Cops in Rio de Janeiro & Sao Paulo have killed 11,000+ in the last 6 years

[derspiess]

I did a research trip to Sao Paulo last year, including going to a handful of favelas and spending time talking to some police officers.  Met some very interesting characters and heard some fascinating stories as well.

We had a security guard, of course, though ironically he didn't get to come with us into the favelas (it was thought he'd piss the drug gangs off too much leading to a confrontation).

Playing MW2 is about as close as I ever want to get to the favelas.  In fact I don't have any desire whatsoever to step foot in any major Brazilian city.

Cool that you did it, though.  Any stories to tell?

[Sheilbh]

We don't do tour groups.   

I find the idea of them a bit scary to be honest.  But that's a snobbish middle class reaction against the type of people who go on tour groups I think, in the UK it's only the elderly or lower middle class :shudder:

[Caliga]

We don't do tour groups.   

It had its pluses and minuses, to be sure, but I probably wouldn't do one again.  My next Eurotrip will be to Germany where I won't need to do a group since DER IST MEIN PEEPZ.

[Caliga]

I find the idea of them a bit scary to be honest.  But that's a snobbish middle class reaction against the type of people who go on tour groups I think, in the UK it's only the elderly or lower middle class :shudder:

Our tour group broke down as follows, to the best of my recollection:

50% upper middle class to upper class Aussies (one guy was the just-retired CFO of Parmalat Australia) of various ages
35% retired Italian-American trash trying to get in touch with aforementioned roots
10% educated middle class Americans of various stripes (including Princesca and I)
5% single lower class HOTT Italian-American chicks with their tweener daughters

Oh and there was this one guy who was CEO of a chain manufacturing company from Cedar Rapids.  He got drunk all the time and laughed like Santa Claus, except he was thin and clean shaven.

[Sheilbh]

50% Aussies

Another reason never to take a tour group

[Caliga]

Another reason never to take a tour group

Aussies rule.  I love how they say 'yes' : YNRRRRRRRRRRH

[Martinus]

We don't do tour groups.   

It had its pluses and minuses, to be sure, but I probably wouldn't do one again.  My next Eurotrip will be to Germany where I won't need to do a group since DER IST MEIN PEEPZ.

Berlin Languish Meet pls!

[DisturbedPervert]

50% Aussies

Best reason to take a tour group   

[Jacob]

What was the research for?   

A certain yet to be released video game set in Sao Paulo.

[Jacob]

What did you think of it overall?  One of the places to visit on my long-term list is Brazil... did it seem pretty safe overall, were the people friendly, was the food good, etc.?

I loved it and would highly recommend it.

Safety... I'd rate it so-so.  I mean, you saw lots of armed guards all over the place and if you hung out in the favelas you'd see armed drug dealers too.  And there are plenty of stories of kidnappings and robberies and whatnot, but then again that was sort of the focus of my research.  I honestly don't think it's that bad.

The people were super friendly and the food was really quite good.  I would love to have reason to go back to Brasil.

[DisturbedPervert]

Ok maybe I won't take that vacation to Rio...

Or if you do make sure you wear a t-shirt stating you are a foreigner

He should also wear his money clip on a diamond encrusted gold chain around his neck

[Iormlund]

Brain, that won't work because as an American Valmy arrogantly assumes that you worship his nation and culture, and you damn well BETTER know things like that.

It only works if you are an American.  Since you are a Euro I automatically assume you not only know far more about the USA than I do but you can also name every Roman Emperor from Augustus on and can trash talk about obscure battles of the Livonian War of the 1560s.

I was once chatting on a Yank server with a Romanian dude and I mentioned a few cities. Surprised, he said I was the first American who knew anything about his country. So I go: "I'm European". And he's like: "Ah, of course". Drawing not so nice comments from the Yanks present.

[Jacob]

Playing MW2 is about as close as I ever want to get to the favelas.  In fact I don't have any desire whatsoever to step foot in any major Brazilian city.

Cool that you did it, though.  Any stories to tell?

A fair number, yeah, but most of them are the kind I tell over a pint of beer in person.  Some random details:

- Our security guard had a pen he'd made himself, only it wasn't a pen it was a single shot .22 gun.

- While you can pay for girls to dance for you in Brazilian strip clubs it's not really a lap dance, more commonly you pay the girl and you and her nip across the street to a conveniently located hotel for 30 minutes to an hour.  In the meantime, your friends can watch the live sex show on stage.

- We got to handle all the guns and armour belonging to to a Policia Militar squad.  Very interesting.  The timing was good to, as the next day strike action by the Policia Civil led to riots and fighting in the street between them and the Policia Militar and no one would've had time to hang out with us.

- Met some interesting and cool people in the favelas.  Some of the places were not bad at all and others were really fucking squalid.  The people were generally friendly, though we did get dirty looks from assorted drug dealer guards at times.

- We managed to get up on the roof of the Treme Treme vertical favela at midnight one night.  That was pretty trippy.

[Caliga]

The people were super friendly and the food was really quite good.  I would love to have reason to go back to Brasil.

Not surprising, since New England has large populations of Brazilians and Cape Verdeans and every one I ever met was extremely friendly.... and the Brazilian restaurants...

[The Brain]

Playing MW2 is about as close as I ever want to get to the favelas.  In fact I don't have any desire whatsoever to step foot in any major Brazilian city.

Cool that you did it, though.  Any stories to tell?

A fair number, yeah, but most of them are the kind I tell over a pint of beer in person.  Some random details:

- Our security guard had a pen he'd made himself, only it wasn't a pen it was a single shot .22 gun.

- While you can pay for girls to dance for you in Brazilian strip clubs it's not really a lap dance, more commonly you pay the girl and you and her nip across the street to a conveniently located hotel for 30 minutes to an hour.  In the meantime, your friends can watch the live sex show on stage.

- We got to handle all the guns and armour belonging to to a Policia Militar squad.  Very interesting.  The timing was good to, as the next day strike action by the Policia Civil led to riots and fighting in the street between them and the Policia Militar and no one would've had time to hang out with us.

- Met some interesting and cool people in the favelas.  Some of the places were not bad at all and others were really fucking squalid.  The people were generally friendly, though we did get dirty looks from assorted drug dealer guards at times.

- We managed to get up on the roof of the Treme Treme vertical favela at midnight one night.  That was pretty trippy.

Cool.