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Twelve of fifteen new trains bought from China will be put in service starting today in Rio de Janeiro. With all the skills and able bodied men available in Brazil to work, it would seem that those expensive metro trains that Brazil purchased from China could have been built in Brazil, creating thousands of jobs for Brazilians. Instead of building the trains in Brazil, with guidance from Chinese engineers, Brazil contracts with China to have new trains built then shipped to Brazil for its transit system trains. Maybe some of the demonstrators in Brazil about incompetence are not that wrong. http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-real-estate/rios-metro-line-4-trains-start-tests-with-passengers/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRioTimes+%28The+Rio+Times%29 -

HSBC, is an enormous bank. It has branches in many parts of the world. In Brazil, it currently has more than one hundred branches. As a form of advertising, the HSBC logo is found on most jet bridges at most airports in Brazil and in many other parts of the world. For reasons that were not made clear by financial analysts, HSBC is soon ceasing business in Brazil. I use this Bank while in Brazil and found it very convenient because of its many branches. The closure of HSBC is one more sign that the economy in Brazil is not so good. A long-established bank would not close its branches if it were making money. The closure of HSBC in Brazil cannot be a good thing for Brazil's economic future. Check out this article: http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-business/hsbc-to-close-in-brazil-cutting-50000-jobs-worldwide/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRioTimes+%28The+Rio+Times%29 -

THIS is Funny & HOT !!!!!! (sorry I still cant post visual links)... Adam will fix it for me ! If you're a gay man or really anyone who identifies as LGBT, then you're probably aware that gays have a really hard time when it comes to donating blood. What do you think? In fact, up until 2015 gay men simply couldn't donate blood per FDA regulations, but now they can — as long as they promise that they haven't had sex with another man for 12 whole months. Well if you're thinking that that's ridiculous, you're not alone, because gay icon Jeffery Self just made a Bad Blood parody music video called Sad Studs highlighting how dumb that rule is! What do you think? It's the gayest thing you'll see all week, and it's spectacular. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m75ZXqcqus&feature=player_embedded#t=48

Well the Winnebago Man will try and make it... Though I might be just a tad bit irritable when I arrive. OR just FUCK IT...maybe I'll just stay in fuckin Boca. Fuck that God damn shit.

tomCal, i just read the whole 13 pages of this thread, and thank you for all your information i leave on Friday for first tip to Porto Alegre and i can't wait to put my toe in that pond. things are going very well in rio for the past few days. I meet up with ihpguy and had some great sun and fun on the beach. he is also a master teacher. I wish i could find surfer boy, any links or ideas on how to meet up with him. once again thank you for your tips and pointers, i will write more as a newbie and how porto alegre is for a first timer. T

Local clients may not miss HSBC all that much (not so competitive and service levels were not great) - but no question that from an ATM perspective especially for visitors it is the loss of an important option. Bradesco seems to be still smarting from the loss of its long-held asset leadership position vs Itau, with Itau's mega-purchase of Unibanco and would seem the most logical candidate to purchase and in fact Bloomberg has "leaked" that (reportedly) Bradesco is presently leading the bidding. I don't want to overly tout Citi here - I would never open an account with them here for similar issues that HSBC had - but their ATM options are very helpful for visitors and residents alike especially with a Citi relationship stateside. Some of their US packages allow you to avoid that 3% conversion fee, with no additional ATM charges, and in those packages you can generally withdraw up to US$ 2,000/day per account (checking and saving count separately), which is fairly generous, just be prepared to make multiple withdrawals of R$ 1,000. Of course, there are a number of US banks that don't charge that forex fee, but I don't know, apart from the ATM limits of that institution if Citi's local ATMs impose a daily withdrawal limit or impose additional fees.

As a foreigner to Brazil, I can use an ATM card at Bradesco without much problem except they do not allow as large a daily limit as did HSBC. You also mentioned Banco Itau which does not accept U.S. ATM cards. There are several banks in Brazil where a U.S. ATM card cannot be used. Losing HSBC means Americans have to look for alternatives to their cash needs while in Brazil. Nothing lasts forever. I am always amazed at seeing HSBC on all jet bridges in countless countries throughout the world. That logo is a great form of advertisement for HSBC. I wonder if those logos will be removed from the jet bridges in Brazil. -

hey Tom Cal i will be in rio june 5th, and i can't wait on your recommendation i am doing a side trip down to Porto Alegre, and staying at the Sheraton hotel i hope i can do it all BTW what city is surfer boy in? T