ON THE ROAD TO RIO

[trilingual]

I'll be less visible for a while. I'm leaving for Rio tomorrow afternoon. With the M4M parties going on and trying to get my new apartment set up I'll be pretty occupied when I get there, so I won't be online as much. It's probably going to take some time to get a Brazilian ISP and DSL service started up at my new place, so until that happens it's back to the cybercafes. For the moment though, there will be other priorities. I've asked the other moderators to keep an eye on the board until I'm back in the swing, and if I'm not around to answer questions, there's always the FAQ and the "search" function! We've gone over so much of this stuff in the past couple of years that virtually all questions have been answered by now! And some of our other "old Brazil hands" will still be checking the site regularly, so I'm sure they can answer anything that hasn't been covered!

[Guest Gringo]

Have a great trip Tri. Hope everything is to your liking at your new apartment. Boa viagem. :+

[+ deej]

We'll be here until you're back in the sling. Errr ... swing.

 

Have fun!

[trilingual]

Thanks, Deej! And I'm looking forward to meeting all the M4Mers! This feels like it's gonna be one for the history books! }(

[trilingual]

RE: ON THE ROAD TO RIO-SUL

 

Haven't been on-line much as I've been extremely busy getting my apartment organized and helping prepare for the party on Monday. The party went very well, and everyone I talked with afterwards said they enjoyed themselves there. Like SF Traveler said, it ended up being a lot of work putting it on, and I'm joining him in retiring from being the local Perle Mesta. But it was fun!

 

Haven't seen as much of the other M4Mers as I would have liked. I've had to wait at the apartment for workmen and furniture deliveries. It's all going OK, though, and I hope to be fully furnished and all the other work done by next week. And I hope to get out tonight and on the weekend to see everybody before they start heading home. Life is good in Rio, although I'm getting a little bit TOO familiar with the Rio Sul shopping mall for my own good (not to mention the good of my credit cards)! But shopping for the apartment is nearly done.

 

Later, guys!

[trilingual]

RE: ALMOST FINISHED WITH THE APARTMENT

 

Well, it's been a frenzied few weeks, but things are nearly finished with the apartment! The furniture has all been delivered (except for one end table and the glass top of the coffee table, due next week). High speed access has been established, the TV and sound system are here, and I just have to get the cable connected next Tuesday so I can wallow in the Brazilian soaps! Now that I've got furniture with drawers and stuff I've got places to put things away, so that's the next part of this project, followed by a thorough clean-up. When the 11 boxes I shipped to myself arrive sometime early next month I'll have to go back into the "where the hell can I put this?" mode, but after that I can finally find out what it's really like to be retired! So far it's been busier than I could imagine! But the apartment is starting to look really good, and I'm very pleased with how it's turning out. I'm starting to worry that it's going to be SO pleasant I'm just going to want to stay home all the time and forget about all the great stuff there is to do here in Rio!!! It's so relaxing just sitting on my comfy new sofa, with the classical music station on, and watching the jungle-covered green hillside outside my living room windows. . .

 

Heading for a long weekend in Florianopolis to take a break from apartment madness and to meet in person a guy I met through Gaydar that I've been e-mailing and phoning for the last couple of months. If it all works out, there could be wedding bells in the works for Uncle Tri! :7 That would be novel, considering how many years it's been since I was in a relationship with anyone, but there have been so many good changes in my life since abandoning the Ministry of Mirth, and it's all gone so well, maybe an April-September relationship could happen, too! I just wouldn't have expected it to be with someone from the Internet, but if he's really like his pictures and profile this guy is a total "my type": a 25-year-old, 6'3" math teacher with the original D-o-D! And he's interested in settling down and moving to Rio where he wants to finish his academic work! I know, there's always the "gringo" sugar-daddy factor at work in these situations, but I'll see how that goes when I meet him in person. Knowing Portuguese has helped to sort out how he feels and what he's looking for, and getting to know each other across a distance has been good because we'll have more going for us than just the physical thing when we finally get together. So stay tuned, and rinse out those wash-n-wear bridesmaid outfits. I've already got the rabbi and the chuppah on standy-by! This could turn out to be every bit as steamy and dramatic as the Brazilian soaps!

[catnip]

RE: ALMOST FINISHED WITH THE APARTMENT

 

How nice that all sounds - enjoy the summer, and good luck with the guy!

