Money may make the world go ’round, but what does money look like around the world?

Brazil’s vibrant banknotes make America’s dollar bills look pretty boring.

I’m envious of the array of colors Brazilians display in their cash currency, the “real.”

The bill for one real is green like ours, but a blue bill is two, purple is five, pink is 10, yellow is 20, brown is 50 and "big" blue equals 100 reais (plural form of “real”).

In the U.S., it’s "all about the Benjamins” with Franklin’s face on our $100 bills.

In Brazil, an R$100 note is all about the “Dusky Grouper,” a fish native to the Mediterranean Sea and North African coast that is touted as having the best taste of the variety of fish in that area.

Other animals and sea life decorate their bills, from an egret to turtles, jaguars, a hummingbird and more.

Brazil has a plain and flashy set of coinage, as they phase out the more basic style of change and the equivalent to our penny, or their one “centavo” coin.

There are two different coin sets that circulate – one more ornate than the other – for denominations of one, five, 10, 25 and 50 “centavos” and a one-real coin, the same as the green paper bill. One set is stainless steel, and the fancier one is copper-plated and nickel-plated stainless steel.

This all adds up to “muito dinheiro” (lots of money) to keep track of as our Rotary Group Study Exchange team prepares for our April 28 departure to Vitoria. Luckily, credit cards are also accepted in most parts of Brazil.

One of my travel teammates, Leah, updated us on currency and other items to notice when spending cash there.

As a writer, I know punctuation is important, but for this trip it will be even more at the forefront on price tags.

A period is used where Americans would place a comma to indicate thousands; a comma is used to indicate centavos. So, it’s exactly the opposite of what I’m used to - pretty much like our respective climates and seasons, which are opposite, as well.

I need to make sure that if I buy souvenirs, they cost R$5,00 and not R$5.000 … or it would really be a shopping spree (pun absolutely intended).

Leah pointed out that haggling is common in markets and with unmetered taxis. I’m so bad at haggling (I love the concept, but let’s face it, I’m too Minnesota nice to get a good deal at an open-air market).

Even hotel rooms aren’t haggle-free zones, according to the Lonely Planet travel guide.

The exchange rate in Brazil is one US dollar to 1.75 Brazilian reais. For context, I checked out the U.S. dollar compared to the Mexican peso (1 dollar to 10.57 pesos) and the British pound (1 dollar to 0.51 fractions of a pound).

A few sample prices gave us an idea of what to expect for expenses, too.

A loaf of bread is R$1.50, for example, and a 1.5 liter bottled water is R$2.50.

Researching is a little like playing “The Price is Right.” How much for a draft beer? A souvenir T-shirt? Any guesses? (*look for answers at end of column as you hum the “Price is Right” theme song)

Unlike U.S. currency, the real has made many changes over the years. The current form of the real has only been in effect since it was introduced on July 1, 1994 under President Itamar Franco as a plan to stabilize the Brazilian economy.

At its worst point in October 2002, the real reached an historic low of R$4 to one US $1. But, since 2005, the real has made a comeback.

So, we’ll be “keepin’ it real” later this month as we muddle our way through buying lunches, dinners or other everyday necessities.

Oh, and here are the answers to the quiz: a) draft beer or “chope”= R$2.70 b) souvenir T-shirt=R$18.00.

  Joanna Miller can be reached at (952) 345-6375 or jmiller@swpub.com.