One of the good things the language school I am at in Rio organises is afternoon excursions to some of the city's more interesting places that aren't necessarily on the main tourist hit-list. 'Professor Rurik' is this old retired guy who runs the trips out to museums and other historic spots; there is very little this bloke doesn't know about Rio and Brazil. He's been able to provide an interesting commentary to visits to the museum of contempory art (designed by...

I'm currently living in an apartment in Rio de Janeiro with a 40 year old Swiss farmer who speaks german, zero english, and knows about 16 portuguese words. We are staying with a middle aged brasilian woman who speaks portuguese, zero german, and knows about 57 english words. With the addition of my english, 112 german words, and 23 portuguese words (around 40% of which are footballers names) it makes for interesting conversation around the dinner table. Interest...