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Day 8: Three Gramado Musings 1. The Education of Gabriel Gabriel was a talker. He was naturally bombastic and demonstrative because of his tremendous luck of being born a Carioca. There was just something about Cariocas that instantly draw you to them. The joy and zest for life for them seemed effortless and natural, and makes you wonder what was in the water in Rio that made them the way they were. And because Gabriel was also a garoto, he was even more boisterous and confident, and fairly generous with his body and his personal space, and it was his mission to get you to be comfortable enough to be equally generous with your body and space with him. There were downsides to this happy-go-lucky existence of course. A Carioca friend of mine who lives in San Francisco always tells me how proud he is of being Brazilian and wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world. But then goes on to say that the very thing that makes Brazilians so happy and carefree is also the reason why they cannot sustain a good government and stable economy. He couldn’t explain why it was so. He said they seemingly have everything: a robust population, abundant natural resources, relatively progressive thinking for the region, which are all ingredients that would otherwise make Brazil an economic superpower. He says that just when he thinks the country has turned a corner, it collapses in on itself, unable to withstand the weight of rampant corruption and the burden of weak leadership. Gabriel is struggling with his own motivations. He was not born super poor. His siblings are all college graduates who have stable jobs and could thrive even within the corrupt system of government. He didn’t go to college, and liked going to parties and bask in the sun too much, his words. He wants to go get a degree but lacks the appropriate drive or the concrete plan needed to execute this. His brothers help him out sometimes, and he earns enough at the sauna to pay his bills and his motorcycle, and to keep up with his constant partying. I guess life can be hard when you live in paradise. There is no urgency to stop the party, if the water is always warm, the sun keeps shining, and the samba music keeps playing. As we wind down our night and not wanting to sleep yet, Gabriel and I talk about the sauna, and the characters in it. He says he wants to leave the sauna as soon as he can. He has told me about the energia negativa that permeates through the sauna walls. It’s a sad place to earn money, he said. He has been working in 117 for about a year, but says that some garotos have been there upwards of 10, even 15 years. Most have turned to drugs as a way to cope with the negative energy and the relentless grind of grinding customers. He said everyday he tells himself that he wants out, but he gets to the sauna and earns more money in a day than most his siblings do in most weeks. It is hard to leave, he said, but he has to, for his sanity and health. He does not want to end up like the career garotos in the sauna. He values his health too much to do so. We talk about his options. We come up with a plan for him to slowly phase out the sauna from his life. But to him, the first step to this road to prosperity was to learn English. He asked me if I could teach him English and in return I can practice my Portuguese with him. I told him that this was an excellent idea. For now though, he asks me to improve his “sauna English”, by teaching him a few phrases he needed to deal with gringos and other non-PT speakers. I took the hotel notepad and pen and scribbled down two questions. I hand him the pen and pad and asked him to answer the questions in English. He does and I check his work. I give him some corrections. I ask him to scribble in more sentences: I tell him that it helps me to write down some of the Portuguese I’ve learned to help with remembering. We go into the most important subject of all: payment. He knows mostly how to count in English, which is good. He asks me how English speakers usually could ask him how much his services were worth. I give him a few examples. He scribbles them down. I ask him if customers ask him what his sexual services were. I tell him about top and bottom, equivalent to his ativo and passivo: We get into stuff like kissing as well. I told him it is important to tell customers that you are like a machine in bed, pounding away like there was no tomorrow. I call him the “Maquina,” the energizer bunny in bed. He tells me it is good that he loves sex so much, it is no problem for him to perform for clients. Amen to that: He in turn teaches me a few colloquialisms in Brazilian Portuguese. I type them down in my phone. We talk about doing this kind of teaching session on WhatsApp video once in while when I go back to the USA. Indeed, after this trip was over, we commence with our teaching lessons, usually when he is in his long bus ride from Sao Goncalo to his work at Club 117, or on his ride back from work, though he is more subdued and less talkative after the grind of the sauna. It is probably that negative energy thing again. We do not do this every day, but often enough that he is now more effective in teaching me Portuguese than my teacher. It's almost 3 AM when we fall asleep in each other’s arms. 2. Angel of the Morning We get woken up by the alarm at 8 AM. We wanted to get an early start today so we can at least see some of Porto Alegre before we return the car and prepare for the sauna tonight. I wasn’t looking forward to the 2-hour drive back to PA, but I figure the earlier we get the drive out of the way, the better off we will be today. Gabriel was not a morning person either, but he was in tune with my wish to get an early start. We decided to get some breakfast first, and then after settling our tummies, go to the gym and then hit the road. That’ll get us to Porto Alegre around 1 PM at the latest, plenty of time to get some other sightseeing done before returning the car at 6 PM. The breakfast in Hotel Serra Azul was pretty standard fare, but it was included in the price of the room, so we were not complaining. Lots of breads, meats, cheeses, and waffles/pancakes, with a full complement of fruit juices and surprisingly excellent coffee: While eating I checked my Grindr. I scrolled through some old messages, with some pretty promising but missed opportunities. Oh well. After 5 minutes, some new messages trickle in, including a message from a 23-year-old guy. I look at his profile photo and recognized him from somewhere but couldn’t exactly put my finger on it. I read his message: “I saw you at the caracol chocolates:” Remember him? It was the guy who helped us at Caracol Chocolates yesterday. I thought he was pretty hot. I asked for more photos. He obliged. Nice body, handsome, and was hung like a horse, or a Brazilian. I say I like: I guess he saw me at