Mavica

Thank you for the comments. I'm seeing your suggestions / opinions confirmed here and in various other social media and will adjust my plan accordingly. ✔

The only things I pay for by using a credit card when traveling internationally are hotels and Uber, most everything else is paid for using cash. I walk about with what I think is enough cash for the day and if I happen to be robbed it'll not be a big deal, provided I'm not physically harmed.

Before I travel, I do my best to research certain things about the destination, refresh my memory, confirm current events, etc. Occasionally, I read the forums at Reddit, including the one for Rio de Janeiro. Thee's a current discussion about credit card payment scams. I'm linking it below, as an FYI for myself, and anyone else interested.

It's all about the context in which the word / description is used, and the persons within ear shot of a conversation using the description.

So, after booking my flight and an apartment in Catete (on the circle before reaching the Gloria Metro station), I went online to get my Brazil Tourist eVisa. It hasn't been easy. Long story short, the website rejected my passport-like .jpeg image and the .jpeg of my passport information page several times because of pixels (taken with my Samsung Galaxy 24s cell). In addition to the US$80.90 eVisa fee I've had to pay an additional US$20 for a passport photo, less than US$1 for a good color copy of the passport page and US$35 to send them both to NYC via FedEx overnight. There was no objection to my airline itinerary .jpeg. Hopefully, the new images will pass muster.

There's an amendment process that should be followed. Instead, we have the Supreme Court offering it's interpretation that deviates from the original intent.

The USA Supreme Court has perverted the meaning and intent of the Second Amendment, which does not allow what's been permitted. However, there's no turning back.

Ok. A man originally from Russia living in the USA with unknown permission to be in the country is found dead, maybe murdered, at a festival known to be frequented by many substance abusers or drug addicts. These seem to be the facts. What basis is there to link Mr. Putin or Russian intelligence operatives to this death?

Yes, Le Boy. Thanks for the memories .....

Let's keep in touch before heading to Rio, maybe we can meet up.

Thank you for the responses. You didn't leave anything out.

I'm flying COPA, for the first time. Anything out of the ordinary I should know? Thanks.

I've pulled the trigger on a decent airfare from Tampa, FL to Rio de Janeiro, arriving September 27, leaving October 6. It's been a while since my last visit. 🙂 I haven't booked a room yet but it'll likely to be in Flamengo or Catete. Anyone around then, maybe we can meet. Otherwise, anything I should know that hasn't already been posted on this forum (visa issues?), I'll appreciate a heads-up. Thank you.

thanks. Good point, about the apps.

When I first visited Rio 23-years ago (and in several succeeding visits), after some of the saunas with GPs closed a collection of GPs (who hadn’t scored at the sauna or who were looking for a place to crash for the night) would sit at Chopperia Corujinha, across the street from Serzedelo Correia Square in Copacabana, and we’d invite them to drink, have something light to eat after which (if we were successful) we each invited one back to the Hotel Atlantico Copacabana (popular with gay visitors at the time). It was a welcome game of cat and mouse. We were the mouse! In the morning, we’d invite our overnight guests to what was then a very good breakfast in the hotel then provide some walking around / taxi money and send them on their way … only to repeat the adventure the next night. During visits since I'd not thought about the Corujinha and never went back. Does any such / similar environment / location exist in Rio today?

Thank you for posting that report.

"It's a small town but pretty dangerous because a lot o Venezuelans illegally live there especially ones from Chaturbate and other web companies." Are you suggesting some of the Venezuelan Chaturbate models are dangerous individuals?

I live in Florida, USA. There is a business that will come to your home and wash/disinfect your residential trash bin ... the type people put at the end of their driveway on collection day. A specially outfitted pick-up truck goes to homes where the owner calls, washes and applies a sanitizing rinse in a specially designed container of sorts. It's done all over the place here where it's hot and humid much of the year. I live in a 3-story condominium building where trash is placed in large dumpsters emptied twice weekly. Every so often I wash-out the dumpsters and toss in some bleach, to rinse the smell, eliminate maggots, dog shit that wasn't properly disposed, deter rodents, etc. Again, I live where it's hot and humid and if we don't do this the smell can get pretty bad. Not many people toss unbagged trash into any of the receptacles, but there is fluid leaking and sometimes ... improperly tied bags.

No. Please ... no.

As you walk by them with mouth open wide maybe put a ฿500 note between your teeth while smiling?

What you've written reminded me of something about when I lived in Mexico City. There were years when I concentrated my cruising ... on members of the Mexican military. I'd drilled down (no pun intended) into the secret-like places soldiers went to drink. I never saw another person, obviously a foreigner, when there. A particular soldier - Paracaidista - equivalent to a Sergent in the USA Army Rangers, attached himself to me. He was butcher than butch looking / acting. We went home after a night of heavy drinking, petting under the table. Once in bed he professed how much of a stud / top he was; he'd demonstrate on me what he did with women. Praise the Lord! But then I told him I wanted to fuck him (fulfilling a fantasy of mine). Several times he said no way - he'd fuck me, only; show me what a real man was like. Then, out of the blue, he whispered in my ear I could fuck him ... with one condition: In the a.m. I'd have to take him to a nearby mercado and buy him a Vuelve a la Vida (seafood cocktail) for breakfast - and - buy him a new white t-shirt. We did the deed, and he ordered two Vuelve's - and a pack of 3 white t-shirts. Yes, he reminded me when we parted ... say nothing to others in his squad when I returned to the place I'd met him. Straight isn't as easy to discern (or a reality) as many people might think. Don't we know. 🙂