Expert: Ken Rapoza Cruz - 8/28/2007

Question
QUESTION: if i were to move from america to brazil, what part of brazil would you
recommed?  i want a safe place with good health care and a place to train jiu
jitsu.  i would like to rent an apartment or a house for a reasonable price. any
suggestions?

ANSWER: That depends, Patrick, on what you want to do, what kind of weather you like, what type of environment you live in or want to live in.  That said, I cant answer that question at all. Are you adventurous and would like to live in a no man's land, far from people who are even remotely like Americans? Or do you prefer the ocean? Do you prefer cold ocean or hot sweaty oceanside towns full of people who are mostly quite poor and uneducated. Or do you prefer big urban settings? If so, do you like those urban settings to have all the comforts of NYC, or all the comforts of LA, including gang violence and Bogota style drug wars?

Now, jiu jitsu is very popular and you can find trainers all over the big and midsized cities in Brazil. Of course you will find more in Sao Paulo, which is a very expensive city.   You might find some in towns like Salvador, poor, big city; Rio, dangerous; Londrina, small and isolated; Curitiba, cold in winter; Florianopolis; cold in winter, far far away; Brasilia, a government town.  The dollar is very weak in Brazil and very volatile. I will need to know how rich you are.  Figure you wil spend at least $400 per month to live well. If you can handle living like a hermit, or llike the locals -- many who live on about $2 a day -- then you can find places for about $200 per month, but I personally would NEVER recommend a gringo go anywhere near there.

Let me know your budget and where you would like to live, and for how long.

Ken

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Sorry for the lack of info.  I would like to live near the beach. I don't want to sweat to death but tropical is nice I make about 2500 a month.  I don't need everything nyc has ans can do very well without all the violence.  I would like a nice laid back beach town.  I hope that's enough.  Thanks again

Answer
I would recommend Florianopolis, or Floripa as it is known there.  You would fly to Sao Paulo, then get another 2 or 3 hour flight farhter south to Floripa, in the state of Santa Catarina. Do a google on it. VERY nice. Not too hot in the summer, but cool and cold in the winter. Not for the beach, though youd get days in the 50s and 60s (fahrenheit). Its clean, fairly well educated populous, nowhere near as violent as Rio so Id say it is very safe for foreigners, and there will be ji jitsui experts there for sure.

You can learn more about Floripa here at www.brazilmax.com.

Id totally recommend you going there.