the store and liked what he saw. But he saw me with Gabriel, the guy who was hotter than the sun. Since Gabriel did not have Grindr, maybe this guy was trying to get to Gabriel through me? It was possible: So I guess he really wanted to fuck me. I send him a photo of my ass. He doubled down with his wishes to meet. I guess I could give this is a go. I tell him he could meet me but I had to ask my “boyfriend” first. I fill Gabriel in on what was happening. He asked to look at the messages and photos. He chuckled. He showed me one of the penis pics. “Grande,” Gabriel said, pointing to the pic. I laughed. Gabriel was still bigger and thicker than this guy, but he recognizes a big penis when he saw one. I ask him what I should do. Gabriel says to go for it and said he could go to the gym while the guy and I do it. I asked him if he was OK with it. He assured me he was. I tell the guy to give me 20 minutes. He asked for my room number and I gave it to him. Gabriel and I wrap up breakfast and while Gabriel changed for the gym, I get a quick but thorough shower to prepare. When the message came that the guy was at the lobby, Gabriel takes the key card and kisses me in the lips and says “Have fun!” I get a knock at the door and there he was. He was over 6’ tall, strong and lean, and fairly handsome. He was whiter than most Brazilians I’ve become accustomed to, and had either hazel or green eyes, I couldn’t tell for sure. He looked younger than how I remembered him yesterday. I welcome him in and we exchange names. In perfect English he asks me some questions about my trip so far. I ask him about his work in Caracol chocolates. Mandated small talk at the start of a Grindr hookup. A way to ease into the task at hand. He struck first. He leans down to give me a deep kiss, then takes off my shirt to give my nipples a nibble. I take off his shirt as well, to reveal a slightly hairy and inviting torso. I relieve him of his trousers to reveal an already hard cock, pointing up with anticipation. I take it in my mouth. He takes off my shorts and gives me an amazing rim job. He takes his time. He clearly loves my ass, and wasn’t afraid to go for it. I give him a condom a lube. He fucks me doggy style, softly at first to get me used to his size, and then came the jackhammer. He flips me on my back and assumes the position. He wraps my legs around his neck and kisses me while pounding me. He comes this way. He pulls out and takes my still hard cock and puts two fingers in and finger bangs me till I come in his mouth. After washing up together we exchange Whatsapp contacts, and tells me to send him a message when I am back in town. He said maybe my boyfriend can join in next time. I tell him that it was a possibility. When he leaves I text Gabriel that the coast was clear. After 5 minutes Gabriel walks in the door. He gives me a kiss and asks me how it was. I tell him it was great. He said he saw the guy at the lobby while he was taking the stairs down to the gym. He tells me he thought the guy was handsome. I see a bulge in his shorts. I take them off and his large cock flops out, all thick and hard like the previous guy. Gabriel takes off my shorts, turns me around and bends me over and takes a look at my hole. “Nice,” he says, and then proceeds to rim me. I guess it turns him on that the guy was just here in the room, and in me. He takes a condom and proceeds to fuck me. Brazil is turning me into a bottom. 3. Lost in Translation Google Maps is a bitch sometimes. My blind trust with it has occasionally been my downfall. It gets me to my destination 99% of the time, but the 1% of the time it fails me, it is oftentimes ends horribly. Gabriel and I, post-coitus, pack up and check out of the hotel. It was $100 for the 2-night stay, plus another $10 for some mini-bar items, and $13 for the valet parking. I put in the address of the apartment in Porto Alegre, let Google Maps calculate the quickest route to our destination, and head on out. In the car we have loud music playing right away, and have lively talks about whatever came to us during the drive. I wasn’t paying too close attention when Google suggested to make a right on Estrada Serra Grande, which took us out of the main highway on the state route 116. I noticed the road was smaller but didn’t really think anything was amiss till the concrete part ended and it turned into gravel: I checked google and it said we were on the correct road. I should have just turned it around to get back to the four-lane highway, but somehow I just kept on driving on the dirt road. Pretty soon we see farm land. We are clearly not on the main thouroughfare anymore: Gabriel seems unconcerned about the detour. At this point I was a little concerned. I did not want bandits to suddenly appear and force us to stop the car and rob us. This looked like a pretty remote part of the south. As we drove on, we get to see some nice farmland with some animals. We decide to make the most of our detour and snap some photos: We drive on, with the road getting rockier and less traveled. We got a little worried until we see a lone man walking on the road. We stop and asked him if this was the road to Porto Alegre. The man said yes, and there was probably 15 more minutes of unpaved road before we hit gravel again. This gave us some relief. We encountered a fork in the road, and stopped the car to figure out which road to choose from the google map directions. While we figured out which way to turn, we see a nice church in the distance so we decided to leave the car to take photos: There was an old man, who had a house close to the church, who encouraged us to get closer so we could get better shots of the area: We get a lot of nice goofy photos. Lots of "the hills are alive" shots. After our photo session we talk to the man. He was a jolly old Gaucho, probably close to 80. He asked as where we came from. When he learned I was from the USA, he asked me if I liked Trump. I was diplomatic, as one should be when encountering strangers, anywhere, and told him a lot of people liked Trump and a lot didn’t like him. He laughed at the answer and told me what he thought about him. His wife soon joined us in the conversation. The wife laughed at my strange Portuguese. We bid both a farewell and thanked them for their hospitality. Not long after we finally encounter gravel road! I guess we found a shortcut, which was cutting through the town of Santa Maria do Herval, a nice farming town with lots of natural features. We make stops once in a while to take some photos. We stop by a creek and do an impromptu photo session with a shirtless Gabriel: It was actually a nice accident that we got “lost” in the farm lands of the south. Sometimes the cliché is true: it really is all about the journey and not the destination. From there we find our way back to state route 116 through Novo Hamburgo. And it took us to Porto Alegre. Next, the Sauna.

