Daily Life in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Just call me a matchmaker

I have been getting more emails than usual from potential expats and soon-to-move-here expats. Seems Rio's a hotspot these days! There's also the constant stream of people leaving and selling things so if you are looking to buy or sell household goods, send me a quick email at dailyriolife at gmail dot com and I'll put you in touch!

 

Addresses Rio 2011 - Great Gift Idea for anyone in Rio

The closest thing to a "Yellow Pages" I've found in Rio - the best addresse in the city. A lot of household type stuff but also has restaurants, services, etc. Wish I'd had a copy when I moved here! I bought mine at Livraria da Travessa.

Rio Reinvented?

Much has been written in the media lately about Rio being reinvented, particularly with the Olympics and World Cup coming. When I am asked about the current state of Rio I am always hesitant to answer. I realize that my answer is totally dependent on my experiences there, which are in no way representative of what is going on in the city as a whole. We've been in Rio for over two years. Touch wood, we have not had any "incidents" happen to us, a few near-misses, sure, but nothing major. My opinion of Rio's current security state is largely dependent on this continuing to be true.

I also realize that after living in the big city for as long as we have, we've become hardened to certain things, again, we are not objective.

Nevertheless, in true Brazilian fashion, I will still offer an opinion! I do think that Rio is changing for the better, and it is being cleaned up. I hear about less incidents of horrendous crime, the drive to the airport doesn't seem to scare my guests the same way it used to before the "walls" along the road went up, and I feel safer overall. Maybe it's the Polyanna in me, who knows.

Smithsonian magazine put out an interesting article on Rio's reinvention this month, check it out here. It talks about the opportunity Rio currently has to repair itself, and the hows and whos, shortcuts and challenges of getting Rio "there". 

On the other hand, an interesting quote from a piece The Guardian put out on the recent gunfight at the Intercontinental Hotel in Sao Conrado:

"We have been sharing in the illusion that Rio is entering another chapter, turning the page on the horror," he said. "But this shows that the pacification units are merely islands of excellence in an ocean of barbarity that is very much alive." 

My only comment on this incident is that since living in Rio I have not heard of a single incident of a tourist being killed here, though I have heard of SEVERAL meeting such unfortunate fates in countries such as Mexico. Yet people seem to have no fear of going there, but Rio is terrifying to them. Strange. Apparently this incident was enough to scare off the stars of Twilight from filming in Rio!

Anyway! I think I have been sharing in the illusion, too. I have relaxed, about a lot of things. Or maybe just become lazy?  Maybe I have changed.

What do you think? Is Rio getting safer? Has it changed?

 

Rio Feira Antigo - Lapa Antique Fair

Finally after over 2 years of Rio living, we made it down to Lapa on the first Saturday of the month for the antique fair. This past Saturday was a great day for it - sunny but not too hot.

   

We strolled through the streets listening to the sounds of Brazilians watching the Argentina - Germany game. I didn't realize the extent of the rivalry between Brazil and Argentina until I saw hoards of Cariocas jumping up in down gleefully roaring with laughter each time Germany scored... 

There are quite a number of antique stores in the area - I will certainly return! I would like to find a few pieces to take with us when we move.

 

Lapa's architecture is quite impressive.
 

I really wanted these oversized bottle openers. Until I found out they were R$200 each (or the three for $R500).




 

There are so many amazing ornate pieces in Brazil.
 

Some unique very-Rio bags at the Fair.

 

Mr. DRL and I often have "if we had a cabin" musings... such as: "If we had a cabin, we'd want to put a table like this in the kitchen..."


 

On my list of things to take back: Ornate headboard. You'll find them in every antique store here and I imagine painting them a bright glossy color for a kids' room...
 

Many antique stores I've had luck in are set up like this. The best stuff is usually buried in the back under 2 inches of dust and 2 stories worth of furniture stacked on top of it.

Grocery Prices in Rio

The other day my mom and I were comparing prices on blueberries between Brazil in Canada (it's R$37 per kilo here which equals about $10 per lb in Canada, where they are about $3-$4 per pound). Blueberries are hardly a must-have here in Rio but it's nice to have the option every once in awhile. Here are some other grocery prices in case you are curious to get an idea for cost of living etc. before you move here (I am hearing from a LOT of you who are on the verge of a move to Rio lately)...

 

Other "special" prices @ Zona Sul:

500 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil R$16.98
200 g Butter                         R$ 3.18
200 g Nestle Cocoa Powder   R$ 5.55
187 g Ferrero Rocher            R$19.49
200g Italian Tagliatelle         R$ 3.98
690g Tomato Sauce              R$ 5.69
250g Cottage Cheese           R$ 4.39

Meat Prices

Picanha                              R$39.80/kg
Frozen File Mignon             R$18.90 /kg
Shrimp                              R$13.99/kg

Other

Colgate Total                       R$3.19
2 Rolls SNOB Paper Towel     R$2.49
1 kilo Dog Food (Pedigree)   R$9.99
1 kilo Cat Food (Whiskas)     R$11.89

Playgrounds in the Condo Common Area = Disneyland for my kid.

The Canadoca has a Grams down here, and at Grams' place, there is a fantastic play area which is basically a playground. Going to Grams' place is like going to Disneyland. There's a trampoline, a ball pit, tunnels to climb through, safe baby swings (most parks just have chair style swings which the Canadoca is too little for), playhouses, bikes and cars. Seriously, it's Disneyland. The point of this post is for people who are thinking of moving to Rio or planning to, to let them know that these buildings exist in case they want these amenities. Here are some shots of Grams' Disneyland...

For those who wanted to see an updated photo of the Canadoca:

$$$ Rio = Expensive. It's Official.

BR means BRING REALS.

Rio is officially the most expensive city for expats to live in, in ALL of the Americas.

That's right, ahead of Manhattan, Sao Paulo, San Francisco.

Read it and weep... and hang onto it for your next salary and living expenses review... check out the full article here.

I've written about the out of control prices on rent and utilities. I've told you to bring all the electronics you'll ever need from home. You have heard about how I only get my hair cut when I go home (and based on the difference between the cost of my last hair cut here and my last one at home, I think that a quarter of my plane ticket paid for itself with that one swift move). Imported items are costly at the grocery store. I've warned you to buy your scotch at the Duty Free. Now, for those who are here - what aspect of living here do you find most expensive?

Coming Soon To A Brazil Near You

I get a lot of inquiries from people who would like to move to Brazil to work. My advice is to find a multinational firm operating here and get here on an expat package. As it's been said, Brazil is not for beginners, folks. We use all the help we can get our hands on! Make sure your have a generous living allowance...

So if you've read my blog entries and are still interested in job hunting for something that might take you to Brazil, here are some companies that are making waves in the media recently about either entering the Brazilian market or expanding their presence here:

• Standard Chartered - starting investment banking operations in Brazil. 
• Valeant Pharmaceuticals International just made a $56 million acquisition in Brazil (announced today but hadn't named the company). This is the second Brazilian acquisition the California based company has made in as many months.
• Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP, which is a New York law firm, plans to open an office in Sao Paulo. In the past year, other firms such as Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, DLA Piper LLP, and Mayer Brown LLP have also set up shop in Brazil. Read more here. 
• Vaaldiam, a Canadian mining company, just announced plans to restart one of its Brazilian mines.
• Speaking of Canadians, it is widely speculated that Scotiabank (who happen to be one of our banks of choice back home in Canada), which has quite a presence in other parts of South America such as Peru and Chile, could bid to purchase the Brazilian securities unit of German lender Commerzbank...
• Finally (more Canadians) - a delegation of Atlantic Canadian organizations and companies in the oil and gas and transportation sectors just returned from what they are calling a successful business mission to Brazil. 

Why Not Barra?

When I conducted my Rio Expat Survey at the end of last year, one of the questions involved giving advice to those moving here. One of the pieces of advice was "Don't live in Barra."  People asked me why? I can only speculate as to why someone made that their recommendation, but here are a few theories:

• It's not as pedestrian friendly as the Zona Sul. Personally my favorite thing about living in Rio is that I can walk almost everywhere I need to go, and all basic amenities that the city has to offer are within a couple of blocks from my apartment. I also love that we can go out to eat almost any kind of food available here without having to drive.
• It's not as safe as you might think. When we first moved here I thought about living there as it felt safer to me. Maybe because it's a bit more modern and clean looking? But a bit of research revealed that not only is Barra surrounded by favelas (like the Zona Sul), it's a prime area for carjackings. I don't think it's UNSAFE, I just don't think it's any safer than living here, even though it may seem so at first.
• Tunnels, traffic and mudslides - all create problems which can limit your access to Barra or detain you from getting home.
• Lack of proximity to Centro. Mr. DRL works in Centro. We live in Leblon. His commute is already the bane of our existence. He spends up to 2 hours per day in the car now, add another hour if we lived in Barra. Enough said.
• Lack of "culture" - Barra is the Miami of Rio. It's new, full of modern high-rises, shopping malls, strip malls and big box stores.  You don't find the little mom and pop corner shops the same way you do here in the Zona Sul or the more historical buildings, etc. Further from Rio's cultural "Centro" and the attractions - Corcovado, Sugar Loaf, etc. Although Barra has a great club scene from what I hear, the restaurant scene in Leblon/Ipanema is pretty hard to beat.
• Socially I find living in the Zona Sul to be very convenient but I am sure that people find that in Barra as well. It is difficult to socialize with people who live out there though as it is just so far!

