Post: #26

Gm ,where's your view of Rio?

So where in Brazil long term could anyone see themselves living?

Post: #27

I have been living in Rio off and on since 2004, I own an apartment in the Centro area. I will be headed back in a few weeks. I'm semi retired now so I will be spending more time there. I was working in the oil fields between Vitoria and Rio and was transferred back to the states a couple of years ago. I really didn't like Rio when I first got there, my wife (Brazilian) showed me parts of Rio that is beautiful, she also took me to places that isn't in any tourist guide.

Post: #28

I've been in Sao Paulo for about a week now. I've been staying in hostels while I've been looking for an apartment and I'm enjoying meeting Brazilians from other places. People had said on the forum before that Paulistas are colder than other Brazilians, but I didn't realize how true that is until I got here. I'm also disappointed by how many girls here have short hair and by the number of fat girls I see walking around.

In other news, it was incredibly easy to get an English teaching job here since I'm a native speaker. There is such a huge demand for native speakers that you can get a job whether you're qualified or not. The job pays 34 reals an hour, and I have enough hours that I'll be able to live here reasonably well. There is also the possibility of a work visa, but I would have to show that I taught outside of Brazil for at least 6 months. I dont think it would be too hard to make such a document appear.

Post: #29

(10-02-2011 01:59 PM)Sardino Wrote:  I've been in Sao Paulo for about a week now. I've been staying in hostels while I've been looking for an apartment and I'm enjoying meeting Brazilians from other places. People had said on the forum before that Paulistas are colder than other Brazilians, but I didn't realize how true that is until I got here. I'm also disappointed by how many girls here have short hair and by the number of fat girls I see walking around.

In other news, it was incredibly easy to get an English teaching job here since I'm a native speaker. There is such a huge demand for native speakers that you can get a job whether you're qualified or not. The job pays 34 reals an hour, and I have enough hours that I'll be able to live here reasonably well. There is also the possibility of a work visa, but I would have to show that I taught outside of Brazil for at least 6 months. I dont think it would be too hard to make such a document appear.

This is GREAT to hear! If you could gather some intel about the ESL scene in SP and Brazil that be much appreciated!

I wouldnt mind going to teach in Brazil after Colombia

Post: #30

Yeah I'd really like to here any info you have, how did you find the job, how many hours a week, whats the cost of living (rent, bills etc) is in SP etc? 34 reals per hour isn't too bad but SP is so expensive that I'm not sure it would go far. I looked into teaching there when I was in Brazil last time but went off travelling round Suth America instead of looking for work. From what I've heard getting a work visa is near impossible and certainly never happens for English teachers.

Sardino, are you experienced in teaching? I hear there's a lot of jobs where you teach professionals and business types, often one on one which appeals to me. I'm looking into going abroad to teach in the early parts of next year and was primarily considering Asia but Brazil could be considered too.

Post: #31

Sardino,
good to hear that you're on the ground in Sp and that you've got a job fast. Now, does your job require you to go teach at companies' offices? If yes, then be prepared to spend or rather waste a shit ton of time in traffic...also, while 34 reais may sound decent as a pay, keep in mind that the cost of living in Sp is high. So unless you have at least a couple of G's to supplement your teaching income, you'll be struggling hard there. Now, once you get a good network going there, try setting up private classes for your students and then you can charge 50-60+ reais. But good luck man and keep us updated on how it goes.

Post: #32

My impression is that if you are a native speaker with minimal qualifications it would be very easy to get a job here. I did a search for "Expats Sao Paulo" on google and came across http://www.internations.org/ On the forum there is a post from a Language school that is always looking for English, Spanish and German teachers. I also sent my CV to the companies on this page and got some responses back. http://www.gringoes.com/subcategoria.asp...egoria=210 . The best offer from one of them was R$80 for a 2 hour class, R$60 for 1.5 hour class.

