We went to Armazém for the second week in a row. We had a great night out with friends and the word is definitely getting out about the new and improved bar! Armazém has only been re-opened for one week and the crowd was pretty crazy! Something we find boggling about going out in Brazil, is that it’s typical to be charged an entry fee of around $25 USD per person and a mandatory parking fee of around $8 USD– this is crazy, but one must admit, it’s smart on their part! Keep in mind, the entry fee is simply for entering a regular bar (not a club), nothing special or extraordinary. The parking fee is not for valet parking, it’s for mediocre parking at best–usually involving a small trek down the street, to the building!

This is a perfect example of things being expensive in Brazil! We try to explain this to others, but we think it’s impossible to really grasp unless you live here. It is also an example of how impossible it must be for the poor to even imagine a night out… The average maid earns about $450 USD or even less for the entire month–certainly, a night out at Armazém is not on her short-list of things to do. For us, between the cost of a nice dinner, drinks, and a sitter for Stavros, we easily spend in one evening what others may work an entire month for here in Brazil. We’re extremely grateful and although it’s easy to disregard others, it is important to us that we always keep things in perspective. It’s important that we all know how fortunate we are and how unfortunate others around us might be.