I'm off. Been here 6 months and have chucked the towel in, I go on Friday. On reflection I was crazy to come here (to Joao Pessoa) in the 1st place (i'm 26)

I'm married to a Brazilian and we came to work for the family business so money isn't really an issue.

The reasons why i've had enough are as follows...

Everything is Complicated
The Brazilian (business) culture seems to be overly complicated for the sake of it. Everything is so inefficient I don't know how anything gets done.

A good example of this is today my wife needs to order some new work uniforms. She's going to spend all morning driving across the city get to their officina to order them. She has to go in person as she needs to pay half upfront. In the UK, this is a 5 minute phone call and payment made over the phone/put on your account.

The same goes for banking. Every day she's going to the bank to pay bills, it's like direct debits are work of the devil or something. Same for staff wages, she goes to the bank and withdraws the money and then counts it out and splits it up for the staff every Friday. I can't believe what i'm seeing to be honest. I know the family business isn't representative of Brazil as a whole but there definitely is a culture making things difficult and complicated here. Lots of small business operate like this here.

I find the whole thing stressful to be around and witness. If it's not individual people making everything needlessly time consuming, it's the bureaucracy, this country is so poorly run.

Safety
My parents-in-law leave the TV and all the lights on every time they leave the house. Who wants to live in somewhere where you are so paranoid?

Last week I nearly got robbed on the main road from Recife to Joao Pessoa, a gang had blocked the road off with diversion signs and cones and came running out from the side of the road to rob us. Started smashing the car with rocks. We luckily managed to drive off. Rang the police and it was 25 minutes before we got through - what sort of service is that?

The day after some piss head has a go at me in a restaurant for speaking English with the wife. He eventually ends up coming at me with a bottle to glass me.

My nerves are shot to pieces, just like the Brazilians are. When a fight threatened to brake out, 3 grown men got up from the restaurant and ran away. They must constantly live in fear to react like that. Every Brazilian with money that I know is paranoid abut safety. It's no place to live and there isn't anywhere that's safe (even the busy beaches, if you get robbed, Brazilians don't want to get involved, they pretend it's not happening).

The fear is in the back of everyone's mind, who want's to live like that? Not me...
   
The Cost of Living
You name it, it costs more here. Wages are lower here also so there is a huge divide with regards to standard of living. By living in Brazil I feel i'm choosing to get ripped off by paying high prices for generally inferior products (furniture, electrical goods, cars, etc). I wouldn't mind these taxes if I thought you get it back in some way but I don't see it. In the UK, you have a decent education system and the National Health Service. Here, it seems all take and no give with the government.

Eating out is expensive here (when compared to the average wages). Fuel is expensive. Internet is expensive and from my expericances with Oi, sh*t. Same for mobile phone price plans. The list is endless and depressing...

Transport
I'm sure the south is different but over here there are no trains or subway, your limited to the roads and the dangers that go with it. The cars are generally old designs and aren't all that safe, they lack standard safety equipment like ABS brakes and airbags. I've noticed that tyres with damage in the sidewalls are repaired here, that's a recipe for disaster, along with the lack of any tests for cars to prove they are worthy of being on a road.

The standard of driving over here is terrible, people have zero respect for one another on the roads. Brazilians pride themselves on being a warm and friendly nation yet they are as rude and obnoxious when in cars as you could hope to find anywhere.

Brazilian Logic
Is it just me or are the majority of Brazilians lacking in Common sense? I see so many stupid things going on here, it's like everyone is thick.

For example, if 2 cars have a small accident, rather than move the cars out of the way, they carry out a post-mortem of the event there and then and cause havoc on the roads with congestion.

People riding bikes at night with no lights.

Your at a side street trying to pull out into a main road, it's Brazil so no sod will let you out, you finally see a space, go to move out, only for some idiot on foot to have decided to cross the road in front of your car. Who's thick enough to choose to go in front rather than behind?


Conclusion
It just doesn't stack up for me to be here. It's financially harder here and the good points like warm weather and beaches don't out weigh the dangers and the standard of living.

GOODBYE!

Originally posted by richsa05 I'm curious to know if before you coming to live in Brazil if your wife pre warned you about the culture differences, lack of infrastructure etc? As in to try and cushion your landing.

Not really, but she's been in the UK about 8 years. It's taken her by surprise just how difficult, frustrating and complicated Brazil is to live compared to the UK.

braza1000 - Your not a Brazilian by any chance are you.

Edited by Amsterdam - 16 July 2012 at 12:22

Originally posted by Escy A good example of this is today my wife needs to order some new work uniforms. She's going to spend all morning driving across the city get to their officina to order them. She has to go in person as she needs to pay half upfront. In the UK, this is a 5 minute phone call and payment made over the phone/put on your account. .

I'm sure that if you look, you could find a company were you can just make a phone call and make payment via internet. It depends on who you do business with.

Originally posted by Escy The same goes for banking. Every day she's going to the bank to pay bills, it's like direct debits are work of the devil or something.

EVERYTHING can be payed over the internet. So this is possibly how she and her family wants to do business.

Originally posted by Escy Same for staff wages, she goes to the bank and withdraws the money and then counts it out and splits it up for the staff every Friday.

And why don't they contact a bank for payment and oblige the employees to get a "conta salário" at that bank. See above, seems to be the way the family does business.