Post: #26

BH had similar color as Rio. For darker go north, lighter go south.

Post: #27

"I think I'm the only dude on this forum that likes black chics."

I like them.

Post: #28

I do, as well.

Post: #29

Thank god that someone does.

Post: #30

I like chicks from all races. Black, white, yellow, etc, etc. I don´t give a fuck. As long has she´s hot...

Post: #31

Chocolatinha is a cutie herself. You guys in Sao Paulo, don't turn down her invitation to hang out. ;-)

Post: #32

I also don't discriminate, whether she's white, black, yellow, green or pink, is irrelevant, what matters is that she's a good and cool person and if she's hot, so much the better!

Post: #33

Thank you speakeasy.

Post: #34

(03-26-2010 09:39 AM)GermanDude Wrote:  17:1 or 11:1 lol.... reminds me of a friend he wanted to go to riga for a similar reason..... I looked it up and saw that it was less than 60:40.

Yeah, maybe that is the actual ratio in the city, but I bet that in the bars and clubs its a much higher ratio. I know in Vitoria at times (usually early in the night) there were literally 5 or 6 girls to 1 guy in the club at a time and I'm sure the girl to guy ratio in Vitoria wasn't more than 60:40.

Post: #35

(04-23-2010 06:01 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  "I think I'm the only dude on this forum that likes black chics."

I like them.

I like them as well. Not my favorite (Obviously being latina if you read my posts) but I definitely don't descriminate on them and would pick them over many more races.

Post: #36

Bumping this thread. Has anyone spent time in BH in the last year or so and can add some insight? We already know the girls are hot, but how's the quality of life there for someone making good money? Are there some nice areas, and enough fun events/activities going on?

Post: #37

BH boasts one of the highest quality of life in all of Brasil. It's a first world city in many aspects. Just use common sense that you'd use anywhere else in Brasil or SA for that matter and you'll be fine. I'd say for a good lifestyle, 4K$ month would do it (by good I mean, nice clean fully furnished appart in a posh part of town, near clubs/restaurants/unis, going out at least 4 times a week/eating out all the time etc..). Since this is a major university town, your best bet would be to get into that crowd, provided you're young enough and of course, some Portuguese skills would help a lot. Make some contacts on Orkut/FB in BH. Also, a great investment would be to enroll in a portuguese course at one of the local universities in BH (UFMG would be a great place to start). This way you'll not only learn Portuguese but also be surrounded by prime babes all the time. BH is also known for being a city with the highest concentration of barzinhos (bars) in all of Brasil. So get into the uni crowd and you'll be set. Hope this helps and make sure to report back as I'm very interested in BH for when I return to Brasil which I do intend on before the end of this year.

Post: #38

Sorry VP - I didn't mean to give the impression that I'm about to take a trip there. I won't be making it to Brazil until next year, but BH has caught my eye as a potentially solid spot. However, considering the number of forum members who have been to Brazil and the fact that BH is the country's 3rd largest city, I'm surprised to see how little info there is on it here compared to the number 3 and 4 cities in places like Colombia, for example.

Someone who's spent a good amount of time there needs to step up on this. Or maybe one of our Brazilian members can reach out to a friend who lives in this city for commentary? BH could be a goldmine that's waiting to be tapped (just keep the tapping to within this forum so the old, dorky gringos don't head there, too).

-LS

Post: #39

I was in BH for a few days in April this year. Despite being Brazil's 3rd biggest city, there's a good reason it isn't mentioned much on the forum - it is ugly with nothing particularly worth seeing. One local told me their cathedral was their city's pride and joy but it was less impressive than something you'd get in a third-tier European city.

Having said that, the nightlife and girls make up for it. Go to Rio for the beaches and the colonial towns of Minas for history and pretty photos, then stop off in BH for bars, clubs and girls. Like others have mentioned, the Savassi neighbourhood is cool with a high concentration of nightlife spots. I've heard there are other places dotted around but I didn't have time to see them.

BH is different to any other city I've been to in Brazil. Very few people speak English so you need at least basic Portuguese to get by, and if you want to get girls it should be at least a decent level. Many girls became seriously intruiged when I told them I was a tourist since as I mentioned there's nothing to see/do there. I didn't meet a single other foreign tourist there (I only found one hostel and everyone there except one guy was Brazilian) and the expat community is small. However, this curiosity doesn't necessarily translate into anything more. Social circle seems an important factor in BH. People often go out in large mixed-sex groups and sit down at large tables in bars, which can make approaching problematic in some places. Apparantly Minas Gerais is also one of the most observantly religious states in Brazil as well, so girls may be a bit more conservative than in e.g. Rio, but I'm not sure how true this is.

