SolaceSoul

I believe you may be referring to Marcelo Vidal. He’s a Rio gay tour guide. Hos website is riogaytours.com. His email address is info@riogaytours.com. The last WhatsApp / phone number I have for him is + 55 (21) 8765-6592 .

If you were a local worker, would it make more sense for you to pay attention to your steady, sure, well-paying client who will return every week or so and lavish you with tips and gifts, or make yourself available to some foreign gringo Schmoe who you may not see (or get muitos reais from) ever again, or at the most frequent, months or years away? ”Annoying”? To you, perhaps. Sensible and smart business, for them — sim. Plus, are those local guys discussing them and sharing info about them all over the world on the Internet? Another thing to consider.

The SAME bag? Probably some retail queen with access to deep-discounted product in that label. Nice. He’s got game, though. Don’t hate the player! Everyone’s got to work their best angle.

Not completely different. It happens in Rio, although admittedly, not nearly as much. In 2015, I visited 117 and in walked in one of the best looking men I had ever seen. He never changed clothes, went to the back bar area, met with and drank with a client for about 15-30 minutes, then left with him. He was a vision that I never thought I’d get to see again. A good friend was traveling to Rio as I was leaving. We compared sauna notes. He mentioned seeing the same guy with the same description, doing the very same thing as zi viewed — no change of clothes, having a drink with one completely clothed client, then leaving the sauna with him. A few months later, through several mutual connects, I ended up connecting with this garoto on social media, and we talked behind the scenes (DM / PM). On my next visit to Rio, I arranged for him to meet me at the sauna and he was fully Clothed. As agreed previously, I brought him a nice trinket that he wanted from the USA. I was able to convince him to drop trou and join me in a suite (but in retrospect, admittedly, it didn’t take much convincing). Fast forward to today, he visit various saunas in Europe as well as does trips with clients. But he has been known to work at 117 — in a towel. Maybe I ruined him? LOL

Of course, it seems foolhardy to me — but the ones who go this route aren’t exactly about the long term. They just want to trick some new “classy” dick. All of these observations are interesting to discuss, but the overwhelming majority of posters here aren’t the “big baller” type where money is no object. And they aren’t traveling to Brazil and all parts of Latin and South America to break the piggy bank (or cash out their IRAs) for some garotos. If someone is traveling on a retired teacher’s budget (nothing wrong with teachers, just using that as an example), and is constantly haggling with GPs over whether a programa should be $100R or $120R — the difference is basically only 6 US dollars — what makes one think that he will land a garoto who is clearly only there for “exclusive high-end” clients?

My more randy straight buddies fake their wealth and career position for new pussy all the time. Stupid, naive bitches who look for the “wrong things” when trying to determine wealth (flashy jewelry, fast car, the latest designer clothes, etc.) will fall for this. Every. Single. Time. Sone gay men do this too — actually a lot more than we would think. The garoto with his nose in the air mentioned in an above post by Sanddunes that asked him what he did for a living, what kind of car he drove, etc., seems like he may be one of those who would fall for the “banana in the tailpipe” — a flashy con job. As the PT Barnum saying goes, theres a sucker born every minute!

Oh, I agree with you. But paranoia can be a strong motivator — and things are much different in the digital age, where anything can be recorded at any time. Proof is no longer needed to ruin a reputation or deter potential employers from hiring. Besides, all it really takes is a good smear campaign at discussion groups on the Internet — and The Wayback Machine at archive.org is forever. Just a few years ago (maybe 10-15), some aspiring actors, singers and models in certain parts wouldn’t be seen at gay bars and clubs for fear of it destroying their career ambitions. It isn’t really that much different than this.

As I mentioned above, this is The Second Oldest Trick In The Book. There are plenty of network / fashion / film / music industry executives that promise these boys and girls the industry and the world at their feet, just to get some thrills in the sack, then move on to the next conquest. Some actually do deliver on a few minor, rarely major, hookups. This is common of all sexual orientations (look no farther than the creepy crawly fugly but once very powerful Harvey Weinstein for a straight example). The majority don’t end up setting any big screens or international runways on fire. The more common route is maybe a hefty allowance or luxury gifts and trips, with a few small bit roles or ad campaigns thrown in for good measure. But the dream lives on.

This is certainly not unique to São Paulo or anywhere in Brazil. A known (by “known”, that means “on the record”) sex worker would have serious problems working in the legitimate film, TV or fashion industries in North America and most of Europe. That doesn’t mean that some more discreet unpublished sex workers haven’t slipped by the guards. Any here who remembers Ye Olden Days of NYC and LA, where aspiring models and actors would visit certain hustler bars with upper-scale clients like Rounds in Manhattan or Numbers in Hollywood, would know that several of those boys — who became the boys du jour of Calvin Klein, Bruce Weber, David Geffen, Barry Diller, Karl Lagerfeld, Gianni Versace, Seymour Stein, etc., ended up getting legitimate low-, mid- and some high-profile entertainment and fashion industry work. The common thread is that the golden tickets have comparably short expiration dates. The rides are not available forever. The savvy boys understand that they must attend to the more well-heeled and well-connected sugar daddies and clients, sacrificing the others, during the “hot period” of interest or else that ship will sail. Just like Father Time, sugar daddies with plenty of options and disposable income can be very fickle and unforgiving.

Slight correction: The “elite boys” at São Paulo’s Lagoa shun foreigners and non-paulistas of modest or slightly-above-average means.

The (second) oldest trick in the book!

Don’t worry about their tales. Just give what you want, when you want, how much you want, in exchange for what you want, and only what you can afford to lose, and everyone will be happy.

luis@gaycubatourguide.com

A book for the ages (the result of a very meticulously researched, and very gay, dissertation project) that should be read by all followers of this forum.

The running joke between my friends and me (which combines all of the stories the boys tell us together in one excuse) is “Grandma was in a motorcycle accident and is in the hospital.” Note: these motor vehicle accidents, hospital stays, and operations always seem to occur on a Friday, the start of the weekend!

It can be fun to listen to and share the gossip. Just remember that, just as he is spilling other garotos’ tea With you, most certainly he is spelling and inquiring about your tea to other gossipy garotos and clients. Act accordingly.

It’s fun to witness you discover these things like a child opening Christmas gifts for the very first time. A rule: the GPs lurk. The GPs also gossip. Some gossip with, share with and learn from other, while others prefer to keep the info that they gleaned and learned for their own personal benefit. Now, that you discovered this, act accordingly, and hopefully, you will be circumspect and strategic and what you say to them and publicly (as in in the main sauna rooms) do. A corollary: in case you didn’t know, clients also lurk. And gossip. Not only about the garotos to other garotos and clients, but also about other clients to other clients and garotos. If this matters to you, then it is doubly important to be circumspect with what you say and do with all parties there.

When your Roget’s Thesaurus is overworked but your Google machine is broken:

This meme should it explain it for you, in a nutshell (and it doesn’t need to use a lot of big, fancy words to prove how smart it is)!

Don’t take the garoto’s use of “irmão”, or even the American-English word “brother”, too literally. So many of them who are BFFs will call each other “irmão” or “brother” or even “hermano” when there is no blood relation. You will see these words and hashtags a lot on their IG or FB pages when discussing each other.

My Google requests to correct the address and move the map marker for Aurora Net Lan House Internet cafe have been hereby granted.

For the love of God, can you for once just chill? It is NOT the Fenix Lan House Internet cafe on Av. Vieira de Carvalho. It is the Internet cafe right next to Eros, the adult video store around the corner on Rua Aurora. If you notice from the photos that I painstakingly posted, there is an Internet cafe next to Eros. The Google Map pinpoint suggests that there is an Internet cafe ACROSS Rua Aurora called Aurora Net Lan House, but in reality, it is NOT across the street! It is next door, just as I said. If you notice, in Google Maps, the numbers on the street address to both Eros and Aurora Net are one and the same: 772 — except one (Eros) says it is on Aurora, and the other (Aurora Net) says it is on Vieira de Carvalho. 772 Av. Doutor Vieira de Carvalho does not exist. This avenue runs from 10 at the end of Praça do República to 109, which is up the block across from Largo do Arouche Park — about 2 city blocks away. Clearly, this is an error! A Google Maps error. They will investigate and correct it eventually if someone bothers to report it. Eros the adult video store and Aurora Net Lan House the Internet cafe are probably sister businesses owned by the same proprietor — which explains why there is both adult video peep shows, Internet and sex work going on at the same address.

And for further clarification, you’ll notice that the small hanging red neon signs read, “Internet”.

I am fairly certain that this Internet cafe with hustlers is right next to the small adult theatre Eros Cine Video on Rua Aurora, which is next to the red corner building (restaurant) posted in Riobard’s incorrect photo. The Internet cafe might be named Aurora Net Lan House, but I am not sure and I don’t think anyone knows its name! It has a small red neon “Internet” sign hanging in the front. This is a better, more accurate photo.

I remember the conversation a bit differently. The most recent one about Chili Pepper (in which you and I both participated) had users that have Been there at least once — with most giving it unfavorable reviews. Comments regarding not only about the unattractiveness of the customers, but also a general feeling of lack of safety and expressed intent never to return by several trusted regular posters here were made. To me, that says “caveat emptor!” (Buyer Beware!), all day long. Were there any express remarks about the lighting in the place, the off-putting smell, or the labyrinth-like setup? No, but if after all the negative reviews, the only things that may have prevented you from going are those things, then perhaps that should be expressed. A search on Google would’ve rendered this GayCities page with comments such as these (the very things you mention here that concern you): “basically a huge darkroom where it's fairly difficult to figure out who's the owner of the hand that's touching you”, “A little bit dark and dirty.. Seems to be a place without someone to manage properly”. Nighttours reviews in the comments: “Place smells like ass in some areas that could use some hygiene”, “Horrible, no customer service, bartenders unfriendly,I got robbed by the cleaner”. “https://saopaulo.gaycities.com/bathhouses/304482-chilli-pepper-hrs For the record, I don’t care much for saunas without garotos, dark rooms, or off-putting smells — but if there were extraordinarily fine (not just average) men in the joint (which Chili Pepper doesn’t have, by most reports), I’d gladly suffer through! Regarding the safety of the area, the hotel/sauna is on the edge of the Santa Cecília and República neighborhoods — both are particularly dodgy and dicey at night. The Largo do Arouche Avenue (where Chili Pepper is on) that runs through Republica is well-known for lower-end, at-your-own-risk gay hustler and trans hooker cruising, and the Praça de República area can be a mix of street urchins, hustlers, travelers, locals and muggings. It’s not exactly for The Uninitiated! That being said, as I am very initiated into that “fraternity”, I enjoy staying in that area — as it is very convenient, a main Metro station is right there, there are a few lower-end gay bars and establishments in the Republica area as well as some very decent hotels.