Living in Brazil

[Fartknocker]

"Also, beware of non-pro stories on these boards, I've meet
over 100 gringos in Brasil and I know of only 4 that scored
TRUE non-pros. By TRUE I mean girls with no history of sex
work. Of those 4, all were under 35, all in good shape, 2 spoke
fluent Portuguese. Don't be dishearted by my stats as 95/100
gringos seem to get no further than Copacabana or other red
light areas."

Yeah, I get the impression that a lot of guys think the non-pros are going to fall into their laps just because they are Rich Tourists. Picking up a Brazilian non-pro is the same as picking up a non-pro back home in your own country. If you can't manage to pick up a chick back home, you are probably going to strike out with Brazilian girls, too.

Basically you have a 0% chance of picking up a non-pro if you don't speak any Portuguese. There just aren't that many girls who speak English, and the one's that do have their pick of any number of foreign tourists. You also have very little chance if you are only in the country for a few weeks on vacation. One of the first questions I was generally asked by the girls I dated in Brazil was "How long are you staying?" When I could answer two months or more, I had no problems. Once my time got down to weeks, most of the new girls I met weren't that interested.

That being said, Brazilian girls are still some of the easiest lays on the planet. I usually date Brasileiras even when I'm in the States, just because I no longer have the patience for putting up with American girls. Learn your Portuguese, guys! It's worth it.

[Cash Works]

JWadd,

Do you know it the CPF (CFP?) numbers ever expire? An eternity ago (1986, I think), when I was working down there, the Policia Federal had all the estrangeros (foreigners) re-register their work permits (I think folks with permanent visas had to do this as well). Part of the process was to get a CPF. I actually went through the re-registration process twice, once on my own, with the help of a Brasillian friend who just happenned to be a Lawyer, the second time was with my company, who were convinced that the employees would have screwed it up if they tried to do it themselves (I didn't complain due to getting 3 day's off in the middle of my hitch which counted as work days). The funny thing about it is that both times, I went to the Policia Federal in Natal & they remembered me the second time, because the commandant was good friends with my Lawyer buddy & he was walking around with us the first time I was there. So I may have two numbers! The problem is, I have no idea what either number might be, so if I were to apply for one again, I may wind up with yet a third CPF, unless they expire after a certain period of inactivity.

Maybe I should take a trip to DC - they may have another cutie working in the visa department at the consulate.

CW

[CBGBConnisur]

Is Brazil even a safe place to live? Honestly from what I have heard beyond the beaches and tourist areas the country is from the words of a friend "fucked up". I'm really not too sure if I want to live in a country where they can slit your throat for $2.

[Cutting Edge]

Undray, a word of advice, i've been to forteleza and to sum it up...


Small beach town ==> direct 'sex tourist flights' from Italy ==> too many gringos in town looking for pay for play ==> therefore non-pros wouldn't be seen dead with a gringo. Of all the places I've been in Brasil, this one was pretty unfriendly.

Also, beware of non-pro stories on these boards, I've meet over 100 gringos in Brasil and I know of only 4 that scored TRUE non-pros. By TRUE I mean girls with no history of sex work. Of those 4, all were under 35, all in good shape, 2 spoke fluent Portuguese. Don't be dishearted by my stats as 95/100 gringos seem to get no further than Copacabana or other red light areas.

You need to find locations with very few gringos about, Brasilians are pretty snobby and most hate to be thought of as a piranha, hence the difficulties in the touristy areas.

[Fartknocker]

>Fartknocker:
>How fortunitous!
>I'm headed to Rio mar 25. I wanna spend sometime in Cabo
>Frio. I hear it's similar to Buzios, but cheaper. Can you
>recommend a Pousada?
>Also is there a Banco do Brasil branch with a cash station there?
>Actually can you write a trip report about it? I don't think it's
>ever been reported on.
>Thanks

Hmm. I'm not sure this is really the right forum for me to post a trip report for Cabo Frio, especially since I never used the services of any of the local pros.

In short:

Buzios is completely different -- more upscale, more nightlife, more touristy. Its only 30 minutes away by car, so you can visit both if you are in the area.

I don't know any pousadas -- but there are a ton of them all over town.

There is a Banco do Brasil downtown. I always used the Bradesco caixa electronica at the ABC Barateiro near the bus station. This ATM takes all US credit and debit cards as far as I can tell.

There really isn't much to tell about Cabo Frio. You have Praia do Forte (Fort Beach) on one side of town and the canal district (with most of the better bars/night clubs in town) on the other. If you can find these two spots, then you have found 80% of everything worth finding in Cabo Frio.

Hope this helps.

[J Wadd]

Good forum, guys. I've been meaning to contribute for a long time. I go back and forth between living in a big city and living in a smaller one. I've been to about 30 cities in Brasil, including all of those listed in the great post of below (except Vitoria):

"Manaus, then go clock-wise around the country to Belem, Sao Luis, Fortaleza, Natal, Recife, Maceio, Aracaju, Salvador, Vitoria, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo, Florianopolis."

