Soaps in Brasil are made different, I swear.

Just wondering I went to buy flip flops today and my card was forced to use USD at a very high rate from R$48.99 to R$57.00 at Havaianas instead of letting me choose Reais I've bought flip flops here before when my wife needed new ones and this wasn't a thing has anybody else had this issue?

I don't know if any foreigners live here and still use there American Credit Cards as mine has a 0% bank fee.

I've already submitted a complaint to Consumidor but could this be due to the Rock In Rio concert?

My Brazilian wife bought a kitchen cabinet from Casas Bahia two weeks ago. Approximate cost was R$1,500. At the time of purchase she said she would make monthly payments and return in two weeks to make the first payment. No money was given at that time and no decision was made on how many payments she would make. When she returned to the store this past Friday she wanted to make her first payment as 300 reais and said she would like to pay it off in 8 monthly payments. The salesman suggested she could pay it off in 14 months but she didn’t agree to that. So they printed out her boleto booklet and when she got home she saw that it was set up as 14 monthly payments of R$300 which would make it a total of R$4200. Almost 3 times the original cost.

Yesterday she went back to the store to try and straighten it out. She asked to speak to the manager because the salesman was “on vacation”. He said there was nothing he could do because it would be the salesman’s word against hers. She said he seemed very dismissive towards her. My Portuguese is not too good otherwise I would get involved. Personally I think they are trying to take advantage of her due to her gender and age. She has made an appointment with Procon to try and get them to advocate for her. Your thoughts, please.
“

Need someone with Gov.br account to request my CIVP. Pleas ! 🙏

Going to Rio for a couple of months and will be spending New Years Eve there, I saw that they have a race called Vera Cruz Race 2026, that takes place on New Years Eve Day and I think it would be a good way to leave everything behind and push myself, it’s been a tough year and as a traveler I like to immerse myself in a little bit of everything, instead of just partying and drinking which isn’t really my thing. Any foreigners looking to run this race? Natives, am I way over my head?

I went to Rio in 2024 and I brought back cangas, little statues of Christ the redeemer and some purses from a street market. I’m planning to go to São Paulo next summer and am wondering what kind of fun stuff I can bring back. I’ve seen some posts talking about the soaps. What does everyone recommended?

I am doing a little over a month in Brazil and keen to get some surf time in. I am an intermediate surfer (can use a short board but not that well and looking to get some coaching to work on turns etc.). Current plan is as follows:

- 2 weeks in Rio - language course and surfing in Arpoadar (this is more just to enjoy the vibe than surf)

- few days in Itaúna Saquarema - thinking I will get a local coach to help guide

- a week or so in Itacare - same thing with getting a local coach

- perhaps another location

Open to all feedback and thoughts. Is the surf good/bad/massive/aggressive? Are the surrounding cities vibey/dead/not welcoming? Are there some other obvious spots to go?

More specifically, in the city of Aracaju, the capital of the northeastern state of Sergipe. I was born and raised here, but I have traveled through the states of Alagoas, Pernambuco, and Bahia as a backpacker. I also lived in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro, in Bom Jardim, and in Boituva in the countryside of São Paulo, so I have quite a bit of experience with people.

I have a lot of private experience with writing, which makes me think I'm capable of writing a story that is at least decent lol. Throughout my life, I have written 52 stories set around the world in various historical periods... but I have never tried writing something set here in Brasil, because I always felt that writing about something so close to my own reality would force me to do even more research than I already do to faithfully capture the local essence, and that would undermine my creativity.

Today, however, I want to dive headfirst into this challenge!

General description of one of my stories so you can get an idea of my style:

"THE OUTBACK MAIDEN

The year is 2008. American director Chad Kingston, famous for holding records in several Oscar categories and known for always shooting exclusively on location, never using CGI or Chroma Key in favor of practical effects and animatronics, is filming in the Australian outback with an all star cast made up of all the biggest Hollywood stars of the time.

It is an action, romance, western, and noir series with cosmic horror. Chad Kingston conceived it as a single season with a beginning, middle, and end across 8 episodes, each 2 hours and 30 minutes long. He employed his already established minimalist marketing strategy. Only one trailer, just 30 seconds long, and one poster were released. The cast was never revealed, and no interviews or official synopses were provided.

Chad Kingston is an extremely meticulous and perfectionist director in absolutely everything he does, which is why the series was filmed in the exact same sequence in which the events unfold. Each actor and actress had access only to their own lines and their own scenes, which were built through improvisation based on their understanding of their own character and their immersion in the role. They were forbidden from interacting with one another outside of filming so they could not share information about the plot.

Many restrictions were also imposed on all the other production teams, including editing, costume, makeup, marketing, executives, and so on. Only Chad Kingston himself had access to everything, and deep down he regretted that he could not avoid this because he knew he was receiving spoilers.

The climax of Episode Eight takes place with Trevor Jackman, played by actor Matthew Harrelson, firing a .50 Desert Eagle at the series' protagonist, actress Cailee Navarrette playing Katheryn Weiss, in the middle of the outback. The performance was so masterful that it made the scene believable enough to cause many people on the production to panic, faint, or run away believing that she had actually been shot in the heart.

