What is Brazil Like??????

Show all answers

Italian Stallion

I just got back from Brasil 3 weeks ago. It was the greatest trip of my entire life. You will encounter some beggers quite a bit depending on where you go, but they're completely harmless. They may pester you until you walk down to the next block, but they go away eventually if you just ignore them and keep walking. That's the worst you'll probably experience, and inevitably, you will get used to it.

Brasil is a naturally beautiful country with beautiful people in it. That's what I said in my previous question when I asked why Brasil had such a horrible reputation about the women and theft. Don't believe all that crap about how you're going to get robbed or kidnapped. That is all BS!! Just use common sense and don't bring a lot of cash on you late at night, and don't wear expensive jewelry. It's common streetsmarts like anywhere else. Also, don't bring expensive cameras around either. It's not worth the hassle. My friend brought his nicer camera with him, but only during the day and in busy areas. So nothing happened to him.

Unfortunately for me, I didn't know the language that well. I tried learning some Brazilian Portuguese online but I mainly learned the language over there day to day. It was fun to learn and actually cool to speak a little Portuguese to the locals there in their language, even though I wasn't good at it. I'm happy for you because you know the language and you have quite an advantage there. That's great!!

Why can't people just be happy for you? Let me tell you why. Ever since I got back from Brazil, some of my friends don't even talk to me as much anymore. They don't want to hear about all the fun I had. Some people are very jealous too and don't have the balls to travel to Brazil. I'm serious about that. They even said themselves that I would be robbed and mugged, and that my passport would be stolen by a hooker. lol can you believe that? Like I had any intentions of being with a hooker in Brazil?? Ridiculous!! But at least now I see who my real friends are.

Congratulations on this trip. Have tons of fun and be safe. Drink a few caiprinhas(only a few though...lol) and enjoy the great seafood! You will have the time of your life. Brazilians are very warm people, and more friendlier than Americans and Europeans combined. Trust me on that. I'm so happy you're going to have this experience.

Bom divertimento! :)

- Stallion

edit:

p.s. cisne, thank you for posting my question for Aqua to read about my experience. That was very sweet of you.

Tapper

Brazil is an amazing place, I was over there for the best part of 3 weeks over Carnival and I literally had the best time of my life. If you ask anyone who has been there before they will complement the country. I have been to many countries and Brazil is without a doubt the best place I have ever visited.

It is true Brazil has a bad 'social' reputation regarding muggings, violence and crime. But what you must remember is that this is just a reputation and not truth; the media REALLY exaggerates the situation. 99.9% of the time you will be perfectly fine you just need to use basic street knowledge which you would use in any major city like London or New York.

Yes, if you go around dressed like a tourist with a huge camera round your neck, expensive sunglasses, lots of jewelery, baseball hat, backpack on, bulging wallet and on your iPhone - they will take you for everything you have. But just dress discretely like the locals and only take the money you need with you. You will be fine I promise :)

The bad reputation Brazil has is from the Favelas or slums in the hills of major cities like Rio De Janeiro and Sao Paulo and there is absolutely no reason why you would go into them so don't worry.

The fact you can speak Portuguese is an added bonus, I can't speak any and I learnt a bit whilst over there but being able to communicate properly with the people will make the experience even better.

Why can't people be happy for you? One reason: jealously. Ignore then and when you come back just boast about the amazing time you had.

This is my advice to you - don't be shy, be open minded, drink lots, party hard and have the best time of your life because trust me you will never forget it. I wish I was over there right now! Viva Brasil!!

cisne n.egro

I am Brazilian and my answer could be considered partially, for that I ask you that you reads this question done here in Y?R! and in his profile has an e-mail asks to him what he think about the travel that he made to Brazil recently.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AjKd1xhhpypXa4gxLGbqwssB7hR.;_ylv=3?qid=20090413093948AAWkP8r

Doug_SP

You said u speak portuguese.So I think u're gonna understand this video.It's the testimonial of a guy that came to brazil and loved it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qz2zHv8S-g

fabulosa**

Brazil is wonderful!!!
I'm Brazilian"
I wait you here
beijos!!

BRAZIL

I'm Brazilian and Brazil is a wonderful country. There are many Beautiful places in Brazil and most of the people are friendly. Of course Brazil has its Bad parts, but what country doesn't. Basically if you go try not to wear fancy/expensive clothes and jewelry when going out. Try not to speak English out loud, but since you can speak Portuguese you should be fine. Brazilians don't really like being considered spanish. We like to eat a lot of rice, beans, and meats, as well as salads, bread, etc. A lot of people go to Brazil and love it. I'm happy for you =] going to Brazil, you will learn a lot about our culture. Have fun!!!

Cat

I'd be happy for you. People are ignorant. Be on your guard and be sensible. If you can speak the language, this helps.
Brazil has a bad reputation, it is not as bad as it's reputation but the reputation does come from somewhere.
I am married to a Brazilian, I have spent sometime living in Rio. We have children and currently live in London, we have decided that we can have a safer and better quality of life living in a small Brazilian city and plan to move in a few years.
Enjoy Rio but be careful, I never got mugged and none of my gringo friends did either, but we all heard the stories.

