Brazil: For Americans Going to World Cup in 2014 - A Primer (crime rate, best)
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I'm reproducing bellow an article originally published in the "Gringoes" website.
I will reproduce just the first 4 points, there are 13. Read the rest of the article in the link that I will provide in the end.
Brazil: For Americans Going to World Cup in 2014 - A Primer
By Alan B Williams
February 18, 2014
So, my fellow Americans; you want to go to World Cup in Brazil this coming June? You think you have enough money, time, moxie, streets smarts and your high school Spanish will get you by. Think again, Gringo. Here is my primer and a warning.
1) Airfare: I hope your significant other is a travel agent; because you are going to need all the help you can get booking a flight under $2000.00 each. The best way to get to Brazil is out of Miami or Atlanta, direct to Brasilia or Manaus. From there you can get shorter flights to the Northeast or other FIFA World Cup sites. Flying to Sao Paulo is 10 -12 hours or more. Then if you are heading back up North, add another four hours or more. From Brasilia, Fortaleza is a two hour flight, for example. Of course, if you are heading down South, then Rio is you best bet.
2) Language: Yes, English is the second language for Brazilians, but in my five trips there, only a few people actually spoke any, and one was my wife (and she was an English teacher in Brazil for 16 years!) So bone up on the Portuguese, dudes. You are going to need it for basic everyday survival. And to have great chats over who is going to be in the finals.
3) Drinking: Think you can handle your alcohol? Forget about it! I have served five years as a St. Patrick‘s day bartender, six years at the LA County Wine Pavilion, five trips to Europe, nearly 1000 conventions in the USA and I have drank with everyone from the Star Wars and Lost in Space actors to the Swedish Wrestling team, and I am but a talented amateur compared to the Brazilians. The average party in Brazil is a 24 hour deal, with many lasting 3 days. My advice, get a stint at the local Renaissance Faire and practice all night debauchery. For six weeks. That might get you in shape. Maybe.
4) Public Toilets: Good lord, they are awful. I thought French toilets were the worst (and they have those in Brazil, too) but stop at any Petrobras gas station and you will experience the true horror of filth, degradation, germs and yuck. Bring TP everywhere, and Toilet seat covers, and hand sanitizer. Or hold it until you get to a private home. Or do it in the woods, but watch out for snakes.
(...)
Read the rest of the article on this link: Gringoes
About the public toilets, I have to mostly agree: they are terrible.
But there is an option if you can't wait until when you arrive at a hotel or at someone's home: shopping malls.
The toilets in the shopping malls (specially those with air conditioning) are generally much cleaner than other public toilets.
So, if you see a shopping mall in front of you, run into their toilets and do everything you need to do! That's one of your few chances of finding a clean public toilet!
I assume they will have clean toilets in the stadiums.
People should just not drink too much when they plan to leave their hotels for hours. It will be winter in Brazil, so in many places drinking a lot if not that important as in the summer.
It seems the biggest concern continues to be crime, there are more and more military police in the slums now. Saw some photos today, looks a bit disturbing to European eyes...
I assume they will have clean toilets in the stadiums.
People should just not drink too much when they plan to leave their hotels for hours. It will be winter in Brazil, so in many places drinking a lot if not that important as in the summer.
It seems the biggest concern continues to be crime, there are more and more military police in the slums now. Saw some photos today, looks a bit disturbing to European eyes...
Another issue is prices, they will try to rip you off wherever they can. Room prices have already skyrocketed in some places.
Prices were ridiculous before the World Cup, I do have family in Copacabana, but still the airfaire is rough.
Crime is pretty high in Brasil, so personal safety is much more important than some of the other countries in South America.. but those pictures look like they're from the Favelas. To look at those and make a judgement is like looking at Dharavi and thinking that is Mumbai.
I'm reproducing bellow an article originally published in the "Gringoes" website.
I will reproduce just the first 4 points, there are 13. Read the rest of the article in the link that I will provide in the end.
Brazil: For Americans Going to World Cup in 2014 - A Primer
By Alan B Williams
February 18, 2014
So, my fellow Americans; you want to go to World Cup in Brazil this coming June? You think you have enough money, time, moxie, streets smarts and your high school Spanish will get you by. Think again, Gringo. Here is my primer and a warning.
1) Airfare: I hope your significant other is a travel agent; because you are going to need all the help you can get booking a flight under $2000.00 each. The best way to get to Brazil is out of Miami or Atlanta, direct to Brasilia or Manaus. From there you can get shorter flights to the Northeast or other FIFA World Cup sites. Flying to Sao Paulo is 10 -12 hours or more. Then if you are heading back up North, add another four hours or more. From Brasilia, Fortaleza is a two hour flight, for example. Of course, if you are heading down South, then Rio is you best bet.
2) Language: Yes, English is the second language for Brazilians, but in my five trips there, only a few people actually spoke any, and one was my wife (and she was an English teacher in Brazil for 16 years!) So bone up on the Portuguese, dudes. You are going to need it for basic everyday survival. And to have great chats over who is going to be in the finals.
3) Drinking: Think you can handle your alcohol? Forget about it! I have served five years as a St. Patrick‘s day bartender, six years at the LA County Wine Pavilion, five trips to Europe, nearly 1000 conventions in the USA and I have drank with everyone from the Star Wars and Lost in Space actors to the Swedish Wrestling team, and I am but a talented amateur compared to the Brazilians. The average party in Brazil is a 24 hour deal, with many lasting 3 days. My advice, get a stint at the local Renaissance Faire and practice all night debauchery. For six weeks. That might get you in shape. Maybe.
4) Public Toilets: Good lord, they are awful. I thought French toilets were the worst (and they have those in Brazil, too) but stop at any Petrobras gas station and you will experience the true horror of filth, degradation, germs and yuck. Bring TP everywhere, and Toilet seat covers, and hand sanitizer. Or hold it until you get to a private home. Or do it in the woods, but watch out for snakes.
(...)
Read the rest of the article on this link: Gringoes
1. Airfare is ridiculous.
2. I feel like anyone going to Latin America should expect to have to speak the language. I don't really see this point as a negative or something to worry about. Seems more like common knowledge. Either way, during the world cup there will probably be a lot of English speaking tourists there so you could probably get by easier without Portuguese. You're just not going to get as much of an experience that you would if you were to meet Brasilians.
3. Anyone who graduated high school should already have learned to control themselves while drinking.
Yes, of course the photos are from the slums/favelas, I had written that in my own post...
But the Brazilians would not make such an effort if they did not think that the crime could leave the slums and exploit the event.
The Brazilians I know don't drink like that at all, they go to work every day, thus they go to bed early just like people in Europe or wherever.
My Brasilian friends were surprised by how much Americans drink and thought I was a borderline alcoholic. My friends call me boring because I "don't drunk that much"
Yes, of course the photos are from the slums/favelas, I had written that in my own post...
But the Brazilians would not make such an effort if they did not think that the crime could leave the slums and exploit the event.
That's perhaps the biggest problem with Rio. Crime is not only found in the dangerous parts like other cities in Latin America.
Bogotá might have a relatively high crime rate, but if you're not in places you should not be you probably aren't going to have to worry.
That's perhaps the biggest problem with Rio. Crime is not only found in the dangerous parts like other cities in Latin America.
Bogotá might have a relatively high crime rate, but if you're not in places you should not be you probably aren't going to have to worry.
I think it is a good thing that Brazil is finally dealing with the problem of organized crime. They ignored it for a long time, which is why it is so widespread now. At least there is something positive about that soccer championship
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