gets sad when he buys somth ready or with the installation included, nothing to put together, no manual... They're remodelling their kitchen and he's doing the entire electric part of it by himself. My mom drew the cabinets and there's a "marceneiro" in the house putting it together. Bc they wanted it the way they wanted it.

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  2. It's holding for now. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

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  3. OMG - I have so many jeitinho stories (municiple, state, federal) but I am afraid to put them in writing for fear of having our victories recinded. Let's talk at the playdate next Saturday.

    Gotta love those McGyver husbands!

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  4. There is an international headquarter for jeitinhos on the web! Chek it out: http://thereifixedit.com/

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