'How's Sao Paulo this time of year? What's the best month to visit?';

'Spent 2 weeks in Rio in April, absolutely loved my time there. Number one rule: Know a local and travel with them. I'll rate the neighborhoods I spent time in.
>Copacabana
4/10. Good bars but you're just going to get approached non-fucking-stop by scum peddling their crap if you're a white guy. Worth a trip just to take in the view at the beach. You're just going to get bothered every 10 minutes or less. Don't take your phone out.
>Leblon
6/10. It's Copa but more upscale. Beautiful mall and good food. Didn't spend more than half a day here. Don't take your phone out on the street.
>Centro
7/10. I ended up liking this neighborhood a lot more than my friends made it out to be. Great food, try Confeitaria Colombo. Nice shops, great views of the bay from the Museu do Amanhã, really good nightlife only a walk away from the pier in a subsection that I forget the name of. Lots of touristy places to go. Don't take your phone out on the street.
>Joá
8/10. My second favorite part of the city during my trip. Extremely safe, private security guarding every neighborhood, a beautiful private beach and a little trail on the cliffs around it. It's not urban so it keeps out the trash from Zona Sul.
>Barra da Tijuca
9/10. Easily my favorite part of the city. Super chill, great restaurants, 3 huge malls right next to each other, nice beach clubs, not as touristic. Way less peddlers than Copa but it still happens. Felt a lot safer than any part of Zona Sul. You still have beautiful views of the ocean, the islands, and the mountains here.';

'>>2651737
Fall and Winter. Now is a good time. Dry weather and not too hot.';

'>>2654469
>Barra
>Easily my favorite
are you american?';

'>>2656941
Yes lol
It's also the neighborhood my friends live in, so I spent the most time there';

'I'm married to a Brazilian so I visit there often for family. It's a cool place not totally over run with tourists so it's pretty chill';

'>>2651726
So I understand that psilocybin mushrooms aka "shrooms" are legal in Brazil. Where can I buy them? Are there stores I can walk into? Or is the only way to obtain them to either grow them yourself or do mail-order?';

'>>2658684
It's not legal. Actually there is a legal loophole on this and you can receive by mail. Anyway, drug consuming is officially a crime here, but it is not punishable by imprisonment.
BUT Ayahuasca (Santo Daime) is legal, just go to a proper place (i.e. rural area) for doing it.';

'>>2658706
>Santo Daime
What is the most peculiar folk catholic church in Brazil?';

'>>2658706
>It's not legal.
Literally everyone says it's legal, including Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_status_of_psilocybin_mushrooms
>Only psilocybin and psilocin are listed illegal, but not the fungal species themselves.

So how do I do it by mail? Can I buy over the web and get it shipped to my hotel room? Or would the hotel throw a shitfit?';

'>>2658706
>Ayahuasca (Santo Daime)
You are confusing things. Santo Daime take diluted Ayahuasca to worship Christ - Ayahuasca is the pure medicine.
>t. Did a ceremony with S.D. and didn't enjoy it - weak and everyone dancing in the same rhythm singing hymns';

'Half Brazilian born and raised in California, but went to Brazil every year of my life. After the military I spent about 6 months wandering the country top to bottom and then settled in Rio for some years. Married a carioca and now split my time in the states and in Rio.

Happy to answer any questions and can probably provide a unique perspective that's neither the ignorant gringo one, nor the standard Brazilian take.';

'>>2659426
Favorite places in Brazil that most people never get to? I've been a handful of times but these threads rarely go beyond talking about Rio which is a shame when people could be going to Trancoso, Noronha, Lencois Maranhenses, the Pantanal, etc.';

'>>2659426
I want a nice wife, but Brazilian women have such a flirty, sexual reputation. Deserved?
I've been to Brazil before and took ayahuasca with some hippy girls but always wondered if I should go back snd wife one. Any tips?';

'>>2658834
It's fine. Just don't take it while locked in your hotel room.';

'>>2659482
NTA but Bombinhas is a really popular spot in Southern Brazil, famous for its beaches and the Morro do Macaco, or Monkey's mound, where you can see the whole city and coastline from. I think you pay like a 2$ to climb it. Was very fun';

'>>2659482
I went to quite a few of the Brazilian tourist hot spots like Jericoacoara, Fernando de Noronha, Búzios, Pipa, Porto de Galinhas, etc. One that I really loved that I think gets less attention is Morro de São Paulo in Bahia. It's a series of small islands and beaches that you get to by catamaran from Salvador (or a long shitty drive).

I went alone after a carnaval and had a great time. Nice restaurants, cool vibe, interesting mix of people. I remember going to a dive shop to rent equipment and do a day trip. There was a German girl working there who had immigrated to the south of Brazil, hated it because she felt it was even more old world German than back home, and then ran off to the nordeste. I told her where I was staying and when I came back from diving she had left a note at my posada inviting me to dinner. We went out to this little Italian restaurant, then went back to her house, smoked weed, and fucked. She was an insane hippy, but it was a great time.

