And here's the other thing: The women are easy to approach. Cheesy one-liners are expected and almost always appreciated. If a guy makes the first move, it is without the ego-protecting, got-a-joke-in-my-pocket method of your typical American. I've been shot down many times here (once by a Penelope Cruz look-alike who gave me a Zorro-esque wave of her hand that I'm still smarting over), but I have no problem coming back for more. There's no need or place  for embarrassment here. Besides, you're likely to get as many offers as you make.

Remember the legend of the Amazons? Greek mythology told of a society of female warriors who were fearless and beautiful, and used men as they saw fit (sexually and otherwise). The Greeks believed that this tribe lived in what is now Turkey, but when they invaded the area and didn't find them, they figured they had moved on to the Orient or Africa. In 1541, a group of Spanish explorers was attacked by tribes of female warriors in the Brazilian jungle. The group's leader, Francisco de Orellana, likened the women to the Amazons of Greek legend and subsequently named the river after them. So maybe they were here in South America all along.

Two weeks after I arrive in Rio, I'm sitting in a downtown Citibank, waiting to report a stolen credit card number. It feels and looks as dull and gray as any other bank branch, until the customer-service rep walks up and introduces herself. She is slim, dark-haired, and dressed in a skirt suit with a low-cut black lace shirt underneath. She speaks flawless English, and thirty minutes later I walk out of the bank with Priscilla's home phone number and plans to take her out for drinks. I am about to learn a hard lesson, though. You know the wait-three-days-to-phone rule back home? Forget it. Here, you have to call the very next day. I go traveling for a week after my bank visit, and despite a friend's advice to call long-distance, I don't ring Priscilla until I return. She asks why I haven't called, then says she's busy. Click.

I don't have to wait long for my next education in the intriguing ways of Brazilian women. I meet a couple of girls, a blonde and a brunette, at a friend's birthday party. They briefly argue over me, which I don't realize at the time, since my Portuguese is nonexistent at this point. I end up spending the evening with the brunette, who soon begins making regular stops at my apartment. When I mention I'll be out of town for the next seven days, she takes a deep breath, looks at me very seriously, and says, "Just do me one favor. Please try to hook up with less than ten women before I see you next."

“War�, answers Alberto Goldin when asked about the typical Brazilian woman's approach to romance. An Argentinian psychoanalyst who has been practicing in Rio for more than twenty years, Goldin writes a column on love and sex for the newspaper 0 Qiobo, and is the author of Histórias de Amor e Sexo (History of Love and Sex) and Amores Preudianos (Freudian Love). "In Brazil, and particularly in Rio de Janeiro, it is common for women to steal each other's boyfriends and fight among themselves," he says. "Sociologically speaking, it is because there are a lot more women."

Professor Maria Luiza Heilborn, who teaches sexuality and health at the University of Rio de Janeiro's Institute of Public Health, says, "It is very common for men to have simultaneous relationships, and for the women to know about them. It is socially accepted that men have lots of women," How could such a thing come about, I ask. "In the marital market, there is intense competition between women," says Heilborn. "There is a strong link between beauty and youth in Brazil, And here, young, beautiful women are plentiful." Though all of this might imply that the women of Brazil are a little on the shallow side, I've found the opposite to be true. I've mainly dated professionals ”doctors, lawyers, designers” and serious college students. As a rule, they are sharp, self-possessed, and adept at detecting bullshit” but they still love those cheesy one-liners. ("Where have you been all my life?" often works for me. Really.) They also revere femininity: I dated a cardiologist in Sao Paulo who loved to wear denim minis, open-backed blouses, and high heels.

"Femininity does not equal weakness, as it seems to in the United States," says Roberta Pontual, a twenty-seven-year-old high-powered publicist. "Women in Brazil have many positions of power. But you can still look sexy at work and it's okay. I've never felt disrespected in any of my jobs."

"In Brazil, the body is to be exposed," says Heilborn. "You can look up and down someone's body, and it's considered appreciative. Even in the workplace. Americans would consider it sexual harassment. But in Brazil, eye contact of all kinds is strongly valued staring someone in the eye is confident, not rude."