With these Business English clients there are 3 sessions per day and the teacher is required to travel to the company to teach. Depending on the company the teacher will have a session that starts somewhere between 6-9, 12-2, and 5-8. So you could have anywhere between 3 and 5 hours to kill between lessons, and if you're going across the city you're going to be paying 3 reais every time you use the bus. If you have a Bilhete Unico bus card then you only pay once to use the bus for 2 hours. I didn't have one for a few days so I was spending R$18 a day on buses when I could've only been spending R$6. I asked someone on the street where to get one and they said I had to go to the Metro Station to get it but when I went there they said I had to go a word that I didnt understand and that they couldnt explain. Some guy I asked on the bus stop said I had to go to where the bus ends to buy one. A woman at a different bus stop said I could buy one over there at that shop where the girl with the pink skirt just walked of. They sold lottery tickets, cell phone recharges and bus tickets at that place. Not sure what it was called. Maybe someone else can chime in on where to get a bus pass because my system of asking people on the street didn't work out too well.

I've been looking at apartments around R$1000 per month and that wont get you very much. R$1000 will get you a room in apartment shared with at least 2 other people. I've been using http://www.easyquarto.com.br/ to look for rooms to share, but if you search for "alugar apartamento SP" you can find other sites to use. I think sharing an apartment is the way to go because I'll have Brazilian roommates that I can speak Portuguese with every day and they can introduce me to their friends. The more friends I make the better because some of them probably want to learn English.

I had an orientation meeting on Friday for my English teaching job. They told me to come into this week to watch other teachers before I start teaching next week. I showed up at the time they told me to, and when I got there the receptionist of the small building told me that nobody was at the school. The only contact information I had with anyone at the company was the woman who interviewed me, and she ran a different operation at a different building on the other side of town. Being told to show up to an empty school is just another nail in the coffin for Sao Paulo.

I really don't like this city very much. It takes at least a half hour to get anywhere by bus, and I've been spending 2-3 hours on the bus every day running errands and such. The people here aren't like other Brazilians I've met. They are jaded and Americanized, they are overworked and don't have as active social lives as other Brazilians. One of the things I despise the most about American culture is how cold it makes people to each other, and to see that (albeit not quite as severe) here in Brazil just breaks my heart. A depressing amount of women I see on the street and out at night have short hair. Sao Paulo is the 10th most expensive city in the world.

On the one hand, there are ample work opportunities here in Sao Paulo, but on the other hand if I'm not happy then it doesn't really matter how much money I'm making. I've heard nothing but good things about Minas Gerais so I'm planning on packing up and heading there in the next few days. The only real tie I have to this city right now is the unofficial English teaching job I have at a company that doesn't respect their employees. Sao Paulo is nothing like the Brazil that I fell in love with, so to preserve that image I'm going to a place that I know will be more aligned with what I'm looking for. I don't necessarily hate Sao Paulo, its just not what I'm looking for at this time in my life.

Post: #33

Your gonna be looking for a teaching gig in Minas Gerais right?

Post: #34

Sardino,
Yeah Sampa is a tough one to crack and Paulistanos/as are not the warmest of the bunch, at least upon first look. They have this façade of coldness but once they get to know someone, they are good reliable and trustworthy friends, unlike the Cariocas who are the complete opposite...

In Minas, BH is the place to go, it's a first class city in every aspect, tons of night life, stunning women in great numbers, friendly, approachable but conservative. BH is a great city to invest 2-3 months to get a good social newtork going and then you'll have a blast. I've met a few Mineiros and they are top notch people. I'm extremely curious to read your experiences in BH so do please update us as often as you can as I definitely want to spend some serious time in that quality city.

Boa sorte cara.

Post: #35

(10-03-2011 06:23 PM)Sardino Wrote:  My impression is that if you are a native speaker with minimal qualifications it would be very easy to get a job here. I did a search for "Expats Sao Paulo" on google and came across http://www.internations.org/ On the forum there is a post from a Language school that is always looking for English, Spanish and German teachers. I also sent my CV to the companies on this page and got some responses back. http://www.gringoes.com/subcategoria.asp...egoria=210 . The best offer from one of them was R$80 for a 2 hour class, R$60 for 1.5 hour class.

