Curitiba Reconnaissance - Part 1

Doug had a trade show and other business to attend to in Brazil.  We also took this opportunity to do some much needed research into the area -- where we would live, where the kids would go to school, visit the English speaking church we found out about, learn what we can and cannot get there, and much more to know before we move there.  Doug left a few days before I did.  I did a quick trip, so as not to leave the kids too long.  Doug is still there.  Wow - so many emotions, so much to learn and do to prepare!

Overall, it was a successful trip and I/we were able to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time.  Thankfully, I had come across, in my online research, a relocation specialist.  She was extremely helpful and we could not have done any of what we did, nor have known where to start, without her.  Doug & I spent one day with her and I spent a second day with her.  We looked at lodging options, schools, grocery stores, neighborhoods, home supply stores, etc. 

We quickly discovered that our Portuguese needs much more work!  So glad she was with us to speak and translate for us!

A little bit about Curitiba --

Curitiba (kur-ee-cheeba -- hear it pronounced) is about an hour and a half (65 mi / 105 km) West of the coast in Southern Brazil.  The city sits on a plateau at 932 metres (3,058 ft) above sea level.   The population of Curitiba numbers approximately 1.8 million people. Its metropolitan area comprises 26 municipalities with a total population of over 3.2 million. 

 Curitiba is an important cultural, political and economic center in the country. Growth of the city was based on the cattle trade, being half way between cattle breeding country to the South and markets to the North. 

The first ten years of the 16th century marked the beginning of a war of conquest of Europeans (Portuguese colonists) against the indigenous peoples who inhabited the area of the city. Waves of European immigrants started arriving after 1850, mainly Germans, Italians, Poles and Ukrainians. In 1853, the south and southwest of the province of São Paulo were separated, forming the new province of Paraná, and Curitiba became its capital.

During the 20th century, especially after 1950, the city rapidly increased in population and consolidated its position as regional hub for trade and services, becoming one of the richest cities in Brazil and a pioneer in urban solutions. 

This is the view from one of the apartments we looked at.

Lunch break.  Brazilians never work through lunch!  This is their biggest meal of the day.
They had great 'by the kilo' places.  You could pick whatever you want from a huge buffet and pay by the kilo.

There are many malls (called 'the shopping') and that is where you'll find most people.  Many dining options are there, as well, like our malls, but much better quality for most places.  The city is old, but all the malls we saw were new and clean like this one.  Everything is SO expensive there!  -- other than what they produce there - food, leather & coffee.  There is a huge tax on all imported goods, so pretty much everything is 3 times the cost in the U.S.!

The city is a big city with a lot of buildings and high rises, but there are some nice tree-lined streets in some places throughout.

Coffee after lunch :).  They drink a lot of coffee there and we were needing it to stay awake and to keep warm.  It's cold there!

Dinner at a great Churrascaria (BBQ) (pronounced shu-hos-caria) recommended to us by Liliana - our relocation specialist.  We were a little early :).

There was another great buffet/salad bar and a huge variety of Brazilian grilled meat - lamb, about 7 cuts of beef, chicken, chicken hearts, pork.

When you turn your chip over to 'green', the waiters come piling up offering you what meat they have on their skewer.  They come so fast!

So, you have to quickly turn the chip over to 'red' (I know it looks orange, but it was red) to have some time to try those options and start all over again when you're ready.  We were quite full and it was quite yummy!  They have a cut of meat there that we don't and I think it was Doug's and my favorite - picanha (pikonya) -- it's the rump.  Really tender and flavorful.

Doug's chip was turned over more than mine :)

some of the meat cooking

Walking back to the hotel.  These are some of the old mansions that have been turned into restaurants or other businesses.


More to come.  This was just Friday.