ihpguy

I'm on Azul going from SDU via Campinas

Totally agree, Trench. And there is even a small hole in the street right in front of the entry to Meio Mundo that seems to continually have sewage bubbling up. I have been told by someone more knowledgable that Rio has separate sewage and storm drains but I never believed it. When Rio won the Olympics and promissed to clean up Guanabara Bay by 80%, I never believed it. On one of my trips back to the US last year in 2014, I met another expat American on the plane. He lives in Macae, the center for Brasil's oil exploration. He was a former community organizer who came here and ended up teaching English to Brasilians. He said not to be a pessimist, that I should give the leaders a chance, blah, blah, blah. I told him that I lived on the Bay, I see the quality of its water daily and there wasn't achance they could meet the deadline. It was impossible to do the difficult work in time of digging up all of the streets, connecting the sewage lines to the water treatment facilities and then putting the streets back. And that didn't even begin to address the sewage problems in the favelas. For instance, right now CEDAE, the water company is building a new sewer line from Flamengo all the water to Ipanema to connect with a treatment facility there. Why? So there is less sewage fouling up the area in Botafogo Bay and Marina da Gloria with most of the sailing events take place. Thee types of things needed to have been started 20 years ago.

#1 and #3 for sure. #2 for Sao Paulo #4 was forecasted for 2014 and the government clamped down on everything. On Wednesday night there happened to be a protest march on the street where I was walking going in the opposite direction. I was able to do a rough count as to there being fewer marchers than police.

Rio's on the water, Sao Paulo is not. Big difference with ocean breezes. As to traffic, I dread the Marginal and traffic jams entering the city every time I travel to the city. I haven't transited Sao Paulo enough by taxi to be able to compare traffic. I tend to stay on the Metro. But for Rio, the Aterro trough Flamengo Park is usually pretty open. And since they have reworked and finished constructions and reopened Via Binaria and the Gasometro traffic interchange, things SEEMED!!!!! to have improved.

Lava Jato/ Car Wash Scandal is old hat down here. Right now the bigger is the Petrobras 3% payoff biz where anyone awarded a contract from the oil company had to kick back three percent to the political parties. This had dirtied basically every politican except Djilma. However, as Djilma was head of the board for Petrobras, how could she not have know? Unless she was as out of it as GWB was without a clue as to what the NeoCons were doing by manuevering us into Iraq pre-9/11? Even fairly clean Mayor Paes of Rio got a 250,000Reais payoff. And when the Olympic Gold Course was dedicated last month, he had to defend the property develop who is a major contributor and is building multimillion real condos at the margins. As to the law about suspension of building by firms under investigation, not a clue. For the VLT, they have already begun laying cement ties and rails around the routes near the bus station. I'm doubtful if all six lines will be completed in the next 15 months.

Oz, I just got back from 4 weeks in Europe. At the Casa Mila in Barcelona, Alcazar in Seville and Alhambra and Generalife in Granada, I paid the extra 3-5Euros to go to the head of the line with a guide.

Well, for a rsponse from someone who lives here: 1)There are already two BRT lines completed in the metro area with a third nearing completion and the fourth under construction but planned not to be ready for the Olympics. 2) The two-level Elevado Joa which runs from Barra to Sao Conrado is being doubled with a second structure and tunneling as well as a separate smaller tunnel for bicyclists and pedestrians. 3)I've been here for the World Youth Journey in 2013 and the World Cup in 2014 and things seemed to run pretty smoothly. Except for the flooded field past Recreio in 2013 where the final celebration was to be held and then moved to the beach in Copacabana. One thing they did during the World Cup at the Maracana and I assume that they will do again for the Games, if you didn't have a ticket you didn't get within a great distance of the stadium. So I have my doubts that if tourists are planning on coming to Rio for the excitement and not plnning on purchasing tickets, they wil not be getting close to the venues. 4)In 2013, some of the Peregrines were being housed out past Sao Goncalo in rental bedrooms, and even by me we had pilgrims from one of the Baltic states. 5)That many new hotel rooms, I doubt. For Reveillon, there are usually around 6 or so cruise ships docked at the Praca Maua, so maybe they can squeeze in a few more or even more at the naval base or at the container port further west, 6) I was quite surprised at how well organized things seemed in both 2013 and 2014. So I think it could be a pleasant surprise at how well things might run. And if one has been to Copacabana for Reveillon, it is a marvel at how quickly the city government can move a million people to the north and away from the beaches. 7) Biggest problems will be the complaints about the water for the events in the ocean, Guanabara Bay and Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. Really filthy all around. The politicos have been dragging their feet and lining their pockets for nearly 25 years. 8) I just got back from a month in Europe. Having been at the airports in London T-5, Amsterdam, Brussels, Barcelona and Madrid - Barajas T-4, I fear that the substandard facilites at Galeao will be a nightmare.

Tom, I hope my abs look that good post-tummytuck plastic surgery!

Tom loved seeing all four together at MM. What fun!!!

My caseiro has to stand in line every month to pay his credit account at department stores C&A and Leader as well as twice monthly to Claro, because of his simple manner and lack of education. He spent the day with his wealthier boyfriend who could have easily resolved all of this and chose to let him fend for himself, which is the Brasilian way. To me it can be so irritating.

Not that it helps you gringos/estrangeiros, but with a Brasilian credit card these problems do not exist. And with the chips embedded into the credit cards, along with codekey cards and iTokens, credit card security is on an entirely different level.

BTW Tom, Pablo Souza is neither straight enough nor brutish enough nor steroidal enough for PR2K.