Now, I am not trying to be negative in the least, just trying to answer the question someone asked as to why not Barra. In fact, despite my preference for the Zona Sul I can think of many valid reasons a person WOULD want to live in Barra, such as:

• $$$$$$$$$ - My god it is so much cheaper to live there than the Zona Sul. Especially compared to Ipanema/Leblon. A quick internet search revealed that for significantly less than what we pay for our nothing-special-but-in-a-good-location 3 BR apartment in Leblon, we could be renting this 4 bedroom new, modern house with a pool in Barra, or this one.  Two years ago when we were looking at apartments, there was one that we looked at that was equal in size to our current place, furnished, with its own pool and a slight ocean view from the deck, for half of the price of what we pay for our unfurnished apartment with a small veranda in Leblon.
• You want to live in a house. (Options in the Zona Sul include Jardim Botanico or Gavea for houses.)
• Your workplace is in Barra.
• You like the idea of having Wal-Mart close by.
• You want to live in a newer building.
• You like nice supermarkets (they are so much better out there!!)
• You like the beach (I love the beach out there too).
• You like to drive everywhere (or be driven everywhere by a driver). 
• You like to hike (close to the Tijuca Forest, etc.)

Are there some people out there who have lived in both areas who could comment? For example I don't know how quiet it is there. I suspect it's quieter than here! Any pros and cons am I missing? The point is to give people information to help people them decide where they would like to make their home in Rio.

Getting A Brazilian Driver's License: Prepared for a Psychological Exam?

It was tempting to name this post "the biggest load of malarkey I have encountered in my two years living in Brazil" but I figured that I should at least try to keep on topic. Besides, I may need the title for something else in the future. 

Mostly for tax purposes (to keep ourselves at arm's length a bit from Canada and show our intent to stay in Brazil, as Mr. DRL's license was expiring, and he didn't want to get a new Canadian one), Mr. DRL and I both underwent the process for obtaining Brazilian driver's licenses. As to be expected, there were countless forms to fill out and fingerprints to be stamped, a few visits to DETRAN (the Brazilian version of the DMV or Registry as we'd call it in Canada) but we got through that part a few months ago. Since we had valid Canadian driver's licenses we did not need to do an actual driver's test behind the wheel, but we did complete small physical exams (eyesight, blood pressure, etc.) as a requirement.

Then, we had to take a 2 hour long psychological test. Which is where the malarkey comes in.For the record, I passed (surprised, are you? Maybe a little?). 

I arrive, fill in some paperwork, do some fingerprints, have my physical exam, meet some nice people (mostly young Brazilians, one other gringa), then am brought into a room with about 8 others to complete the exam. The instructor speaks a tiny bit of English, which is helpful. But before the exam begins she goes on a tirade in Portuguese about foreigners coming in and taking Brazil's oil resources, THEIR resources, and how if you were to go for a driver's test in another country there would be no help with translations. The part about the translations probably true, but not super for making us feel all that welcome/comfortable in this tiny room for two hours with all that hostility. But anyway!

The test is the biggest joke I have ever encountered. I was warned by Mr. DRL and a friend that it was bizarre but no amount of warning prepared me for it. Every opportunity I had I stealthily took photos to share with you. Because that is the only way you can ever understand begin to understand... what is involved to get a Brazilian driver's license. OH.MY.GOD.

Exhibit 1:

Pin the horseshoe on the??? No, I am not kidding, this was an actual multiple choice question on the test.

This part was interesting too - you had to put a tiny dot in each of the triangles on the line (far left box), then in the middle you had to complete a maze with a steady hand, finally on the right, put two small check marks in each box. I feel so much safer on Rio's roads knowing that the driver's have completed these crucial tasks.

The ducks were pretty funny too...

This page took the cake for me. Really, swastikas? Finger + Ring = Finger with ring on?

There was also a section of the test which required us to memorize items in a picture and write them down, and a bizarre exercise where we had to write matching straight small lines on a paper for a predetermined amount of time, then count them up. It's a mystery as to what they are looking for in that exercise? Is it better to have more lines or for them to be uniform? I went for more uniform and was glad after as I didn't have to count as many tiny little lines in the end but who knows?

2009 Rio Expat Survey: Advice for those moving to Rio!

This entry concludes the results of the 2009 Rio Expat Survey that I conducted. I hope it's been helpful for some of you, particularly those considering a move to Rio!

My final question: If you could give a single piece of advice to someone moving to Rio next month, what would it be?

• Bring sheets and comfort foods atleast to cover you untill you adapt and are able to make your own comfort foods.
• Bring more money than you thought you might need.
  Learn some Portuguese before you get here!
• Learn the language.
• Call and talk to someone when you are determining what to bring and what area to live in. Discussion can provide you with information that you might not have known would be useful to you
• enjoy it - the Brazilians do
• Come with an open mind because you will NOT find all the familiar brands you have back home, but their equivalent is sufficient to compensate!
• ake language lessons seriously in the beginning and speak to several other expats to find a good local support network for housing issues (searches, repairs, cleaning, etc). accept the sunga as your beach attire and really research your visa consultants.
• try to learn some of the language before you arrive
• Bring good walking shoes: sneakers or sandals.
• time has a different meaning in Rio, take it easy, lower your expectations and enjoy the wonderful landscape!
• Study Portuguese before moving here + participate in an intense cultural training
• Make the most of your time here. Keep yourself busy and involved in as many things as impossible. Embrace the Rio life, it is fun, but you have to make it fun and make the most of it.
• Open your mind, there is not just your way of getting along with life!
• Your visa may take about 6 months, so be prepared not to see your shipment for a while.
• Done enough research on what need to brings.
• Consider twice.
• Relax and be prepared for the unexpected.
• learn portuguese asap
• BUY BUY BUY...
  Buy what you can't live without...for women, bras or other personal items you need from day to day. For men, a nice pair of running shoes. For families with children, buy anything you can think of that you will need or need to restock. Having things shipped with your container beats having to travel and deal with customs at the airport.
• Be open-minded, venture out to see the sites, and try new things at least once -- from the odd-looking Amazonian fruit to skimpy Brazilian swimwear!
• Have a look at the things that you use daily, and bring a lot of them as a stockpile.
• Learn Portuguese
• Get in touch with the American and British Society's and the Canasta Group. Be active, make yourself get out and explore.
• If you like biking, attend Kraft Bikes free weekly rides. Safer to bike with a group, and the shop owner (Alberto) is friendly and knowledgeable.
• Pack light
• Be prepared to fall in love with Rio, don't judge the city until after you have spent at least 2 full months living there.
• Enjoy the simple things. Use your common sense and when things get too be too much, have a beer at a breathtakingly beautiful spot!
• Enjoy and relax
• Find a friend who knows the code here and relax. Be careful. Let go of your timing and take advantage of one of the most beautiful cities the world has to offer!
  Do your research well, so it will be less of a shock. Also, learn some of the language before coming.
• Do you research on everything--housing, schools, etc.
• Expect things to get better after 6 months
• Relax and get ready to enjoy, you should be as careful here as you would be in New York or Miami.
• place where you'll need a lot of a patience.... but you can really enjoy life
• PORTUGUESE, PORTUGUESE, PORTUGUESE.
• Move all of your major appliances from home- all local made machines break weekly! Also bring your furniture if the company is not buying it for you- it is very expensive here and not well made.
• think about what you enjoy and continue
• This is a really hard question.
  I think my advice would be to learn the language as quickly as possible. Speaking and understanding the language is the key to really enjoying the richness of carioca culture.
• Don't live in Barra!
• Learn Portugese in a group setting like IBEU.
  Don't live in Barra
• Be open and excited. It's a magical place.
• Take the sun oil with you.