Overall it's not an easy place to pull if you're only in town a few days so you shouldn't go necessarily expecting to do so. However, one thing I did notice is that many of the expats were doing very well with the local girls. The only other non-Brazilian in my hostel was a scruffy, chain-smoking 36-year-old Slovenian who had a smokin hot local girlfriend (he was staying in the hostel while waiting for his new apartment to be ready). I met a couple of New Zealanders who were also punching above their weight, as well as a really good-looking young Australian guy who spoke fluent Portuguese and owned an English language school and gave me the impression he was banging local girls at will.

In these sorts of cities (boring, off the tourist trail, slighly more conservative, social circle very important) living there gives you a very good chance of banging quality pussy, whereas visiting gives you a pretty low chance. If I went again I'd definitely try pipelining and possibly couchsurfing, although I now have a couple of contacts there I could also use.

Post: #40

Thanks for the info alchemist. I plan on living in Brazil this coming January thru April or so. I know I want to visit Rio, but right now I'm looking at Belo Horizonte or Sao Paolo to live.

Post: #41

(08-23-2011 05:34 AM)Entropy4 Wrote:  Thanks for the info alchemist. I plan on living in Brazil this coming January thru April or so. I know I want to visit Rio, but right now I'm looking at Belo Horizonte or Sao Paolo to live.

I think you'd do well in BH, but in my humble opinion Sao Paulo is one of the most underrated cities on the planet. All the negative things you've heard about it are false and it has many charms that Rio doesn't. It just takes a little bit of time to get used to it, but it definitely grows on you. Just make sure you have a fat wallet since the prices are on a par with London.

Post: #42

Thanks alchemist. Good to have some BH info from the field. That's not the first time I've heard the city is ugly and without many tourist attractions, but couldn't the same be said for a city like Medillin? As long as the talent's there, we'll be able to entertain ourselves.

I've been flipping through some BH expat blogs, and the insight shared is almost all positive. People have said the city feels pretty safe and there are plenty of things to do to keep oneself busy. But this is from people who live there, so perhaps your statement is true that the city really opens itself up to you once you've been there a while. I'm still amazed at how many people outside Brazil have never even heard of this city (not necessarily due to their ignorance, it's just so under-the-radar).

Despite the obvious element of size, in what ways would you say SP is different/better than BH? I imagine SP would get a little overwhelming, but I haven't been so I can't assume that to be the case.

-LS

Post: #43

Quote:That's not the first time I've heard the city is ugly and without many tourist attractions, but couldn't the same be said for a city like Medillin? As long as the talent's there, we'll be able to entertain ourselves.

True, BH is comparable to Medellin in many of the respects you've mentioned.

Quote:I've been flipping through some BH expat blogs, and the insight shared is almost all positive. People have said the city feels pretty safe and there are plenty of things to do to keep oneself busy. But this is from people who live there, so perhaps your statement is true that the city really opens itself up to you once you've been there a while.

The expats I met all seemed quite happy there and it seemed like quite a close knit group since it was pretty small. A lot of them hang out in a place called Bar do John run by a cool Aussie guy who's travelled the globe. It's about 5 mins walk from Savassi. The danger of being an expat in somewhere like Rio (or Dubai, Paris, Rome etc etc) is that there are so many expats that you end up meeting few locals. This didn't seem the case in BH.

Quote:Despite the obvious element of size, in what ways would you say SP is different/better than BH?

Sampa is huge but bear in mind that BH is also a massive city of 5 million, making it all the more surprising so few people have heard of it.

SP is Brazil's cultural centre and has the best of the arts, live music etc that the country has to offer. It's not particularly touristy but there are more genuine sights that are worth a visit. The nightlife is excellent and varied (although very expensive). BH is a relatively new planned city and most neighbourhoods look the same. Whilst SP is generally ugly, the different areas are more distinct making it interesting to walk around - you have the bohemian area (Vila Madalena), the Japanese district (Liberdade), gritty working class areas (e.g. Luz), the super-elite rich area (Jardins) and Se/Centro where you can see neo-Gothic churches and monastaries randomly placed inbetween huge skyscrapers. It's also very ethnically diverse and the food is very good, although again a bit pricey.

On the other hand, BH is a little cheaper, the nightlife is still very good and I'm sure if you stayed there you'd find plenty to keep you occupied. Minas Gerais is also a stunning area of Brazil and you have easy access to great scenery that you don't have in Sampa. Locals are friendly and pretty curious about you.

