Women Happier Than Men? Not in Floripa.

Browsing the internet I found a very interesting article about happiness around the world. The Nielsen Happiness Study found that globally, women are happier than men in 48 of the 51 countries surveyed in April 2008, and only in Brazil, South Africa and Vietnam were men found to be happier than women.

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/womens-happiness-more-recession-proof-than-mens/

In an unrelated and true story this sand sculpture is the best I've ever seen.

43 (Places, People, Things)

43 has a solid community of people who are well educated, typically have some extra resources, motivated individuals who are serious about having fun, exploring, getting things done, and making solid connections with real people. I've read a lot of amazing things on these sites and also helped a lot of people through writing about various places. This site is a little like TravelBuddy except it is not so much about meeting people as it is about sharing. I plan to post future experiences and photos here as it has proven to be solid over many years. This site is well optimized for search as well. 43 Places

CouchSurfing

One benefit to renting a house in Floripa is the ability to post your couch or extra beds up on CouchSurfing.com website. This is a great community of travelers. I have offered my couch for short stays only - such as a few days - while people get situated in Floripa and make more permenent plans. Contact me if you need a couch for awhile :)

EasyRoommate

EasyRoommate lets you post rooms for rent and view rooms that are available for rent. In addition it lists the name, phone number, location, and email address of the people posting rooms. Posting rooms on this site is a good way to meet people who need housing in a specific location - and responding to ads here is a good way to place someone in a room temporarily.

I plan to stay in a room I found on here next time I visit Floripa.

TravBuddy

TravBuddy lets you post information about where you are, where you are going, and who you are with. People then search for others who will be going to the same place, talk to them, meet up, and often ask for advice where to stay, where to eat, where to go out, etc..etc..

Orkut

Orkut is an amazing marketing resource in Brazil and can help back up many others. In looking for a room to rent I found myself searching for email addresses, phone numbers, and names on Orkut to see who I'm talking to and what type of person they seem like before contacting them.

For this reason I would say the foundation of representing yourself online in Brazil is setting up a nice Orkut page with a healthy mix of friends from around the world and a little activity in the scrap books, lots of photos, and lots of video. Once this is done freely pass around the email address associated with the Orkut account and it will carry a little more weight.