Yup, every one of them is on some level.
This stems from the primal Brazilian need to please, or to be "simpatico" as they put it. It can be both sweet and infuriating at the same time.
It is also related to their fear of causing offence. By "offence" I don't mean being politically correct, I mean causing social embarrassment. This means they will say whatever they think will make you feel good.
This can range from "You speak portuguese really well" (liars: I know I don't), "I love the British accent, it's so refined"(they find it really hard to understand) to "Let's meet up for beer sometime" (otherwise known as "I never want to see you again"). The problem with the last one is that they will actually give you their contact details (email, facebook, mobile number), you'll get in touch, they will respond, but the actual meeting never happens. They will keep saying things like "I'm really sorry I can't do Saturday, can we reschedule for Monday? I'll email you with a place to meet". You never receive that email. When you follow up, they reschedule for another day and again don't confirm. Or worst of all, they organise a day, time and place to meet, but they don't show up. That one is pretty rare, but it's happened to me once.
What they consider politeness - in this case - we consider being unbelievably rude and thoughtless. Where I come from, when you say you'll do something and you don't, you are instantly labelled as unreliable and flakey. Here, it's just a matter of course.
They are incapable of saying a straight up "no". It is not a part of their culture: it's considered incredibly rude. I have had several students who work for large international corporations complain to me about how demanding Americans/English/Europeans are, that they are always having to work late to meet their demands, etc, etc. I always then pose the following question: "Have you tried saying 'no'?" The answer is always "I find it really hard saying 'no'". No shit, you're a Brazilian.
The general rule is, unless a Brazilian actively communicates with you about meeting up after your first contact, they don't want to see you. I do miss the English approach: if you don't want to meet someone in a social situation again, you just don't offer.
During my first couple of months here I found this part of Brazilian social etiquette infuriating. Over time, I have come to understand that it is simply a part of their culture and I must accept it in order to avoid incurring a heart attack. So, I have. Now, when a Brazilian says to me "hey, let's meet up" I say "yeah, sure" and forget about it unless they contact me first. "Live and let live" is the best attitude to take here.
And if they tell you your Portuguese is good, don't believe them.
