Salvador da Bahia Travel Answers

There are a lot of travel forums for Brazil. Some have more traffic than others. Same with the expat forums. Try www.gringoes.com which has several expats living at least part time in the Salvador area.

Oi! My name is Genna, and I studied in Salvador last year, and now I am moving back in a few weeks. I've been checking out expat blogs and trying to get more info about the experience of being American and living in Brazil...and especially about how to figure out the visa situation. Do you mind if I ask you about how you ended up there, and some of your experiences of how you've stayed? Also, any advice is much appreciated. I'm so excited to get back down there! Obrigada!

Hi Giselle, I'm not living in Salvadore but I'm travelling through there solo at the end of december and into january and it would be great to meet up with some local "grinos" lol, who could show me local brazil sans the touristy areas. if interested let me know. thx. Adam

Hi Giselle! I am, coming to Salvador with a male friend to teach English and have a holiday. Maybe we could meet? My email is xkennydaga@gmail.com. Remove the x at the start of the email. Kenny

Hi Giselle, my name is Guy, I'm just arrived in ITAPARICA from FRANCE few days ago for business but quickly realized there is nothing over here. Very kind local guys in the pousada saying that I must go to Salvador during WE. Do you mind to email me back and eventuelly I may join you and your friends during your WE night in restaurant or pub. Thnaks a lot for your reply, even negative one Bye Guy

Hey there Im visiting Salvador now, if u want to meet please call me at 8669 5048, I may not getthe message if u email me, ttyl! Princess

Hi Giselle,My name is Peter. Im moving to Salvador for couple of years. Do you mind if I ask you what you doing in salvador. I wil probably study first than look for a job. I look forward to hearing from you Peter

Hi Can I ask you how much did you pay for teh classes in Salvador? IM moving there for a couple of years. Thanks Peter

Peter- Please enlighten us about how you obtained, or intend to obtain, a visa that might allow you to work in Salvador for a couple of years? You do know it is not legal to work on a tourist visa and work visas are hard (read: almost impossible) to come by. Also Salvador does not have a lot of under the table work for tourists; it's done by locals who are glad to have any job, even those that require a second language. In order to get a student visa, you have to enroll and pay for a class at a school (university) that would give you the official paperwork and then pick up the visa outside the country. Expect to stay up to 6 months on a tourist visa, depending on which passport you hold. You can easily find the info you want about casual classes for tourists by Googling some of the language schools in Salvador.

Hi, well Im married to a brazilian girl, so i guess I have my ticket for a free entry :)

Wait'll you figure out what the 'burro-cracy' is like. You may not think it's so "free". (lol) But seriously, jobs are hard to come by. The boomtime economy the world press talks about has not really reached Salvador. For Portuguese classes, the best private teacher is Sheila Waksman in Barra. Her website is www.basicalingua.com and prices are listed. Other than that, you might look at the Portuguese for foreigners course at UFBA. The private language schools are more geared to the needs of casual tourists, but prices are listed on their sites as well.

:) hehe, thank you :) Well we decided that Im going to Salvador, as my wife has a good job ( system analist) Im planing to get a job in a Hotel . I work in th eUK at the moment as a head receptionist. I have heard that new hotels are opening in Salvador so I might get a chance. And what u do in Salvador?how long you staying for? why salvador? :) Take care

It's a city gringos either love or hate. I fall into the first group....mostly. Figure to make about R$900-1500(328GBP-546GBP, higher is probably overnight staff at bigger hotel) per month max for hotel work like that, if/when your Portuguese becomes perfectly fluent. That's probably a third of what you might be used to in the UK, but prices are about the same (food, rent)or much more for many things (clothes, electronics, appliances, cars). Note that there are a lot of underemployed English-speaking Solteropolitanos who think this is a princely sum and would be happy with much less. New hotels? OK, if you say so. Ask some questions on the forum of the expat site www.gringoes.com where a couple of posters are in Salvador, living or regularly spending the max time as tourists. Best luck.