2009 Rio Expat Survey: The Difficulties

I asked survey participants what is the most difficult thing about living in Brazil as a foreigner. This is not meant to be Brazil-bashing, of course living everywhere has advantages and disadvantages. it is meant to be helpful to those considering a move to Brazil. The responses are as follows:

• language barrier (multiple mentions!)
• Family is in America
• difficulty cooking because lack of ingredients and finding everyday things especially in Leblon...and getting things fixed, furniture delivered...EVERYTHING seems harder except there is delivery to my kitchen from Zona Sul which is so great!
• The cops
• lousy pay
• Not mastering the language and rarely having a conversation... though I guess new moms have that problem no matter where they are....
• Brazilians tend to tell you what they think you want to hear, which is not always the truth. They want to please, but do not always come through with what they promise, schedule, etc. They don't like to say they can't do something.
• the price of everything and the summer weather and the poor quality/price of and lack of apartments in leblon/ipanema area
• general hygiene of the streets! ugh!
• taxi drivers, people not asking for help or stating that they do not know how to do things, the quality of how certain things work, safety issues, lack of community initiatives, lack of standardization
• the people and the lack of respect for others (being late, not calling, etc)
• Security issues and a fairly low quality of housing (compared to what you would get back home for the same price).
• The craziness (buses, taxis, noise, chaos) and the bureaucracy.
• Far away from home, Security situation
• Language barrier. Safety issues. Not feeling fulfilled at all times. Culture is different to what i am used too to.
• Language, crime, it's not home
• Restrictions for the kids
• Language / lack of luxuries / flight time home
• The availability of decent appartments, most of them are obselete and the landlord do not put enough effort to refurbish
• Language, traffic jams, lack of security.
• My husbands company, because we never know how long we may stay and the almost non-existent operationg time of light bulbs.
• violence and paranoia that comes with high crime
• things happen on their own time and not N. American time
• Nothing, really.
• The pollution and congestion and lack of good places to ride our bikes and train like we used to. My husband is working a lot more and is more stressed, and he is on call on the weekends so we can't go anywhere. Also, I do not have a work permit (although I volunteered then worked at THRio for six months), so some days that drives me nuts.
• Difficulty in getting anything done right, regardless of how long you might be willing to wait
• Langauage barrier, but my fault. Crime.
• Noise and concern over personal safety
• Concerns about security, finding work for other-half
• Rain, Rain, Rain. Language, Being away from family, cost of certain goods (electronics, clothes)
• Lack of personal commitment in business and the utter chaos and self-serving approach to societal behavior
• Crime and Dirt
• relaxed schedule
• General security fear, schools not as good as I could get in the States, and its hot hot hot
• I drive all my past maids and present maid crazy with it. Constant battle and will never get use to it, although we use air all the time, it is still present
• Very expensive and not too easy to get around. The expat women's group (INC) wasn't really set up like other international groups
• Missing family and rain
• crime... I am trying not to get over-paranoid.... but the danger is there and it would be silly to ignore it
• crime
• Hmm, that gets less and less with every year. I would say being so far away from family and friends. You need a lot of patience to live here. You need to get accostumed to seeing a lot of people living in conditions much less than your own. Rio can be bad, but I have seen far worse in the NE and North of Brasil...makes favelas here look desirable
• so many people - I realize the big city life isn't that great.
• 1. Paperwork
  2. Language
  3. Incredibly high cost of electronics
• Insecurity although I think Brazilian and international media tends to sensationalize things. If you watch the news, you'll see hundreds of violent cases in Rio (some of them extremely trivial or at really distant, marginalized neighborhoods) and you won't hear much from other cities, although Rio is not one of the five cities with the highest crime rates. Weird...
• When it rains there is nothing to do!
• The language
• traffic, crime
• The constant feeling unsafe. I didn't think I was too worried while I was in Rio, but upon returning I realized how unconsciously afraid I had been the entire time I was there. It is nice to go running down the street with my ipod at dusk in my mid-western town.

2009 Expat Survey Results: Escolas

I asked participants with kids in Rio (which by the way make up 48% of the participants) which school they send their kids to.

The overwhelming majority (74%) send their kids to the American school, EARJ. 17% send them to the British school, and the remainder send their kids to institutions such as:

• Rio International Christian School
• EAC
• Brazilian Creche
• Colegio Notre Dame
• Vilhena de Moraes
• Escola Parque
• Lady of Mercy

2009 Expat Survey Results: SURPRISE! What we didn't expect when we moved to Brazil.

I asked participants what surprised them most about moving to Brazil. The answers were quite varied and amusing, here they are, unedited of course, organized somewhat by categories. (Note: Don't shoot the messenger, peeps. I included ALL responses.)

The weather....

• Their love of sushi, the rain, security,
• Rain
• The number of days that it rains
• The rain.
• That it can be cold in Rio.
• Rain

The poverty...

• The Poverty
• The class differences are horrible
• The poverty
• The poverty
• The multitudes of Favelas intertwined in the city
• The amount of flavelas (sic) surrounding the city.
• The number of favelas

The language...

• The ugly bildings (sic) in Rio and that no one spoke English.
• How quickly I would pick up the language
• That noby (sic) speaks english.

The crime...

• The omnipresence of organized crime
• the talk about crime and how close but at the same time how distant it seems
• Much safer than the rumors suggest, more laid back than expected.
• How cosmopolitan life in Rio really is and how exagerated is the histeria (sic) over crime...
• I am surprised that I would adapt to the crime here and become blaise (sic) about sending my child to a school surrounded by an infamous favela.
• Poverty, favelas everywhere. I was shocked by the news (and even the movies) initially but they're not exactly a faithful portrayal of how the situation is really like.

The expense...

• The sheer size of the city and how much everything costs here.
• High cost of living!!!!!!!!!
• How expensive it is to live what I would call a normal middle-class life.
• how expensive the city can be; the contrast of rich and poor
• high prices (e.g. electonic goods and clothes)
• High cost of imported goods.
• How expensive everything is - food, clothing, utilities, etc.
• How expensive things can be and how hard the language barrier would be if you didn't speak Portuguese.
• The cost of living and the hotels that are obselete and filthy

The processes...

• How complicated everything is here
• That you needed a visa before your shipment could leave it's origin.
• having to pay all bills at the bank (back in 2000)

The beauty...

• How beautiful it was
• Nothing, really, except that the city was even more beautiful than I had expected!
• How good it feels!
• That it could still be so beautiful with all that grafitti everywhere.

The people...

• The their love for dogs and the amount of surgeries (boobs being the most obvious then the rest of the body)
• The people not being skinny and good-looking!
• the importance of status to the people
• The friendliness of cariocas. Friendly taxi drivers... where in the world do they exist but in Rio??
• The high number of dark skinned people, the Brazilian "jeitinho", the strong hierarchies
• All of the people I met. I even met other people my age from Ohio who were living in Rio as well.

The randomness...

• That moving with family/kids is so completely different than moving alone.
• Brazilians do not share Americans' love of sandwiches. A proper meal here *must* include rice and beans (vegetables, however, are mostly superfluous).
• Laundry
• The mold..
• the availability of brazilian quality german/austrian style wheat beer
• how much shopping can be done on the internet!
• climate, happy people, good food and athletic people
• Everything.

BIG DAY

My five month long fight with the federal police ordeal to get Canadoca's passport has come to an end!!!!!

New on the site?

Click here to start from the very beginning... Note that in the past year and a half in Rio I have 1) Relaxed about a lot of things 2) Changed my mind about a lot of others. I figure I'm allowed....

Recent Inquiries & Responses: 4

Question:

I am coming to Rio for a law school study abroad program for one month.  The program is putting is up in Copacabana in Post 5 somewhat close to the Cantagalo Subway station.  However, everything I read about copacabana says it is incredibly dangerous for foreigners and it is really not a question of if you get mugged but when.  Do you have any specific knowledge about the Post 5 area of copacabana and how safe it is?  I will of course take all precautions necesarry not to become a victim but I am quite worried.  Also, my girlfriend will be with me with me and she likes to run.  Is it safe for her to run alone in the mornings along the beach?  Will it be okay for her to wander around alone at all during the day?  Any specific advice on how to protect ourselves while in Rio?

My Response:

When I first arrived in Rio, I walked from Ipanema/Leblon to Copacabana and back four days per week (to school and back). Never once did I have an issue, but often times I was concerned for my safety/creeped out by certain people.  I suggest sticking to the beach street as much as possible.
I feel that if you take strides to blend in, you can easily live in this area without issue. However, I also hear stories about people being mugged in Copa within 3 hours of arriving from the airport, and so will you (hear of such things). Sometimes it is luck of the draw, but I have been fortunate to have good experiences, as have most of the expats I know here.

I feel it would be perfectly safe for your girlfriend to run along the beach path in the morning, this is a highly populated area and there are tourist police everywhere. It is actually very safe to walk around on the beach street at night as well (but don't go down to the water itself at night).  There is a market set up on the beach street every night and as a result, lots of people. Meaningm, safer. As I mentioned, I walked in this area almost every day, alone, when I first moved to Rio and did not have a problem and so I hope she will not, either.

To give you some specific advice:
1) Try to dress like a local. This means for your girlfriend - actually wearing jewellery (just not expensive jewellery).
2) I think body language is the biggest giveaway when it comes to identifying tourists. Try and look as though you know where you are going (even if you don't), and try to master the "blank stare" most people have on their faces at all times.  I think that many times people are targeted because they are gawking at everything - obvious tourists. To be fair, there is a lot to gawk at here...
3) Don't carry a lot of bags around at any times. This includes groceries. Locals do not do this, they have them delivered. Unless it is just a couple of bags, have them delivered as to not stand out.
4) Vary routines (especially her, with being alone during the day).
5) Always, always, always comply if you are robbed. Do not resist!! This is the only way to be safe.
6) VERY IMPORTANT: Familiarize yourselves IMMEDIATELY as to where the favelas are in your neighbourhood (there are a few) and steer clear of them).

