I recently signed on with a new company ( couldn't stand being retired from Ford) and will be heading to China, Russia, and Brazil within the next month or so. I traveled extensively many years ago but never made it to any of the countries I mentioned. Anyone give me any input on what to expect from those local populations.

 

I envy you, Now all you need is India for the complete BRIC set.

It's been about a decade since I worked in Brasil, but it's a great place, the people are warm and friendly, although there's a huge disparity between the have and the have nots, and you can have a favella (slum) wedged in just about anywhere.

If you have a choice, try and avoid touristy places, as everyone I worked with in Rio that stayed in Copacabana got robbed at some point. But the rest of us that stayed further down in more native Brasilian territory didn't have any problems.

I may end up retiring there eventually. The coldest day while I was there was around 50F and it was like the world was ending.