How to make friends in Porto Alegre

Gaúchos are loyal and slow to open up. Parks, amateur football, UFRGS, and repeating yourself at the same bar.

Here, people mean it when they invite you home.

What works

Amateur sport. Pickup football, running clubs, a CrossFit box, a rowing club.
UFRGS / PUCRS open lectures and language tandems, if you are anywhere near campus.
Classes. Portuguese, ceramics, some cooking thing. Anything with a weekly hour.
Work. In Brazil it is relatively easy to make friends at work.

What does not work

Complaining that people are “cold” compared with Bahia. They know. They are proud of it.
Only hanging out with other newcomers in English. Fine in month one. A problem in month twelve.

Football as a door

Pick a club or, honestly, none. Grêmio and Internacional are the only options, and you cannot like both.

Dating

As everywhere, there are dating apps and the safety rules still apply. Meet in public and tell a friend.