I find the zona sul easy to navigate - being that there are so many landmarks, etc. which is good.

So, whaddya wanna know?

I seem to have a number of new readers lately- welcome!

A project I've been talking about doing for a long time and have finally started is a survey of Rio's expat community. The point? To help out those looking to move to Brazil or those interested in expat life here. The survey is almost ready but before I add the link/send it out to my contacts, last chance to let me know what you'd like me to ask the group, in case there's anything I am missing. Leave your questions as comments to this post or email me. I plan to get the survey out in the next week or so.

Recent Inquiries & Responses: 2

A new little series on Frequently Asked Questions from readers, featuring my responses.

Questions:

How long have you been in Rio?

I’m curious and more then a little afraid of our impending move to Rio for my husbands job.. We have 3 kids, and it frightens me a bit about how they will adjust. As for me, will I be more then lonely? I anticipate the adventure, but still I am worried.

Have you enjoyed all your time in Rio?

What sort of things would you think would be important for us to ask his work for in the moving package?

My Response:

I have been in Rio since March of 2008.
Coming to Rio is certainly an adventure.
I would definitely try to get your kids' schooling covered by the company. It is EXPENSIVE here and even private school education here is not up to par with public schooling we are accustomed to back home (Sad, I know!)

With kids you will probably also want a driver, large apartment and possibly some help around the house. Try to get this and your utilities all included in your package if possible. This is all quite standard for expats. Also either an allowance for household items or a shipment (although they take months to arrive/clear customs sometimes). Also most importantly of course - health insurance! Our plan was terrible when we first arrived - didn't even cover me having a baby (we quickly switched).

I doubt you will be lonely or bored here. There is a vibrant expat community, and SO MUCH to do.  You will definitely miss some of the comforts and I expect family/friends back home. Although the Canadians are eager to escape the cold and come visit, in my experience!

 I expected to make Brazilian friends as well, but that has not happened for me, but that said, people with kids seem to have more luck with this (parents of their kids' friends, etc.).

Recent Inquiries & Resposes: 1

I've been getting more and more emails from people coming to Rio. Which I figure is good because a lot of people have just LEFT US! We should be recruiting!

I figure if one person asks a question, the answer may be beneficial to others too. Since I am heading out on holidays I figured I would use some of these as easy blog posts over the next couple of weeks (sorry, I am getting worse with the upkeep of this blog by the day!

Question 1:

Now you are a mum, do you feel safe going about your daily business with your baby? We have an 18 month old, and that is my one concern. I’d be grateful if you could give me any insight into this.

My Response:

There is a baby & toddler group here in Rio that is organized through the INC (though you don't need to be a member!).

I feel pretty safe going about daily business with my baby, on foot, within Ipanema and Leblon. We get out everyday and so far have done so without incident. I do not like to travel with her in a car as carjackings are frequent, so I avoid this whenever possible. I do not drive with her alone under any circumstances, and someone is always in the back seat with her in case there is a need to get out of the car in a hurry. Enough said...

Something I think would be more challenging for you is that your child is mobile... traffic is crazy here and I already dread taking her out in the streets when one step (or slip) in the wrong direction could be very bad! You will sure have to be careful!

New Here?

I am a fortunate blogger in that I frequently hear from my readers. I love receiving your comments and emails. In fact, I have made many friends through this blog! I don't know that I would have had the motivation to keep it up if it weren't for the feedback I receive on a daily basis. Especially now that I am a mom, and not just an expat princess with unlimited time on my hands...

I do make a point of responding to all emails I receive, but these days it just takes a bit longer than usual, especially with the travel schedule I've had.

Lately I have received a number of inquiries from new readers requesting practical information on moving to Rio. If you fit into this category, please review my archives, which can be found on the bottom right hand side of the page, as there are hundreds of articles on topics such as househunting in Rio, sourcing furniture, cost of living, etc. which you will hopefully find helpful. The categories Finding a Home in Rio and Making the Move: What to Know Before You Come will probably help you most. When you scroll to the bottom of the list of posts on the topic, be sure to hit next, as the articles go all the way back to March of 2008, which is when I moved here.

ALSO - if you have specific questions on information you cannot find on my site that you think should be included, please let me know! I am planning a poll of Rio expats to help would-be Rio expats, and so your questions could help shape the survey, or inspire a future post. Chances are, if it is something you are wondering about, others are too!

Rub a Dub Dub

I read an article recently saying that people who have been expats score higher on creative problem solving tests (have you ever taken a creative problem solving test? I wonder what's involved...?).

Makes sense to me as often improvisation is needed in these scenarios.

Here's Mr. DRL's "bathtub" he made for me. Which is what you do when you live in an apartment with four showers and no bathtub. Good thing the one in our ensuite is big enough to hold this baby pool!

The FIRM

Just had to share this little story with you...

Many of my friends and acquaintances work for a company that I will only refer to as "The Firm".

In my opinion, The Firm controls a few too many details of their lives, mostly disguised as perks (mortgages, invasive medical exams, drivers who monitor and restrict their movements, safety training that scares the heck out of people, and rules rules rules). Don't get me wrong, some of these things are incredibly nice and convenient and I have certainly appreciated when I've benefited from my friends' situations, but the reality for them is that there are times when they come at a cost (mostly privacy).

The Firm has a policy for everything, and from what my friends tell me, there is very little deviation from the policies. Meaning, every situation is not handled individually, with a brain.

My example: a friend came to Rio to live in temporary housing (which is another story altogether... after living here much longer than a year she and her husband, daughter and large dog are still in cramped temporary furnished housing, simply because they were not initially intended to be here longer than a year... as per the Firm's policies, can't make an exception...) which meant she was not sending a shipment of furniture. Her family did, however, want to have bicycles in Rio. Shipments = expensive. Our friends suggested to the company that perhaps it would be more cost effective to just purchase them some bikes (which could then be company property, or whatever). Instead, the Firm shipped their three bikes in a container which cost $5,000.

I realize that to buy the family bikes could have set a precedent that could get out of control, but personally I think this is the kind of stuff that should make shareholders livid. I could give endless examples. Expats are NOT cheap.

Mr. DRL works for a small company and we are the only expats. There are benefits and drawbacks to this. The benefits are that the expat policy is basically nonexistant so we make it up as we go and as needs arise. The drawbacks are that there are very limited resources for us, but that has meant we've just had to get resourceful ourselves!

Update

So the Canadoca and I are still here in Brazil as she still does not have a Brazilian passport.

The latest?

After SIX weeks had gone by since the Federal Police launched the investigation into her birth, Mr. DRL demanded some answers as something had obviously gone wrong along the way. By the way, the hospital responded promptly and apparently satisfied the federal police's requirements. The second part of the process was for the Cartorio/Notary to provide her birth certificate. Which, apparently, they LOST.

It's okay, as we have several copies. However, if someone had simply NOTIFIED us of this when it was realized rather than waiting for us to inquire, we could have provided another copy of it weeks ago. And potentially gone home for the wedding, etc. 

Anyway. As soon as I get a passport, I'm going to Canada. Shouldn't be long now. Until then... I'm here!

Of course this is soooo frustrating at times, but it could be worse. 

I am not the only person who is having trouble getting kids out of Brazil - one of my American friends was briefly detained with her children as she tried to go home this summer (since her kids have RNE's, the officials were asking for their Brazilian passports. Which makes no sense - of course they don't have them, because they are not Brazilian.) Another acquaintance was also stopped when trying to leave with her child as she was travelling without her husband because she only had a notorized letter specifying that he was aware that she was doing this, rather than a court order....

And yet despite the many hoops we all have to jump through, the worst part is we all hear the horror stories in the news about cases such as David Goldman's, or worse this shocking case, a fellow in Austria whose child is now dead. Because apparently once a child is in Brazil, it's pretty hard to get them out, whether they belong here or not.

No passport

So the wedding is tomorrow but we are still in Rio as we do not have Canadoca's Brazilian passport... it ended up being the cartorio that delayed the process so much.

Canadoca's Brazilian Passport

She has her dress picked out:

but will she get to wear it? (Dress is from Fabula - a children's boutique here in Rio).

Canadoca's aunt is getting married two weeks from today somewhere in Canada. Will we and the Canadoca be there to show off her mad air guitar skills (aided by mom)? Not sure. Why? No Brazilian passport yet.

To be fair, this should have been a fairly easy process. IF we had already received our Residency Cards, which we applied for over a year ago.

I was told by other gringoes to make an appointment at Shopping Leblon at the passport office and that from there on it would be quite simple and we'd have the passport within days. Our appointment was in mid-June.

