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Day 5: Gabriel’s Offer, and the Paulista I can’t believe it is Day 5 already. A lot has already happened, and a lot still to come. Gabriel has stayed the night. It was a more low-key, introspective night than most nights with Gabriel. Sex was still there, and is his specialty, but it was coupled with deep talks and some tears about recent life events. No, it wasn’t a plea for money or an attempt to gain more pity from me. It was a talk about loss, and moving on from it, that made the night melancholic. I’ve known Gabriel for about 10 months now. I’m still peeling away a lot of layers from the onion. In the morning came morning sex, his favorite. We shower and then head over to the breakfast buffet at the Hilton, which came complimentary with the room. The buffet hall had a nice view of Copacabana: During breakfast, Gabriel asked me about my plans tonight. I told him my Paulista friend, Leo, was coming from Sampa after lunch. Among other things, I told him we were thinking of checking out his sauna, 117, tonight. Gabriel then tells me that it was his chance to show me “a maquina,” the machine, his nickname for himself when he tops other guys. I ask him if he had a Garoto de Program bottom in mind for the machine. He said it will depend on who was there tonight. He said 117 is usually good for him on Tuesdays, so it is a good time to go for me as well. So I tell Gabriel that if Leo wanted to go to 117 with me then we will see Gabriel there. Gabriel was kind of curious of what Leo’s deal was. I told Gabriel he is just a friend and he has nothing to worry about. For a GP, and a supposed straight guy, he sure gets jealous sometimes. Gabriel leaves and I wait for Leo’s arrival. Leo gets to the Hilton lobby at 1:30 PM. I gather all my things head to the lobby to check-out and meet Leo. I see Leo sitting at one of the lobby couches. It’s been 8 months since I saw him last, in Salvador, with the then BF. He is still the handsome, lean and obnoxious Paulista that I first met in Sao Paulo. Since we were not checking in to the AirBNB till 3 PM, we decided to have lunch (45 reals) and get haircuts (25 reals) in Copacabana. We headed back to the hotel to rescue our luggage and take an Uber to the Ipanema AirBNB, from the same owners as my last Ipanema AirBNB. One of the owners was already there waiting for us. Leo immediately warms up to him and they chat like they are old friends. Check-in was the same, the AirBNB guy gave us a tour of the place and gave some pointers for the area, but this time in Portuguese, as Leo did not speak English. The owner spoke fluent English, and did to me last January when my Portuguese was still in its infancy. Incidentally, Leo has learned to speak slower to me so I can understand clearly (nao rapido!). Leo and I get settled in and then take showers (separately) in the two-bedroom, two-bath AirBNB. I took the room with the queen-size bed, and Leo took the room with the two-single beds. We have never had sex before, and I am not assuming we will, ever. We have made out a lot in that gay club in Salvador (much to the chagrin of my then BF) though. So it’s possible. But it is also possible to be friends with another gay dude and not have sex with him. Let’s put this to the test this trip. After catching up we decide to walk around Ipanema before hitting the sauna at 6 PM. It was cooler today (it was winter after all), and the beach was deserted, even the gay beach: There were some people in the streets but not as busy as you would expect for Ipanema: We get back to the apartment and shower again and prepare for the sauna. Saunas weren’t Leo’s cup of tea, even the ones that were normal, non-GP saunas. Leo tells me there are quite a number of normal saunas in Sao Paulo that some of his friends frequent. But he finds the whole scene trashy and slutty. I told him that that was the whole point of the sauna, to be trashy and slutty together. He laughed, and told me he was willing to try at least one with me because I really wanted to go. He told me I was way more of a “safado” than he could ever be. I am way more horny than most people, that is certain. I decide on Club 117 tonight because of Gabriel’s recommendation. We Uber it to the location. Not much traffic tonight, I guess on a Winter Tuesday it is really slow here. As with everyone else, Leo chats up the driver and gets into a lively conversation about Rio vs Sao Paulo. It gets really fucking lively. I yearn to have that level fluency with Portuguese. We get to the sauna. It was packed. It was slow outside, but it sure was hopping inside. We get checked-in, get our lockers, and get asked about our shoe size, for the flip flops. It pays to know your Brazilian shoe size in this aspect, which is like the EU shoe size but a bit off I think (https://www.convertworld.com/en/shoe-size/). I’ve only been here once, but remembered that the lockers were at the lower level. As we got to the stairs, we immediately get accosted by at least 5 very very sexy GPs. They were looking at Leo with some circumspection. Was he a GP or a client, they wonder. Leo is young (25), handsome (Italian face) and fit. We get to the lockers and Leo immediately disrobes, save for his briefs, and puts on a towel. I, with my puritanical American upbringing, kept my shirt and shorts and just put on the flip flops and put my towels and wallet in the locker. We go back up and go through the corridor and immediately see Gabriel. He smiles widely and hugs me, and I introduce Leo to him. They nod at each other, both still fairly unsure of what to make of the other. I mention to Gabriel that he said he was going to find a bottom for us to share so I can see his topping skills in full effect. He said he will ask around but wanted to know what kind of guy I wanted. “Young, smooth, light skinned,” I told him. I figure the juxtaposition of the golden tanned Gabriel with a lighter skinned guy would be really amazing. Leo asked Gabriel if there was a place that he could smoke. Gabriel said there was a place, and led us to the bar further past the bar/stage room. The smoking room/bar was packed as well, and we were lucky to find a table and chairs to sit on. Leo situated himself and started smoking. Gabriel told us he was going to find a bottom. Leo asks me to sit down and then asks me if I wanted to order beers. I told him I wanted a beer and he stands up to go to the bar. After 5 minutes of waiting at the bar, he gets us our beers. There were some clients who were eyeing Leo as they walked past our table. Leo and I laughed everytime that happened. Some boys came up to me to introduce themselves. Leo would ask them to sit down and then have a conversation with them. You’d know when a boy asks Leo if he was a GP when Leo gives out a shriek. He was enjoying the attention, and the wonderment of people. It was fun to see. The boys who would say hi to us were all hot. The average boy here really is a tier above what I saw at Manhattan. I wasn’t really paying attention to the time, as hanging out with Leo and some boys was doing it for me at the moment. Gabriel suddenly appears, with his skin glistening as if he just took a shower. He apologized to me, telling me that as soon as he left the bar to find a bottom, a client took his arm and made an offer he couldn’t refuse. Thirty minutes later he was back here to tell this to me. “What did you do to the client?” Gabriel says “I fucked him.” I ask “Do you still have the energy to fuck a GP with me?” He says “Always. I hit the gym hard to be able to fuck multiple times a day.” He laughs. Leo just stares at him, perhaps shocked at this pronouncement. Gabriel then tells me he is going to find the boy to fuck for real this time. He disappears to the other part of the sauna. Leo asks me about Gabriel. He was still unsure about what he thought about the guy. I assured Leo that Gabriel is trustworthy. I’ve known Gabriel as long as him, I tell Leo. I show Leo my photos of me and Gabriel in Porto Alegre and Gramado. I guess Leo didn’t realize that I have spent considerable time with Gabriel. After 15 minutes, Gabriel comes back with a young, handsome, and a muscularly built GP. Gabriel points to the guy and asks me if he would do. Absolutely, he would do. But I wanted him to sit with me first to make a better assessment. The boy sits beside me and shakes my hand. “Me chamo David,” he says. How old are you? “21” Where are you from? “de Manaus”. Wow, my first guy from Amazonas. This could get interesting. He holds my hand and smiles at me. I was sold. Well I was really sold when Gabriel first dragged him here, but now, it was a sure thing. I would get him even without the threeway. I nod to Gabriel. We all stand up and I look at Leo. “20 minutes,” I tell him. Leo laughs. “Per person?” he responds. Witty, that one. I blow him a kiss and then I follow Gabriel and David to our threesome. What happened? That’s next.

