Abby, Zoë and Enzo

For the past 2 weeks, the dollar to real exchange rate has been improving, making all of our purchases cheaper.  We have been following it daily to figure out a strategy on when to buy and what to buy.  The rate peaked yesterday above R$1.9 = US$1 which is it's 12 month high.  We noticed this morning the trend reversing sharply, so we wanted to lock in some future expenses at this more favorable rate.  We first went to Banco do Brasil and waited in a line just after noon.  We got our turn, and they spent 10 minutes locating the only person there who spoke English to help us with our cash advance.  He was able to tell me that they can't do that at this branch, but to try the bank next door, they might have the equipment to do it or try the larger branch in the next neighborhood over, 2 or so miles down the beach.  So we packed up and went next door.  Our taxi was waiting for us, so I told him to drive Laura and the girls the block, and meet me in the bank.  I flagged down the first person in a suit I could and tried to explain myself.  I first asked if he spoke English.  No.  I then asked if anyone here spoke English.  No.  Then I asked which line should I wait in to cash advance with my visa card.  He explained something about "machines" and "atm" and pointed to the bank of ATMs.  I said, "no machine", "cash advance credit visa".  He then asked how much, and I told him.  He then called over another person, a female teller who spoke a few words in English.  By this time, Laura was approaching with the girls.  He told me that there is a limit on how much I could take out in 1 day with my Visa card, that this limit is international.  I tried to explain that it was not the case for my card, but just agreed with him about only getting a portion of what I wanted.  He said, then Monday I can get more.  But Monday's rate won't be as good as today's rate, it dropped almost 4.5% today already.  Luckily this guy in a suit whom I first tracked down was the bank manager, or so it seemed he controlled the other tellers and the pit.  He took my passport and my card and told us to sit and wait.  Once a "Certified Profession" was available, we moved over to this slightly more private than public queue.  The guy started to fill out papers in triplicate and make a phone call for the authorization, then he whispered to me, how much?  I said my numbers and he repeated them to make sure it was correct.  I told him the full amount, despite being told that I could only take a portion of that by the other man.  Why not try for all that I wanted right, I could not bare to do this operation again.  He seemed shocked that I wanted that much, and filled out the papers, made the authorization, photocopied my passport and card, and had me sign the forms in triplicate, none of which were for me.  I did not get a receipt.  But one of the papers I signed showed the US$ amount, which was over my limit, and I pointed it out to him, and he said, no problem, it was authorized.  I knew before arriving how much reais I could withdrawal at the current rate to be under my limit, so they must have computed the US dollar amount based on a different rate.  I would have to double check the transaction online as soon as we returned.  I had asked multiple times if there was a bank fee, or commission for a cash advance, they kept on saying no.  So I was wondering if they passed that along on the transaction cost side of things.  It turned out that the US $ amount he showed me was not the correct amount.  The amount I expected was what was debited from my account, we got the good rate, without any fees, which is cheaper than using the ATMs.  He counted out the money, handed back the passport and card, and then I had them process the payment for the camera I purchased online.  We were out of the bank in only 1.5 hours.  Not too bad for a simple transaction.  The bank manager had a worker bring us all water and candies while we waited.  The taxi guy waited for us, and the total cost for the trip to and from the apartment and the wait time was only R$15 = US$8.21.  When we walked into our apartment, I noticed that the Visa Fraud department had left a message which I promptly returned and verified the correct US $ amount.  It all worked out, even though I had doubts due to the obviously complex nature of this transaction.  In hindsight, I would have liked to get a receipt for my records.  With this transaction at R$1.91 = US$1.00, it averages our cash spending at the rate of R$1.72 = US$1.00.  So as you can imagine, the rate was much lower when we paid our security deposit and two month's rent.