Expert: Edison - 11/4/2003

Question
Dear Edison,
Thank you for being available to answer my question on Brazil.  Please excuse my spelling of Portuguese.  I can only speak English.
I am a 50 plus year old male pharmacist from New York whose "dream" is to study Brazilian Jujitsu in Brazil for about one year and learn about the culture and language as well when I'm there.  
My question is I heard that a Brazilian training camp called Barra Gracie in some area called Barra de Tequaqa (spelling?) in Rio, (probably near the large Crucifix on the Mountain I think) offered instruction.  Do you know if this area has affordable rents/living accommodations?  I live in upstate NY where the prices of things are not too bad. NYC is very expensive to me and I would never go there.  Is Rio more like NYC in costs, rents, cost of living, or is it more like non big city USA where you can find reasonable prices and places to live?  Are there Portuguese language schools there in Rio?  Is the culture between Brazil and the USA very different?  Do Brazilians like Americans?  What are some dos and don'ts I should follow if I get to Brazil?  I would appreciate any advice you can give, especially about costs, as I am not a rich man, just a pharmacist, and have to be careful about money...like most people.  Thank you again.
Best,
Michael

Answer
Hello Michael,

You are asking many questions and I would try to answer some of them as best as I can.

The school that are you mention is on a place called "Barra da Tijuca" (site: http://www.graciebarra.com.br/). It is one of the nicest places in Rio and little expensive to live. But I think that you can live very well with $1,000-$2,000 US dollars per month. Try to contact the school and see if they can help you. Also check this site: http://www.geocities.com/barrabella/

Brazilians are very friendly and love to help foreigners and you will not find any big cultural differences, except that not many people speak English. My only suggestion, don't try to be arrogant and pretend that “America is the center of the world”. Rio has the highest crime rate in Brazil, but Barra da Tijuca is relatively safe to live.

Here is a web site of a teacher of Portuguese. I also offer a lot of information about Rio: http://geocities.yahoo.com.br/ahvannier/tips.html

If you need more information, send me more questions.

Good luck, Edison