 

One quick request for a recommendation: for a cheap internet place, is the one at 374 Copacabana Ave. the best? My friend there wants to use a place regularly, so if there's another place that has discounts for longer term use, any recommendation you or anyone can give would be great. Copa is fine, or Centro is good, too.

 

Thanks!

[trilingual]

RE: ALMOST FINISHED WITH THE APARTMENT

 

I haven't done that much comparison shopping myself, but the place I've used is called Tudo e Facil (I think) and they have several shops in Copacabana, including one on r. Barata Ribeiro near the Atlântico. Can't remember the exact address, but if you walk out the door of the Atlântico and head towards the beach on Siqueira Campos, turn right when you reach Barata Ribeiro (without crossing the street). The place is a few doors down the street (heading towards Ipanema) from the corner of Siqueira Campos, on the right hand side. They have several discount plans, including one in which you get 15 hours of time for R$49.50, with 30 days to use the hours. For a similar price they offer 20 hours, but that has to be used within 7 days. My guess is that their prices are competitive, since there are lots of cybercafes in the neighborhood and they're heavily used by locals as well as tourists. They have a larger shop on the corner of Prado Junior and Av. Copacabana (a block before Princesa Isabel) that's open 24 hours except on Sundays. You can use your time at either location. If anyone else has found good deals, please post them here!

[jackhammer91406]

Tri,

I am sorry I didn't get a chance to see your new digs. Time seemed to race after the first 10 days. I look forward to seeing it the next visit, that is of course, assuming the invitation is still open.

Reading the threads is so much more meaningful since i now know where some of these places are. Alex and I spent a nice morning at Rio Sul, and I am not one for shopping, but the eye candy was awesome. If I had known I was going to have to live this long, I would have planned a better retirement and RIO would certainly be part of that.

 

Give the boys a big kiss from Papao.

 

[catnip]

Thanks, tri - big help!

[trilingual]

If I had known I was going to have to live

>this long, I would have planned a better retirement and RIO

>would certainly be part of that.

 

Jack, the invitation to see the place is still open the next time you're in town. Just let me know when that's going to be! The same holds true for the rest of you guys who were invited during the Soirée week!

 

As for retirement here, you may indeed be able to do that. You can collect your Social Security in Brazil (or anywhere else you choose). I don't know if you have any supplemental income, but if the current rate of exchange holds or improves, and inflation stays low (as it has been), you can have a comfortable middle class life here in Rio with US$1200 - $1400 a month. ($1750 - $2000 would be even comfier. In fact, you could probably start a savings account if you have that much coming in.) If you're willing to live somewhere other than Rio (like Salvador or Fortaleza) you could do it for less, because housing prices/rent are a lot lower outside of Rio. Rio is just about the most expensive real estate market in Brazil.

 

Health insurance can be a problem for some people, but in dollar terms health care here isn't that expensive, and if you have Blue Cross/Blue Shield, you're covered anywhere in the world, as far as I know. (I'm covered under their federal employee/retiree plan.) They now have affiliation agreements with almost all of the good private hospitals in Brazil. You can also shell out a few hundred bucks for medevac insurance that will fly you home in an emergency to your own home hospital/doctors and Medicare coverage. I've signed up with Medjet Assurance, which guarantees it'll fly you back to where YOU want to go, and not just to the nearest acceptable medical facility.

 

So don't give up the dream. For less than you think you can make it a reality!

[+ Axiom2001]

After talking with Carlo about my future, he truly encouraged me to learn Portugese and venture here and become an expat carioca. I'd really luv to live in Rio, but my brain and age and the learning of a new language would be a challenge to which I'd have to give much thought to before making that big move.

 

What I might do is try to get a tutor in my area: I already have the P... CD's; Perhaps I might come and stay for two months to see if I could handle it... Anyway my future is in abeyance right now.

[Funseeker 22]

Hi Ax,

Funny you should bring this up because I had just been talking to Jackhammer earlier today about the same subject. I had met a recently retired NYC gentlemen in Rio who was on his first, very short visit and had felt sort of a "magic in the air" thing and was wondering about the same situation you mentioned.

Neither JH or I are at an age to do this yet but I would have no doubts in telling anyone to "Go for It". You only live once and this would be the perfect experience. If you don`t like it,then you can always return home.

