Getting a visa

The previous times I've travelled internationally, I didn't need a visa: I just arrived and got my passport stamped (or when I travelled in Europe, people would glance at our passports and wave us through). Travelling to Brazil is different. Brazil has an interesting policy: they treat US citizens coming to Brazil the same way Brazilian citizens are treated coming to the US. And given the way to US treats people in our perpetual "War on Terror", it's not simple.