Best usages and practices in Brazil

Hello Priscilla.
Whats up girl. How you doing? I am doing great in fact very well.  what can be better i loooooove Brazil. Though i was raised in California Los Angeles. Man i can proudly say Sao Paulo is wayyyyy better. Well as a profession i am a certified private native English language teacher. And oh man i love my job because since i been in Brazil my profession has just grown like a human in a mother's tummy. I have so many categories. I am a translator professor and working on to be an interpreter. Besides the fact Brazilians are the best people i've ever met in my life. I mean they are my top priority. All my student's are like family to me. Man i am telling you we treat each other the best. Like going out for lunches, to clubs gatherings i mean you name it we do it all together and the best. And that's how i even learned my portuguese.
If you need and other info comments or any services in regards to of my profession please feel free and ask. I am here to assist and help you and your team. Well priscilla got to go now. Time for another student. Well hope we keep talking.

Thank you.
Shahab Khan.

Some useful tips,

Buy health insurance here in Brazil, it will make your life really good. If you need to go to the emergency room, you will be seen right away. There is little to no waiting for insurance card holders. I think the hospitals are better here and more accommodating. In the last year we have had 3 emergency room visits with our kids, from stitches to croup. Plus the normal yearly checkups with regular doctor and they are very thorough with testing here. 

Negotiate almost everything! Most things are a little overinflated, because Brazilians expects to do this. Also, ask if you can get a little off with paying in cash. They also do split payments here which is kind of weird to me, where you purchase an item and they automatically withdrawal a portion of what you owe for 3 or more months out of your bank account. Really good for large purchases.

Most pharmacies deliver, which comes in handy with sick kids or that late night my guts are killing me experience. It makes total sense to keep sick people away from others. You can even WhatsApp your orders in. Another delivery is beer, you run out and your trying to decide who can drive to get more. No need, WhatsApp them the order. Most will deliver ice, charcoal and other normal things you find at a beer distributor.

Shop around, all supermarkets are different here. I go to 3 different grocery stores here to get what I need for the week. Each store is unique in what they carry and the prices are significantly different. Most of the time I buy my fruits and vegetables from a road side stand. Better quality!

Have the App called WhatsApp, very important. No one texts down here because it costs money. WhatsApp is really good and everyone uses it.

Waze App is also great. It helps you find the best driving routes and can also tell you where roadblocks are. Just make sure you review the routes before you go and hit change route if you see police reports along your intended route. Not saying to drink and drive, just avoid the hassle of getting stopped and checked out.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Not sure what Shahab was trying to say, but these are useful practices and services to make your life easier here.

Craig

I like the late availability of seeing Doctors.
I like the practice of getting xrays EKG's CT Scans and other exams at a Clinic rather than the hospital.
I like the large variety of food available.
People seem to be friendlier for the most part.

It's a short list for me but there are things needing improvement.

Jim

One of the most difficult subjects is paying bills.  Brazil is way, way behind on bill pay options with the most often used being the most torturous!  Every month most people marches down to a bank and an ATM to pay their bills.  Very sad really as I often see older people that have never touched a computer standing in line for hours patiently waiting to pay their bills.  Some bills can be paid at the bank/ATM, or you can stand in line at certain pharmacies (this tends to disrupt the primary purpose and forces customers to wait for the bill payer to finish), you can pay bills at grocery stores or at the Lottery store.........but you can't pay the company that billed you directly because they don't have a way to accept or account for the payment.  Best option is to make sure that you get a bank account set up so that you can use the on-line bill pay.  Best banks are Banco do Brazil and Bradesco.  Bradesco will actually take any bill with a bar code attached to the invoice.  Bradesco also has a nice little key fob like device that when you click it the fob will display a randomly selected code that will be used on-line to identify you and your account.. Type in the number on the bar code with the key fob generated number and you can pay your bills that fast and it's a lot better than standing in line for 1 or more hours at a bank.

Shahab khan775 wrote:

Hello Priscilla.
Whats up girl. How you doing? I am doing great in fact very well.  what can be better i loooooove Brazil. Though i was raised in California Los Angeles. Man i can proudly say Sao Paulo is wayyyyy better. Well as a profession i am a certified private native English language teacher. And oh man i love my job because since i been in Brazil my profession has just grown like a human in a mother's tummy. I have so many categories. I am a translator professor and working on to be an interpreter. Besides the fact Brazilians are the best people i've ever met in my life. I mean they are my top priority. All my student's are like family to me. Man i am telling you we treat each other the best. Like going out for lunches, to clubs gatherings i mean you name it we do it all together and the best. And that's how i even learned my portuguese.
If you need and other info comments or any services in regards to of my profession please feel free and ask. I am here to assist and help you and your team. Well priscilla got to go now. Time for another student. Well hope we keep talking.

Thank you.
Shahab Khan.

Shahab, this isn't really a thread where you're supposed to self-advertise dude. Also, you wrote your post as if  you were sending her a chat or email message.

Also, the original post was asking for tips and tricks that have helped you live in Brazil more easily.  Things like:
I would recommend having your bank send you a backup or secondary bank/credit card in case your primary gets cloned. If all your banking is in the US, like mine, and your card is cloned, you won't have access to funds without having a backup or secondary card.

If you're from North America or Mexico, get a Skype account and pay the just about 7 bucks and get the Unlimited North American calling package. You can call friends and family back home as much as you want.

Most people already know this, but Whatsapp allows you to make phone and video calls to and from anywhere in the world with a data plan and/or WiFi connection for your phone. A cellular phone and email account are required.