[trilingual]

This is all true, but if your income is very limited you need to be aware that you're at the mercy of the exchange rates. Roberto has told me of an American friend in Argentina: the guy has a small retirement income and moved to Argentina during the hyperinflationary years, when his American income made him (literally) a multi-millionaire in Buenos Aires. When the inflation was halted and Argentina went on the 1 peso = 1 dollar equivalency, he found himself unable to continue living in B.A. He also couldn't afford to return home (and he had nothing here anymore) so he moved to Mar del Plata, which is much cheaper but not very interesting outside the summer tourist season. When the peso finally crashed, he was in the chips again and returned to B.A.

 

So, just be aware. If your retirement is going to be in the US$2500 and higher range you'd be pretty insulated from currency fluctuations, because even at a 1:1 exchange rate that would be a decent middle class salary in either Brazil or Argentina, which means you could afford a nice (if not luxurious) apartment in a good part of town and still have money left over for dining out, entertainment, transportation and the occasional frivolity! However, for the foreseeable future, the exchange rate in both countries is probably going to be in the range of 2.80 to 3.00 pesos/reais to the dollar. You can base your calculations on that, knowing that 2500 - 3000 pesos/reais a month is a comfortable middle-class income in both countries.

[trilingual]

Good grief! I think it's done! The apartment, that is! Today, all at once, the guys from Tok & Stok arrived, bringing a small bookcase, cocktail cart (that I'm using as a phone stand) and some CD racks. No sooner had they left than the exterminator arrived (critical in Rio) followed by the installer from another store where I bought an additional storage cabinet for my pantry/service area. So I can't think of a single thing I need to buy now! :-) Fortunate, because I've just about maxed out the cards and I can spend the new year whittling them back down.

 

Oops, there is one lingering detail: some mismatched buttons on one of my sets of slip covers that need to be replaced. But that'll eventually work out, too.

 

Another lingering detail: The boxes I shipped to myself from the U.S. are still stuck (in their container) at the notoriously slow and inefficient Port of Santos. One day they'll show up -- sooner rather than later, I hope! -- and I'll be back in "OMG, where am I going to put THIS?" mode for a week or so. But right now all I've got to do is finish arranging the nuptial bedroom, straighten up the little office/storage room, and ditto for the service area, so that can all be done easily before Prince Charming arrives next Thursday. The next challenges will be those of everyday living in Rio, not the one-time establishing oneself projects. REAL life is about to begin, as a retiree and as the partner in a new relationship! Stay tuned!

[Guest Gringo]

Your apartment is beautiful. The accomplishments you have made are considerable. I envy your determination to live the dream. You are an inspiration to those of us who only have the fantasy of living in Rio. Now with principe encontado arriving next Thursday I wish you only happiness in this new year and many to follow! :+

[xchris]

I'll arrive in Rio the 12th of january, and stay until feb 16th.

Hope to see you and your new apt and anything new(or anyone) before you leave.

I'm also on the road to make official steps in Brasil, so we can compare our experiences.

Es.: Did the brasilian system consider your funds in the bank sort of taxable income?

Once again must say that this adventure started after reading your comments and informations on Rio. My first trip was just last november 2002. But it feels like a decade...!

CIAO

Chris

[trilingual]

See you when you get here Chris and we can compare notes! However, I'll be in the U.S. from January 15 until February 2 or 3, when I'll return to Rio.

 

Have a good Xmas and New Year's!

[Guest jon]

Hi Tri,

I am hoping to be in Rio before 1-15-04. Will it be possible to get hold of you for help and advise? If so can I have your phone number in Rio? Can you include your e-mail address so I can keep you posted. Your wealth of knowledge about Brasil and FAQs are invaluable.

I have not heard from Carlo from Romanus. Is he alright. I have e-mailed a number of times.

Jon

[trilingual]

It'll be nice to meet you, but if you've read this thread you'll know that my new boyfriend is arriving Thursday and, as you can imagine, he's going to be my priority for the foreseeable future! My M4M time is going to become more limited.

 

Carlo is fine; I believe he's in São Paulo right now but I'm sure he's checking his e-mail and will respond to you. However, this is the busiest season of the year for the Rio tourist trade, so there may a bit of delay compared to low season.

 

Check your e-mail for my contact information.