The north is a lot poorer, for sure. But the women (IMO) are a little more "Brasilian." The problem with those northern cities is that they have a little of that post-USSR E. Europe feel: Cinder-block housing, poorpoorpoor, not a lot of vibrant culture, etc. They don't look anything like late 80s E. Europe, but (to me) they have a similar type of sorrow. Dunno.

I grew up in Hawaii, so the beaches aren't that big of a deal to me (though they certainly are beautiful). What's important to me in a city is culture -- nightlife, clubs (non-sex), music (trance, bossa nova, jazz, etc.), great restaurants, etc. The northern cities don't have this, and Flor and Curitiba don't (really) either.

Maybe a "small" large city like Belo Horizonte is a good alternative. I've never been there, however.

For me, it's a choice between Rio and S.P. (with S.P. have a slight edge). I've never found S.P. to be that bad.

For those of you kicking the tires about moving down to Brasil, the first thing to do is to get a CPF number -- attainable via a Banco do Brasil (or a Caixa Econonmica, depending on the city). Take the slip they give you, and then head to the gov. office they direct you to, and hand it in. The gov. office will mail you your CPF slip in about 2 weeks. One drawback is that you have to provide them an address to which to send the slip. This is the process I had to go through in Recife (the gov. office was in Recife Antigua). Very easy.

With this tax number you have one big advantage -- and that's viable legal leverage. No CPF and ownership (if legal) is tentative -- or so I've been told.

Citizenship (etc.) is a little more tricky. Get a lawyer and figure out the best way for you. I'm not sure how important it is, though. If you're on the 5 year-6/month visa, just leave the country and reenter, and you're legal for another 6 months. This is one way around that dilemma until you solve your visa situation.

Banking might be a little easier. There're many Citibanks all across Brasil. Perhaps an account intiated in Europe or the U.S. is a viable entity down here. Not sure. It should be, though. I'm not sure that opening a Brasil bank account is that good of an idea. Too much fluctuation. Remember Argentina? Dunno. Local checks would be nice, though.

Can anyone dispel the rumor about foreing ownership of beachfront property being impossible? I've heard people weigh in on both sides. Dunno.

What else? Let me think a little more.

Happy Hunting and what about Belo?,
JW

[Suna]

Any thoughts on campinas as a place to live I really liked it there.

[Testure]

Fartknocker,

I am living in São Paulo right now and for the moment on a tourist visa (or whatever to call it as we Europeans don't need a visa). As far as I knopw you are only allowed to stay for 6 months a year as a tourist and you don't have to go out of the country after three months to prolong your stay. You just go to Polícia Federal. After 6 months however you will have to find another solution. Either marry or (don't know if this works for Americans as you are being more thoroughly registered here now with fingerprints and photographs) just loose your passport and get an emergency one, when you have to leave the country and they can't track how long you have been here when you are leaving.

[Java Man]

Fartknocker:
How fortunitous!
I'm headed to Rio mar 25. I wanna spend sometime in Cabo Frio. I hear it's similar to Buzios, but cheaper. Can you recommend a Pousada?
Also is there a Banco do Brasil branch with a cash station there?
Actually can you write a trip report about it? I don't think it's ever been reported on.
Thanks

[Undray]

Hey Guys,

Do I have a higher chance of scoring non-pros in Fortaleza, since I am a black american?

Let me know what you guys think, because Im 95% sure I'm moving to Fortaleza sometime this year.

Thanks

Undray

[Cash Works]

Fartknocker,

I never made it to Cabo Frio, but always heard good things about it. It'll have to go on my list of places to visit if I ever get back to Brasil.

Visas - I'm hardly an authority, but when I was transferred out of Brasil, the company transferred about 25 other guys at the same time. Some of these guys had been living in Brasil for 5-10 years on work permits, once they were transferred elsewhere, the company didn't bother renewing their work permits, so they had to get tourist visas whenever they went back. Some of them were able to get permanent visas due to wives and kids, but that isn't necessarily an option for everyone. The guys who used the tourist visas would work out of Brasil for 6-8 weeks usually, and then have 3-8 weeks in Brasil for their time off. I occasionally heard about people getting hassled at the airport coming in, but the hassles seemed to always involve large quantities of alcohol that had been consumed during the flight to Brasil so their visa/visits may or may not have been a contributing factor.

I had a problem getting a tourist visa for Brasil once when I was in Venezuela. The vice consule just flat refused to give me a visa because he thought I was heading down there to work. He had looked through my passport and noticed two expired work permits - no amount of discussion could persuade him otherwise. The real ***** of it was that I was planning on buying an apartment & this scared me off - I could just see dumping $30K on a place in Fortaleza & then never be allowed to go back due to visa problems. To make matters worse, 4 years later, I was working with an American who lived in Fortaleza - he told me that the apartment that I was going to buy for $30K had just sold for $150K!!! I think that was the only time I have ever wanted to truly beat the crap out of a public official.

