Your first days in your home in Brazil

@Cheryl Bom Día, well I am going to cheat a little bit because the first time I came to Brazil was when I was 10 after my second mother who joined the family after my natural mother passed, came to the USA from Brazil. We lived in her sisters home in Niteroi.

So several trips to Brazil later I am now living in a very small village of about 2,500 in Northern Brazil. My wife has a large compound on which she has a house where she takes care of my 96 year old Brazilian Mother and her mentally challenged uncle. I have my own house a few feet from hers.

So this is my story and in answer to your question I live in what could easily be an Air B and B, (which we built on her property after I arrived) however because my wife had almost a retirement home each person, my Brazilian Mother and her Uncle were taken care of with a bedroom and an accompanying bathroom. their were only two bathrooms. The challenge was that there were two of them and each guarded their bathroom like a hawk, literally standing guard. One time my mother even physically kept me from using hers. This was my "Temporary Housing Option".

We built my house in about 2-3 months. My glass enclosed You Tube Video Studio in my home is almost done. One note to mention is that we live in a part of Brazil where housing does not follow the same path as in much larger cities. EVERYONE builds their own houses. Their are no home showings etc.  Land is sold frequently and you build your house on it, but no HOMES  are sold.

In conclusion, living here very comfortably with my wife of 22years has been my dream come true. I always say if I died and went to heaven, I would just end up being back where I am now.

Roddie in Retirement

04/24/23 My very first days in Brazil were when I arrived in Belo Horizonte for Peace Corps training in July 1973, after graduating from college. I didn't have to go through the Peace Corps language course because, having been trained by what was then probably the best undergraduate Portuguese Department in the US, I already spoke very good, if extremely academic, Portuguese.

How academic? Well, that first night, we all went to a bar with the Peace Corps trainers, mostly Brazilians, and some of them and I got into a long, interesting discussion, in Portuguese, about Classical 16th and 17th Portuguese literature. After a lot of beers, though, I had to excuse myself and ask them, in English, where the bathroom was: I could discuss Renaissance Portuguese poetic meters and rhyme schemes like an expert, but I'd never learned the Portuguese word for "bathroom"!

After that night while the other Volunteers were in Portuguese class, I was usually kicking a soccer ball around with the street kids in the neighborhood, deformalizing my Portuguese. THAT training really helped me when I got to my assignment at the State Orphanage in Aracaju, Sergipe.  And ever since. 😂

Cheryl -

I, too, will "cheat a bit," since my first experience of Brazil was in 1965 when I came as a 17-yr-old participant in an American Field Service (AFS) exchange program. But I think my recent experience is more what you're looking for.

To fill in some gaps, however, I  took 4 years of Portuguese classes in college and also maintained contact through visits with my Brazilian host family over the years. Mostly. Fast forward...

In 2019, I was ready to retire and began to explore places I might like to move to from Missouri. I knew I wanted easy access to Brazil and considered Florida. However, I became aware that Brazil had recently made available the new "retirement" visa category for which I seemed to be eligible.  I applied just prior to covid shutdowns through the Chicago consulate (and, I might add, with advice and encouragement from members of this forum).  I did not use an agent; I collected and submitted all the paperwork myself.  Well, almost all. I wanted to bring my aging canine companion with me and I did turn that responsibility over to a pet relocation service out of Austin.  Very expensive, but I have no regrets. I had enough on my plate. My plan was to arrive in March or April 2021.  All my paperwork was mailed to the consulate in January.  I had expected to have to go to Chicago for an in-person interview,  but covid closed it down and everything was done by email and US Mail.

In November of 2020, I made an "exploratory" trip to Brazil. I wanted to confirm I had the moral support of my Brazilian friends, which I did, in spades. With their encouragement and co-signing, I actually found and rented an apartment in the same building where the daughter of an old AFS friend lives.   I returned to the States (apartment rented, but still no visa even applied for at that time; ONLY possible due to personal connections, believe me).  Yes,  I paid for an empty apartment for 3 months,  but at US$325 a month,  it was just one more expense I budgeted for.  I looked at 3 or 4 places,  some more expensive,  some less,  but I chose this one for its size (3 bdrm), proximity to services (no car), and the in-building support offered by my friend's daughter.

The day of my arrival in mid-March, I was greeted at the airport by my host family from 1965. My apartment had been decorated with balloons and welcome signs and, best of all, a couple of chairs, a small desk, a mattress and a microwave, all prepared by my neighbor friend, all on loan.  My dog was delivered to my door the day after, confused as all get out, but safe and healthy.  We were home.

I quickly got into furnishing the place. Besides clothes and personal items, I had packed minimal essentials: a frying pan, a medium pan, table service for 4, a set of bed linens and towels, etc. in my 2 almost oversized, almost overweight (but neither) bags. I had also left some clothes and cleaning supplies in one of the rooms when I had rented the place the previous November. Other than drinking water and power, I had enough to get by until I could get out.

My friend had a decorator friend who was instrumental in helping me get settled. At that time, the city was pretty much totally shut down due to covid, but with her connections, we were able to contact shop owners who let us in for shopping or who brought things out to show us.  Besides furniture, I also needed a basic stove, fridge, my own microwave, water dispenser/cooler and washing machine.  I was actually lucky to be shopping during covid times. My "consultant" had abundant free time to help me, and the shop owners were eager for business.  I was pretty much settled in in less than a month.

It's noe been over two years, and I have felt very welcome and much at home due to the above support. Also key, I  believe, was speaking Portuguese and having my dog. She forces me to get out a couple of times a day and we are recognized and greeted by building residents and neighbors on the street. My social life here almost entirely consists of the friends I've made through pickleball.  We have 3 active clubs in town and I play at all.  I recommend finding some kind of group to affiliate with, be it pickleball or other sport, church, or a social club.

Incidentally, MigranteWeb today  showed my visa extension was recently approved, but no email confirmation yet. 

Happy to be living the good life.