This list came out yesterday and it has one from Bangkok in the top 5. Gaggan https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/worlds-best-restaurants-2018/index.html

Terrific report @numazu1 And I'm glad to se that Caracol Chocolates take following up on Customer Satisfaction so seriously

Most people that read it thought it was simply a retirement thread, albeit a bit over the top, and moved on. It also DID engage some new people that dont ordinarily post in the general Forum. For me, it was like a SNL parody. Lorne Michaels doesnt STOP doing Trump parodies because some viewers are offended, he simply tells them to "turn the channel" . I think your new attitude is just a little bit too paranoid ? And really, if it parodied any OTHER member than the one it did, I dont think you would have actted. ? It's just that damn "little birdie" is always chirping in your ear. Listen this is a public board with thousands of personality types.... you are never gonna get 100% satisfaction from your audience. The only person that should run this board is YOU, not your audience. And of course you can move the posts anywhere you like and do anything else with them , but this current post in question......,.WAS REFRESHING, smart and creative...... regardless ! (and it's not because I KNIT) BTW, I DO knit well and made you a little gift.... I suspect it might be a bit too large, but I can adjust.... Happy Pride !

Wow, always great reports Numazu... the pictures even better. Keep them coming. Will remember to fire off grindr when visiting the chocolate kingdom kkk Thx for sharing the report with us.