I read somewhere on one of the Brasil boards last month (I think), where somebody was suggesting to somebody else that they get a "5 year multiple entry visa". It was the first time I had ever heard of this type of visa, but it would be worth investigating. If you live anywhere near Washington, DC you should drop by the Brasillian Consulate and tell them you're planning on spending a lot of time in their country - they should be able to fix you up with the appropriate visa - it's what they do after all. I dropped by there a number of years ago and was helped by an absolutely beautiful young lady, unfortunately, I was with my (then) girlfriend, so I wasn't able to talk about anything except visas.

[Pimpolho]

Fartknocker:

”My plan was basically just to stick around on a tourist visa and leave the country every three months or so Does anyone know if this method will actually work?”

As a tourist you can stay 90 days in Brazil. If you want to stay more you can extend your visa for another 90 days. You can do this extension in every office of the Policia Federal.

There is no need to leave the country and come back to get another 90 days.

The maximum duration of stay is a total of 180 day per year.

If you overdraw your visa the Polcia Federal will register your name in the “black book”. As a consequence you are not allowed to come to Brazil again or you have at least a lot of trouble. A lot of things are not working here in Brazil but unfortunately in this case they are well organized.

Dr. Pimpolho

[Call Me Goo]

Right on Fartknocker and Cashworks! Looks like great advice. Yup, got the dual citizenship. And I'd definitely agree about the smaller cities.

Looks like I better start sending our resumes! Peace!

[Fartknocker]

A lot of you guys are talking about living in the big cities in Brazil. One piece of advice I have for you is not to overlook the smaller cities.

I can think of a lot of great places to live in the US, but New York, LA, and Chicago are not on my list. The reason I don't want to live in these cities are traffic, crime, pollution, and TOO MANY DAMN PEOPLE! As far as I'm concerned, the same drawbacks apply to Rio, Sao Paulo and the other Brazilian cities.

The last four months I spent living in Brazil, I was mostly in Cabo Frio, about 2 1/2 hours drive east of Rio. Small cities usually have less crime, traffic, and pollution. They also have a lower cost of living on day-to-day items (food, rent, beer, etc). The non-pro girls are usually more easily impressed, and the pros charge less.

I'll comment more on the girls, since thats what this forum is all about. If you are actually intrerested in not paying for sex, a smaller city can be easier hunting ground. If you have a car, an apartment to yourself, a television, and some money in your pocket, you greatly outclass 95% of the local 20-something guys that you are competing against. If you think these aren't important in picking up a Brazilian girlfriend, then you know nothing about Brazilian girls. ;-)

You don't need a BMW in a small city. To these chicks a VW Golf is a "carrão." I'm not kidding! A decent, used car that costs only R$25K is a pussy wagon in a small city. Hell, I got dumped by one of my ficantes for a guy who owned a damn motorcycle! A small-town girl would much rather be sleeping with an older, less attractive guy who can take her out of town for some fun than a hot 20-something who is going to take her nowhere but the same old places she's seen all her life.

If you still want to pay for play, small town girls are usually much cheaper than Rio or SP girls. If you are paying over R$100 for a girl in an interior city, you are paying too much. My friends tell me that the going rate for some of the local Cabo Frio girls is about R$60. My buddies who hang with the local pros sometimes get freebies just for the cost of dinner. Believe me, your money goes a long way in the smaller cities in Brazil.

Personally, I never bothered to find out. Inside of 4 months, with very rough Portuguese, this somewhat overweight mid-30's American scored with 8 different chicks, multiple times each, without paying anyting more than the occasional dinner. This is WITHOUT a car, a nice apartment, or really trying very hard.

Anyway, don't pass up the smaller cities in Brazil when you go looking for a place to settle down. Remember that if you settle down in the big city, you actually have to LIVE in the big city when you aren't drinking and whoring. The small cities, IMHO, are more livable, and the big city is usually only a few hours away when you feel the need for something a little more exotic.

[Fartknocker]

>What are the requirements for an USA citizen
> to get legal residence in Brazil?

I just got through spending about 4 months living in Cabo Frio, RJ. I was planning to stay longer, but, uh, those bills, ya know! Had to come back to the US and get a job. ;-)

My plan was basically just to stick around on a tourist visa and leave the country every three months or so. A Brazilian friend of mine assured me that there wouldn't be any problem with this. Since I was planning to head back to the States at least four times a year to visit family and friends, I didn't see the need to try for a different visa.

Does anyone know if this method will actually work? I've come to the realization that quite a bit of what my Brazilian pal told me was bullshit, so I'm wondering if this little bit of advice was bogus too.