For Brazil:

• Education: I don't even know very well how to describe the situation. Let's begin by the huge difference made between public and private schools. Public schools are something so bad only by experience one can grasp the thing. Most private schools are not any better, just a means of parents to protect their children from being murdered. Imagine schools where 6th grade pupils can't read yet, where there teachers who do things along the lines of, amongst other things, "I'll teach them the verb 'tóbi' (Portuguese pronuncation for "to be") and almost beat the vice principal out of anger. "But, but, but..."; no. No, and no, and no. Seriously, it's too bad to describe it here. Near a goner. I will not get started on private colleges and universities, no. It's so sickening it might seem like a joke.

Public universities are one of the few worth mentioning, but once again Brazil comes into action. The best university in the country has plummeted. Drugs, rapes, suicides, murders...as well as lack of due funds for renewal of infrastructure and high debts.

• Health: Unless you can afford private healthcare, prepare to wait months to receive due treatment for certain conditions. Hospitals are crowded. In certain areas, hospitals don't receive enough funds (corruption), so there's no infrastructure, like appliances, or even beds (yes, shown on TV cases where patients lie on the floor). Not to mention instances of fatal mistakes from staff.

• Violence: Foreigners might have (slight) notions of what it is like. I have found it to be a striking difference from Brazil and most of the world. Even when compared to other dumping grounds out there (which I know exist), where people do everything expected from failed societies, we top all those flaws with extreme violence and fear, which many might consider irrational. And yes, violence that which includes atrocities which I believe to be somehow unique to Brazil, because not even countries of similar profile people seem to be so gruesome.

• Corruption: A single word: doomed.

• Life: I live in the biggest city of the country, and it's far from being a memory one saves as good for the future. Extremely crowded. Nowadays more than ever. Every time, every day of the week. Buses, streets, malls, markets. Dirty, very dirty. Brazilians haven't learnt the idea of tidiness. Just taking a look around one can see hands coming out of windows to litter something. Everything's highly expensive (some of the highest priced iPods and BigMacs are here) and wages don't match.

• Mentality: One of the things I dislike the most about Brazilians. A lot from the above quoted is fruit of it. For a simple start, let's say Brazilians haven't been "civilized" yet. People trick each other, litter, vandalize common good, don't work with efficiency, nothing is taken serious, steal, don't respect each other (seen by examples like driving around with high volumes of the car's radio, partying during a time when everyone must sleep...).

There's yet more to be said but I could only remember if the specific subjects are brought up. Seriously, it's a failed, failed country.