Expert: Sandra - 12/25/2010

Question
QUESTION: If I were to move from America (Florida)to Brazil, what part of Brazil would you recommend? I am a single Black American man. I like to live around people that is respectable, the area must have beautiful women, a great nightlife, no drugs or gangs in the area,and good weather not to hot or to cold.

Answer
Reggie,
The Brazilian composer Tom Jobim once said "Brazil is not for beginners." and the very way your question is phrased puts you squarely in that category of foreigners who have some dream of Brazil that may hold scant resemblance to the reality. Many foreigners have their spirit captured by Brazil after visiting (but visiting on vacation is not living), while many others realize that on balance it is not for them. My short suggestion would be to try another place, another country, an easier and less frustrating place to live.

First of all, you mention 'moving' to Brazil, but as a US passport holder you can only stay for a few months of every year on a tourist visa. Other (permanent)visas are quite complicated or expensive to attain.

Secondly, let's look briefly at your other criteria. While most Brazilians might be considered respectable, the culture operates quite differently than you may be accustomed to. Many foreigners might feel misled, to say the least, by certain actions within their own cultural context that might be interpreted differently according to someone else's. Brazilians are like any other country in having physically beautiful people alongside those who aren't 10s, however much the foreign cameras dwell on the former. Nightlife is found anywhere Brazilians are, but it is often likely to be Brazilian, i.e. little neighborhood bars playing Brazilian music and serving cold beer. Big cities may come with more chic nightlife, but most also have the problems, to one extent or another, you mentioned wanting to avoid. Weather is generally hot enough for the beach year-round in Rio and north, outside the rainy seasons, while the south often gets quite cold in the S.A. winter and much of the housing stock is not prepared adequately for it. There are mountains, coastal areas, wetlands and much more variety in geography to experience. North and south can also be quite different historically and culturally.
So in conclusion, I would suggest that you either spend considerable time travelling around Brazil as a tourist to experience in person whether it is a place you might still think of considering, or take my suggestion above to look elsewhere.

Good luck in your future.