SolaceSoul

Believe it or not, there actually are other reasons someone might want to go to a big mega dance club other than pick someone up and have sex. But here’s a rule of thumb: if you’re not successful in picking up shirtless hunky patrons at the largest circuit parties in your own home country, then it most likely isn’t going to be happening for you at The Week, either.

A fraud and a grifter, just like Don, Jr., the son of Drumpf.

Please stop doing that by yourself — for your own safety. When I am out and about drinking in Brazil, I always make sure I’m with a trusted person or two. I’ve been going back and forth to Brazil for 10 years. I was very recently in Rio and São Paulo for 3 months. I went to The Week (Rio) only once this trip (I’m over the “big giant dance club phase of my life — been there, done it all over the world, had a blast), and that was because some visiting friends wanted to go. It’s not really a great place to go alone — almost everyone goes there in groups (or meets up with a group of friends once there). The few who do venture and leave there alone tend to be turistas. Drunken solo tourists alone at night in Centro is just a powder keg of opportunity for malandros lurking around the corner. If you are traveling alone and really, really, really need to go to The Week, I suggest you ask a (relatively) trusted garoto to go with you, pay for his night out, drinks and all. ESPECIALLY if you don’t “look the part”. It might even help you meet other guys there, since everyone there travels and moves in packs of shirtless flesh. ... and please, for the love of God, only catch a taxi or an Uber right in front of the club! Everyone knows The Week! There should be no need to have to walk to meet a ride.

(1) The Week is in Saude, a not very safe area at night. Since The Week is only open late Saturday nights / Sunday mornings, going down ANY street near The Week is a stupid move for anyone. This falls into the category of “what area you are venturing into”, that I mentioned above. (2) Stumbling around anywhere in Brazil when you are drunk — especially after dark and you are alone — is just asking for trouble. Not to victim blame, but your friend used really poor judgment. None of my black Brazilian muscular friends would do what you just described that he did.

AND how white you are or what area you are venturing into.

So much pent-up anger. Hopefully, you can finally release some of that tension on your next trip out of the country.... in 2029.

(1) In the saunas, you’ll be okay without knowing any Portuguese on your first trip, but if you can use a translator app like Google Translate on your phone (download Portuguese in advance of your trip), then it will make your communication much easier. Don’t expect garotos to know any or much English. It’ll always help to at least try to communicate a little in the host language. (2) Their summer months (U.S. winter months) are the busiest time at the saunas. Any time of the year is good, however — with the exception of a few days here or there. (3) NOW is NOT the time to be self-conscious about your weight or size. You won’t be the only large / fat guy at the saunas! You’ll probably easily be pegged as an American, though — as people tend not to be that big elsewhere. However, for your purposes (hiring garotos), that may actually be a good thing, because they’ll want your money! I have a travel buddy who is probably larger than you — in the mid to high 300s — and he has a BALL at the Brazilian pay saunas! He hires more guys than me! Frankly, at payboy saunas, garotos don’t care much about your looks or your build (as mentioned before, be clean and look disease-free — there are showers at the saunas to assist you with your cleanliness). At the saunas, MONEY is the great equalizer and with that, EVERY client will look like a George Clooney / Bradley Cooper / Ricky Martin / Idris Elba / Scarlett Johansson / Beyoncé / Sofia Vergara to a working garoto! Also, re: towels — you’ll be fine in street clothes but you you won’t be able to go into the hot and wet areas like the actual wet and dry saunas, jacuzzis, steam rooms and public showers — where there is even more activity or opportunities with garotos. If that doesn’t appeal to you, then you can get away with wearing street clothes in the other parts of the sauna. I have one traveling friend who stays in his street clothes, not because of his size — he isn’t large or fat — but because he’s still got that American shame thing about nudity / near nudity. He stays in the bar areas until it’s time to go to a private room with a working boy. Ironically, my much larger / fat traveling friend has absolutely NO issue with wearing only a towel, and he does just fine, and enjoys the steam room very much. tl:dr version — You’ll be fine. Relax and enjoy your trip.

Hopefully, this will also include irrelevant, stale and outdated “ideas” from posters who haven’t visited the country in 10 years (and if they did visit, they didn’t hire while there — because numerous tired excuses that we’ve already read ad nauseum).

Also, the concept of “beauty privilege” must consider that standards of beauty is heavily determined by the ruling or oppressing class on the oppressed or underclass. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the Brazilian female beauty standard is not the dark-skinned Bahian beach beauty, but the supermodel of German-ancestry Gisele Bundchen.

Your client is Francis Ford Coppola, and his daughter is Sofia? Just a guess, but it definitely fits the facts of your narrative. Of course, you don’t have to answer. Coppola’s nephew, Nicolas, is a better (male) example of someone who is not very attractive but born on third base thinking he hit a triple. Nicolas Coppola is better known as ... Nicolas Cage.

