Quote from Gringinho:
What he means is "infraestrutura de primeiro mundo" - which translated means roughly "infrastructure of a industrialized country" - not "third world" standard, although Brazil is considered a third world country - mostly because of lacking consumer empowerment. Exports are what drive the economy - along with extremely conservative capitalism to maintain the status quo and suppression. The safest way to get rich is to become a politician or bureaucrat so you can steal money from public funds - extreme corruption is the other suppressive factor here. You still have slave workers here (mostly around the amazon area) and roughly 5 mn kids under the age of 12 working.
Actually, all of Brazil is considered a tropical region, but with variations in temperature, plants and landscape. The northeast is very dry and has large sand dunes - and is the poorest region in Brazil, while Curitiba is considered the most modern city in Brazil with the best infrastructure.
I saw a survey showing Rio as the city with the worst crime followed by Sao Paulo and Recife. Although driving in Sao Paulo is quite daunting at times, I thought the craziest traffic was in Recife where my cab actually crashed a few hundred meters from the hotel. The cab driver changed lanes around 50 times, but used his signal only 2 times - then he smashed into the car in front of us at a stop signal. Fortaleza is the biggest "vacation/tourist city" in the northeast - while Natal is growing rapidly - although being a very poor city.
Remember Brazil is a developing country and things seems to not be moving along any time soon.
Rio is amongst the top 3 most dangerous cities in the world - murders wise etc., but very "alive".
A lot of services and luxury items etc. stop being transported north of Salvador, Bahia. Food is great in the big cities - Recife, Fortaleza included - not in Natal though.
80% of Brazil's coastline consists of sandy beaches - so there are lots of opportunities if you are looking for great beach life. If you want great living amenities as well - then you look southwards - if cheap living accommodations is what you want - then look northwards. A lot of things are much more expensive and of very poor quality - more so than people from industrialized countries are used to. Examples are fridges, micro-wave ovens, TVs, computer equipment etc. I always say computer equipment here is roughly 3 years behind and double the prices compared to the latest and greatest equipment abroad.
If you go through customs you only pay 50% taxes on anything you declare - and another 50% if you get caught not declaring what you should. Importing stuff from abroad is nice too - you only pay 60% on top of freight and value etc.
Living in the south you can get a lot of contraband items "cheaply" - digital cameras, computers etc. Otherwise, it's all going through the governments programs and ridiculous taxing system to insure everything possible is made in the country.
It's also illegal for banks to liquidate a family's home - so there are no credit lines on homes. The car loan rates are a low 3.3% - per month that is. Buying an imported car - second hand - in nice condition is the best buy if you want a quality ride - but crime and road conditions dictate some modesty in selecting your car.
Women have the typical latin temperament, but you will find more "moderate" women in the south than in the poorer areas. Also, there are roughly 17 distinctions of skin color here - compared to the 7 (?) distinctions in the US. Not every woman here is Gisele Bundchen to put it mildly - and the tropical climate makes for some very common hygiene complications where STDs are a lot more common than in colder countries.
How good is the high speed internet (ie for trading)?

