Brasileiros Vivendo em Los Angeles / Living in Los Angeles

Many people ask me how it is to live in Los Angeles ,so I decided to write about my experience after 6 months living here. As I am Brazilian, I´ll compare  many things with my Country Brazil, and tell what I think are pros and cons.

First of all , and most important matter:

#1 You need to speak English or Spanish, Portuguese here is like an alien language, even the Spanish people don´t understand Portuguese. So, if you intend to come and start your life here, and you don´t speak a  reasonable English, run to the first English school, unless you don´t care to speak like Tarzan to Jane.

I am here because my husband was invited by his company to work in Los Angeles brunch, so I came with a L2 Visa. It gives me right to live and work here.

People In LA are very friendly, wherever you go, to stores and markets, they ask how is your day, if everything is ok, if you need any help…and they love to have small talk,  they talk about food, wheater, prices....

#2 PRICES,, dear friends, I come from a very expensive City : Sao Paulo, but nothing s compared to LA. Here almost everything is  much more expensive. To live in a good neighborhood, a house or apartment house in a condo with just one room costs about US$1.800. I know that many Brazilians share apartments or just rent a room for US$1,000. You won´t find anything cheaper than that, unless you are going to live in a very poor area, called ghettos.

Food, omg! This is very expensive! At the beginning I was always converting dollars to our Currency money; I was going to get crazy. For example, an Olive oil costs about US$ 10,00. A bottle of Juice US$ 5,00. Of course if you go to fast food places, they are very cheap, but I can´t stand eating hamburgers every day and every time, so if you want to eat healthy food, you will find everything you need, but be repared for very expensive items.  There are many good groceries such as: Whole Foods and Sprouts. My favorite supermarket for food is Ralph´s. You can ask for their card and have many discounts. There I can find almost everything I used to buy in Sao Paulo, Brazil. There are delicious French bread, good coffee for my Nespresso Coffee  Machine, I could find sauces, pasta, rice and beans…

Of course there are many cheaper things like gas and cars compared to Brazil. 

Please, ask me questions about anything you would like to know.

Next time I´ll tell you about how to get a driver´s license and some services like hairdressers, house cleaning, laundry services…

Feel free to ask me whatever you have in mind.

Have a nice week,

Jackie