Hot Brazilians for your Friday!

Let me introduce Emanuela de Paula . This successful and gorgeous woman hails from Cabo de Santo Agostinho, Pernambuco.

This is Caio Cesar. The beauty that is Caio was brought forth in to this world in Vitória, Espírito Santo.

I Love Fridays! 

Rio de Janeiro is Flooded With Foreigners!

I've been talking about how Rio de Janeiro has become bloated with foreigners for years. Brazilians have a selective memory and think that they were already here when I came in 2003. I'm sorry but I was the foreigner of Laranjeiras. I distinctly remember Brazilians of the neighborhood saying that I was. I remember there being one principal hostel in Copacabana and foreigners mainly at News Years and Carnaval. Come July I was the one and only natural blonde cruising Catete.

Now Veja Rio has come out with an article practically confirming what I have always said. Foreigners are the newest import and the big jump came in... wait for it... between 2007 and 2010! From 2007 to 2010 the amount of business visas doubled from 10,088 to 22,371. Of course that doesn't count tourism and such but it gives you an idea.

Rio de Janeiro is the new black. Everyone is trying it on. It makes you feel skinnier and taller. It goes with everything. Hell, you can even pull it off for a daytime wedding if you have enough attitude and the right length.

The article makes a good point though. São Paulo has had an international interest for a while. Rio de Janeiro, on the other hand, has been the hot slutty step-sister that travelers choose to spend a few fun nights with. The key? Then go home.

That is changing now.

So of course Veja Rio interviewed a few "random" foreigners who have moved to Rio de Janeiro (random out of the pool of foreigners that know someone at Veja). They are all in their 20s. Ha! Like that's the population flooding into this city to live. Let's just go with them for a second.

The big complaints are the confusing downtown Zona Sul traffic, bad urban planning, excessive bureaucracy, violence, social inequality, and general services.

The pros: breathtaking scenery, the Carioca Woman, the Small Town Feel in a Big City, The general Carioca Happiness, and The Cultural Diversity.

I can pretty much agree with both sides. They are both correct, as I am an official as to what is correct in this city. Do the pros outweigh the cons? It really depends on the person.

Personally I feel that the pros are amazing. They really are. I would like to add to it that this is a very child friendly culture and that PDAs with couples are not only accepted but encouraged. Love that!

As for the cons, they are also true. I feel though, as a foreigner married to a Carioca, that our choice to start our life here could possibly better the cons, within reason. I am married to a very intelligent Carioca man. He has the opportunity to bring business, technology, and jobs to his city. Bad urban planning? You can't really undo the tower of cards without causing a mess, right?

But I will take a quote from our very own Mr. Rant. Maybe the Olympics won't just bankrupt our city. Maybe they will do for it what it did for Barcelona. At the same time you have to ask the age old egg chicken question. Did the Olympics make Barcelona or did Barcelona let the Olympics make it a chicken? 

Nudity, Sex, and a Love Revolution

Mr. Rant recommended that I read a certain article from Trip Magazine. It is one about love, sex, nudity, and community... That is a community of love, sex, and nudity with all involved.

ORGY!

Ok, not really. And that is not what they are about. No, not at all. Open your minds people.

This group in Sao Paulo consists of 7 people, 2 men and 5 women. They are trying to save the world via their free love and by stopping the hypocritically limiting definition of relationships that we have today.

Alfredo, or Alfreedom as he likes to be called, said this about his group:

"For many people it is difficult to understand that this is not a surubão (orgy or communal love if you will). It looks like an orgy but we have a collective bond of love. And that's the most important thing. Of course in the middle of this kind of situation forms an amoreba that is more sexual, more horny here or there. But there's no rush. It's all very natural. "

By the way, Amoreba is their own very special Portuguese play of words. It's essentially an amoeba of love (a ameba do amor).

Is it just me or are free love people kind of corny? Alfreedom? Amoeba of love? I'm guessing they aren't just lying naked in the grass but may be smoking a bit of it as well.

Anyway, I get it. Free love is pretty awesome, especially when the guys have nice flat stomachs and the girl perky breasts like in the picture posted with the article. The ratio is also pretty good with 5 girls and 2 guys. Plenty of free love with plenty of new free love options.

Of course let's step away from the teasing for a moment and look at it with fresh eyes. There is a part of the article where the group discusses nudity. Marcela, one of the ladies of the group, talked about her first group swim at a waterfall. They all stripped down to their birthday suits and dove in. She hesitated. She thought about her body, their bodies, what they would think, etc. Then she realized it was all in her head. No one was judging her.

That stuck with me. It would be a wonderful world if we could just accept how we are naked. We are all different shapes, sizes, and colors naturally. Why is that a reason to judge?

That got me thinking about their entire concept of free love. They aren't saying that people should occasionally lock themselves in rooms with groups of random people and get down. That's way more 70s anyway. They are talking about communal living. I understood it that at any given moment we need a different kind of love and are capable of giving a different kind of love. Their group allows for more freedom of expression in terms of feelings, needs, desires, and closeness. You are not dependent on one other person for all you needs as the other person is not solely dependent on you.

And in theory I can totally understand open relationships. We are monogamous by societal standards and the world as a whole shows a constant struggle with that. Love also is not solely based on sex and yet we control it like it is the key to Pandora's box.

I suppose in a mutually supportive community sharing sexual partners among your group is not a big deal at all. Of course I would prefer if everyone in my group got tested first. Oh damn, showed my square side. I'm totally out of the group now.

What do you think of think of the free love "relationship" this group of 7 has? Would you be capable of doing it?

As for me, maybe in my 20s or if I were single without children in my 30s. Dare I show my super socially acceptable side, I don't know how this would work with children. Constant nudity, Mommy and Daddy sleeping with people they'd probably call Aunty and Uncle, and a lot of naked hugging...

Don't get me wrong though, I'm not judging! The principal thing they say is that they are all about the cuddles and care in the form of touching (or carinho in Portuguese).

Mind out of the gutter again people.

They are a group about acceptance of the human body, human nature, and of who you are as a person. Free love. There may be something to that.

It is a Love Revolution! 

I Was Played

I don't know if you remember my post about my standoff with Mr. Rant's Grandmother over goodie bags. If you don't, I said that I had thought that I had outsmarted her. I was sure that I had guarded those bad boys with the skill of a well oiled machine.

I should have known better. Today we had lunch with her at her apartment. At some point during the post meal digesting and chatting period the Grandma starting pulling out the toys that were given in the goodie bags. She was giving them to my boys to play with.

My guess is that she was going for the second bag when I snagged her.

Well played Granny! Well played!

Wordless Wednesday: Hooking it

Halloween at the Champagne bar