With these Business English clients there are 3 sessions per day and the teacher is required to travel to the company to teach. Depending on the company the teacher will have a session that starts somewhere between 6-9, 12-2, and 5-8. So you could have anywhere between 3 and 5 hours to kill between lessons, and if you're going across the city you're going to be paying 3 reais every time you use the bus. If you have a Bilhete Unico bus card then you only pay once to use the bus for 2 hours. I didn't have one for a few days so I was spending R$18 a day on buses when I could've only been spending R$6. I asked someone on the street where to get one and they said I had to go to the Metro Station to get it but when I went there they said I had to go a word that I didnt understand and that they couldnt explain. Some guy I asked on the bus stop said I had to go to where the bus ends to buy one. A woman at a different bus stop said I could buy one over there at that shop where the girl with the pink skirt just walked of. They sold lottery tickets, cell phone recharges and bus tickets at that place. Not sure what it was called. Maybe someone else can chime in on where to get a bus pass because my system of asking people on the street didn't work out too well.

I've been looking at apartments around R$1000 per month and that wont get you very much. R$1000 will get you a room in apartment shared with at least 2 other people. I've been using http://www.easyquarto.com.br/ to look for rooms to share, but if you search for "alugar apartamento SP" you can find other sites to use. I think sharing an apartment is the way to go because I'll have Brazilian roommates that I can speak Portuguese with every day and they can introduce me to their friends. The more friends I make the better because some of them probably want to learn English.

I had an orientation meeting on Friday for my English teaching job. They told me to come into this week to watch other teachers before I start teaching next week. I showed up at the time they told me to, and when I got there the receptionist of the small building told me that nobody was at the school. The only contact information I had with anyone at the company was the woman who interviewed me, and she ran a different operation at a different building on the other side of town. Being told to show up to an empty school is just another nail in the coffin for Sao Paulo.

I really don't like this city very much. It takes at least a half hour to get anywhere by bus, and I've been spending 2-3 hours on the bus every day running errands and such. The people here aren't like other Brazilians I've met. They are jaded and Americanized, they are overworked and don't have as active social lives as other Brazilians. One of the things I despise the most about American culture is how cold it makes people to each other, and to see that (albeit not quite as severe) here in Brazil just breaks my heart. A depressing amount of women I see on the street and out at night have short hair. Sao Paulo is the 10th most expensive city in the world.

On the one hand, there are ample work opportunities here in Sao Paulo, but on the other hand if I'm not happy then it doesn't really matter how much money I'm making. I've heard nothing but good things about Minas Gerais so I'm planning on packing up and heading there in the next few days. The only real tie I have to this city right now is the unofficial English teaching job I have at a company that doesn't respect their employees. Sao Paulo is nothing like the Brazil that I fell in love with, so to preserve that image I'm going to a place that I know will be more aligned with what I'm looking for. I don't necessarily hate Sao Paulo, its just not what I'm looking for at this time in my life.

I would definately give it a month or so before bailing so quick....once you meet people and have got some routine things should start looking up...check out Tony Snow's reports...seems like he got into it there and had a blast.

Post: #36

Wow you gave up on SP and that job quick. I never found that coldness that others talk about from the Paulistas, sure maybe the people stomping down Paulista avenue during rush hour on the way to work aren't in the mood for talking but who is when they are busy and working. Head out at night (to the right venues) and you'll not have any trouble with people being friendly. Lots of beautiful women in SP too.

So did your teaching gig turn out to be a no go then?

Post: #37

(10-04-2011 02:25 PM)KingofScotland Wrote:  Wow you gave up on SP and that job quick. I never found that coldness that others talk about from the Paulistas, sure maybe the people stomping down Paulista avenue during rush hour on the way to work aren't in the mood for talking but who is when they are busy and working. Head out at night (to the right venues) and you'll not have any trouble with people being friendly. Lots of beautiful women in SP too.