We arrived at the appointment accompanied by an agent from the company my husband's firm employs to take care of passport and visa issues. When our name was called, we were told that since we didn't have our Residence Cards yet, we could not be issued a passport at that office and rather we would have to go to the Federal Police at the International Airport. This was frustrating for two reasons: 1) Mr. DRL took the day off work for this appointment, but more importantly, 2) Our agent should have realized that this was the case since they were involved in applying for our residency cards.

The next day, we headed to the international airport. A different agent met us there and asked us what we were there for (!! I am not even going to go there.... I am just not...) and basically stood around. Mr. DRL dealt directly with the officials, who told us that our presence wasn't really required, we could have motoboyed in some forms, and that they would need to launch an investigation into our daughter's birth since we don't have our residence cards yet. We were told that this would take about 30 days. Around this time the agency also admits that there was some sort of error or mix-up on their part with our application for residency cards. Strike three.

We are now applying for permanent citizenship based on the fact that we have a Brazilian child. Which will apparently take about another year, but allows us to work here, for any company, rather than being tied to the company because it holds our visa. Nice to have flexibility for sure.

However, currently we are waiting to hear if the signatures from FOUR doctors present in the delivery room are enough to prove that Canadoca is ours. I have heard horror stories of people having to undergo DNA testing in this scenario so we are hopeful that their word will suffice (I guess I should have opted for the birth video at the hospital!). 

Clearly our agency dropped the ball. I just hope that it can be retrieved in time, so that we can attend Mr. DRL's sister's wedding, and so that he can be there when his family first sees Canadoca. (I'm going home once the passport is issued, regardless, but he is only going to go if he can attend the wedding).

Lessons learned:
1) If you are a foreigner having a child in Brazil, make EVERY effort to ensure you receive your residence card before the child is born. It will save you a lot of hassle.
2) Carefully check the reputation of any agency you entrust with these matters. This particular agency deals with many companies here and seems to do a great job with the actual workers' visas/passports, etc. but drops the ball when it comes to the dependants/families. I know another woman whose husband works for another company who was stuck in the US for WEEKS earlier this year because the same agency made mistakes with their family's visas.

English Speaking Private Schools in Rio

Sending kids to English private school in Rio is NOT CHEAP. Most expats I know who have children include school fees in their compensation packages. See below, it's quite the perk...

Here is the link for the American School http://www.earj.com.br/

Escola Americano Tuition schedule for the upcoming school year:

2009-10 Academic Year

Monthly tuition payments due the 5th  of each month, to be paid in 12 monthly installments:

3 day per week Toddler program:                      R$ 1.585,00
Pre-school half-day:                                            R$ 2.171,00
Pre-school   extended day:                                 R$ 3.193,00
Lower School (Kindergarten to 5th Grade):      R$ 3.942,00
Middle School Fees (Grades 6 – 8):                   R$ 4.281,00
Upper School Fees (Grades 9 – 12):                 R$ 4.873,00

Capital Fee: US$ 6,500.00

The Capital Fee, paid once for every child who is enrolled in 1st grade or above, is used to support investments in technology, facility renovations or other special projects.

Bus fees currently range from R$ 293,00 to R$ 408,00, depending on the route.

Lunch ticket: R$ 11,00 per day or R$10,00 for monthly contracts.

British School: http://www.britishschool.g12.br

2009 Monthly Fees
Pre-Nursery (Part-Time)     R$ 1.963,00
Pre-Nursery (full time) & Nursery     R$ 3.007,00
Reception to Class 4     R$ 2.759,00
Class 5 to Class 11     R$ 3.367.00

Entrance Fees

An Entrance Fee is charged at the time a child enters the school. Entrance Fees contribute to the school’s Development Fund which is maintained strictly for major development projects. Use of this fund is controlled by the Board of Governors. Entrance Fees are as follows:
Entrance Fees
(1st January – 31st December 2009)
First child     R$ 16.747,00
Second child     R$ 10.766,00
Third and subsequent children     R$ 8.374,00

My Guestbook - Part 8 - What has changed about Mr. DRL & I since Moving to Brazil

Part 8 of a series of questions I asked my guests after their Brazilian vacations.

Question 8: What, if anything, has changed the most about Mr. DRL & DRL since leaving Canada?

My Mom: They are more relaxed, even though I am sure Mr. DRL's work can be quite a challenge, they are enjoying the experience and will never be the same again!!! Also, a bit of a change with preparing for baby's arrival.

My Bridesmaid & Her Boyfriend: Um, well aside from them both speaking another language and learning how to live in a completely opposite society they are still the same people we all know and love!

My Mother-in-law: We love the self-confidence they have attained by having to deal with Latin energy and language issues.  Such an interesting life they lead, when a breakfast meeting with a politician is just another day at the office.  Again, DRL's Portuguese is amazing.

Engaged Couple Friends: About 3 kilos!   :-) We were so excited to hear the news!  (DRL Note: at the point of their visit, 3 kilos was the extent of the baby weight gain!)

My Dad: Hard to see in two weeks but hopefully they've realized how fortunate they are to be from a country like Canada.

Emergency Vehicles

Something I don't think I've commented on but ALL of my visitors have commented on while here - the lack of regard on the roads for emergency vehicles. No one pulls over for ambulances, police, fire trucks. It certainly takes some getting used to!

Survey says...

I would like to do an informal survey of expats here in Rio, to provide some info and insight and different perspective to the blog. Recently I made a page on the blog about things that were hard to find in Rio and it seemed to be a hit, the expats I knew were willing to share trade secrets which was great.

If you are an expat living in Rio and interested in participating, either send me your email address to dailyriolife at gmail dot com, or in the comments section of this post. If you are an expat in Rio I am already in touch with, I already plan to send the survey to you once I get it all figured out ;)

All others: what are you interested in learning about expats in Rio? What questions would you like answered? Leave your suggestions for survey content in the comments section.

Thanks!

More Anniversaries

This week marked one year since we'd moved into our apartment. While I am pretty happy with our place, this anniversary also brings to mind exactly how long it can take for things to be accomplished here in Rio.

For example, here is a list of items that were not "taken care of" when we moved in and we were assured would be fixed/provided immediately. Note that these do not include all of the things that went wrong after we moved in.

• Walls under AC units repaired - moisture damage (we ended up contracting this ourselves a few months ago).
• Keys provided for closet doors - they do not close properly without the keys. (We finally found purchased some replacements last month). 
• Island and additional cupboards/storage installed in the kitchen (ummm... yeah don't even get me started. I am not holding my breath). 
• Touch up painting throughout the apartment (we ended up contracting this ourselves a few months ago).

I'm sure that there were more things but I have probably surpressed the memories over the past year in order to survive. The moral of the story? If possible, do not take possession of your apartment until all of these little things are taken care of. OR, be prepared to take matters into your own hands. In our case, we finally just contracted the work out that had to be done, and took it off our rent.

Canada Complaints

I came across an article for expats moving to Canada the other day and it inspired me to do a bit of research about what frustrates expats about living in Canada, to put myself in their shoes.   Which in this case means switching from Havaiana's to Sorels...

 

This is the time of year when everyone in Canada seems to be complaining, because they are ready for winter to be over! (It's one facebook status whining about the weather after another).

I wanted to see if I would get as defensive about Canada's shortfalls as some Brazilians have about frustrations or just experiences that I have commented on. I started reading the blog So, Are You New Here, which is about an American girl living in Calgary. I like her observations and certainly can't say I've been offended.

It's true that I have not finished my research - I still need to read my Will Ferguson books that I brought back this summer to get the full picture...

I also purchased his hits How to Be a Canadian and Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw ...

But the real dirt was found on the boards...  On the British Expat Boards under the topic "What's Wrong With Canada?": (My comments are italicized in brackets).

1. They wear their trousers too short. (LMAO & Hadn't noticed this myself!)
2. Public bathrooms have big open spaces between the wall panels. (Hadn't noticed this myself, but find it funny because everyone finds Canadians to be such prudes!)
3. People will not tell you what they really think of you - they are way too polite.
4. Too many immigrants. (This on a board for potential expats!)
5. Its got a right wing Prime Minister who has George W Bush as his political hero. (sic)
6. Fast food servers who couldn't get your order right if their life depended on it. (Totally agree)
7. Horrendous cell / mobile phone costs. I mean come on, who pays to receive a call. (Multiple mentions of this and all are justified, totally true).
8. Too much deadly fast food. (True, but also a choice to eat it...)
9. Cinnamon with everything. (Really? I am HOPING this is true, maybe then I can find that cinnamon ice cream that I love so much here in Rio!)
10. If I may state the obvious, it's ****ing cold here. (True! But a person hopefully would know this before moving there!)
11. They don't have proper bacon here. Just the streaky stuff. (There were a NUMBER of mentions of this - now I want to know what UK Bacon is like!)
12. Orange cheese....Whats that all about?
13. The radio. I now live in a place where they play Heart and other eighties soft rock on the radio. And not on golden oldie shows - as a normal part of the playlist. (Uh oh I am totally that demographic they are serving... I love Heart!)
14. All pizza features meat in some form. (Ok I am pretty sure this is just simply not true. All pizza joints I've ever been to have had a vegetarian or just plain cheese option).
15. There's still snow on the ground in April. (True story! But again... see #10.)
    
