Exchange student in Argentina?

I want a major cultural change/experience for my next exchange program - Read inside (About Brazil).?

• Moin! (: I'm currently an exchange student in Germany, and I am originially from USA. I am staying here for a year, but I've realized Germany really isn't too much different than the USA and so I find it a bit of a let-down. So for my 2nd foreign exchange year, I am going to go to South America. The problem is, I can't decide if Brazil is going to be a major culture shock. I've spoken with my friend that is an exchange student in Argentina now, and she says it's a big cultural shock. She sees poverty, potholes in roads, even big cities have raggedy buildings, and all that. And I decided that that's exactly the place I want to go! But, I'm also gay. And my friend that lives in Bolivia said that Brazil is a lot more gay-accepting and that I would have a lot better time in Brazil. But, in my perspective and I think most other people with knowledge on the subject, Brazil is a lot more.. well.. richer, more 1st-world-like, etc. than the other South American countries, therefore I feel like it would not be a large enough culture shock, than what I would feel in Bolivia or Venezuela or Argentina or Chile? So I MUST ask, Is Brazil a LOT more 1st-world than the other South American countries? Will I get a MAJOR culture shock, or only a small one? Will I see poverty in Brazil, often, or rarely? Will there be dirt roads? Will there be raggedy buildings in Brazil, even in big cities? Is it very modernized or would it be a great culture-shock-inducing experience? I hope by now you get what I'm trying to ask - please answer with as much thought as possible! Thank you! Liebe Grüße, Matthew Morris (By the way - you can email me at [email protected] , or add me on myspace.com/pifft or facebook.com/pifft if you have a lot of details! But please answer on this question first, thank you so much!)

• Answer:

  It depends upon what portion of Brazil you go to. There are very rich people in the cities in the south. There are also despairingly poor ones as well. In Rio the disparity is a big problem. If you go to the northern part of Brazil, the Amazon, you will see much poverty. Like any other country, you will also find great places to live and some middle class. Why don't you seek out some Brasilians in Germany? Lots of them live there -- there are expat Brasilian communities all over the world.