Olinda - the old town in Recife - is very beautiful indeed. They also have a nice and big waterpark outside the city and a theme park open at night. One of the extremely annoying things here is that 1/3 of the population thinks that the US is trying to steal the Amazon area from Brazil. The problem is that quality control is not what is most prelifient in the schooling system - so even teachers and school books can have horrendous statements. The common thought around here is that foreigners are full of money - and robbing them is ok - because they have been robbing the country for 500 years. So I would compare the attitudes a little to Jamaica for white people. Rodizio de churrasco - the grilled meat buffet is the best value for money in most parts of Brazil - when you consider quality of food etc. The south of the country is most famous for their barbecue - the "gauchos". Interestingly there are more "nordestinos" (from northeastern Brazil) in Sau Paulo - and there are frequently propaganda-type "lotteries" on TV where some poor family is booted back northeast with shopping bags full of clothes etc. Skinheads in Sao Paulo have included them on their hate-list and there are some truths to how poor people in the millions encumber every infrastructure in the south and contribute to slums/favelas and thereby crimes and other otricities towards them as payback. Lack of land-reform, extreme corruption and lawlessness in parts of the country combined with poor educational system and conservative capitalism are frustrating to witness on news reports here. Normal people try to forget the misery they live in by having some parties and barbecues as often as they can. The UN reported about 1 month ago that 40% of south-americans live in slums - so a good bet is that Brazil lifted that average a great deal. 1/3rd of Brazilians live of about USD 1 per day. Most people with money value their security - so armed guards in front of houses and 10+ kV electric fences on top of 3m high concrete walls are the norm - as well as bullet-proof cars - if you have a nice car or get around a lot. It's nice here - but there are some definitive drawbacks. The Brazilian Real is also among the world's most unstable currencies - although it made a run-up early in the year when everyone started talking about how stable the Real would be this year - because of improving economic conditions. Those come from exports though - and don't improve conditions for consumers or people here.
That's $30/month. Then why cheapest monthly Apartments ($30-50/day) and Hookers ($100-$50/day) are so fucking expensive?
Claro, vivei aqui ha 3 anos. I travel around a little, have been in Curitiba, Sao Paulo some in the northeast. I have a house and an apartment in different cities, but I go back to europe where I come from - from time to time. You have to excuse that I don't give out my name or phone number here ... You have to excuse my gripes about Brazil, but there are the obvious flaws with Brazil when compared to living in many other countries. If you live and work outside of Brazil, you would know this. Of course everyone "loves their country", so these kinds of things you only hear about when it makes the news, or someone complains about their situation. For me it's something that I take care to stay informed about. One example was this 20-year old kid from europe whom I met at a bar. He had just been assaulted 2 days earlier by 2 guys from Policia Militar. Another tourist (a policeman from europe) witnessed the whole thing took a photo of the car and the guys where the PMs had parked behind the kid's hotel. They took about R$ 250 - but had put a gun in the back of the kid - after he had gotten his passport from the hotel room - which was their excuse for pulling him over when he was on his way back from a nightclub to his hotel. These things make the country not so great. Just like the turmoil and lawlessness in Para. Otherwise, the beer is cold, the girls are hot, the beaches are scorching and the guns are mostly loaded.
I've heard they are around R$ 30 in the cheaper places - and most of them too young or toothless. It all depends on where you go I guess. Otherwise, I would say that you are "out of luck" if you have to pay the girls here ... In the northeast you can get apartments at around R$ 60 per day - around US$ 23. That includes a maid cleaning the place.
Hehe, but that goes for any country. It's called a "girlfriend" - or even worse "a date" in some countries - where you don't even get a pleasure guarantee.
So you are a citizen of the world Im very luck in never been assaulted here. My car do not have ballistic protection also. Thanks for god!