This is an interesting choice in comparative cities, and illustrates why I tend to side closer to @Latbear4blk in his argument. In my opinion, this goes back to not only WHERE you are and WHAT you do, but also WHO you are (or more specifically, who you appear to be to others). New York City now is not the NYC of the 1970s and 1980s. It has not been this safe and devoid of violent crime in decades. Still, for some people, NYC (especially some less-gentrified parts of it) will never feel safe, and they will always feel like it look like they have a target on their backs. In NYC, as in most major urban areas, most violent crimes are committed intra-racially (black on black, white on white), because human nature is that people tend to victimize in their own communities, yet here as in elsewhere, we have mostly older mostly white guys freaking out over being victims of violent crimes in major urban areas with lots of young men of color. The violent crimes that occur in New Orleans and Miami — save for the anecdotal, media-hyped tales — tend to occur in concentrated, blighted areas with heavy drug wars and lots and lots of poorer people (of color). On your vacay, as a privileged tourist, do you really intend to be “slumming” or hanging out in East New York, Brooklyn, Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans, or Liberty City, Miami? Petty theft is common anywhere well-trafficked that is known to have tourists or people not as familiar with the lay of the land. However, violent crime, especially something like armed robbery, is going to be far less common in tony Ipanema or Leblon in Rio than it is in the inland neighborhoods — one major reason is that there is a larger police presence there to protect the monied nervous nellies (justified or not). Just as it is on the Upper East Side of Manhattan or South Beach, Miami.

