Brazil... What's It Like?

I just saw the movie 'Turistas' (I called in sick today) and was wondering if Brazil is as bad as movies have been portraying (i.e. 'City of God', etc.). I would really like to visit one day and work on my hip bump but I can't help but have reservations about it. Has any "gringo" visited and have stories to tell (whether good or bad)? Or even just pics (preferably of girls)?

And also, do a lot of Brazilians know jiu jitsu there or is that just a myth. "You can't mess with any of them 'cause they're all badasses and know jiu jitsu since childhood... blah."

and all Asians know karate..

Was in Copacabana for 10 days in March. If you're smart you'll be totally safe. 90% of what you've heard is BS, including the BJJ myth.

Most danger we ran into was kids trying to pick pocket.

"and all Asians know karate.."

what are you getting at?

matt murdock, so not all that many dudes knew BJJ and were ruthless thugs? Brazil itself is so beautiful, it'd be a shame for it to be tarnished by violence.

I've always wondered this myself.

LOL @ everybody knows BJJ. Soccer (Futbol) is a different thing. Even the BJJ players forget about BJJ when there's a soccer ball around..

Lots of guys with BJJ shirts, no problems though. I was told before I went not to wear BJJ stuff because it's like gangs and you'll get challenged...total BS.

When I first got to the country I exchanged US for Brazilian currency. Was so out of it I left my wallet with a few hundred bucks in it at the friggin taxi stand. When I realized it I went rushing back to get it and found the girl rushing to find me and give it back.

I'm sure there are good parts and bad just like anywhere else in the world.

i have a friend that has been there 5 or 6 times and had a great time. unless you are acting like a jackass or wandering around in the seedy areas you should have no problems...just like anywhere else really.
plus the women are unbelieveable.

It has serious problems. I'm sure if you stay in 'safe' touristy areas or whatever you'll be less likely to run into trouble, but Brazilian cities are far from safe generally speaking.

Women throw themselves at you and you can get a private BJJ lesson on every corner. Truth is ask most brazilians in the U.S. about BJJ and they dont even know what it is. It's bigger here in the US than it is there.

Its a pretty big country.

I have been down twice....things move much slower and you must be smart about what you are doing but it's just like any other place.

Like a poor boy told me in English one time after venturing into one of the getto's "PAY ATTENTION"

And you will be fine

Not to say it's a hell on earth or even a place to avoid, just that the issues you could face there are more dire than you're likely to find in North America or Europe. Largely due to the wild corruption in the police forces.

Really, if you avoid trouble you should be fine, but if trouble finds you things could get really bad really quickly!

^WTF?^

If youre not a dumbassbyou'll be fine

I am talking to two Brazilians right now while making by posts BTW. They're both from Sao Paulo area though so it may be better/worse in other areas (or not).

The root of the danger is really in the corruption of the police. They're basically paid to keep the middle/upper class safe from the dangers of the poor (drug dealing, violence, theft, etc).

The thing is, they do it by breaking the law ruthlessly themselves, and even are arms/drug dealers themselves in some cases using the 'law' to wipe out rivals.

The immigration due to state theft of land from northern peasants has also left a huge amount of new arrivals to the cities who can not be supported by the infrastructure, leading to more joblessness and crime than in the past.

I think the biggest problem is likely that if you do end up in trouble, the police aren't exactly likely to be helpful, and could possibly be even worse than the ones you get into trouble with. There's no safety net to speak of if things go sour.

That being said, it's not like its Mogadishu or something.

"Last time i was in Sao Paulo a big group of bandits on motorbikes were robbing people in cars stuck in a huge traffic jam. They were just going from one car to another with machine guns. It's really almost a completely lawless country. "

My friends do not deny that this type of thing occurs sometimes.

Exact quote "It's hard to control traffic in a city of 10 million people!"

lulz