I can think of countless impoverished persons all over the globe who are much more handsome than George Clooney, or much more beautiful than Gisele Bundchen, that will never be rich or famous, due to lack of privilege, connections and opportunity. Both of these, BTW, were born into privilege. Clooney’s mother, Nina Bruce (née Warren), was a beauty queen and city councilwoman. His father, Nick Clooney, is a former anchorman and television host, including five years on the AMCnetwork. Clooney is of Irish, German, and English ancestry. His maternal great-great-great-great-grandmother, Mary Ann Sparrow, was the half-sister of Nancy Lincoln, mother of President Abraham Lincoln. Clooney has an older sister named Adelia (known as Ada). Cabaret singer and actress Rosemary Clooney was an aunt. Through Rosemary, his cousins include actors Miguel Ferrer, Rafael Ferrer, and Gabriel Ferrer, who is married to singer Debby Boone. Gisele’s upbringing was comparatively upper class for Brazilians. Her mother was a bank clerk pensioner, and her father was a college professor and writer, who were both of German descwnt (not Black or Indigenous Brazilians, which immediately affects their class in Brazil).

On the bright side is we’d make good wingmen for each other, because we would never have to fight over guys! Actually, none of my traveling partners have the same tastes in men as I do. Whether that’s by design or just coincidence is up for debate.

This has got to be the most ridiculous attempts at deflection or rationalization of poor behavior that I’ve witnessed on this site thus far.

Don’t feel bad about such a decision, @mvan1. Heck, I’ve opted out on guys whose looks or builds have gone south only three years later! Just be polite and respectful about it. There is a harsh, unspoken rule, and of mutual benefit when it comes to our fleeting relationships: the sex worker keeps up whatever it is we physically like about them (looks, build, dick, ass, whatever it is), and in turn, we keep the coins flowing. Try telling a garoto that you lost all of your money and you are now living in a cardboard box under a bridge, but you’d would still love to hook up with him for free —- and watch him flee faster than Road Runner!

Of course you like what you like. Viva la difference! My main point is that the type you are describing that you like also generally tends to be priced lower in and out of the saunas. That, of course, doesn’t mean it’s better for or more appealing to everyone. If twinks were to suddenly double their prices, I still would not be interested. I would think you’d feel the same about my preference.

The Washington Post covers the story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/dozens-of-tourists-in-brazil-robbed-on-trail-to-rios-famous-christ-the-redeemer-statue/2019/01/04/c08685b8-1025-11e9-8f0c-6f878a26288a_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.870b765f8353

You’re the only one posting here who has been to this new Thermas (Club 13) sauna in Salvador, but from what I gather from your comments and from descriptions from locals, that place gets the lower-tier working guys (like Manhattan Rios / old Meio Mundo in Rio, or Fragata in São Paulo). There’s nothing wrong with that, but I think we were referring to “top-shelf” garotos.

Yeah, I agree, and I don’t get that at all. Boasting and bragging about paying what basically amounts to $13 USD less? It doesn’t make you seem like some economic wizard, and it certainly doesn’t make you seem like the garotos found you so much more attractive than everyone else that they cut you a deal. You just sound cheap.

I’ve done a few walking trails up to the top of morros (Dois Irmãos, Pedra do Telegrafo, etc.), but not the one going up Corcovado leading to Christ The Redeemer. That one just seemed WAY too steep a climb, even for me. But if some malandros want to mug a few international tourists on a hike and make out like bandits, I’d guess that Corcovado (followed by Sugarloaf) would be the ones to pick.

My experience is that certain guys do charge more than others, if they can command that rate. I really don’t think the twinkie / average guys charge the same as the muscle boys — but yes, there are always exceptions. Personally, I don’t care about how much they individually charge. Capitalism works fine for me. I only care about how much I’m willing to pay.

Most of the garotos that I deal with (the more muscular “body boys”) will usually make in the range of about $400R - $600R and up for about 3 programas in a night during a sauna visit — when they do go to the saunas, as most tend only to go somewhat sparingly (2 times a week, 3 times at most). Of course, it can be hit or miss, and some nights are just duds, while other nights can be a major windfall. And then there are the offsite client meetings that tend to pay more. I don’t fuck with the twinky / slim boys or average-looking / average-built guys, but one that I do like to converse with casually whenever I see him at the beach (because he makes me laugh) tells me that he stays busy at the sauna and can more in 1-2 days than his older brother makes on his regular job at the hardware store (“they like them young!”, he exclaims). That being said, I don’t think that most garotos are doing those kinds of numbers, and not consistently. A lot of it is based on looks / build,, personality / attentiveness / charm, and those physical assets that certain clients like (big dick, great ass, etc.) — and sometimes, just a good or bad day (a few GPs at the end of the night have asked me privately for money to cover their entrance fee as they didn’t make anything at all that night and need transportation costs to get back home). It’s also a short window of opportunity and most tend to burn out after a short period — although I’ve seen some garotos still working after 5 years.

By “rentmen”, he just meant an overarching term that includes escorts, payboys, etc. He wasn’t referring to the site.

And for those here who don’t care about racism, here’s his homophobia thrown in for good measure: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/brazils-bolsonaro-targets-indigenous-groups-lgbtq-rights-on-1st-day-as-president Brazil’s Bolsonaro targets indigenous groups, LGBTQ rights on 1st day as president

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/world/americas/brazil-bolsonaro-president-indigenous-lands.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur Jair Bolsonaro, on Day 1, Undermines Indigenous Brazilians’ Rights