I will be traveling to Brasil in January either to Rio or Sao Paolo to work in the fashion week. Which city would you recommend, and how much will NOT speaking Portugese hamper my stay? Ombak, Thanks for your reply in the other thread. Let me get into a bit more detail. I am in the fashion business. I have recently moved back to NYC, and as a South American(from Suriname) I am working on bringing South American fashions to the US market. Anyway, I appreciate whatever input is available. I will work on learning some Portugese prhases as you recommended.
It will be extremely difficult for you if you do not speak Portuguese. The number of Brasilians who speak English is not as high as you would think. It will help if you know someone there who speaks English and Portuguese, but if you don't know anyone, get to know some of the basic Portuguese words, verbs and phrases.
if you don't speak Portuguese then Rio is easier as it is used to having a lot of tourists. Outside of the big tourist areas you need to speak some Portuguese
Thanks gentleman/ladies, I have also contacted the Brasilian consulate here in NYC. They've been very helpful as well. I would still appreciate any information from you "locals" so to speak. Thanks again
You said you're going to work in Fashion Week. You don't know yet in which city? If you do, how much time will you have to yourself, to visit and what kinds of things would you like to do? Also, you said you're "bringing South American fashions to the US market." Will you be trying to generate lots of business contacts? Are you already an established company/working for an established company? Or is most of the advice you're looking for of the tourism variety?
Ombak, There are some stores I'm working with in New York. I'm trying to generate contacts in Brasil, yes. I figured that I would work during the day, and party at night and on weekends do some sight seeing. Most likely my younger sister will be with me as well.