SolaceSoul

Jayblk has the most precise explanation here. And every poster has made salient points. In Brazil, the legendary soccer player Pele, due to the meteoric socioeconomic standing to which he rose, who came from one of the worst favelas in Brazil to become one of the greatest athletes, was / is considered “white” — and he is as dark as asphalt. This concept would be laughed at and even sneered at in the USA: the black person who would claim to be white would be scoffed at as self-loathing by communities of color, and white people would definitely not embrace him as white (although he would benefit from a higher economic class due to his status). As mentioned here before, I come from a family of very fair-skinned black Americans, with a grandfather who was a darker Afro-Latino. There is no “bi-racial” in my family, similar to that of the fabled loving one white parent / one black parent like Barack Obama had. In fact, the last relative from our family tree to have a white parent was my great grandmother on my father’s side — who was the product of a white rape in the South in the 1900s. Our light skin comes from white slavemasters, overseers and sharecroppers raping black women with impunity. Most of my family, myself included, are as fair skinned as Derek Jeter, Vanessa Williams, Wentworth Miller or Paula Patton — complete with lighter eyes, freckles and lighter hair. And no one in our family is considered white. Other than a great aunt who moved from Louisiana to upstate NY in the 1950s and “passed for white” (another uniquely American concept), everyone in my family is called black, and proudly identifies with black. The light skin has nothing to do with it, or even the features. It’s the black heritage, the black parents, the black in the family tree — the black blood, if you will. In the USA, that historic “one-drop rule” still applies — and the term “mulatto” is considered just as wholly offensive and dated to the slavery era as “mandingo” is. Due to the African slave trade and its variances in brutalities, Black people in Latin and South America have both shared histories with and distinct histories from African-Americans in the USA. Brazilians are far more historically and culturally in tune with the concept of “mixed-race”, most likely because they’ve (at least the European men and the indigenous / African women have been) openly been screwing each other for centuries. However, it isn’t exactly the racial utopia that some claim it is. Although economic class can improve a darker Brazilian’s standing (as in the Pele example), the truth is that most multi-generationally impoverished Brazilians and most lower-class Brazilians are a lot less European-looking than the lit middle-class or upper-class counterparts. Servants and backroom restaurant laborers tend to be dark. — as fo the perpetually unemployed and underemployed. Unspoken Jim Crow-styled regulations still culturally and legislatively exist in many/most parts of Brazil. It would be more accurate to describe Brazil’s issues as colorism and classism, while the USA definitely has a serious racism problem, with classism and colorism taking back seats to racism. And don’t even get me started on The Dominican Republic! That place’s colorism issues are enough to fill a year of National Geographic issues. The hatred and disdain shown to their darker fellow Haitian islanders is deeply disturbing. A conversation that I always have with Latin Americans / Brazilians during my travels as an African-American who would be considered branco/ blanco, pardo / mulatto / mestizo instead of preto / negro in Brazil / The DR, goes a lot like this: ”In America, Barack Obama, Mariah Carey, Halle Berry, Beyoncé, Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods, Meghan Markle, Paula Patton and Vanessa Williams are all considered black. And you would be, too!” BTW, Cuba? It’s no coincidence that the majority of Cubans (anti-Castro regime, mostly economic exiles, majority Republican) in South Florida are white(r), and the Afro-Cubans (the ones who are generally more favorable to Castro regimes), when you actually go into the barrios of Havana Este and inland, are mostly the ones on the island. Cuba is a LOT blacker than one would see in America and tourism areas.

This subject AGAIN? Pay for what you want. Give what you feel comfortable doing. If you think it’ll make you a fool for doing so, then just don’t do it. If it makes you happy and you can afford to lose it, then do it if you want. People ask me for shit for all different ridiculous reasons all the time in the States and I don’t kvetch over the decision over whether to give or not to give as much as I see people doing here for guys that are thousands of miles away. It isn’t that serious.

Here is a very detailed review of the new airport train service (in English) that also specifically addresses many of the concerns listed by posters here: http://checkinsaopaulo.com/en/testamos-o-trajeto-de-trem-que-liga-sao-paulo-ao-aeroporto-de-guarulhos/

... AND the cost of the meals and drinks (about 100 residents), the cost of the stolen designer cologne..(estimated at 250 reais), the time wasted out of the sauna (hours?). Wouldn’t it have been cheaper just to pay the arrogant one that you were REALLY physically attracted to the extra 50 reais? You would have saved about 300 reais and a few hours of your time — and you would know if the handsome arrogant guy was great in bed for you (you still don’t know, but 350 reais later, you do know that the less attractive guy was not.) Yes, the lessons learned should be: try them out at the saunas if you have the opportunity. That’s what they are for. And go for the ones you like, not for the ones you don’t really care for.

Several major mistakes were made here by the poster, which could have been avoided (easy to say in hindsight, I know). But the one that stands out the most: You emphasize several times that you weren’t that particularly attracted to the garoto, but you voluntarily invited him back to your hotel, anyway? That’s a whole lot of trouble to get into, just for a guy that you are only moderately into.

The irony is that the saunas in Brazil were probably at their peak in the late 1970s to early 1980s during a military dictatorship.