16. Tim Hortons coffee is pretty bad. (Agreed! Ok, not that I drink coffee, but everything there is awful besides a bagel.  I am Canadian and do not understand the Tim Horton's thing. The person who wrote #6 must have been talking about Timmy's...)
17. The standard of driving is dreadful, canadians may be polite to your face, but become rude arrogant &%#%# when in a car! (Agreed! Holy road rage. Don't even get me started on the tailgating truckers on mountain roads).
    
18. Poutine is truly gross. (I have actually never had poutine).
19. Inappropriate use of the "awesome" (Haha I believe it.)
20. Shops that dont open til noon on sundays.
21. eh! (No comment... )
22. The incessant droning of community helpers, unions, quangos, not-for-profit NGOs and special interest groups trying to get you to do something a particular way. (I've said many times that in my opinion, Canada is too socialist...)
23. Phone charges, homeless people, bank charges, crap driving, gangland violence, everywhere shutting early, interventionist government, institutional racism, jobsworth attitude, RCMP corruption, more homeless people.
24. Maple syrup in baked beans (I have not experienced this myself, but I am not big on the baked bean thing).
25. The KFC isn't as good.  (Ok I believe you.)
26. Cream cheese icing on cinnamon buns. (Now that you mention it, I miss this. Love cream cheese icing, but like cheesecake, not to mention baked beans and poutine, it's not for everyone.)
27. There's humour but it's different. Corner Gas, Little Mosque on the Prairie, etc. (Personally I don't watch these shows so can't comment).
28. Banks are the biggest rip of merchants out, all 5 big CDN banks I beleive are in the top 7 most profitable in the world. (True story!)
29. As much as it says you must be fluent in English or French to get in here its amazing how many people can get a job in the GTA with a complete crap grasp of the English language to the point you cant understand them, if your going to move to a country learn the lingo! (So true!)
30. I wish Canadians were more supportive of their own culture. (Another legitimate point!)
31. Canadians are obsessed with community events, helping their neighbours, and going overseas to contribute to/help less-fortunate people.

Interesting, for sure.

From the very tongue-in-cheek blog "Stuff White People Like" - #75 Threatening to Move to Canada

So, what was the verdict? Well honestly the complaints were pretty boring, except for the short pants one.  The rest of them - things I complained about myself when I lived there!

Dengue Fever in Brazil

Just as a sidenote, most of my guests who have visited travel doctors back home were advised to get Yellow Fever vaccinations to visit Rio, something that is NOT actually required!

It's Dengue season again - Expat American Living in Brazil has a travel alert/update on the situation - check it out here.

Luckily Rio is not yet affected.  Thank goodness for me because pregnant women's oxygen-rich blood is apparently a magnet for mosquitoes!

heartbreaking!

I urge you to go visit Polyana's blog and read her post entitled "Access Denied" - as a soon-to-be-expat-parent it kind of hits home.  Polyana is Brazilian-born but spent much of her life (19 years of it) in the US (her parents moved there for work and are apparently about to receive a green card). However, once she graduated from college she had to return to Brazil, as she is not an American citizen. Click here to read the background on her full story. She did things by the book, and now it's coming back to bite her - she recently applied for a visa to return to the US to VISIT, to be in her best friend's wedding, and see her family, and was not only denied but told that she could not reapply for almost TEN YEARS.  Please, visit her site!

Passports and Babies...

At the event we attended on Thursday night, we spoke at length with a woman from the Canadian Consulate. It turns out she will be the one we need to speak with once our baby is born, about getting our baby its Canadian citizenship and passport.

We had been planning to take the little one on a vacation to Canada once it turned 3 months old (the most widely-recommended youngest-safe-to-fly-a-newborn-14-hours age I can seem to find) to meet our families. 

We assumed (why oh why would we? I know, I know) that we could initially just get our baby a Brazilian passport and a visa to enter Canada. We were wrong. We will need for the baby to already at that point carry both Brazilian and Canadian passports.  Apparently Brazil will not let the baby out without a Brazilian, and Canada will not let the baby in without a Canadian. I specifically asked about the "visa" to visit Canada with option on a Brazilian passport but was assured we'd be denied.

Once the time comes I will of course keep you all posted on how long this in fact will actually take. I am keeping my fingers crossed that our child gets to meet its family before its first birthday ;)

Feedback: I am very interested in any of your comments as always, but specifically would find comments on experiences with first long-haul travel with babies helpful, as well as any experiences anyone might have with how long this passport issue has taken in the past if you've had to do it.

The LIST

So I've put up a first edition of "The LIST" - the good, the bad & the ugly - what is expensive in Rio, what is hard to find, what is impossible to find? Brought to you by a group of Rio's expat wives - thanks for the collaboration, ladies! If anyone has items to add, please drop me a line!

Acquisitions

My husband and I spent the weekend getting reacquainted after almost 4 months straight of visitors.  It was nice.  On Sunday we went out to Barra to pick up a few things and have lunch.  We hit a couple of new stores we hadn't been to before, including Etna (located across from Via Parque) and Casa e Construcao (located @ Via Parque).

Anyway, this is a bit of a follow up to some previous posts... especially the SCREEN post - yes indeed I did find little screen kits. At Casa e Construcao...  I'm not saying they're pretty, but in the event of a dengue outbreak, I'll be glad we have them! Our visitors have been giving me a hard time since September about getting a stepladder for our kitchen. We have very very tall cupboards and I've been standing on rickety stools to reach the top shelves. I know, I know....

We also looked for a dehumidifier but had no luck! I'll check out the allergy shop in Leblon and see what they have...

Something I'm Working On

Is a section of the blog that will be dedicated to household items that are either:
1) Impossible to find in Rio.
2) Difficult to find in Rio.
3) Very expensive in Rio.

I've started my own list and am compiling it with a bunch of submissions from expat friends I know in Rio. If you live here and would like to add to the list, comment here or send me an email: [email protected]

I get a lot of traffic from people planning to move to Rio and looking for tips on what to bring, so let's help them out!

Some Price Comparisons... Baby Buyer Beware!

We were incredibly fortunate that my husband had to go to the US & Canada last month on a business trip. Why fortunate, you ask? If you read this blog regularly you know that I HARDLY want to get rid of my husband, even for a few days! It also was not "fortunate" weather - he was snowed in in Houston, and had to tolerate blizzards and -40 temperatures in Calgary. Fortunate because now we are expecting, not planning more trips back to North America before the baby, and frankly, we needed a lot of stuff!

Everyone with kids here had warned me I'd want to buy as much as possible back home and either have it shipped or brought down with other people. I soon realized why.... the prices are out of control. And that's when you can actually find this stuff here. I have yet to see my stroller here.

Just SOME examples:
1) Dr. Brown's bottles (supposedly the best for newborns as the internal vent technology prevents too much air from getting into baby's system).  My husband bought an entire starter pack (10 bottles, cleaning brush, various nipples, lids, etc.) for US$49.99 at Toys R Us in Houston. So to break that down it's less than $4.99 US per bottle considering all the extras they throw in.  I have seen Dr. Brown's products in one store here in Rio, in Barra at Via Parque. One 4 oz bottle was R$37.99 or US $16.90.  So roughly 4 times the price (and frankly, that's being generous as the 4 oz bottles are more inexpensive and I am not allotting anything for the extras thrown in with the starter pack...)

Admittedly these are imported products so the sticker price should be no shocker and yes there are Brazilian alternatives but with all the "plastic" scares out there I do want to make sure these bottles are up to snuff. Potential TMI alert - yes, I am hoping to breastfeed but want the baby to take a bottle per day as well! (Bonding time for dad, freedom opportunities for mom!)

2) Peg Perego Car Seat - I have located one in a store in Shopping Rio Sul, R$1300 when you include the base. Toys R Us in the US - $249.
So it's more than double the price to get it here.
Again, there are Brazilian alternatives but considering how well any Brazilian-made appliances I've bought have survived the test of time (like coffee makers that fall apart after 6 uses), and that this is a device that could potentially save our child's life, I want the one with the North American safety rating, please.

3) Grooming Kit - I spotted this Safety First grooming kit yesterday in a toy/children's store for $R120. We purchased exactly the same one in the US for US$9.99. A savings of over US$40, it is literally 5 times the price here.

All is not lost, however, in moving to Brazil and having a baby. Especially if you have a lot of people coming and going from North America bringing stuff for you!
I have found a number of beautiful shops for baby clothes and as my girlfriend with two kids pointed out to me the other day, I could decorate a gorgeous kids room just shopping at the hippie fair alone! Besides the bedding that I am getting from Restoration Hardware of course!

