Arrived in Belo Horizonte!

Saturday, July 05, 2014
We've landed in Belo Horizonte where we are staying at a guesthouse - kinda like couchsurfing, but you pay for it.
Tatiana is our host and we are her only guests. We had only been here for an hour before she drove us to a nice Mexican place for dinner. After a good meal she drove us around town showing us some amazing places which we tend to explore during the next seven days.


This city seems young and full of life, we are excited to explore it.
We arrived late and went to sleep after Tatiana's sightseeing tour through town.
Next day we took a bus to the center of the city. The first day of quarterfinals and Brazil was playing against Colombia.
Because of the tragedy with the collapsed viaduct here in Belo Horizonte, the Fan Fest were closed in respect for the killed and injured. Instead we went to a street area called Savassi.


We had talked to some of the locals who recommended us to go to Savassi for the match - and to arrive early. We arrived 2 hours before kick-off and the streets around Savassi was already covered in yellow-shirted people.


Being a gringo in Brazil can be tough. Not speaking too much Portuguese and looking white and European attracts attention. But in Savassi that turned out to be a good thing. What felt like a million different people wanted to talk to us, take photos with us and have a tequila shot with us.


Brazil won the match 2-1 and the party was on! For the first time here in Brazil we decided to stay out late for beers and tequila. And if there's something the Brazilians are good at - besides football - it's partying!


Before our departure for Brazil we were left with an impression that Brazil was a very dangerous place for gringos like us.
But everywhere we go people are so nice, welcoming and helpful.
Of course you'll have to be careful when you're a foreigner in Brazil, but when the media is painting a gruesome picture of Brazil they seem to forget all the sweet and hospitable humans who live here.
No doubt that the favelas are very dangerous as well as staying at the beaches at night time and there's poor people living in the streets here - people struggling, but there's also another side to Brazil - a very bright side which makes it great to be a gringo here in Brazil!

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