Other spots you should visit are Ouro Preto in Minas, which is a beautiful little colonial town with great food and things to do, and of course lençóis maranhense in barreirinhas (Maranhão). Two things I did that were quite cool was in Piauí, I did a boat trip on the Parnaíba river delta which was cool, and went to some park in the middle of the state that had agent cave paintings from prehistoric peoples. I'll look it up.

>>2659492
The people are much warmer for sure. Will be friendlier with you sooner, hug you, kiss you, be nice to you, but they aren't really overly more slutty than most Europeans - unless you're talking low class people who are blown away by seeing a foreigner and want to suck your dick to feel like they are traveling or chique. It comes down to socioeconomics if you want a "high quality" woman.

Their "slutty" reputation is deserved in the sense thatAmericans will get more action because they are novel and different and the people are warmer by comparison to Americans';

'>>2659492
And unless you speak Portuguese and are doing pretty well in life, you're going to have a hard time picking from the top tier of women. Much like in SEA and other developing countries, the women from good families that do exchange programs, go to med school, whatever, aren't just jumping to marry some gringo.';

'>>2659426
Are you thinking of having kids soon, and if so what are your plans for them? Would you raise them in Brazil?
What's your favorite part of Rio for daily life?
How long did it take for her to get US citizenship?

t. gringo with serious carioca gf, considering moving down to Rio for the cost of living and the beachfront lifestyle';

'>>2659574
>Are you thinking of having kids soon, and if so what are your plans for them?

We plan to start trying in a year or so. The plan is to have them in Brazil but come back to the states for public school age. She is from a good and big family and has a great support system in Rio, and also hates the healthcare system here in the states. In Brazil we can go to the doctors she likes, have more familial support, and also hire full time help for dirt cheap. I work from home so to me it doesn't matter, and my family in the states is small and has the means to visit us in Rio. As for her, she has the ability to get remote work in her field and that would be the goal.

>What's your favorite part of Rio for daily life?

Walking everywhere and just having a more active culture is nice. I just got back from a month there and averaged like 15k-20k steps per day, here in San Diego I do like 3k because you have to drive everywhere. The restaurant scene in Rio is great from the botecos, all the way up to Michelin star restaurants like Oro. Not to mention all the fruit/smoothie places. Love drinking coconut water and eating fresh tropical fruits, and just the style of life there. The other great thing of daily live in Rio is that for less than $1k per month I can have a full time live-in servant that cooks, cleans, does whatever I say. That's pretty hard to beat.

>How long did it take for her to get US citizenship?

We did the K1 fiance visa to go to the states so she had permanent residency from the start. Green card took about a year and a half or 2 years from there, and then once she had the green card for 3 years she could apply for citizenship, which took like 6 months to get a decision. 5-7 years for citizenship is probably a safe bet.

Do you speak Portuguese? If you plan to move there definitely get fluent, as your experience will be vastly different.';

'>>2659426
how hard is it for a tourist to get a sim card without a CPF?';

'>>2659550
I would really like to check out Minas Gerais if I ever go back. My favorite small town in Brazil is Lencois on the ouskirts of Chapada Diamantina so seeing some larger versions with that kind of architecture would be awesome.

I went overland from Sao Luis to Fortaleza and made stops in Lencois Maranhenses, Atins, Parnaiba, Camocim, Jeri, and Prea so know the area pretty well. When you were in Parnaiba did you stop in the delta to watch the scarlet ibises come into roost? I'm not a huge birder but that was one of the coolest birding experiences I've had. pj';

'>>2659617
>The plan is to have them in Brazil but come back to the states for public school age.
Pretty much what we we've discussed as well. She grew up going to private schools and exchange programs, but I would rather my kids just go to the school district I was raised in. It's an amazing public district, and I won't be paying like $20k a year to put a few kids through private school.
I feel the same way about the healthcare, I ended up needing it during my visit and because of family ties I was able to get in and out of the hospital quickly without a bill.

I didn't end up having a chance to try any of the Michelin restaurants but the churrasco and sushi I had around Barra and Ipanema were pretty damn good.

>We did the K1 fiance visa to go to the states so she had permanent residency from the start.

Nice, I want the option to go between both countries. I also work remote, but depending on how much money I'll have in the next 5 years, that'll decide on where we stay more long term.

I'm picking up Portuguese pretty quickly, I can read almost everything I encounter and I'm getting to that point with listening comprehension. My speaking definitely needs help, but we're working on it.';

'>>2659622
It's not hard but I believe you need to use someone's CPF. You just buy a pré-pago chip and you can recharge it at any news stand, lojas Americanas, phone store, some supermarkets, etc. Probably you're better off buying an e-sim before going.

My best advice for any tourist going is to set your tinder or whatever app location to the city you're going to and make friends. These women will help you with shit like that, and if you're lucky, fuck you after. Brazilians love being good hosts. In Brazil it's important to have local help if you don't speak Portuguese.

