Job Discussion Forums

damok · Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 3

So it's decision time: I'm about to take the big step of trundling over to South America to teach some english, learn some salsa, drink and be merry.

I've narrowed my choices down to Brazil and Colombia.... why you ask? Well I've met a number of other South Americans who simply said that the Brazilians and Colombians were the friendliest, most partying people in the world (not to mention with the most beautiful women apparently).

I guess I should outline two further things. Firstly, I'm not too concerned with security situations. I'm confident I can look after myself, and after surviving Sudan for 6 months hopefully South America wont be too bad Smile

. Secondly, I am a city person. The bigger more exuberant the city the better.

So places that come to mind straight away are Bogota and Rio.

Considering the above then (and fully appreciating that I should, and probably will go and find out for myself) what would you recommend?

Here are my priorities:
1) Meet convivial people, party and have a great time
2) Enjoy the culture and history of the location and people
3) Teach just enough english to support the above lifestyle

Give me your hedonistic capital of South America!

vivaBarca · Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 4:25 pm Post subject:

Never been but I hear deep in the Brazilian Amazon, there are tribes of indigenous people running around with nothing more than a sliver of leather covering their bits and pieces and licking toads...sounds like a bacchanal to me.

Pennypacker1 · Joined: 07 Sep 2005 Posts: 23 Location: Caracas, Venezuela!

Yeah....!! Make sure you learn the local language so you can ask your students where the hots spots are.. because it sounds like they sure as hell will never be able to tell you in English...! No no I jest..

Colombia is probably easier to find work and safer (WWWOOOAHHH!! In my opinion people...in my opinion...) especially if you want to go to Rio.

pp1

kingkristopher · Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Posts: 62

If you are looking for an all-out party, you will likely be disappointed by Bogota. It is a great city, and it definitely has its hotspots, but I wouldn�t necessarily describe the people as friendly or the situation as party-friendly. A better party spot in Colombia is Cali, also considered to be the capital of Salsa BTW. Though I haven�t been to Brazil myself, have reliable and credible information that there is no better party spot the world over than RDJ.

Cheers

nineisone · Joined: 23 Jun 2006 Posts: 187

I would second the suggestion of Cali as the best place to party in Colombia. Not only the capital of great Colombian Salsa (Grupo Niche!) but also regarded by most Latinos as home of the most beautiful women in the world.
My close friend hails from Cali and has spoken at length about its vibe.

Second option might be Barranquilla. Supposedly throws the best Carnival outside of Rio. Also gets better check marks for safety than Cali, probably due to its proximity to tourist rich Cartagena.

samizinha · Joined: 12 May 2005 Posts: 174 Location: Vacalandia

I can't tell you about Brazil from an ESL perspective because I studied there, but from a party perspective, I can't think of a crazier place. You could go to a hick town in the interior and find parties every night, and if you head to the beach... I partied so much that after a year of living there, I was almost sick of going out- and I was a teenager! They especially like having theme nights at the clubs.
Rio is crazy. There are certain areas that you should never go to, day or night, but if you stick to the safer areas and keep your wits about you, it's one of the most beautiful places in the world. Also expensive. I prefer the island of Florianopolis myself, which is just as beautiful and so much safer, but not big by any means.
The women are just as beautiful as they say, and the people are increadibly friendly and gregarious. Brazilians are often smiling, dancing, singing, and celebrating. However, I also found them shallow sometimes. In Rio the women walk every day to keep in perfect shape, and you'll see men doing chin ups at these exercise stations at the beach. Making out with a random is a national past time, which is good if that's what you want-it's hard to find a real relationship with this mentality.
I don't know if this helps, you could also head over to the Brazil board for advice. Good luck on your decision.

Tiger Beer · Joined: 08 Feb 2003 Posts: 778 Location: Hong Kong

I lived in Sao Paulo and Rio de Jainero for awhile teaching English.

Actually, I loved SP even more.. its even livelier at night.. and definetely a lot more wealth among the Brazilians in the party places. Meaning, it was a lot more comfortable for me as a foreigner to be seen as an 'exotic' equal (as opposed to an ATM machine).

Rio has some great nightlife places too.. definetely. Its more of a sun city though with the beaches. Night time there are quite a few overpriced places in Ipanema (plus it felt quite a bit safer there). Down in Copocabana, mostly prostitutes everywhere combing the streets for johns.. and infamous HELP! disco with countless freelancers everynight coming those bars.

Anyways.. later I went to Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela. Nowhere came even remotely close to comparing to Brazil for me. (Although Lima was close!). Everywhere else I heard, I ALWAYS heard of Colombia being extremely similar. I wish I'd have made it there to compare.

misteradventure · Joined: 18 Aug 2003 Posts: 246

It looks like I may finish here around November. Are there short-term jobs in Cali? Or a funky hiring season?

I can't bear the thought of another Polish winter.

Or is cost-of-living low enough that a Gringo can get by and have fun in the sun for a few months on a little?

Advice welcome.

nineisone · Joined: 23 Jun 2006 Posts: 187

There was a poster here last year who did quite a bit of traveling in Colombia looking for ESL opportunities. I was able to glean some decent info. off of those. If I recall correctly, He had felt Cali was much cheaper than Bogota or Medellin. There is still some FARC concerns with living as far south as Cali, but I believe they are on the decline. There was also some talk about teaching opps in smaller cities like Pereira which sounded interesting. Check the archives, and search poorbuthappy.com and the other Colombian sites.

lozwich · Joined: 25 May 2003 Posts: 1536

There is also a lot more poverty in Cali, which means there is a lot more street crime. I'm not saying don't go, just go, be careful, and have a great time! thorntree.lonelyplanet.com also has pretty good information for travel in Colombia.

Also check out US and British government travel advisories. They're very cautious, but good to know which places you should be careful going to.