Chris

First off, you're going to have a GREAT time!! There's nothing quite like Brazil... I dream of it allll the time.

As far as being hassled, it all depends on where you go (especially if you're going to Rio). Just use common sense. Don't walk off the beaten path (especially at night), don't flash money, and don't dress in expensive clothes or wear expensive jewelry. If you follow those guidelines you'll be fine. People make it out to be a lot worse than it really is. The odds of you running into trouble are really slim unless you put yourself into that kind of situation.

Latin Techie

Aqua,

First thing, you speak Portuguese, so that will make life much easier, yes many Brazilians do also speak English but isnt it nicer to communicate in their language on their territory ? As for Being stolen from and hassled, depends where you are, the beach areas have many people selling things trying to make a living as they dont have a "regular" job, a polite, "hoje nao amigo, nao tem dinheiro, nao pode compra nada" will usually do the trick. It always worked for me!

If you want to buy then buy of course. The nay sayers are very jealous of you and many people whom speak badly about Brazil have never even been there !

Go with an open mind,the people are "nomal" people , cheerful for the most part and will want to know all about you, out of curiosity, just be careful as you would be anywhere in the world that you do not know very well, and enjoy yourself.

nola_cajun

PARADISE ... there are no words wonderful enough to explain how beautiful and paradise like brazil is.

I hope you can find someone who you can enjoy the experience with

alberto

Aqua,

The other answers have answered very well about safety. So, my focus will be aimed to the country itself.

I have created a Youtube channel to help foreigners to understand (seeing) what Brazil is like, how the cities are, how people looks, what ethnic groups we are in Brazil, how Brazilians dress and much, much more.

DERON,

"Rio is a giant ghetto with pockets of nice places".

How can you teach others if my city is like this or that, man?

You have been in two or three neigbohoods and, now, are a PhD in Rio de Janeiro? There are more than 100 neigborhoods in Rio. Most of these, with no slums. You had been in less than 5% of this giant city and are you able to define how the city is in fact?

You never knew Rio de Janeiro, man. You never would say this after knowing the whole city. Rio is a metropolis with more than 6 million of inhabitants. Less than 600,000 lives in the slums and, eve in the slums people has TV, microwave, DVD and computer. Everybody has a cell phone there.

The rest of the city's population are middle class, high middle class and rich. What do you know about Rio to say this? Rio is a large city. More than 50 km in extension, not only that "tourist area" like many foreigners say.

Your trip kept restrict to airport-hotel-sambodrome-beaches-hotel-a... and it makes you a consultant in Rio? Come on, man...

Rio de Janeiro is a developed city where billion are made every day in closed deals. Many people have a good life just here. As good as the best quality oflife you find in the USA. Are you from USA? The GDP of the city of Rio de Janeiro is larger than the GDP of some states of USA. The GDP of the state of Rio de Janeiro is larger than the GDP of a lot of states in the USA. How can you say a foolish like that?How can you say that Rio is a ghetto?

Ghettos/slums are less than 10% of the total area and population.

Now, compare my city with your city:

Rio: 1,182.296 kmÂ²
Chicago: 606.2 kmÂ²

Rio: 6,161,047 inhab.
Chicago: 2,836,659 inhab.

Rio: HDI 0.842
Chicago: HDI Not informed

Rio: GDP of 127.9 billion
Chicago: GDP of 108 billion (estimed)

Rio: 17.8% of the population below the poverty line.
Chicago: 19.6% of the population below the poverty line.

Rio is a nice place, a rich and developed city with "pocketes" of poverty. I'm from Rio and I (not you) know very well the place where I live.

Just watch some of these videos and you will learn a lot about Brazil and Brazilians:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=AllAboutBrazil&view=favorites

KobMeME (38 Points & 1 Assist)

My friend and I went down to Rio for Carnaval and no one jumped us. Granted, we're two Black guys from Chicago, our experience will be different than yours. Mind you, the white girls that we met from Europe all got jumped. One girl had her necklace stolen from a Brazilian girl in Lapa, another one almost had her camera stolen, also in Lapa. In addition to this, there was a hostel we're some of their friends were staying, that got held up at gun point. Fortunately, we stayed in an apartment with a 24 hour doorman so we didn't have these kind of issues. So if you're wondering where to stay and what to do, consider an apartment with security or hotel on the beach, and always travel in groups, preferably with men. Rio is a giant ghetto with pockets of nice places, and no one speaks English. Knowing Portuguese is a major plus.

Carolina F Ñ¼

Dear Aqua... for me Brazil is the best place in the world!!
well... if you r american you will know... is...people can steal from you, but in USA there aren't any steal? death? serial killers? and that stuff?
so come to our country and find out!!
and please... don't visit only Bahia and Rio de Janeiro.... come to the south.....
kisses

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: