Gotti

Most big cities in the world have trains connecting the airport to downtown. Most of them includes a subway connection to a final destination. At peak time subways cars are usually crowded. It's not supposed to be as convenient or confortable as a private car. It costs substantially less ( in Sao Paulo case like 15 times less, in NY case-air train+ subway 10 times less). Does that make'em all useless?

By suggestion of Mvan1 I'm starting a thread featuring the new train between Sao Paulo main airport (Guarulhos-GRU) and several stops in the city. Is already in operation but I have not used yet, so hopefully somebody currently in town will post a review soon. Mvan1 main concern, regarding the danger of carrying luggage in a public transportation might not be the case because how can someone escape carrying a sizable and probably heavy bag? A gang certainly could, but would it pay off? They certainly would aim a more profitable enterprise. I think is more risky showing off easy to snatch stuff like cellphones, cameras, jewelry etc. I have carried roll on luggage through streets in both Rio and Sao Paulo with no issues, I believe cause, if they robbed me would not be easy to get away with it and the chances of getting caught are very high. By the way, I can't remember the name of this new thing, if anybody has a link with more info, kindly post it below, so it can really be more useful for everybody.

Guarulhos in SP has the same fuel facilities as Galeao (Antonio Carlos Jobin) in Rio, so is not affected by the strike. Guarulhos also just inaugurated a train service connecting the airport to downtown Sao Paulo. Haven't use it yet, but the pictures looks pretty good, modern and confortable. Supposedly cost the same as a subway ride.

The hustler demanded 4 porno flicks? C'mon!

The observations by Mvan1 are correct. Although truck blockades are common in Europe and does cause significant disruption, is nowhere as bad as in Brazil. If I was on my way there at the moment I would try to re-arrange the dates, maybe will be OK in a week or 10 days.

Trucks blocking highways is a common sight in Europe. It happened twice in a couple years while I was in France.

Pollock.

This is obviously going nowhere, the only consensus is that the forum has changed with the addition of some new members. If you like a positive environment where you gain from the experience of others you think it changed for the worse, if you like controversy and dispute on everything written you think it changed for the better.

Some people thrives in controversy, sadly they believe this forum is their home.

There is no racial Harmony in Brazil, but they wouldn't go so far because the law don't allow. A decade or maybe 2 ago a posh golf club in Rio forbid Asians from becoming members, the guys in question were a few rich Japanese men that got transferred to Brazil to lead a major Japanese company. Since they had money they hired a top lawyer, sued the club and won. I don't know what the outcome would be if a top lawyer was not involved but it served to send a message and hopefully things like that don't happen anymore, but to short the story: the bad seed is there!

To American Airlines now miles travelled don't mean anything anymore. After receiving an email stating that I had 5000 miles in my acountI called the company to let them know it was a mistake since I travelled recently twice on a round trip NY-Rio which would be close to 20.000 miles, and they told me it was no longer the case. What matters now is the dollar amount spent on the ticket, I don't remember exactly how the equation goes, but I remember calculating how many trips I would need to get a free round trip, paying $750/800,00 a pop. What in the past was 4 round trips to get one, now is something like 20! Why bother?

I've been to Brazil countless times, including during the Obama years and I've always heard people and the media refer towards him as being a black guy. I don't know about Cuba though. I was in Brazil when Obama visited with his family, he stayed at the Marriott in Copacabana and Michelle and the girls went to a samba school!

I've heard some airline is charging or is about to start charging for the overhead bin. The day will come when before boarding you step on a scale and gets charged accordingly.

The garotos above described is one in a million, ok, one in a thousand. Some guys have all the luck...

Not everything is proportional with the US, food for example, is about the same, if not more expensive, McDonald's, which I think would be a good comparison, has some sandwiches costing more in Brazil than in the US, other restaurants, I feel I would pay less in the US, gasoline is way more expensive in Brazil as is telephone and other utilities, rent is cheaper than NY but probably not much cheaper than an average American city, so make sure you enjoy the boys as much as you can! Not than long ago, 2 or 3 years, if anyone researches this forum, they will find lots of people complaining how outrageosly expensive Brazil was, it happens the currency rate has changed, still some basic things are still costing a substantial amount of money.

Calvin does not own his brand anymore, and this is a fact for several years, the brand is owned by a conglomerate and they decide which way the advertising goes. Calvin has a "counselor" title, he can certainly make suggestions, but no longer make decisions, his power is over or severely diminished. He doesn't do any design either for nearly a decade, until recently the brand designer was a Brazilian named Francisco (for sure not one of his Brazilian boys). Calvin spend his days now decorating and re-decorating his many properties.

Hard to believe you are in South America. If you add the value of everything on display, far exceeds a billion dollars!

A golden shower scene in Brazil! Who knew? I remember the time when they didn't even know what a glory hole was...

Again, this is a Sao Paulo/Lagoa thing, the "elite" boys have their cliques of customers/co-workers and they in most cases remain insulated. But there are plenty of down-to-earth boys, highly enjoyable, and without the attitude, that everybody can afford. You can always have fun at Lagoa, just have in mind that some boys are not meant for you, very different from Rio, non?

My post was all about the distincion among two sides of the "entertainment" world and how differently they accept sex work as a career path, at least in the beginning.How many faces you see everyday of people trying to sell you someting on billboards/outdoors/magazines/newspapers and what do you know about their lives? Virtually nothing, and you probably don't even think about it, on the other hand an actor becomes known in a role, his career won't go any further without a bunch of interviews, yes it can always be denied, but a rumour will always be around and is not gonna help, specially if homossexuality is involved. That helps explain why so many pretty boys you see in Rio all over the city, rarely one of them at the saunas, at least not the ones with a TV face, while in Sao Paulo models make Lagoa a ritual of passage. Got my point now?

By the way, the aspiring actor Sandunes mentioned on his post probably won't go anywhere, soap-stars have their past scrutinized by the media, if he has done Lagoa, even for just a month, this will come up, and a sex work past is a major no-no in the acting business, a gay sex work, no less, forget about it. That's why the pretty boys from Rio (Brazil's quintessential TV city) that have any show- business aspirations avoid the sauna scene like a plague. Sao Paulo models don't have this problem, they don't have their past scrutinized and besides, on their industry some sex work on the side is not only tolerated, but kinda expected...

That's right, if you are able to wire them a substantial amount of cash or front a fancy cruise you are always welcome! Important thing: this is not true in Rio, in Rio everything goes!

The above posts by Sandunes just confirm what I posted like a week ago: at Sao Paulo's Lagoa the elite boys shun foreigners and non-paulistas. There is nothing like a local daddy.

Charging sex workers to do their jobs is a common practice not only in Brazil. In New York, I know for a fact that Adonis, the city main operator, charges all guys, they do lap dances events basically every night of the week (in different venues) and twice a month an "totally nude party" where the workers pay an astounding $50.00 to work (yes, US$), and they must be naked for several hours (the customers must remain dressed). By the way, an unmissable night in NYC!. After that, everyone will become a lot more picky when visiting Brazilian saunas.

A favela tour of a few years ago it's not the same favela tour nowadays. The violence in Rio escaleted exponentially, to the point that is shocking the rest of the country, the federal government adopted security measures never seen before, so far without any effect. Just last month an European tourist got killed by a stray bullet, while doing one of the popular tours with a licensed guide. In the last 2 weeks 14 people got killed at Rocinha favela. The violence seems specially bad at "tourist friendly" favelas of Rio's zona sul (south district). If anyone think this is an exciting experience hopefully it won't exceed the expectations.