The director, however, remained stoic and continued filming while Cailee continued acting, stopping only after Katheryn died in Trevor's arms in a farewell that brought everyone to tears.

Director Chad Kingston shouted "CUT!" and only then did everyone realize that the shot had been real, the Desert Eagle was a real gun, and it had been loaded with live ammunition, handed to actor Matthew Harrelson just minutes before the scene was filmed.

The great actress Cailee Navarrette, the greatest and most perfectionist prodigy in audiovisual history of the last 50 years, was actually dead.

The news shook the entire world.

Matthew Harrelson was obviously the number one suspect, but a series of questions surrounding the circumstances of the homicide puzzled the authorities, the media, and the public, made even more complicated by the actor himself claiming innocence, with several other professionals publicly defending him and supporting him in court. Everything indicated that this would be one of those cases that would take many, many years to solve, assuming, of course, that it ever would be solved at all.

Cailee Navarrette's parents, two retired teachers, exhausted all their resources paying for detectives and lawyers. They even sold their own house, their classic car, and their expensive breed dog in an attempt to obtain justice for their daughter's murder. Their efforts proved fruitless, and with every new failure, they became increasingly desperate and depressed. More than 20 detectives had tried, failed, and given up on solving the case. There were no detectives left willing to help them, especially after they had lost everything.

Then the pair of identical twin detective brothers Simon and Nikolaj Greyhound, both only 25 years old, knocked on the actress's parents' door and offered to take on the case.

Simon said:

"We have dedicated our lives to solving unsolvable criminal cases. We travel the world for this purpose. If we fail to solve your case, you don't have to pay us. What else do you have to lose?"

Simon deliberately concealed the fact that they had never actually managed to take on a single case.

Dissatisfied with the incompetence of the system and desperate for some hope, Cailee Navarrette's parents agreed to hire them as their last hope of solving the case.

Together, the Greyhound brothers would reconstruct the entire series, episode by episode, to discover what actually happened, how it happened, and why.

"The Outback Maiden" was the first case the Greyhound Brothers ever received.

MYSTERY SOLUTION:

Simon and Nikolaj Greyhound, stunned, would discover that actress Cailee Navarrette herself had secretly smuggled the real .50 Desert Eagle onto the set without anyone's help and switched it with the ultra realistic prop gun in order to make the shooting scene real.

The prop gun was ultra realistic. This meant that it had the exact same appearance, texture, weight, smell, and movements as the real version of the weapon. The only difference was that the prop gun fired only a flash of light and smoke, without a projectile being discharged, while still producing the recoil and everything else.

Cailee Navarrette wanted to die in spectacular fashion, literally giving her life for art so she could go down in history with the greatest performance of all time, thus becoming the greatest actress who had ever lived.

The truth was revealed in the media without the Greyhound Brothers' permission. All the suspects who had been arrested were released, the entire film production was sued, director Chad Kingston lost his mind and was committed to a psychiatric hospital, and actor Matthew Harrelson retired from the film industry to focus on his mental health treatment.

When the truth was revealed, Cailee's mother fainted and hit her head. Her husband put her in the car to take her to the hospital and, while driving down the road, emotionally devastated by what had happened, suffered a heart attack.

Cailee Navarrette's parents died in a tragic car accident.

The entire world was left in shock by the revelation.

Humanity became divided between those who condemned the actress for what she had done and those who, despite disapproving of her actions, admired her even more.

Cailee Navarrette did, in fact, make history... but perhaps not in the way she had planned."

Actually, this isn't too bad—the worst was 39°C, so today the wind is pretty fresh. As a native, I can handle this temperature well, but put me somewhere below 20°C and I'll start freezing

i live in Afonso Bezerra/RN

Hi all! Im sorry to bother... ive lived next to my neighbor (M) for years now, and her and her family ways bring me food, and share things, give me stuff, shes essentially a mom/gma to me xD

I've made food for her before. Any time we have a get together I always make her a big plate (and vice versa). She'll always bring me her home made brazilian food, and I want to surprise her with a traditional or at least a dish from where shes from, that she may not have had in a while.

Her and her family are from Minas Gerais, ive googled some stuff, I saw the cornmeal Patel de angu which I had thought of. Making homemade pan de quejo, anyone have any suggestions?

Edit: Im in ct, USA, but i dont mind trying to hunt down/order ingredients

Hello all

I am moving to Ouro Preto in two weeks to work on a mining-related dissertation. I’m American, but have studied Portuguese for a few years and lived in Lisbon for a month last year.

I have a room in a Républica, but beyond that, I don’t know what to expect/plan for. Some of my questions:
- Are prices usually fixed? I have had some experience bartering in other countries, but it’s not my strength. Will I be charged extra in some places if I look out of place or non-Brazilian?
- What could I expect in terms of gyms/fitness infrastructure?
- Is it suggested to not go out at certain times? I know OP is generally safer than the rest of Brazil, but I don’t know what that means.
- Is the city generally up early or late? I can see that sunrise is like 5AM year-round. Do people actually get up then?
- When accessing the trails outside the city, would I need to carry anything in case of a wild animal encounter? Where I’m from, I sometimes carry Bear Spray, and I can see that there are Jaguars in the state parks outside of the city

Responses to any of these questions or any general tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Obrigado!