I said before that I was not going to get involved in these arguments anymore, but I always fail to honor my promise. It is pointless. It is like explaining to a racist that he is a racist. This is just xenophobic bull shit, and there is no way you will make them understand. They will always come with the last anecdotal information to make their point. My point is be careful. Always and everywhere.

Serendipity lives, AS. I just ran across this bunch of scientists advocating for a 'flexitarian' diet. All you got to do is switch to a veggies (one hamburger patty or one pork chop/week is allowed) and all will be well. Assuming, of course, that all modern ag practices are turn inside out and all the myriad other solutions in all other sectors of the economy are flawlessly implemented worldwide, we will be just fine. Hmm... Me, I'm going to continue to chow down on steak every chance I get just as God intended. Fusion power, that's the trick!

Voting is critical. Good for you. I, too, wish to reject authoritarianism and ignorance. I am only hopeful we are all up to doing so. Best regards, RA1

global-scale geoengineering aka pixie dust P.S. AS, I thought you had come to a firm decision to live for several hundred years, minimum. Is your personal food chain sturdy enough to endure the coming shake up?

And since you wanted to look into his eyes...

Headlines like this one touting a deadline are misleading. What matters is the total cumulative amount of CO2 dumped into the system. And it is already too late to make that 1.5 degree threshold. Modern civilization runs on fossil carbon fuels. Switching off that to something (anything) else would be enormously expensive and painful. And that pain would be felt in every nook and cranny of our world and it would be felt now, not decades from now. Our species just is not equipped to make collective decisions that hurt like hell in the present for the sake of some distant nebulous future benefit. ------- In a more practical vein, the only political vehicle for any such effort appears to be the environmental movement which is joined at the waist with the anti-nuclear movement, not unlike Republicans with anti-abortionists and Democrats with anti-gun folks. There being no serious solution to the CO2 problem that does not have nuclear power as a central component, the climate change folks are trapped into silly, inadequate proposals that are easily attacked by folks intent on preventing their own particular ox from getting gored.

Between 5% and 8% of homicides in Brasil are actually solved and someone is tried for the murder. Only 2% of robberies in Sao Paulo, I doubt most criminals have an active fear of the police.

Amazing how crime seems to increase after a 3rd World country puts on the Olympics. The rich get richer and the poor get much poorer which of course leads to more crime.

i echo Badboy i have said before, when going to the beach wear your shorts shirt flip flops and 2-$20. R bills and a $10. that will get you everything you need for the afternoon! Drinks chair and umbrella! do not bring your phone! you can be without it for a couple of hours!

I've met Bill Cosby on a few occasions. He was always holding court, pretending to be sitting on some throne. His self-importance and pride permeated the room whenever he was present. I did not bow to his throne because I was never a fan. But I was professional and polite. His early years with small children was the only comedy of his that made me chuckle, and it was the kids who made me laugh the most.

I concur with every bit of that. Our only faint hope of species survival is global-scale geoengineering. But all the best ideas for that to date suck shit, and look as like to make the thing much worse as to maybe mitigate it a little bit. Been nice knowing y'all! My only realistic hope now is that the food chain does not collapse before I do.