I can assure you that nearly every Brasilian is on WhatsApp. Why? Many people here pay for text messages or a daily fee for texting. With WhatsApp, no charge.

Come on. Open your eyes. Pull open the curtains. End of this fantasy! Here in Brasil, they might be called garotos de programa/program boys/sauna boys or whatever. But the majority are not boys. I really do not believe that the majority would be there because selling your body to generally older men for sex is "fun" but it is a necessity to survive.These are not childlike adolescents in the main. A majority, most certainly at Clube 117 are grown men. Many with wives/girlfriends and children. In the past, the image was that they worked and visited saunas to earn the extra funds needed to survive the life here. Not now. They are professional sex workers coming to the job. Usually at certain hours and certain days. This is the reality. One might even consider them as adult entertainersas at the Mustange Ranch, but like the whores that hang out there in their lingerie waiting for clients to drive up, these men are hanging around in towels, boxer briefs and swimsuits, and are even required to stay for a certain number of hours or they have to pay the full customer admission fee and not the discounted sex-worker fee.

When they reach their sell-by dates, and are still at the saunas almost nightly, and not an occasional way to earn a little or a lot of extra money besides the regular job, they are male sex workers. I don't come here three or four or five times per year for the last 12 or 14 years. I haven't made 122 trips here. Nor need to total them up. I live here permanently and have for over five years now. So I do know a bit about which I write. They can have a good attitude or a bad one. However, if they stay in this life, in this world of rentboy saunas and sex motels, all it is in the end is the same-old, same-old....show me the money, honey.

The reason this thread has gone off the rails is that PR2K is crazier than a fruitcake.

Down here we have cafe com leite and this bit of sweetness

PR2K - Please find the thread where I ever said to avoid the good-looking or better-looking boys/garotos? And you have PM'd me in the past that you have offered 300Reais and even more to Fernando and he has turned you down. Get your lies straight.

When going to a sauna, and a garoto starts chatting you up, the conversation will invariably come around to where the client is from. Wht? Do you think they really care if you are from Toledo, Toronto or Timbuktou? Orlando, Ottawa our Ouagadougou? Cleveland, Caen or Cochin? NOPE. They don't give a hoot where you are from. They only want the money in your wallet. They are there for one reason. They want to do whatever is necessary to get whatever money that is residing in your wallet transferred to their own wallet. By doing whatever is necessary. They are just trying to figure out if the client has a clue as to what the fees they currently get from Brasilians and if they can get you for more. PR2K can be happy to pay 400 or 600or whatever to the "Fabulous Fernando" amd be thrilled getting fleeced, and so be it. Or one can be an educated, knowledgeable consumer and state/offer the going right and have an equally good time for either for half the price or have two sessions for the same price. If the garoto two Tuesdays back were really hot, I'd probably have talked to him more and bargained with him for my normal 100 at 117. But I was so put off when he started at 150, lied to me that the standard fee at 117 was now 200 and then gave me the reason that I would be getting a great deal as there was a Japanese guy who had just paid 400 for a whole 30 minutes. Hey, PR2K. Are you of Asian descent, but the way?

Down here there is ZERO reason to tip. You have concluded a business transaction. ZERO They consider you an idiot for paying more than the agreed upon price. IDIOT However, go to the entry with them and pay their entry, buy them a plate of food, a bag of chips and a beverage, or offer to take them out of there for a meal and/or overnight, shopping even, but do not give them a tip for a business transaction.

Another in the course Male Sex Worker101; Never, never, never tip. YOu have already agreed on the price for the transaction. At least in Brasil, the garoto thinks you are a fool por paying more. Find out from the desk what the entry fee is that day and pay there bill. Or if you are really thrilled, take them to Centauro at Rio Sul or Leblon Shopping and splurge on the new Nike or Asics model, follow it with something they would never spend money on .....a Starbucks frapuccino and a muffin. Something totally unexpected. Make it memorable. For then 10,20 or whateve amount is just like shite sliding through a tin horn. And most likely, that present will guaranty you an overnight.

By the way.....BOYS LIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PR2K is full of shit. He really needs to seek professional help. He is nuts. The great majority of clients are not foreign travelers at either 117 or Meio Mundo. Brasilians pay 50-60 at Meio Mundo and 80-100 at 117. Paying more is not necessary. Just raises the prices to more than what is required for Brasilian as well. These are not boys. These are male whores. It is a business transaction. Nothing more. Nothing less. The boys/garotos all talk about pricing. If one goes to shop at Macy's and they are having a special promotion, does one refuse to accept the discount and say to the sales person, you can keep the difference? Last week I went to 117. Some garoto wanted 150. I told him that was too much. His response was that a Japanese tourist paid 400Reais for 30 minutes so I should be happy to pay 150. I have an American friend here now who speaks Portuguese and he only pays 80 to100 with an ejaculation at 117. Save your money and get two sex session for what PR2K seems pleased to pay for less than one. Spend the money on something else. Take the boy out of the sauna, treat him to a nice meal and use the rest to pay for an overnight. I could go on and on, but is there really any reason?

Meio Mundo as very busy last night but many of the guys were in a "one and done" mode. I think it had to do with the fact that today is a state holiday to the Patron Saint of Rio de Janiero - Sao Sebastiao and in actuality, the center of the city was much emptier than normal, it had the feel of a Saturday and not a normal working day. Many people here are making it into a four-day holiday.

Not sure what this post refers to, but my Mom had home hospice last year until the last 2 1/2 days when she was transferred to a regular hospice for more attentive thorough care than what we could give her at home.