So did your teaching gig turn out to be a no go then?

Have you ever gone somewhere and immediately felt an energy that makes you feel relaxed even though everything is completely foreign to you? I felt that way from the first moments I arrived in Medellin and Istanbul, and with Sao Paulo I felt the opposite, like I was being drained. I was going to leave Sao Paulo even sooner but I wanted to see what happened with the job.

If I wanted to make SP work I could change my attitude, deal with the cold weather, get used to being on the bus for 2-4 hours a day, and watch my bank account balance decline at an accelerated rate. I could go out alone at night, run night game and put in the large effort to build a social circle from scratch. I could make SP work, or I could take the path of least resistance and go to Belo Horizonte where I have a good friend who goes to University and who will introduce me to a ton of people, where the weather is more agreeable, the prices more tolerable and the people a hell of a lot friendlier.

Post: #38

Fair enough I always take the easiest option too so I don't blame you for that. I agree that SP is too expensive to be hanging around working a job that isn't too stable and not paying great when you factor in travel expenses etc. I felt very at one with SP, I already knew some girls there I'd met in Rio and they welcomed me into their social circle, befriended a hostel owner too who I'd go out partying with most nights. Belo Horizonte sounds pretty good, let me know if you land a teaching job and what the pay etc is like. I'm still keen on Brazil if I can mantain a good lifestyle there on a english teachers salary.

Post: #39

(10-04-2011 08:13 AM)Pilgrim37 Wrote:  They told me to come into this week to watch other teachers before I start teaching next week. I showed up at the time they told me to,

This is a tough basic life lesson I've learned: Even well meaning people do WHAT they say they're going to do WHEN they say they're going to do it about HALF the time. A lot of time it's truly not their fault. "The part didn't come in so I couldn't fix your car." This is why mechanics-- people who really have to get real world things done-- usually work on a basis of "I'll call when it's done."

An unfortunate corrollary of this:

When someone tells you SOMEONE ELSE is going to do something at a certain TIME AND PLACE, you're down to about 25% of it really happening at that time and place.

Always call. Always. Always get a name. Always ask if they'll be there when you get there and specify the REAL time you'll be there-- not the planned time , if they're not going to be there, find out who will. Ask if they really have the <thing you want>. Can they physically see it? Where can it be found if they're not there when you get there?

How many millions of times have people been disappointed:
"Someone said I could buy <whatever> for <whatever>. "

You get there.
"Who said THAT?/Who did you talk to?"

And when you find the rare, rare people who do what they say they're going to do when they say they will?
Marry them or go into business with them. You'll meet about 5 total in your whole life.

Post: #40

About overstaying, I have heard of the Policia Federal giving you a stamp in your passport that you're a visa violator and can't enter Br anymore after that? I'm not planning on doing business, marrying a brazilian woman, retiring in brazil, etc, so I do not know any other way to stay permanently other than overstay.

Post: #41

I've been in Belo Horizonte for two weeks now so I wanted to report back in.

I see myself living here for the foreseeable future. The town is big enough to where there is enough to do to keep busy, but its not overwhelmingly big like Sao Paulo where you spend 3 hours every day on the bus. The people here are more down to earth and friendlier and I've been invited to eat dinner with families shortly after meeting them.

I'm living with a friend of mine while I'm looking for an apartment, which is ridiculously hard to do. I've been looking near the Savassi area since that is where all the action is, but the hard part is finding a furnished apartment with a 3-6 minimum lease time. Most places I've looked into want 18-36 month commitments which I'm not willing to do. I've been looking for an individual apartment which is harder to find, but I just met another new guy in town so it should be easier to find a 2-bedroom apartment now.

The first week I was here I went around to a bunch of schools and dropped off my resume, but they said they weren't looking for anyone until the next school year. Then I connected with the local gringos and they pointed me in the right direction, so now I have two English teaching jobs. One pays R$31 and the other pays R$30 an hour. With the right referral its pretty darned easy to find work here as an English teacher.

