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The Favela, is the name given to the slums in and around the large cities of Brazil. There are many favelas existing around the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo. A Favela exists when homeless people or squatters occupy vacant plots of land, and build their homes out of things they can get scavenging. Today, millions of Brazilians live in these mazes of shanties. Approximately 6% of the entire Brazilian population lives in Favelas, roughly 15 Million, most of which are in Rio and Sao Paulo.

there are a number of guys I have stayed in touch with since I first started going to Brazil in the early years 2001- 2005 Here are some "then" and "photos" each set is 3 photos, 1st and 2nd are when I was hanging with them and the third in each series is them now!

With that being said, some of the safer favelas near tourist areas in Rio and São Paulo are going through gentrification. Some attempts are being made by ruthless, risky pioneer investors to navigate the complicated processes of favela home purchase, and they are grabbing some of the best views of the city. I recently looked at a place for sale in Vidigal, the favela just west of upscale Leblon, the community right next to Ipanema. David Beckham and supposedly Madonna already bought properties at the top of the favela hill in Vidigal, and trendy restaurants and bars have also opened. Of course, there's also the minor problem of sewage and water piping for you to resolve as a buyer --- and then there's possible resentment from longterm favela residents who feel they may be ignored or even worse, pushed out. There are other favelas in or near Rio's Zona Sul, like Rocinha further west of Vidagal, Cantagalo near Lagoa and Copa, and Santa Marta near Botafogo, that have mostly gotten rid of the drug trafficking and are ripe for home purchase or rental. There are even several favela apartments for vacation rent on AirBnB.

The favelas facing the Bay of Guanabara command the best views of a city made up of the most spectacular scenery on earth. For a city so dependent on this for tourism, it’s just amazing how blind to this fact the bureaucrats in charge are. It’s worse than benign neglect that they allow the favelados to suffer. No credible sanitation, no proper policing, no social services. Favelas are breeding ground of varmints that in turn victimize tourists. When it rains, untreated sewage washes down the mountainside taking solid waste with it to plug the drains in the serviced areas of the city where they stagnate and pool around broken sewer pipes, exact same typhoid puddles that Oswaldo Cruz warned about at the turn of the previous century.

The Transylvanians (like tall Robert) are different. They're from the northwest part that used to be part of Hungary.

One of the first few Brazilian boys that caught my eyes was this fellow:

Here is a before and after of one of my favorite guys in Brazil. About 10 years or so apart.

I guess we saw different photos. They all aged and with aging often comes some fat but none I saw were fat. If that is what you saw, you must have been looking for something different than I was.

So basically, they ALL got fat.... thank God. now I dont feel bad about MY aging process.

Especially in Europe I have best luck with Facebook. Once you have a couple of the rent or porn type guys on it you get all their friends listed which of course includes many other similar guys. You can check all their friends with beefy profile pics and their friends, etc. You "friend" them (they are eager) and soon you are surfing though the best with current pics and complete bios. I get more dates in Europe with FB than Romeo now. While the best looking guys may check Romeo very seldom they check FB much more often and communicating with them through FB Messenger or WhatsApp gets immediate or quick responses. The downside is that some of these guys set up beefcake FB accounts to get followers who will help them out with no intention of ever meeting. Filtering them out is easy. The ones who did porn and/or were on Romeo are often glad for meetings for extra cash. Delighted even.. You also avoid some of the crazies and frauds on PR. Guys go in and out on PR with different names and accounts. There are only a few who use it daily or even regularly. Many of the better ones don't check PR very often at all. Of course it's still worth checking PR for the guys who are currently on and for guys in new places. I also like Grindr in some places like Europe and Columbia. Fast, easy pickups if you spot one looking or agreeable.

Coroa or crown is an informal term for older people, can be male or female. It comes from the fact that older men lose their hair and the bald spot forms a crown...but again, can be male or female. Um/uma coroa, works both ways.