There is a baby fair at the end of the month at the Convention Centre in Barra as well, so I will be checking that out.

Something cool I did not realize that "Red" is the color of choice for luck for babies in Brazil. I love it! My Portuguese instructor bought us some red booties, so adorable. There is way too much sage green and yellow unisex stuff out there, why not red? I have also been buying anything grey I find as it's pretty unisex as well and who doesn't look good in grey... haha.

Here is a photo of our "stash" so far - a lot of it has been coming in handy with two little munchkins running around our place the past week. 

Not the most fun topic but...

I believe I've mentioned before how terrible the dishsoap is here. Many expats I know bring it in from the US when they go back for visits! I finally found a brand that is not too bad - Lava-Loucas Gel Care -  and even provided you with a photo, so look for it at your local mercado :)

Tipping/Gratuity/Gorjeta for Christmas

I have heard a bunch of different information on this topic from different people so I thought I'd throw it out there for discussion, help & advice... What is customary in Brazil when it comes to Christmas tipping or gifts?

For example for...

• Your hairdresser (assuming you had one in Brazil. I don't.)
• Your maid or empregada or fauxineira
• Your doorman or porteira
• Your nanny or baba
• Your Portuguese teacher or professora portuguese
• Your yoga instructor
• Your kid's Capoiera instructor...
• Your secretary (clearly this is more of a bonus or gift situation than "tip" but you get the idea)

What I've heard:

• Brazilians don't tip these people
• Brazilians provide these people with a "13th salary" (or extra month's wages) this time of year

See why I am confused?

I look forward to your comments and I will post again soon letting you know what we did with ours, just for interest's sake.

Air Conditioning

I think my in-laws had trouble believing us when we told them how difficult it can be to get even the simplest things accomplished here in Brazil. Luckily for me, I think they gained a bit of appreciation for the situation after this week!

About a month ago I purchased a new air conditioner unit for the master bedroom. The A/C we had in the bedroom was turbo powered and missing the switches which allowed it to be set anywhere in between off and full wind ahead. This led to many sleepless nights where we were either roasting, freezing, or getting up every half hour to turn the unit off or on.  Also led to me waking up with windswept hair on more than one occasion...

The plan was to move this turbo unit into one of our guestrooms which did not have a/c, and put the new one in our room.

After several calls and attempts to get someone in to install the new unit and re-install the old one, and time after time having no one show up (!!!AUGHHHH!!! Will I EVER get used to this?) again on Tuesday, when my housekeeper's son, a plumber, was here doing some odd jobs, I figured, what the heck why not ask if he wants to install the a/c's?

Of course he wanted to.

So he starts by ripping apart the ac spots in the walls in both rooms, during which process he broke a pretty little towel hook that perfectly matched everything in the guestroom.... (no big deal, I tell myself, thinking of the uninterrupted sleep that will soon be mine).  So we have two rooms without a/c installed, but the big square holes for the units exposed.  He then realized he did not have the tools to complete the job that day. I still do not understand this - how does one rip everything apart and then realize something like this.... anyway...at this point my house was a disaster with shreds of packing material, styrofoam packing, sawdust everywhere but he managed to try and tidy up his mess and get the holes covered for the night with a promise to return to finish the job the next day.

The next day he shows up (!!) and installs both units, seals them in, paints around them, I am thoroughly excited.  While he is doing some other little projects I found for him, I happen to go into my bedroom to test out the new a/c unit.  Plugged it in, and went to turn it on and nothing happens.  I assume that he must have been clever and flipped the breaker as to not electrocute himself, and ask him about this and tell him that the unit was not working.  He then comes in and spends at least an hour trying to figure it out, flipped the breakers, tinkered with the outlet, the whole bit.  He THEN informs me that he has of course done everything right, but the air conditioner unit is flawed and needs to be returned to the store.

I am flabbergasted. 

He shrugs, says that this happens all the time. 

Um, if this happens all the time, then why did you not test it before installing it and painting around it and sealing it in and everything???

I pay him and send him along his way.

ANYWAY.

I call my husband and say that I am FINISHED dealing with this A/C unit and it's now in his hands.  He tells me not to worry about it, is sympathetic for my two days just this week I'll never get back that I spent trying to fix this issue (not to mention several others when people didn't show up before!), comes home from work, flips the breaker, turns the A/C on, and finds that it works just fine.

More Cell Phone Drama...

I don't think I am meant to be provided with sustainable, reliable mobile telecommunications in this country. As I've posted about before, I basically did not have a cell phone (ok I had temporary one for like a month) until I'd been here for about 6 months. Because my husband wanted me to have a bb, and the tech people arranging for it at the office assured him it would be in "any day now" - we didn't bother getting a pay & talk phone from the get-go.

Then, the other day (the night we were at the hospital, actually...) the bb just stopped working properly. It displayed an incorrect time.  It refused connection to a network.  It did not ring when phoned.

Apparently it has some sort of terrible problem, and I will not receive it back for about a month.

ArggggggghhhHHHHHH!
Not.meant.to.have.a.cell.in.Brazil.

How am I, as a Woman, Treated in Brazil?

This is a topic I hate to generalize on because everyone's experiences are obviously different.  A person who has had a horrible experience in Brazil will generalize differently than I will.  So I will stick to my stories and would like to hear yours too.

First of all, I think I have been treated differently in Rio than I have in other parts of Brazil.  In Rio, in our neighbourhood, I think I have it pretty good.  I don't feel as "harrassed" on a regular basis as I have in other parts of the world (such as Mexico, etc.), and remember, I am the girl who wanders several kilometers on foot every day by herself (if ever there were an opportunity for harrassment). 

I am not saying that men do not show their approval for one's appearance here.  They are not shy.  They do make comments, stare (mostly at your butt rather than your chest, though, which is different than North America!) and some do this hissing thing that kind of freaks me out.  They hiss in the way that people sometimes do to get a neighbour's irritating cat out of their yard, and really put their whole body into it.  After 8 months here, it is still very foreign to me, I find it almost scary. But the hissers are not as common in this area (Leblon) - however whenever I go to Centro to the markets I seem to get hissed at a lot more.

Men on the street often compliment me in English - ie)  "beautiful" - in these cases I get the feeling this might be one of their only English words.  I have light colored hazel-green eyes which often are commented on in Brazil (much more than back home, where my eye color is more common).

I will note as well that the first day my friend J & I got our bikes, as we cruised down Ipanema beach on them we were catcalled more than we ever were walking, maybe men find women more approachable when they are on a bike and "far away" or just don't want to scare you when you are walking right by them?

I would like to mention that in all my time in Rio, I have only been groped by a stranger on the street once, walking along the sidewalk on the beach in Ipanema, he was a vendor.  Luckily I was not alone, I think it would have been much scarier! And really, since that is the worst thing that's really happened to me, I feel pretty lucky.  That could have happened anywhere!

I have read in guidebooks that women should not feel strange about eating out alone in Rio, that it would be treated as completely normal - I agree with this. I feel more comfortable doing this here than I do at home.

When shopping - particularly for big ticket items - I find it handy to throw on a ring on my ring finger.  (I do not normally wear a ring at all here, as I don't really have one I like to wear, mine are back home in Canada in safety deposit). I found that I was given much more attention and help at the stores when I was wearing it vs. not. This was certainly no scientific experiment but I found it to be pretty consistent.

Most of these examples apply to how I am treated when I am alone in Rio (which admittedly is most of the time!), however, when my husband is around and we are out & about, I do notice that he becomes the main focus of the attention of others.  When shopping for furniture with him (one store, after I had spent several weeks scouting things out alone!) the sales person refused to make eye contact with me, answer my questions or even address me.  Big mistake, buddy. Needless to say, we did not buy anything there.  I have also posted in the past about stories about people I know & their drivers, etc. (The husband rules the roost and is the big "chefe" as far as staff is concerned...)

A year and a half ago we were in Salvador at the Sofitel for a week while Mr. DRL was working.  I was on my own at the hotel during the day, and as it's not really in an area one can wander around in, I was kind of trapped there.  Although the two of us had great service anytime we went anywhere in the hotel together, once he was gone for the day it was as though I was invisible.  It would usually take 4 or 5 attempts to be served for lunch.  It was terrible.  I noticed in general while in Bahia, that women really seemed to take a backseat to the men compared to in Rio or Sao Paulo, when it came to service in restaurants (I was always poured wine last, when at a table of all men!).

Although Brazil is known as a macho society, and in many ways it is, happily I don't feel it really affects me on a daily basis. 

Misuse of Resources, Much?

One of the most interesting/frustrating/funny (cause it has to be or else you go insane) things about living in Brazil is what is in my opinion a misuse of resources. Especially government resources.  Which, admittedly, happens everywhere but in this case there's an extreme...