Sorry to be a Debbie Downer (boy, that phrase really dates me! ) but ... @axiom2001: If you and @SolaceSoul need any further proof of why you wouldn't even want to do a tour of the Santa Marta favela, where the Michael Jackson statue is located, just look at the headline from yesterday's O Dia newspaper. I've translated the headline into English but the text of the article is in Portuguese: Gunfire in Santa Marta operation, in Botafogo, frightens residents @caeron: I realize that you have made the wise decision not to do a favela tour but please be careful, even in the area where you are staying near where Copacabana meets Ipanema. The following gun battle happened just today in the Cantagalo and Pavão-Pavãozinho favelas, both of which loom over Copacabana and Ipanema and are visible from many of the high-rise apartments my friends and I have rented in those areas over the years. The paper interviewed horrified residents of both Copacabana and Ipanema who were close enough to hear the gunshots. Gunfire in Pavão-Pavãozinho operation frightens Copacabana residents These gun battles occurred, as have some other recent ones, as a result of the return of the Unidade de Polícia Pacificadora (UPP), the "Police Pacification Unit", and the Forças Armadas (the Federal Armed Forces) to combat the narcotraficantes (drug gangs) in the favelas. Several years ago, similar actions of the UPP brought peace to many of the favelas. Unfortunately, as soon as the UPP departed, the narcotraficantes and their associated violence returned to those communities. Most of the places you travel in Rio de Janeiro in the Zona Sul (South Zone beach communities) and Centro (Downtown) will be very safe, particularly when there are lots of other people around. However, just as in any large city with huge disparities in incomes and high crime rates, it's best to keep your wits about you at all times. Just look and act streetwise, like a carioca (Rio native). Never present the aura of being an unsuspecting tourist.

it is good on Monday and Friday’s and on Sat from 11:00pm to 5:00 am when it reopens as a non sauna sex club

Well both of their diets seem to be working.

ALL the swamp creatures are complicit in this. They fear losing their cushy "do nothing and get paid" jobs if they betray dicktator Trump . They are just a bunch of greedy bottom feeders using innocent children as pawns. Those motherfuckers need to have their kids ripped from them (but they probably wouldnt care, heartless fucks)

One important distinction is that is not exactly a train to the airport, but a vehicle of mass transportation between Sao Paulo and the city of Guarulhos, where the airport happens to be situatted. It envolves several transfers on the subway sistem (2 or3, depending where you are located) till you reach the train properly. The stop in Guarulhos is not walking distance to the airport, so involves a bus, sounds awful but actually isn't, since is a shuttle, is already there waiting for the train, gets filled quickly and leaves, for a less than 10 minutes ride. Costs: nothing if you are already on the subway system. Duration: less than an hour, including waiting for the train, that leaves each 20 minutes. Comfort: looks like a regular subway train. Wasn't crowded when I rode early in the morning, let's see if going stay this way. I had a regular size luggage, a carry-on and a back pack, it went on fine, if I had 2 regular size bags I would take an Uber. To short the story: is somewhat cumbersome, if you have discretionary income and plenty of time take an Uber, if you are in a budget take the train, if time is a concern also take the train, you can be sure to arrive in an hour, where the traffic god only knows, might take an hour, might take 3. If you are a first time visitor or is not familiar with the subway system skip the train.

High heat and humidity are not my friend. I'm in the mood for a take-down. If ever I wanted to take a bat to the head of a mother-fucker, that mother-fucker would be Cory Lewandowski, that smug prick. The guy needs to be bent over naked and have his anus explored with a heated cattle prod by a group of horny Dick Wadd veterans. I'm not a fan of Megyn Kelly, yet, but I was delighted to read her most recent Twitter quote: “This man should not be afforded a national platform to spew his hate.” As far as I'm concerned, all television and newsprint should shun the guy, and just tell the mother-fucker to go fuck himself into oblivion. His balls should be stomped on for his reaction to a Down baby being taken from the arms of his mother at the border. Another prick I'd like to see hit with a baseball bat, right in the mouth, is that chinless, fat-fuck, Jason Miller. CNN hired the fat-fuck to speak on behalf of Trump, and he's the reason why I limit my watching of CNN. This pussy-chub has his tongue so far up Trump's ass, you'd swear he was shooting porn on CNN when the bullshit starts spewing from his mouth. I'm not a fan of judging someone by his looks (except for the fame seekers), but I've always disliked fat, chinless guys with no neck. Can't stand to look at him. Can't stand to listen to him defend Trump at every turn. A real useless mother-fucker. We voters need to do whatever we can to see these Trump racists out of office asap. Trump is a racist, selfish pig, and I'm beginning to think most of his devoted followers are too. Breaking News (as of 1:30 PM EST): Michael Bloomberg plans to spend 80-mil on midterms to help Dems win House. Way to go Bloomberg! Rant over. I feel so much better now.