In São Paulo, getting a rechargable/refillable public transit card will make getting around with or without your own vehicle much easier. The Bilhete Unico requires that you get your photo taken and have a CPF to order. The Bilhete Unico also gives you multiple bus rides in a 3-4 hour period and reduces the cost of the subway after riding a bus. The other card (I don't remember the name) available in São Paulo that gets you around even to some of the other cities in the area I'm not sure about. Most of the buses in São Paulo that accept it are more expensive.

In São Paulo, the public transit system is very good. Other areas, like where I'm at currently, are worse.  Buses come only every 20-30 minutes in some areas of the city. Check with the locals or the transit company (-ies)'s site for further info. Whenever possible, use both the transit system site and Google to get directions to go places you're not familiar with.  Depending solely on local and/or the transit workers can get you lost.

And yes Shahab, this is THAT Mike from Gabriel's rebublica.

CraigF wrote:

Some useful tips,

Buy health insurance here in Brazil, it will make your life really good. If you need to go to the emergency room, you will be seen right away. There is little to no waiting for insurance card holders. I think the hospitals are better here and more accommodating. In the last year we have had 3 emergency room visits with our kids, from stitches to croup. Plus the normal yearly checkups with regular doctor and they are very thorough with testing here. 

Negotiate almost everything! Most things are a little overinflated, because Brazilians expects to do this. Also, ask if you can get a little off with paying in cash. They also do split payments here which is kind of weird to me, where you purchase an item and they automatically withdrawal a portion of what you owe for 3 or more months out of your bank account. Really good for large purchases.

Most pharmacies deliver, which comes in handy with sick kids or that late night my guts are killing me experience. It makes total sense to keep sick people away from others. You can even WhatsApp your orders in. Another delivery is beer, you run out and your trying to decide who can drive to get more. No need, WhatsApp them the order. Most will deliver ice, charcoal and other normal things you find at a beer distributor.

Craig

Hey Craig,

What have you found out about international insurance? Am I better of buying Brazil-only here? I'm really wanting something for just in case when I'm visiting my family.

That payment splitting isn't actually like that. When you purchase something "parcelado" you still have to have the item's full value available in/on your account/card. What happens is they block the full amount of your purchase and then actually withdraw the agreed upon monthly payment amount each month from your account and decrease the amount that's blocked by that month. It's useless and asinine to me.

Most pharmacies in your area might deliver, but not here. Major cities and major chains, yes. But smaller chains or one-off stores and stores in smaller areas don't.

One thing I've noticed from housing to bike parts is if you're not native fluent in Portuguese, have a native talk to people and ask them how much something costs.

We looked at a house awhile back. Absolutely awesome and priced right at R$1000. Until the owner heard I was an American. Then the price went up R$500. Similar thing happens when I deal for bike parts. A new front sprocket-if I do the talking=R$50. If my fiance does it's only R$25. I bought a chromoly chain for my bike and paid something like R$70. When I sent her to buy one for hers, she paid R$35.  The only time I don't get overcharged is when I'm at a store that scans barcodes for prices and most restaurants.

Priscilla: Unfortunately I have not yet moved to Brazil, but it is our plans when my wife retires from her job in the the U.S. in a year or two.

I have traveled there 5 or 6 times in the past 15 years spending about two weeks for each visit, so I am somewhat familiar with how things work at least in Belo Horizonte and Minas Gerais.

Regards.

I like the supermarkets. The one I go to most is Festval In Curitiba and they employ some mentally challenged people as bagboys, so they also work and belong in society.

The bus in Curitiba is also quite unique, yet I prefer to walk or take an Uber.

Danger is overrated in the south of Brazil. Brazilians believe their own hype when it comes to danger. If you use common sense, everything is ok. I even felt safer at night in Brazil than in Brussels.  As a gringo, I have a feeling you aren't a primary target besides maybe some robberies, and if you don't do drug business you will have the change of getting killed reduced to 90%.

Taxi drivers aren't as dishonest as in Europe . I had them try to rip me off once or twice but that's it.  I take two or three taxis or ubers on a daily base so it isn't much.  I just told them I'm not stupid because I'm a gringo that I should do the touristic tour of the city and then gave what they deserved. One agreed, one ended up in the hospital.

Men respect the women more than in Europe, which is good. I don't have to worry about a bunch of arab thugs trying to rape/ beat/ insult/ touch my woman because they think her jeans is too tight or her skirt too short.

Arabs are way more respectful than in Europe and are some of the nicest people you can meet.

Don't accept the first price offered, even a Gringo can get a good price once they know you will walk away when they are not treating you right.  Of course, some places really are the price that is listed as in many of the shopping centers in Sao Paulo.  But if you are in a small shop like in some of the small shopping buildings in Rio their first price is just the starting point.  Use all the tactics you would use car shopping in the US, always be ready to walk away then you will start getting at the real price.  And if the people start to know you as a local they will often quit giving you the Gringo price.  In your case I would keep in mind the shops that have overcharged you and you can walk in and tell them that and make them explain why after 10 or 15 minutes of a very difficult conversation you might get treated better next time.  You should keep a list of places where you have been overcharged and make them suffer the next time.  They will learn to treat you better or you can spread the word and also let them know you are spreading the word.

Most Brasilians don't want you to consider them as treating you badly.  And if you let them know you know you might find they will not be so eager to overcharge you.

In smaller towns, most deliveries from drugstores are handled by the local moto taxis.  Pick up a couple cards when you are in town with their numbers.  Sometimes the drugstore will work with the moto taxis but sometimes you have to place your order and then call the moto taxis for deliveries.  But unless you have a death wish do not get on a moto taxi for transportation.  Motorcycles and death are common companions throughout South America.

The moto taxis will also deliver food from small restaurants and will pick up some beer for you and other items like that.  It can get expensive if it is late at night.