As a rough analogy, Rio is comparable to Miami, Brasilia is like Washington DC and Sao Paulo is like New York. Belo Horizonte would be like a less well-known east coast or midwestern city ... not much interesting to see there but a decent quality of life and a good place to live if you know the right people.

Quote:I imagine SP would get a little overwhelming, but I haven't been so I can't assume that to be the case.

Sao Paulo is overwhelming to start with and since it's so big, busy and also quite ugly most tourists get out of there after a couple of days. You need a while to get your head around it. I'd recommend staying in the Vila Madalena neighbourhood which is quite arty/bohemian, very safe, and feels like a village in the middle of the metropolis. Don't overly concern yourself with the size; public transport is good and it's surprisingly easy to find your way around.

Post: #44

Awesome tips alchemist, thanks. One last question from me, the obvious question: which city has hotter girls?

Post: #45

@Entropy

I can't speak for BH but I lived in Sao Paulo for 6 months. If you go to decent clubs there you will see tons of hot girls. You can go out any day of the week in Sao Paulo and find something going on and girls to pick up. Places like Itaim Bibi and Jardins have limitless amounts of hot girls. I once went to a bar/lounge in Itaim Bibi and almost all the girls were attractive and dressed to kill. Also how is your Portuguese? If it isn't at least conversational I would recommend to go to Sao Paulo since you will find a lot more women who speak English.

Post: #46

@Entropy4: Both have plenty of hot girls to be honest. SP is overall more ethnically diverse but probably has slightly more pale-skinned white girls. Girls in BH are generally the stereotypical Brazilian caramel colour. In my experience, the average girl walking around during the day in BH is slightly hotter than in SP, but go to the right mall, club or concert in Sampa and you'll see hundreds of smoking hot girls.

And Tony Snow's advice re. Portuguese is spot on. Brush up on your Portuguese before you go to BH (it should be at least at a decent conversational level) since English speakers are few and far between.

Post: #47

Cool. Looks like I'll hit SP first and see how I like it, study some Portuguese and then decide whether to stay or move on to BH. I don't speak a lick of Portuguese, but my Spanish is fairly advanced, so I'm hoping I'll pick it up quickly.

Post: #48

@Entropy

Good plan. You should pick up Portuguese pretty quickly since you are advanced in Spanish. I did this for a few lessons. You can go on http://www.gringoes.com and go to the Learning Portuguese section. You can exchange English for Portuguese with someone via skype, start a new thread or search for one. I've kept my Portuguese up being back in the states by reading news sites like http://www.uol.com.br and listening to Brazilian music. You should have a blast in brasil.

Post: #49

Awesome. Thanks for the info guys. +1 to both of you.

Post: #50

Entropy,
While SP is awesome and has almost unlimited options for nightlife, I'd still pick BH over SP for the following reasons:
- higher percentage of beautiful girls.
- a more laid back culture/city
- infinitely more pleasant than Sp as a place to live.
- a lot less pollution.
- much easier to navigate specially as a foreigner than Sp which is just enormous.
- easier to get around due its smaller size than Sp (actually only Tokyo and maybe LA are bigger in size than SP as SP is the 2nd or 3rd biggest and most populated city on the planet).
- less expensive than Sp as in SP prices are pretty much in line with NYC, London etc..
- people in BH and Mineiras in specific are friendlier and more geniune as a whole.
- very good ratio of girls to guys in bars/clubs in BH. If you venture out to some smaller cities outside BH, it's not uncommon to have ratios as good as 7 or 8 girls to 1 guy and these girls are extremely aggressive and will be the hunters.
- Mineiras are very down to earth girls, with good values overal and they make awesome girlfriends and are among the best in Brasil for LTR and wifing.
- the best thing you could do to shoot your chances to the stratosphere is learn as much Portuguese as you can. Since you speak already good Spanish, that'll definitely help you but please do not make the cardinal sin of taking with Brasilians in Spanish. They hate that and will feel downright insulted. So keep that in mind.
- 2nd good thing to do prior to getting there, make some contacts with both girls and guys. I'd say making guy friends before hand is a better investment in Brasil as they will show you all the good places and take you to parties (goldmine like no other thing) and introduce you to girls and give you social network and social credibility. So hit hard Orkut, FB and the various groups in BH.
- forgot to add that Mineiro food is among the best in Brasil. Try tutu a mineira, or carne secada...delicious!
- strategic location: 1 hour by plane from Rio, 1 hour from Brasilia and Goiania, home of some of the primest female species in all of South America specially Goiania.
- Very chill culture.
All the best man and make sure to report as I'll be very closely following your adventures in BH as thats' a place I'll definitely hit as soon as I return to Terra Brasilis.