Quote: (03-08-2014 06:59 AM)Juicy Wrote:
Quote: (03-08-2014 04:16 AM)Capitán Peligroso Wrote:
What is your current cost of living in AU? I was pleasantly surprised at the cost of living in Sao Paulo after hearing about how expensive it was. As an example, you're not going to live high on the hog as an English teacher, but you can certainly make a living there teaching English. Perhaps a better question might be to ask yourself what you want to do with the language skill you acquire in Medellin or Sampa, because Spanish is a lot more transferable than Portuguese. If you want to bang latinas or have an international business, Spanish gives you the language skills to do that in almost any Latin American country but Brazil.
I am just learning languages for fun, if I work I probably wouldn't really want to teach english I would really like to continue working in my field (Information technology).
If I am not working in Sao Paulo I will not want to spend more than $2k a month, just trying to work out if this is doable while studying portuguese and living alone at the same time.
Based on what you've said I would choose Medellin / Spanish of SP / Portuguese.
Medellin is much less expensive, the girls are hotter, and Spanish is a more universal language. Though, I think this last point is not that big of a deal as Brazil is as large and culturally diverse as the rest of LatAm combined and once you learn one language the other is easy.
Regarding costs, you can get by relatively comfortably in SP on $2k now that the exchange rate is nearly 2.5:1. At 1.7:1 where it was 2 years ago it would be much tighter.
With a R$ 5k budget:
Look to spend R$ 2k on a studio apartment in a decent area. They can be found for cheaper, but for you it might be hard not doing a long term lease, not being able to prove a local income, and not having someone guarantee your lease. I'd look in the Bela Vista / Consolação area close to the Paulista or Consolação Metro stop. Good nightlife, good logistics (a lot of the better neighborhoods are far from the metro), bit of a bohemian / hipster vibe but not over the top and relatively safe and clean.
You can easily get by on R$ 500 per month in groceries eating most of your meals in.
A good gym will run R$ 150 or so.
That leaves you over R$ 2k to spend per month on entertainment. It's very easy to blow that kind of money if you're going out regularly. Dinner date is easily R$ 100 if it includes drinks / clubbing after and cab rides look to spend R$ 300+.
Lastly, don't buy any electronics or brand name closing here, unless you want to pay 2-3x the cost of the same item in the US (which is the main reason everyone says Brazil is expensive).
As far as the job: it will be difficult for you to land a legit one. The work visa process takes anywhere from 2-6 months and is costly to your future employer. If you don't speak fluent Portuguese and can't demonstrate your added value, there's no reason for them to hire you vs a local. Best bet on a job search is network like crazy. It's all about connections (QI or quem indica as they say here). Teaching English is actually a good networking tool, as well as Internations, and just making friends.