In February, Las Vegas had still been closed (since September) due to renovations and Binbom was closed with no word on reopening. As far as gay nightclubs, there are Karabali on Ls Rampa (only certain nights), Cafe Cantante on Saturdays, and a club on Thursday nights only that is near Parque Central (name escapes me, but it’s near the Inglaterra Hotel). There’s hustler / hookup cruising at and around Toke, the restaurant next to Vegas, and the Wi-Fi park around the corner from it, and Parque Central. AYOR and YMMV disclaimers apply.

So, you post here solely for affirmation, or mostly for it? Which one is it?

Chinelo means flip-flops in Portuguese. The Portuguese word for Chinese is chinês.

I always bring various gifts whenever I travel out of the country to give to locals, not just garotos or guys so want to sex with with. I was just taught that it’s a courteous thing to do when visiting a place that isn’t yours. I don’t breat the bank, but it gives me some pleasure to give gifts to locals that they ordinarily wouldn’t find in their country. I have never gotten a sex freebie out of it and never really cared to do so.

All I’m saying is, next time I’m there, I’m taking a big box of new underwear!

I don’t know who the Peters brothers are, but judging by the photo, I think the dual performance of The Mendez Twins from the 1990 Kristen Bjorn classic “Caribbean Heat” predates theirs: But they didn’t “do” the big act with each other (though they did almost everything else), they tag teamed a third.

What I meant by my comment is that the poor or lower-class in the USA also shoulder the burden of military service — voluntary or draft.

You just can’t stop with the right-wing talking points, Ted Cruz.

I take ownership of my snark. But I punch up, not down. I try not to insult or taunt the aging and the overweight. And I often call out those that imply (or directly state) that they are doing a favor for those in poorer nations by paying them a fair wage for their services.

It seems to me that it only becomes a problem whenever some poster makes a post that is derisive or dismissive about other clients’ looks, girth or age. It isn’t that people don’t want to discuss free sex or cruising — but the constant Mean Girl-ing at the board reminding grown men that they might not be as cute or as young as the self-proclaimed In Crowd gets to be a bit much.

Feel free to imagine whatever you wish about my physical appearance, if it makes you feel better about yourself. But I’m not so insecure about my looks or desirability that I would get bent out of shape if an older or fatter client more than me. “Trip reports” aren’t the only meaningful contributions that traveling posters make to this board. And as can be plainly seen, all “trip reports” aren’t created equal. Terms like “racial”, “minorities” and “chip on the shoulder” are about the whitest, gringoey-est things someone can say. Por cierto, mi abuelo negro era panameño. BTW, regarding posting any criticism, I think your posts, like anyone else’s, can be worthy of both praise and criticism. If you say something worth praising, you certainly get that — but when you say something that is foul and deserves criticism for even condemnation, that’s fair game as well. If you want nothing but sycophants worshipping your every word, then you can start your own blog where you can delete comments and prevent dissent.

So, it’s a lot like the USA, then?

Stop the world. I actually agree with the loquacious Riobard! Regarding “gringo”, it can vary by Latin American region, but this Urban Dictionary explanation is probably the most succinct: ”A gringo is just a North American or Anglo-Saxon. It is usually a white person, but it does not have to be. It isn’t a hateful derogatory, but it can be used derogatorily. It also represents peculiar behavior and attitudes that Latinos consider to be uniquely “American".”

“Honey, I thought that we were saving up for a new house! Would you mind staying within our agreed budget for garotos de programas?”

As the sauna scene is a cultural institution, I’d imagine quite a number of clients have hooked up with each other romantically or sexually over the years. Some may have even met the “man of their dreams” at a sauna — who was a client just like him! There are locals who go to the saunas regularly to relax, drink and socialize, and rarely hire garotos. Some of them probably do end up dating each other. At least you would not have to make excuses to your partner about where you are every day between 5 pm - 9 pm. That being said, I am still there mainly for the garotos.

Sure, that’s one perspective. But also, everyone in the population won’t do or cannot do sex work — for a multitude of reasons.

Perhaps if you would have taken a little time to read some of this board’s history instead of blathering on about your first trip, you would probably already know that no one could ever mistake me for a gringo, Asked and answered. You know what else is gauche? Publicly stating that it causes you some consternation that an older or overweight client — on a board where there probably are a number of readers who just may fit that description — was able to pay less than you for a sex date. Feel free to call me “bitter” all you’d like, hermano, but I’m not the one who spends even one precious minute concerned about what sex workers charge strangers, and if I am hotter or younger than them, or what that may suggest about my desirability. You may have only mentioned it once, out of all the things that you say, but it was a revealing comment. And 6’1” and what? Donald Trump claims that he is 6’3” and 238, and we all can plainly see that he looks like warmed-over shit. If I had a buckle for every guy on Grindr and the other apps that described himself as “VGL”, “hot”, “built”, etc. that really wasn’t, I’d already have that beach house in Buzios. But if you say you’re hot, great for you.

No one is suggesting that the Brazilian garotos should be paid New York escort prices. But this persistent argument over what is basically a $6 to $12 difference — mostly from tourists, visitors — seems petty AF. Rates for programa have increased slightly in the last decade but that increase hasn’t exactly kept up with the rate of inflation or America’s rising Dow Jones Index. Perspective, people, perspective.

The description is going to be the standard “good looking, fit, all-American” vagueness. The confidence of mediocre gringos is quite staggering.