# Association: we didn't have...



## Küsel (Sep 16, 2004)

Brasil yet, even though Deus é Brasileiro


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## ♣628.finst (Jul 29, 2005)

Belo Horizonte, Cuiaba, Campo Grande, Porto Alegre (Which is not very nice), Florianopolis, Curitiba (It's famous but it doesn't look very different from other Brazillian city), Londrina, Maringa.

Fertile plain in the Southwest, and drought in the Northeast.

Don't forget the VLSat!


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## Slodi (Feb 25, 2006)

Brasil? That's the country in which I spend more than six months a year so I could say I am a kind of a resident?


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## Sahil12345 (Apr 2, 2006)

Going there in the summer. By the way, Slodi, is Rio that dangerous? Can I take an evening stroll without getting robbed?


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## Slodi (Feb 25, 2006)

Sahil12345 said:


> Going there in the summer. By the way, Slodi, is Rio that dangerous? Can I take an evening stroll without getting robbed?


In Rio, you can even get robbed in your own hotel room 
Seriously, I don't stay in Rio much, but as far as I know Rio is much safer in areas where residents are not too rich e.g. Zona Norte. 
Also, places like Copacabana, Tijuca or Ipanema can be dangerous all day long especially when you carry any expensive "toys" with you.


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## Brad (May 19, 2006)

Slodi said:


> Also, places like Copacabana, Tijuca or Ipanema can be dangerous all day long especially when you carry any expensive "toys" with you.


True. Several times when I was in Copacabana I saw robbers running in the street. 
A friend of mine was robbed in his car when the car stopped at the light signal. The robber used a gun...
Once quiet late I was stopped by a policeman who ordered me to lift up my shirt  
This happened in San Paolo.


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## Küsel (Sep 16, 2004)

Rio is for sure not the city you can hang around relaxed! It's hectic and really dangerous, even for people like us that live or were living in Brazil. Rio is not Sao Paulo or Curitiba - at least not the south of the city where all the tourists go - the social gap is also geographically enormous and the Cariocas can give you a hard time (unfortunatly). 

Slodi is right, if you are not in a rich area you are also not a target. I was living in Osasco, a not too rich or safe suburb or Sao Paulo and even as a Swiss I NEVER made bad experiences though the Paulistas are extremly paranoid as most Brazilians - not only thanks to high crime rate but especially the media  Personally I made much worse experiences in such "safe" cities as Zurich or in Scandinavia than in Brazil! But in Rio you as a tourist (don't dress as one!!! It's also ridiculous! And BTW: also other Brazilians are tourists in Rio and cheated the same way) ARE a target not only for crime but also because people try to sell you everything and for a much too high prize. Don't drive cabs if not necessary, Rio's cab drivers are the rudest people in the world!!!

But just watch out and behave "normally", don't wear expensive jewellery and camera (this should be carried in a plastic bag anyway) and don't go to clubs and funk parties without some locals and you are relatively safe.


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## ♣628.finst (Jul 29, 2005)

Kuesel said:


> But just watch out and behave "normally", don't wear expensive jewellery and camera (this should be carried in a plastic bag anyway) and don't go to clubs and funk parties without some locals and you are relatively safe.


And speak like a Brazilian--- talk in Portuguese. Just as we expect others to speak English to us.


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## Küsel (Sep 16, 2004)

That's a big problem but fortunatly the growing Brazilian tourism was leading now to a pressure that Brazilians working in airports and hotels as well as other touristic places HAVE to learn English at least. 

Unfortunatly without a bit of Portuguese or maybe Spanish you will find it very difficult to travel around - or even ENTERING the country for the immigration stuff also only talks Portuguese!  But as I said this is changing now.

Don't get me wrong: I am in favour of that you should know at least a little bit of the tongue spoken in the area you visit, but there are reasons to travel, when you can't have the time to learn the language before or it's not priority...


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## Slodi (Feb 25, 2006)

Kuesel said:


> Unfortunatly without a bit of Portuguese or maybe Spanish you will find it very difficult to travel around - or even ENTERING the country for the immigration stuff also only talks Portuguese!  But as I said this is changing now.


I have noticed that if you are not a Spanish-language-country resident and you use Spanish to communicate with Brazilians, it may be taken as a kind of an offence.
That's my experience after being a couple of years in Mexico and now moving to Brazil. 
It's a high time I picked up some Portuguese


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## Küsel (Sep 16, 2004)

You are right - also in Portugal... just NEVER say "Gracias" :lol: (seriously, they will look quite irritated and maybe hostile to you) Same as never speak German as a German in the Netherlands if you love life - it's even written in the travel guides!


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## Anymodal (Mar 5, 2005)

Kuesel said:


> You are right - also in Portugal... just NEVER say "Gracias" :lol: (seriously, they will look quite irritated and maybe hostile to you) Same as never speak German as a German in the Netherlands if you love life - it's even written in the travel guides!


thats quite true, though ive found that if you say the words in portuguese with spanish pronunciation (which isnt all that different) you get significantly better responses from the locals.

The least you can do is try, its not that hard if you speak spanish, its even fun to actually speak the language you always imitated when you were young (if you lived in a south american country, that is).


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## Sahil12345 (Apr 2, 2006)

Wow I just wish there could be more security and the such in Rio. Personally my family and I, as well as about 17 other people are staying Copocabana in the Le Meriden. But it disturbs me as to how unrelaxing this vacation seems. Unlike Montego Bay or Cancun, this area is not a haven for tourists...Brazil should offer a relatively high form of security around tourist areas to ensure a thriving tourist industry, I suppose its only common sense...But thanks for the advice guys.


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## Küsel (Sep 16, 2004)

It is getting better - there is even a special Tourist Police in Rio that tend not to be so lazy and corruptive like the official one and I must say, that I was even once at 2am alone walking through the streets of Copacabana neighbourhood and nothing happened... but I may have been lucky! The government is aware of the situation and that high crime is a main obstacle for tourists NOT to visit the city (Europeans spend their hollidays in Brazil more and more in Fortaleza, Recife and start to discover Sao Paulo but avoid Rio) - and so do the criminals. Tourism is an extreme important economical factor in Rio, the HAVE to improve the situation...


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## evilbu (Oct 3, 2005)

That's just me, but when you come to Flanders and you can both talk French and English, talk English to me.... I don't know how other Flemish feel. In fact I would even rather be talked to in German.


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