I'll give you an example.  We have some friends who have shipped a container of household goods including a few food items to Brazil, for personal consumption.  One of these people happens to be employed by a company which is affiliated with the food and beverage industry.  Somehow the name of the company was put on the shipping label with the names of our friends.  Now, because of the "food contents" (which is apparently like 2 jars of peanut butter), the shipment has been held up in customs for months, because customs figures that the company our friend works for is trying to get into the peanut butter import business.  Which they are not.  (2 jars? Come on).

Meanwhile, the illegal arms and drug trafficking trade is booming here in Brazil. Kids in favelas have access to AK-47's and grenade launchers, none of which are apparently manufactured here in Brazil. According to many sources it is easier for a child in Rio de Janeiro to get their hands on a gun than a meal. Scary.  And yet a couple cans of peanut butter are tying up precious resources in customs for months on end...

If you read my recent entry about my allergic reaction, you'd know that a couple cans of peanut butter are for me just as deadly as an AK-47, however, it's my understanding that for the majority of the population, this is not the case.

When the peanut butter is the priority, and customs officials are more concerned about a couple cans of skippy than drugs & guns, it really makes you wonder.

Accomplishments

Living abroad has changed my view of what it means to accomplish, well, just about anything.  In my old life, I'd find a sense of accomplishment in being part of a team and accomplishing something like... keeping a company from going bankrupt, landing a stellar new client, hosting a fantastic event, landing a fantastic meeting for a client, or not getting an investment banker to slam the phone down in my ear...

Note: yeah I am pretty glad I no longer work in finance these days... just for the record.

On Friday, I picked our vehicle up from the car dealership where it had been getting a tune-up, drove it to sendas, parked in the parking lot, went in and found turkeys for my Thanksgiving dinner I hosted last night, and drove home - on a Friday night in Rio - in the dark - yes it was my first driving experience in Brazil and therefore why this seemingly mundane event is garnering a blog post of its own...

I felt VICTORIOUS after this event! In fact, I called some of my family in Canada, who were ALL together for Thanksgiving, and shared my accomplishment and joy with them. (And and and...! I found TURKEYS! TWO of them!! And... I saw someone I knew at the store!)

After that conversation, I imagine that much of the turkey dinner conversation may have been speculation about what kind of drugs we are on down in Brazil...  The excitement about seeing someone I knew at the store would have really thrown them for a loop as some of them live in a small town where it's impossible to go buy a litre of milk without having about 9 conversations with people you know who you've run into.

Moving to a foreign country is almost like being a baby again or a small child.  Confusing as hell, and every milestone feels as though it needs to be photographed and written down in the baby book blog. Like... learning to say hi, first full sentence spoken, first full conversation in Portuguese without having to scrunch face to convey confusion, where to buy meat that doesn't smell funny, where to find x,y,& z...

There are so many firsts, and each of them feels like a major accomplishment even though they are all small things we took for granted back home. Thank goodness there are others to share these events with because back home, they are like, yes, kind of like I've seen you do it 1,000 other times?

The Quest for Residency

This week, we were at the international airport twice in 12 hours.  Once to send off our guests, then again the following morning, "bright & early" to register ourselves with the federal police now that we have our proper visa's.  We foolishly thought this would be the final hurdle in obtaining temporary residency.  Despite the fact that we had every possible angle of our fingers fingerprinted, have our visa's, gainful employment in Brazil, yet another round of passport photos,  etc. etc... it will be up to another year and a half before we receive our residence cards, and in the meantime we must visit the federal police every six months for re-registration.  Here is a photo of the fingerprinting process...

Patience is a virtue practiced well in Brazil.

Iguazu: Visa's, Business & Dogs

The reason we went to Iguazu was to pick up our 5 year visa's so that we can legally be in Brazil and so that Mr. DRL can legally work here (yay!) and start paying taxes in Brazil (boo!).

Our agent picked us up at the airport and took us to the hotel in Argentina.  When crossing the border we did not need to get out of the car nor did anyone come to the car to ensure we were in fact the people on our passports... the agent then asked us to fill out some paperwork that looked suspiciously like preliminary paperwork for a visa application.  Despite the fact that our visa application has been in the works since last November and we have had to prove Mr. DRL's expertise and jump through various hoops already, we thought this could be worrisome yet we decided not to let it rattle us.  We filled out the paperwork the next morning at the consulate, where exactly no one spoke with us, then our agent told us we could leave and he would bring our passports to us at the hotel with the visas in them later that day.  Okay by us!

When it came time to cross the Brazilian-Argentinian border again the following day, again the agent went to the counter and left us in the car.  This time, a fellow came about three steps out of the office to ensure there were in fact two people sitting in the car, but certainly could not have proven our identities from the distance at which he stood.

After jumping through so many hoops and waiting for such a long time it seems laughable to me that we pretty much could have sent stand-ins to pick up our visa's for us.  But I will not complain about something in Brazil being "too easy!" I'll just take it.

I must also comment on the number of cars being waved through the border without even stopping to check in.  It was disturbing particularly when a person considers the amount of illegal arms trading that goes on between South American countries.

Many foreigners living in Rio brought their pets from home.  This process is I would argue more complicated than bringing a child.  It is expensive, time consuming and emotional especially considering people often have to wait to bring their pets down which means a separation from them for a time, or even just sedating the pet for the flight, and apparently not all flights will bring animals down. Watching a number of dogs run wild through the Argentinian - Brazilian border (right at the office!) made me think of these people and their struggles to bring their pets down...

All observations, hoop jumping and surprises aside, we are now legally in Brazil which is a good feeling!

This concludes my little series on Iguazu/Iguassu - if you have any questions feel free to email me or ask in the comment fields.

Mail

I frequently mention how many things in Brazil seem to be either black or white, without a "medium" setting, no middle of the road option.  Mail is no exception.

The other day, I went to mail a card to a friend back home and would like to send it quasi-express.  In Canada we have about 4 different express type options, ranging from overnighting to a 2-3 day option, with an accompanying price range.  Not in Brazil.  My options were regular mail for R$1.50 or about a week-ish for $R50.00.  That's it.   No R$15-ish option?  Nope.

I have found that there is not a lot of consistency in how long mail takes to reach North America either, we have had luck with postcards & letters reaching home in under 2 weeks and also experienced it taking more than a month... so who knows how well the "express" option would really work anyway.

Needless to say I did not express it, next time in that situation I think I'd just fedex, not sure what the rates are on that but I will look into it...

Expat Kids in Brazil

Disclaimer - no, I am not a mom.  I realize I don't fully understand what it's like to have kids of my own.  I promise to read this again someday if I do. I love kids, respect parents for doing a great job (and one hard job!). Ok? End of Disclaimer.

I get a lot of hits from people looking for info on moving to Brazil with kids.  While I can't say that I have done this myself, I do have a few observations which I will share.

• There seems to be a lot of support for expat moms - including quite the dynamic toddler group that meets at least once a week in a different locale for the moms to talk and the kids to play.
• Brazilians love kids and their reactions to kids are priceless.
• Kids seem to get sick a lot here. I realize this is the case everywhere having several friends with kids back home.  Especially toddlers, which makes sense as many of the kids I know were moved here when they were a year old or less, and kids immune systems generally aren't developed until age 2.  They are exposed to things here they and their parents were not necessarily exposed to where they lived before.  Just an observation, but most of the kids I know in the 2-3 year range here have incessant hacking coughs most of the time (and their parents worry because they have had them for months).  I wonder if it is the case as much with kids who are conceived/carried/nursed here in Brazil, if they have different antibodies... just a theory/question...
• There are wonderful places to take children such as the Jardim Botanico, Parque Lage, the zoo, the beach, out walking. Oh and of course all the little snack & juice shops, kids love those. Malls and public places cater to children in ways I am not accustomed to in North America.
• I have yet to see a "kid on a leash" in Brazil - which is refreshing because when I was in Banff, Alberta, Canada, just over a week ago, I saw a mother with a kid on a leash and the kid literally tripped on a curb and fell on his face because his mother pulled on the leash not really watching what he was doing.
• Kids pick up the language quickly and often end up teaching their parents.  It's also cute to see the little ones asking for agua. 
• What would scare me the most as a parent if I lived here would be kidnapping or carjacking.  Because it is pretty much impossible for a kid to get themselves out of a carseat in a carjacking scenario.  Not to scare people, but rather to inform, as this is a potential hazard of living in Rio with kids.
• Every parent whose children attends the American School in Gavea says their kids LOVE school here much more than ever before.  This applies to the littlies and teens alike.
• Expat moms seem to be much more involved than a lot of the Brazilian moms in my neighbourhood - most of the Brazilians with children have a "Baba" or nanny, easily spotted as they are dressed all in white.  Most of the expats seem to be relishing in the fact that they have a great excuse to stay home and have quality time with their children.

Mom's? Anything you can add to help inform people with children who are trying to make the decision of whether or not to come and live in Rio? What is easy, what's hard?