I highly recommend the film Muscle Shoals about session musicians based in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. You will recognize all the music. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2492916/

I'm in a lesser take-down mode today, but Stephen Miller is another smug mother-fucker who needs a splintered bat shoved up his ass. Since he's been Jeff Sessions' boy for so many years, I long for the day when it's revealed they are secret lovers. I like to imagine Miller on his knees sucking on the Keebler Elf's cock. And what the fuck was Melania Trump thinking when she wore that STUPID jacket to the Mexican border? "I really don't care do U?" Are you fucking kidding me? Where did these brain-dead idiots come from? Send them back!

I can see the magazine cover photo in my post. However, if you cannot see it, there must be something wrong with the link. Thanks for posting a replacement photo. Your post shows a larger photo of the magazine cover and of the hideous swine, Trump. In the meantime, "Homeland Security" admitted this morning that they have no records showing how to reach the parents of at least three hundred of the more than two thousand children that were taken from their parents. Those kids and parents might never be reunited. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-us-mexico-border-family-separations-hundreds-children-stranded-new-york-a8409231.html Another thing happened this morning - our long-time allies, Canada, France and the U.K. came out and expressed negativity against the U.S. over the separation of the parents/children. I am not clear why those allies blame Americans for the tragic situation. The tragedy was NOT caused by most Americans. The issue rests with Kelly, Sessions, Kirstjen Nielson, the psycho, Trump and, of course, his supporters. Obviously, I am not one of his supporters. Blaming Americans for the problem is misleading, at best.

He did say "crying babies are BAD for politics"... Interesting take on the issue, huh ? What's more interesting is that when Kathy Griffin posted the "severed head" pic, he mad a huge issue about how his son Baron was "traumatized" by it.... I guess when a child is ripped from their parent in a strange place, it's NOT as traumatizing. What a douche bag !

Honestly I still dont understand this VERY popular thread.... Maybe its just the Vicodin ? Can someone please tell me what this is all about ? Please help an Old lady. I have major FOMO here.

This is my professional and personal life, right now. Without the Clogs of course.

Great report...

I already suspected such, but for newer posters who might not be familiar with your method, it would’ve been useful if you had originally posted that the information in which you were sharing is from 15-16 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgK-FubKQd4 this is my professional life, right now

The way really to live life, no?

I had already decided that I didn't really personally feel right doing a favela tour. As a rich American who has traveled and lived overseas in a lot of economically challenged areas, it doesn't feel right to me to treat a poor neighborhood as a tourist attraction. Your mileage may vary. Add to that these significant safety concerns and I think it's pretty much off the table for me.

Already a DONE DEAL !!!!

Yeah, but once the Frigate bird makes his moves, that may be all...you sitting alone, because he's taken the only 2 or 4 or 5 good looking guys to a cabina, lol

i sent a copy of the review(w/o names) to the owner of MR and this is what he wrote back: the bar upstairs , the ceiling is very low but it is very cute... Yesterday we had a very good night. The best night after inauguration day...and we have to improve many things but everybody who goes there, like the place. I have a lot of new boys and the rooms are very neat and clean. It is compact but very charming. Of course some people will not like it because of the size...The wi fi, i have but I only give to those who asks because the customers complain when the boys are always on their cell phones and don´t pay attention to them! you can’t please everyone but i am trying to please at least 95%! Like any new business there are things that need to be changed or adjusted it will just take a little time to get everything right!

Yes it is clean...I just wish it was more spacious inside. It’s really too bad 202 and Lagoa will be gone in the near future when their leases end. The days of spacious saunas (I consider Lagoa to be somewhat luxurious even) might be over as real estate becomes too valuable..

Two somewhat disturbing articles: Missing Norwegian Business Executive, Last Seen in Ipanema http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-politics/rio-police-search-for-missing-norwegian-torkil-prytz-tyvold/ Apparently there is still no sign of him... LGBTQ Student Activist Matheusa Passarelli Reportedly Executed In Rio De Janeiro https://blavity.com/lgbtq-student-activist-matheusa-passarelli-reportedly-executed-in-rio-de-janeiro