I'll have more to say on the club/bar scene later as I haven't found any good spots yet. I've been going out with the friend I've been living with, but we've mostly gone to sit down places where we drink with friends. He goes to the UFMG law school and I sat in a few classes with him. There are a ton of cute girls running around that place, but since they're law students they are pretty argumentative which is not the easiest thing to deal with in a foreign language.

After traveling around so much this last year it feels great to finally have a place to call home. I'm looking forward to having structure in my life so that I can work on the goals that I've neglected while on the road.

Post: #42

Very Nice Sardino! Get into groups/clubs in town, specially at the UFMG, enroll in their Orkut groups and you should have before long a good social crowd. For the apartments you're looking at, what's the going rate as I'm also very interested in BH? Keep up the updates, very much appreciated.

Post: #43

Sardino are you american?

You are obviously gonna get paid under the table right?

How much will a room cost?

Post: #44

Getting a furnished apartment in belo horizonte for less than 6 months is virtually impossible without a fiador or co-signer. I recommend a residence run by an old lady one block from the ..sorriso do lagarto..which is the only youth hostel in town (look up the adress online). Its a 10 mins walk from savassi. You can rent a nice furnished big room with own bathroom, internet and cable tv. They also clean your room daily. There is a shared kitchen but alot of privacy (and the old lady is laid back and cool) so had no problem bringing back girls to my room without complaint. Cost was 1300 reais a month.

Post: #45

Check out Vivastreet (like Craigslist for Brazil) for temporary apartments:

http://aluguel-mobiliado.vivastreet.com....nas-gerais

Post: #46

chochemonger

that is like 700 something dollars for a room! no one teaching English will looking to pay that.

Unless they just love teaching and have plenty of money in the bank or have passive income coming in.

Post: #47

(10-20-2011 09:59 PM)Dash Global Wrote:  chochemonger

that is like 700 something dollars for a room! no one teaching English will looking to pay that.

Unless they just love teaching and have plenty of money in the bank or have passive income coming in.

Its the cheapest youll pay for a month stay in belo horizonte. In the youth hostel a private room was 60 reais daily(dont know about whether they have monthly rates) but any decent mineira girl would not be caught dead there. The "big room" in the residence was like a small studio without a kitchen. It had the feel of a nice apartment building so mineiras had no issues staying with me there. I tried a week to find a furnished apartment in BH, but even if you get lucky i doubt that youll be shelling less than the 1500 reais for a one bedroom furnished apt by the beach that i rented last month in Joao Pessoa (NE Brazil). BH is a bit more expensive than cities in the NE. Theses prices are the reality in Brazil.
Now if you could find a brazilian roomate in a 2 bedroom apt that signed the lease that would be another story.

Post: #48

Most people that teach English do it as a way to live and experience a new place for an extended period of time. As they dont have the bank roll and income to not teach english and live for a long period of time. Hence they will be on a budget.

Almost every english teacher I know and have meet in Latin America are living with roommates and dont sign a lease. Just find someone looking for a roommate and move in and pay by the month. Like 100 - 300 bucks.

Post: #49

I went to a Forro last night (Thursday) in the downtown area with another English teacher. I never caught the name because Brazilians do a terrible job of letting you know the name of the place you're at. The place was huge but it wasn't very full. There were 2 guys for every girl, and most of the girls were always busy dancing. I caught a few of them standing around and would open them with "Do you know how to dance Forro?" in accented Portuguese. They would ask me where I'm from, what I'm doing in BH, where I learned Portuguese yada yada yada, then I would say lets dance and they taught me how. We would dance for a song or two then some dude they knew would come and steal them away. I learned the basic steps to Forro but I didn't get any kisses because the girls always got taken away from me.

(10-05-2011 10:52 PM)iknowexactly Wrote:  Always call. Always. Always get a name. Always ask if they'll be there when you get there and specify the REAL time you'll be there-- not the planned time , if they're not going to be there, find out who will. Ask if they really have the <thing you want>. Can they physically see it? Where can it be found if they're not there when you get there?