>>2659624
Nice, you've been around. Chapada Diamantina is beautiful. My mom's side of the family is from São Luís and I've gone by car very similarly to your trip. If you like the style of places like Ouro Preto you can also check out Olinda in Recife, Gramado in Rio Grande do Sul, or Paraty near Rio. Curitiba is also a great place to visit for some different vibes from most Brazilian cities. I saw some of those ibis but don't think it was the right time for a huge amount of them.';

'>>2659642
>>2659642
Yeah, everyone who is middle class and above in Brazil does private school because public school there is nuts, barring a few exceptions. We figure having them there until public school age in America is a good way to keep them connected with the culture and family there, save an ass load of money, have cheap domestic help, but then set them up in a nice public school district in America where they can participate in sports, extracurricular activities, etc. that aren't really part of school in Brazil.

If you want to split your time you should look into buying a place in Rio that is nice enough to Airbnb targeting foreigners. You can easily offset cost of ownership and even turn a profit, and then use it when you are there. The only issue there is that credit is expensive, and the amortization of the loans is pretty nuts. Let's say you buy a place for $2 million reais and you finance $1.5 million at like 10% - they don't just say "Ok, we calculated that out and your monthly payment for 30 years is $14,747 (which would be like 3 grand in dollars). Instead what happens is that your first years you'll be paying like $23k or something nutty, and each year it will go down until on the second half of your repayment you're paying like $10k and by the end you're paying like $7k. Basically the barrier of entry is high. Go to some of the real estate sites like Quinton Andar or Viva Real and have your girl play with a loan simulator with you. It's nuts how they do it';

'>>2659426
What MOS?
You using disability to basically live for free in Brazi?';

'>>2659660
I actually didn't go through the process to get a disability rating until moving back to the states years after living in Brazil. The six months I spent traveling there right after getting out I just used savings, then when I moved to Rio I started an online business. These days business is good and I do have a high disability rating as well which helps.';

'>>2658745
If you are desperate for money we generally pray for Saint Edwiges, Saint Expeditus or Saint Jude Thaddeus (in this case legend says that as he shared the same name in Portuguese of Judas, people didn't pray much for his intervention, and he has plenty of miracles to offer).
Also, it is growing the celebration for the by now Blessed Nhá Chica. The region she lived (Southern Minas Gerais) is the best Brazilian hidden secret.
Finally there is the Black Book of St. Ciprian if you are into Occultism.';

'>>2659650
>the amortization of the loans is pretty nuts
Actually it isn't. It is called Constant Amortization System (SAC in Portuguese), where you pay mostly the interest taxes at the beginning of the mortgage and they decrease with the time. Not only it makes wonders in an inflationary economy but you can also reduce the term if you make extra contributions throrough it.
>t. managed to reduce the lenght of my mortgage in 10 years doing that for 2 years.';

'>>2659707
Nuts is being used as a relative term when compared to how things work in the states. It's not a comment on the merits of the practice in the context of making long term loans work in a less stable economy, it's moreso an annoyance that it forces you to finance less than you might be able to if it were done differently. While the ability to pay off extra if you're able is nice, the higher payment upfront significantly reduces your purchasing power when compared to a payment that is the same for the length of the term. In America you are also paying mostly interest in the beginning, but you don't have the inflated mortgage payment, it's just a difference in how much is allocated to interest vs. principle by the bank. So I may be able to afford a $1 million dollar place in the states where my monthly starts at $8k and stays there, but if it started at $12k then went down, I may not be able to make the same purchase without saving more.

I totally get why they do it, and it's still way better than back in the day when the money was changing so radically you couldn't even really finance property, but it definitely reduces your buying power';

'>>2658834
Inside of São Paulo you can have it delivered by motoboy but you will need a CPF. Look for the website natureza divina';

'>>2659622
>how hard is it for a tourist to get a sim card without a CPF?
You can get one from the pharmacy in the Rio airport and they'll even call in and activate it for you, I did it a few months ago without any problems';

'Planning a trip to southern Brazil soon. Can I get a QRD on these places?
>Florianopolis/Santa Catarina
>Curitiba/Parana
>Rio Grande do Sul/Porto Alegre
Is is true that most of Brazil’s white population lived down there? Would they be more or less friendly towards a white American?';

'As a tourist, how can I cash out Bitcoin to get BRL for spending during a vacation in Brazil?';

'>>2659827
Why would I need a Brazilian tax ID number? Searching on it says I need one to buy a house, not consumer goods.

Also, that website slams up a "you have been blocked for trying to hack the site" message every time I try to access it, so I kinda have to wonder what's going on there. It does seem to talk about "plant medicines" though, so maybe it's legit.';

'>>2660783
NTA but literally everything requires a CPF if you're not buying it physically.

>>2660707
> Curitiba
It's a pretty decent city for living in, but people there are fairly depressed because of the shitty cold weather all year long. Because of that you'll probably meet more rude people than usual';

'>>2660707
>Florianopolis/Santa Catarina
The best one, for beaches, partying and stuff
>Curitiba/Parana
Bland big city
>Rio Grande do Sul/Porto Alegre
Bland big city - except for now that it became the Brazilian Venice.';