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• Colin Brayton

  Rio is great, if you have money to stay within the Green Zone of the Zona Sul. Riotur and the Military Police make sure of that. Brazilians call this “pra inglês ver” (keeping everything nice for foreigners).

  I enjoyed Jorge’s thorough tourist report, though I would stick up for the carioca cabbie. If you speak Portuguese, at least (with a Brazilian accent), they generally won’t pull that scenic tour routine on you, even if you’re a paulista. Best bet: never flag a taxi on the street. Find a “posto” or get a doorman to nominate a driver “de confiança.”

  Many Argentines and Bolivians started arriving in Brazil during the 1990s in less glamorous circumstances, by the way. Brazilian like to joke that those countries must really be in trouble if Brazil looks like the land of opportunity.

  It’s an interesting subculture, and a surprisingly good fit, despite the language difference. Many portenhos fit in especially well in São Paulo because of the shared Italian immigrant heritage. It’s an odd sensation for a New Yorker to feel like you’re in some sort of looking-glass, Portuguese-speaking Little Italy in parts of the city.

  In fact, though I hate to say, Sampa might well defeat New York nowadays in a pizza face-off. It certainly has more private helicopters and armored SUVs …

  15 February 2006, 22:36 pm

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