Although my husband and I have only been in Brazil 5 1/2 months, at times I'm shocked, because it really feels like a lot longer! When we first got here, wow, a bit of a shock for both of us! We came from Chile, Santiago, the capital, and Natal seemed super tiny. We slowly adapted to no metro and an irregular bus system. It just takes time to understand because bus lines and stop times aren't posted ANYWHERE! I had to rely on my coworker to educate me on this. I am truly happy my school helped with my rental contract, setting up my utilities, and processing my visa, because Brazil is very old school! Everything requires a huge amount of documentation. One thing we noticed right away was how cheap it is to live here! Like super cheap, compared to the USA, and even Chile. We are able to only use half of my salary and save the rest, living very comfortably. Gratefully, I got a job close in a beach town with great sandy beaches pretty close by! The people are super friendly and even though we don't speak Portuguese very well (we speak English and Spanish), we have no problems here communicating. Because of the relatively cheap cost of living, access to delicious fruits and vegetables all year around, and being with like 6 hours to Florida, USA, many expats from Europe and North America are finding their way here. One dramatic shock for us is the climate. Every day is the same temperature. It may rain a little, but it is really 31C every day. We came from Chile and I was freezing cold all the time! Here, I definitely am not freezing, ever, but I really don't mind the weather. The city definitely needs to overhaul the bus system and of course put in a metro but other than that everything is truly awesome!
Life in Brazil as an American
Glad to hear that you're enjoying yourselves. Natal is a nice city, and you can't beat the Northeastern coastal cities for weather - 300+ sunny days a year! 
lisarobinettdiaz wrote:Although my husband and I have only been in Brazil 5 1/2 months, at times I'm shocked, because it really feels like a lot longer! When we first got here, wow, a bit of a shock for both of us! We came from Chile, Santiago, the capital, and Natal seemed super tiny. We slowly adapted to no metro and an irregular bus system. It just takes time to understand because bus lines and stop times aren't posted ANYWHERE! I had to rely on my coworker to educate me on this. I am truly happy my school helped with my rental contract, setting up my utilities, and processing my visa, because Brazil is very old school! Everything requires a huge amount of documentation. One thing we noticed right away was how cheap it is to live here! Like super cheap, compared to the USA, and even Chile. We are able to only use half of my salary and save the rest, living very comfortably. Gratefully, I got a job close in a beach town with great sandy beaches pretty close by! The people are super friendly and even though we don't speak Portuguese very well (we speak English and Spanish), we have no problems here communicating. Because of the relatively cheap cost of living, access to delicious fruits and vegetables all year around, and being with like 6 hours to Florida, USA, many expats from Europe and North America are finding their way here. One dramatic shock for us is the climate. Every day is the same temperature. It may rain a little, but it is really 31C every day. We came from Chile and I was freezing cold all the time! Here, I definitely am not freezing, ever, but I really don't mind the weather. The city definitely needs to overhaul the bus system and of course put in a metro but other than that everything is truly awesome!
If only I can take the heat and humidity I would love to live along the beach somewhere along the northern part of Brazil. It´s subtropical here in RS and the bus system is efficient and there´s a metro system.
Glad to hear you´re adjusting well!
robal
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