Some question about BH

Hi Florian.  I am an American who splits her time between BH and New Orleans.  I'll be back in BH late Feb/early March.  I live in Lourdes - a very nice area of town.  Savassi is also nice.  Rush hour traffic is bad from downtown to the suburbs everywhere in the world.

As for a good Portuguese school, the Portuguese for Foreigners course at UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais)  letras.ufmg.br/cenex/ is popular. 

I don't think there are any golf courses in BH proper, but here's a list of a few in the surrounding area:  golftoday.co.uk/clubhouse/coursedir/world/brazil/south_east/index.html

Go to gringoes.com - forum - Meeting Up - Belo Horizonte Make sure you select "Newest Post First".  There's also a monthly book club.  Although it's not associated with the gringoes group, the date, time, and location of the meeting is posted on the forum site.  The last meeting was Jan. 25.

Here's my take on crime.  I've traveled all around the world. Be aware of your surroundings.  Don't carry more money than you need.  Don't wear flashy clothes or jewelry.  Don't flaunt money.  Walk confidently.  Try to blend in. 

There are lots of cars and buses in BH; there's no humidity. 

Hope this helps. 

Annie Grace
anniegrace@aol.com

Hey Florian! 

Have you moved to BH yet?  I'm desperate to find someone who's on their way to BH from the US.  I have an Epson printer and the ink cartridge I need isn't sold in South America!
  Know of anyone coming here any time soon?

Annie Grace
anniegrace@aol.com

Hi Florian, I'm Vanessa, I did born in Belo Horizonte, lived for a long time in USA, about my city what I can tell to you, It's somewhere that you do have to look your surroundings, pay a little attention to the people in the streets,  Savassi is a very good and safe neighborhood to live, many cool places to go, to have fun  and UFMG it's the best place to study portuguese, enjoy my city , have fun, if you need to get in touch wth someone from here that would be my pleasure to talk with you and your GF. , I live in the downtown of BH, my contact phone here is:
9665-1679 ! Bye,bye.

Hey Florian,

Mate I am an Aussie living here here in BH and have so for almsot 4 years now. We have quiet a number of other expats that we seem to hang together, play golf drink from the many bars that are on offer.

Maybe I can help with some of your questions.

1. Nice district to live in for sure is Savassi, Lourdes, Sion etc.. they all have their positives and negatives and depends on what sort of lifestyle you like and price you are willing to pay. I personally live in Savassi and love it because of the closeness it is to everything. But its not for everyone as it is loud sometimes, pricey and sometimes a bit full on.

2. Port school not sure of as we get lessons at work by a private teacher.

3. Golf Courses ae int he condominians. One of our mates is a memeber so we generally paly together as a group once a month or so. Its a beautiful place that is being upgraded at the moment. SO bring your clubs as hiring them is expensive. On that point anthing is expensive here if it is a luxuary so best to bring it if you can.

4. Crime is not an issue if you dont bring it on to yourself. I have never had an issue here. Rio de Janerio and Sao Paulo are a completely different thing, there shit happens. Minas Gerias has the best police and they get on tp of stuff really well, so no worries there at all.

5 & 6. Expat meetings that I have with the other expats are all the local bar. Pollution is an issue you have in every large city. Brasil is not Europe on this one.


Anyway hope it all helps

Give me a birl when you get here if you want

Cheers

Phil