How many millions of times have people been disappointed:
"Someone said I could buy <whatever> for <whatever>. "

You get there.
"Who said THAT?/Who did you talk to?"

This is advice that I should reread every day before I deal with Brazilian companies. The lack of professionalism that Brazilian businesses display is probably the biggest culture shock for me. They genuinely act like they don't want to make money. I can understand a minimum wage retail worker feeling annoyed that a client wants something, but I expect better from realtors who earn a higher salary.

(10-20-2011 07:55 PM)Dash Global Wrote:  How much will a room cost?

(10-20-2011 07:26 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  Very Nice Sardino! Get into groups/clubs in town, specially at the UFMG, enroll in their Orkut groups and you should have before long a good social crowd. For the apartments you're looking at, what's the going rate as I'm also very interested in BH? Keep up the updates, very much appreciated.

I didn't think of using Orkut, that's a good idea. I also need to look into taking Portuguese classes at UFMG so that I can get a student visa.

The going rate for a room found using http://www.easyquarto.com.br is around R$400-700 depending on the size and location. I looked at a 50 m2 apartment in the Santo Agostinho neighborhood that went for R$750 a month plus another $R400 in Condominium and IPTU. They wanted a 36 month contract and it was unfurnished.

Here's a pretty good example of what you can get if you sign up for a 18 month contract:
http://ximenes.com.br/aluguel/021124.aspx
1 bedroom furnished apartment, 54 m2, close to Savassi, R$1000 a month plus R$400 IPTU and condominio.

(10-20-2011 07:55 PM)Dash Global Wrote:  Sardino are you american?

You are obviously gonna get paid under the table right?

Yes and yes. One of the places I work for is pretty informal and doesn't care if I stay here illegally. The other place caters to business clients and wants me to find a way to stay here legally.

(10-20-2011 09:49 PM)chochemonger1 Wrote:  Getting a furnished apartment in belo horizonte for less than 6 months is virtually impossible without a fiador or co-signer. I recommend a residence run by an old lady one block from the ..sorriso do lagarto..which is the only youth hostel in town (look up the adress online). Its a 10 mins walk from savassi. You can rent a nice furnished big room with own bathroom, internet and cable tv. They also clean your room daily. There is a shared kitchen but alot of privacy (and the old lady is laid back and cool) so had no problem bringing back girls to my room without complaint. Cost was 1300 reais a month.

I stayed at the Sorriso do Lagarto my first night here. Alright location but the dorms suck because they have triple bunk beds. I was the only foreigner staying there at the time. Do you have a number or any other information about this place? It's a little more than I want to spend but I'm starting to go crazy without a place of my own so it would be worth it to stay for a month while I figure out something else.

(10-20-2011 09:56 PM)KanyeWest Wrote:  Check out Vivastreet (like Craigslist for Brazil) for temporary apartments:

http://aluguel-mobiliado.vivastreet.com....nas-gerais

I've called up all the 1 and 2 bedroom places on that site. They were either off the market already or they wanted a long contract.

(10-20-2011 11:01 PM)Dash Global Wrote:  Most people that teach English do it as a way to live and experience a new place for an extended period of time. As they dont have the bank roll and income to not teach english and live for a long period of time. Hence they will be on a budget.

Almost every english teacher I know and have meet in Latin America are living with roommates and dont sign a lease. Just find someone looking for a roommate and move in and pay by the month. Like 100 - 300 bucks.

300 US is around the minimum that you'll spend sharing a room with someone in a decent area in BH.

Post: #50

Its on the same street as Sorisso do Lagarto, heading towards Avenida Sra do Carmo(which is one of the main avenues in the city) on the same side of the street as Sorriso...about 1 block away. I lost the card and forgot the name but from the outside it seems like a house with stairs outside leading to the entrance. (Youll have to ring to be buzzed in and climb the stairs). I walked around the neighborhood and asked and that is how i found it. The old lady does things by word of mouth ...not advertising but its a decent place and the best i found (for a month it would be good until you found something better).