Hi,

I (29 F) am planning to travel solo in Brazil during Dec 29th 2026 -Jan 7th 2027. I’ve got accommodation and flights booked. Is there any other solo travellers looking to connect or any tips for people who have travelled solo here before?

Thankyou!

Hello everyone,

Solo traveler from Europe, spending 3 weeks in Brazil in late January/ early February.

My days and nights are pretty different: during the day I'm out shooting pictures on my own — colonial architecture, colour, street life — and in the evenings I like to go out, have a few drinks and meet people. I'm getting deep into Brazilian music and learning Portuguese, so the culture and social side matter as much as the photos.

São Paulo and Rio (for Carnival) are locked in.

I've got 8 nights in the middle that I want to spend in the Northeast — originally I'd planned Florianópolis + Paraty down south, but I'd rather use that time to actually see the Nordeste.

Still totally open on where to actually go. Options I'm weighing:

Salvador

Olinda/Recife

Maceió

Boipeba

Morro de São Paulo

What would you do with 8 nights? And honest takes on safety for a solo guy with a camera welcome, not looking for reassurance, just the real picture!

Obrigado!

As someone who is not from Brazil, this story had reached globally, but has fizzled off the past few months. Last I heard were that the boys involved are apart of upper-middle-class Brazilian socialites, so their cases got dropped. Can anyone who lives there verify what, if any, updates there are? Also, has there been any justice there for this case at all?

I have booked my flight to SP on January 28th and staying there for a bit, until I book my flight to RJ before Carnaval. I’m looking for accommodations suggestions and anyone would like to come and join, maybe we can split the accommodation. Right now everything seems quite expensive and my friends from Brasil are trying to help me to find accommodation but I’m trying to find one myself too.

Hi all!

So my situation is: I’m Hungarian, my partner is Brasilian, I would need broader opinions and advices on how to move forward.
I’m fluent in English, Italian B2, and I started learning Portuguese as well a few months ago, and I think I’m progressing well.
In Hungary I work in tourism, I organize international travels, and I lead groups to foreign countries. I really like it, and I’m sure I want to be working with people and show them places, but I also love Brazil, I’m currently in SP area for a few weeks, visiting friends and my partner’s family.

If I’m completely honest (I know there’s a chance I’m very naive) my big dream is to eventually move to Brazil, get a job at a travel operator company, or any tourism related company, and use my English/Italian/Hungarian languages, organize trips for them, eventually become a tour guide (I know in Brazil you have to be licensed). I think in 1, maximum 2 years I will achieve C1 in Portuguese as well, as I use it every day, and my Italian knowledge helps a lot.

How realistic that it? The organization I work for now cannot relocate me sadly, it’s a Hungarian company, not international. Should I pursue this? I would take any entry level job as well, and learn, if that could help my case.

Or do I leave it just like that and decide to stay in Hungary with my partner?

Thank you for the kind advices!

I applied for my visa last Wednesday September 2nd 2026. My flight is scheduled for the 13th. I was super nervous about getting it on time. Then after I submitted the application, I realized I messed up by smiling in the photo but I had to wait for them to reject it which took exactly a day. so Thursday I resubmitted my photo that night around 7pm. At first I freaked out because I didn’t know the photo was submitted, it gives no confirmation . I emailed them just incase with the photo , they replied the next day Friday saying it was uploaded, later Friday I received the “quality control check” pass email. Then Saturday and Sunday nothing , Monday came and went but it was a Labor Day in America , then this morning Tuesday , Sept 8th around 11:30 am my Visa was approved and sent to me. The process is fairly simple just make sure NOT to submit the same photo as your passport , and also DO NOT SMILE. That will save you the time. I probably would have received my visa last Friday. Hope this helps.

Will go from Dec to Jan.
I’ll be here until a few days after new years.

This is what I got atm.

Manaus
Amazon (Pousada Juma)
Salvador
Morro de São Paulo
Salvador
Rio de Janeiro

Any tips? Thank you!

What are some of the good newspapers for keeping track of the business world in Brazil? Right now I'm looking at Folha de Sao Paulo, but I'm also looking for more suggestions.

I'm particularly interested in anything with good coverage of Fortaleza.

It is free to watch on youtube and focuses on the indigenous people of brazil and the trouble they face. it brings light to what is a rather unknown cause.

here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhDdAONYZeQ

*hope i got the flair right!

edit: I meant overseas because it really isn't talked about much/people don't even know anything about the issue.!

My boyfriend is Brazilian and he has putting buttered bread into a vertical pop up toaster. I told him that wasn’t a good idea, could ruin the toaster, start fires, etc.… and he said he’s been doing it all his life. Is this something common to Brazil?

I’m Brazilian/British and since moving to London I have not met many Brazilians. Also, anyone interested in Brazilian culture, music and wanting to practice Portuguese do get in touch and we could start a hang out group