A little bit late there JoeSoccerFan ha, I like the assertiveness Salten. Here are also some sites of driving to South America and crossing the darien gap. I found these sites about six months ago. http://theroadchoseme.com/shipping-across-the-darien-gap-pt-1 http://austintoargentina.travellerspoint.com/ http://drivemeloco.com/dml-guide/index.php So from these sites, it should not be too much of a problem shipping what ever vehicle(s) we take. But we may not want to do this last minute, because I am sure there will be a high traffic volume a few days before the start of the WC. Anyone have a caravan, like Salten mentioned?
Of course Safety would be the other issue. I would not be excited of just American cars going down to Brazil. But possibly teaming up with Mexican, Costa Rican soccer fans (heck who ever qualifies for 2014.) and driving all together would make me feel at ease. Just cause you know they'd have your back.
Not to sound like a buzzkill, but wouldn't driving through this hemisphere with American flags draped on your vehicle make you enormous bulls-eyes, right?
That is very true. I know this because I am originally from Manaus,Amazonas and there is nothing up there connecting panama and colombia to Brazil. They tried to build an amazonian highway connecting the amazon to the rest of central and southern brazil and it didn't work out. The nature kept washing the roads away and then there are no towns or gas stations along the way. The other threat is there are still indian tribes in the Amazon and Pará that are cannibals.
Its actually not bad at all between Rio and SP. I have done it twice and the road was actually close to american standards and kept up. They actually just duplicated the Dutra a while ago. Now they have a lot of toll booths to keep it up.
Thanks everyone for all of the suggestions!! I will be at all the US/Big time games! Start saving now!
I was having a serious talk about this with one of my friends. He is not that big of a fan, and more of a Mexico fan, but he said he would love to go to Brazil for this. I told him about AO's plan in SA, and how they will likely have one for Brazil. He was most open to that, and has started saving. Now I have the money at the moment, but there is only one problem. School. I am going to Pima Community College at the moment, which is just 1,600. I was and still and planning on transferring to the U of Arizona in 2013, but now there is a bigger problem. Since are state government is so ********ed up, the cost of tuition has gone from 5,500 in 2008-2009 to now 10k. So unless somebody starts paying for my college tuition, I might not be able to afford Brazil. So can't wait till 2013 when AO reveals there plans. Start saving
Hey, I'm with you bud, working on an Architecture degree at a big university. I'm trying to just save as much as I can in the next two years, and then just worry about plans in 2013.
Should be "onde fica", not "onde é". Rosetta Stone is reportedly quite good for spoken language so I'm surprised to see such a literal translation (where is) as opposed to the common spoken form.
Any awesome excursions available in Brazil? I mean I know the Amazon River/Rainforest is probably dangerous for anyone to go into, but are there ways we can do that on like a group tour or something? I mean, I plan on staying through to the final, so I'll have a lot of time and I'd love to see more than just the cities.
Again, just one guy's opinion .. but ... given Ombak's comment, it doesn't replace knowing the language. If that's what you're after, it probably doesn't HONESTLY work. But ... I wonder if Ombak feels it is passable, meaning, would a Brazilian, asked that question, understand that he/she was not dealing with a native speaker but rather someone who was honestly trying to learn their language and honestly was looking for a bathroom, be responsive and sympathetic enough to answer without judgment? My guess is yes, any Brazilian would be. So, while the program is NOT going to cause anyone to think you're a native speaker, it will help you with speaking the language and reading signs and stuff. Besides, it's cheaper than a community college course. My $0.02. And NO, I don't own stock in Rosetta Stone.
Oh there's nothing wrong with what it taught you it's literally correct and it wouldn't even get you a double take. But picking the other one would make someone think "well, he's not your average gringo". It was just a tiny nitpick because if I had to guess before seeing it I would've guessed Rosetta Stone would pick "fica" so I was a bit surprised. It's not meant to turn you off from the product and indeed your assessment is right - people won't look at you funny if you say it like that.
I'm using the Spanish and German version, and I say that it's wonderful if you're willing to put in some extra supplementary work, like writing and speaking on your own. Listening to Spanish and German podcasts... The program is teaching you the straight up formal language. If you really want to develop a natural fluency, my guess would be to learn the formal stuff, then add in some native slang and expressions to really kick it up a notch. It's just like taking a class. Rosetta Stone is a great teacher. It's up to you as a student to take what you've learned and start applying it to really make it relevant in your life.
You mean in what (Brazilian) stadium will the US beat Brazil? Besides being a silly question why are you building such a weird sentence? OK, you HAVE to say fica here. Onde fica o estadio onde os EUA esta jogando? (or vai jogar). If you put those together yourself the mistakes are understandable, if it was Rosetta Stone I'm revising my previous endorsement.
Heh, yeah, that's what I mean ... it's just a little pre-World Cup sports blowhard banter! I thought the transliteration mades sense if you assigned American-English vernacular, but it may not make sense in Brazilian-Portuguese. It's all part of learning a language, I guess ... A little of both. I always did better at vulgar languages (German, Dutch) than at romance (Spanish, French, Portuguese). I wouldn't let some stupid post on BS affect your opinion of Rosetta. It may be a great teacher, and I may just be a terrible student. At this point, if I'm just able to get basic meaning across, I'll take it. There's still a lot of time before the Cup to learn.
It just seems like the same old news. All construction on airports, roadways, high speed rail, and stadiums is delayed. Was South Africa this bad when news was released on there progress with construction?
The airports are what is going to kill this World Cup for many. They are operating way over-capacity as it is, and construction will likely not be finished in time for the World Cup. Transportation links between the airports and the city centers are virtually nonexistent in most cities, so the majority of fans will be forced to take Brazilian taxis, whose drivers are likely to take advantage of visitors unfamiliar with the area. A World Cup is a huge investment for many, and if it begins to look less and less likely that fans will be able to travel with peace of mind (not to mention even just getting to the city they need to), they may decide it simply won't be worth it. With decent kickoffs for fans in US time zones, and with the astronomical costs of Brazilian goods and services these days, this may end up being one to stay home for.
If you just start putting $150 aside for it every month you'll have over $5000 by the time the World Cup comes around.
$5000 huh? I'm trying to save up $10,000. Maybe it's just me though. I'm trying to stay all the way through to the final and also do some sight seeing around the Amazon River and Rainforest which I can only imagine is pricy.