All it takes is some imagination... I am not saying he has none. I hope he applied for reunioncation with his wife or maybe that is the paperwork he was complaining about.aozora13 wrote:+1djfourmoney wrote:I hardly know where to start on these issues.
Memo to Stephen, you are living in a favela (1), you and your wife are both Black (2) and you're in a country with crushing bureaucracy even for Brazilians.
Brazilian companies hiring Brazilians is just nationalism when there's nothing to challenge it. How many Americans are in Brazil? I know its fewer than Americans in other Latin American countries.
Americans are mostly in Mexico for bit of irony...
You'll find law enforcement lacking in any country but America for Americans. Maybe Britain considers you a friend and won't punish you for being American. As I have said in other forums around the net, for people to really believe there is no animosity towards America for supporting various oppressive dictatorships, you really are Pollyanna...
As Johnny says on his Expat Files podcast, in Latin America its all about the show and in Brazil its turned up a notch because you have a multi-hue culture and physical appearance is paramount.
Black People are already seen as being poor in Brazil, so living in a favela somehow prevents this Stephen? As I heard and seen repeated, in Brazil there is a racial element but not nearly as bad as America, its more about class/status.
They make it hard to start a business in Brazil yes, well that means start one online or teach English. If you're not interested in either of those, then yes come back to America we're you can work some crappy job and wait for the collapse. In our PM's you suggested trying to get a work visa in Brazil. After my research I have found that not to be necessary. My plan is to marry and procreate with a Brazilian woman. Now if for some reason that does not happen, plans will be changed. This is where having an online presence (online business) allows tremendous flexibility. By marrying a Brazilian I get citizenship, by having a child in Brazil, they are citizens and are allowed dual citizenship.
Latin America mostly gets along but if you look inside the game, you'll see there are some massive disagreements on migration, especially if you're dark skinned and indigenous looking.
What "Foreigners" practically get away with murder??? Its called Capitalism, it outlived its usefulness but everybody seemingly including many left leaning movements wants to keep it and tweak it. The answer like most things in humanity is somewhere in the middle. Some parts of the economy need to be run by Government, other parts need to be made private.
The truth comes from both sides of the debate. Many Americans will not work picking fruit, cleaning and packaging fish/chicken/beef/pork, serve food/fast food/catering team, etc, etc. I won't do it, you won't do it and not many native Americans (born in country) will do it. I worked with a trucker who broke the cycle of working as farm workers, becomes the first in his family to finish high school and not work in the fields. I know what's going on around here and the demonization by the right is a political calculation, its not working of course but its still the card they want to play.
We could easily allow machines to do much of that work, but that would leave too many people free to get more education and pay more attention to what happens in the Ivory Towers.
From what I can tell from my research and why Latin America is attractive to Libertarians, you need to be self-reliant. More than you were in America.
That means -
1) Choosing where you live is extremely important. With less crime, there's less need for Government interference.
2) Making enough money with your own company or online business keeps you out of the Government Red Tape.
3) Learn the language, have patience with the people and the culture, if you don't you'll drive yourself crazy.
When I asked you how much you live on in Brazil, it was considerably less than I initially thought, I wasn't really surprised though. As suggested by experienced expats, that's far too low because it doesn't allow you to live like an expat in Brazil, you're living like a local and you're being treated accordingly. Add to the fact that you're American and if you really believe Brazilians don't like Americans very much, you're living conditions don't allow you to live away from them and choose to interact with them as an option, not a necessity.
This is why I asked about living/working in a hostel. That may not be a problem for a largely brown working class, but to an English speaking, University educated "White" or Light skinned Brazilian maybe it is.
We won't know until its tried.
But according to many sources I have checked with, it takes whatever the CBV (Cansa Basica Vital) is for a family (two parents, two kids) for one GRINGO to live like he does in America, not cutting back. That's why people say our carbon footprint is so big in America. If you want to be seen as an American you need to live like one. I am not saying being wasteful, I am saying, if Latin Americans by and large believe Americans have money/are rich, whether that stereotype is right, wrong or justified, that's what they think.
According to my research, it takes $1,200-$1,300US to live in Brazil, only Chile would be more expensive as a single person and roughly $500-$600 more for a couple. You are living on far less than that, showing its possible to live in Brazil on that amount, but it comes with compromises/caveats.
This is why becoming an expat is the domain of the upper middle class. Often times with marketable skills that transfer to other locations. So unless you're willing to become an entrepreneur, get a check from the US Federal Government (Disability, VA or SSI), teach English or have a marketable skill like finding a copywriter for SEO in Brazil is extremely hard right now; your best bet is to do what most guys do when marrying abroad, file a K1, bring them to America and live in America.
Its not off-topic since most of this post came off as a rant about Brazilian society and your struggles with it.
I was thinking that expating for the upper middle class/rich. The cost to live in Brazil for an American lifestyle is not bad. I actually think that is possible with starting your own business. The cost that I have paid when living in Europe was high but I know that I can pay for it. Now in Latin America, Mexico is where most Americans live based on statistics. However, I think that Stephen can live in Brazil if he has a skill that is demanded in that country. He could work in IT. I know when looking for a job for young professionals program (18-30), they had many jobs in Florida, Brasilla in programming in Phython, Java. Since he speaks fluent Portguese, Spanish and English, I am surprised he cannot do as you mentioned be an English teacher and to do translations or try to use his wife to get permits for starting a small business.
The cheapest place to live in Europe is Bulgaria for example. For the amount I mentioned you can likely live there for the same amount. Rent will be higher but everything else is about the same, better public transportation.
You should pick up Tim's book - http://www.cheapestdestinationsblog.com ... 2-edition/