1- 'All my friends must be ugly'

The 30 or so people I know or associated with varied from 21 year old blonde scandanavians to 65 year old bald fat guys. Basically a good cross section of the population.

2- 'how can I know 30 people'

I can't remember who wrote that line, basically they musn't get out much. I was there for 7-8 months and often hung out in places where gringos meet. To hang out /chat with 30 people over the period is  very low number.

3-' I'm a agency guy trying to get you guys to go to Colombia(words to that affect).

Check my ISP....btinternet (british telecom), ie based in the UK. I guess your answer to that will be that I must be a drug baron who has stolen advanced CIA telecommunications equipment which allows me to hack into some satellite or whatever....just to trick you guys!.

I think you really need to sit back and analyse your thinking, rather than accept that I've been there and had a lot of experience , which I was relaying to you in good faith. However you'd rather generate some 'James Bond' like plot to help maintain you false mental picture of a country.

You quoted carnaval,,,,,its like a Brasilian seeing a Mardi Gras video and thinking all American women run around pulling there blouses up!

4- People shout 'gringo' or abuse in Colombia as well.

In Brasil, it is not a drunk in a bar that says abusive comments. it is just as likely to be a well dressed women in a shopping mall who will pass the comment. In addition to this, the abuse isn't directed at the 'gringo' but the girl who is with him. This highlights another aspect of the Brasilian, they are very shallow. In a similar situation a British girl would tell the abusive person to  go f--k themselves. However in brasil the girl would stop holding your hand and try and pretend she wasn't with you.

Esjay

ps Been to the DR several times, Boca Chica ia a pit!

the boca beach is better than Sosua's as well.

They might be assuming that any young attractive Brazilian girl with a foreigner is "working".

There is a town in the DR called Boca Chica. During the day it is a great place to hang out. Great beaches etc. I always avoided Boca at night because it was basically overflowing with "working girls". I've only really been in Boac at night with my wife. They have a few nice restaurants and one place that is great for watching US sporting events on satellite.

I am sure many people in Boca assume she is "on the program" because of guilt by association. When we are in Santo Domingo or other towns, nobody even looks twice at us.

To give an example, your last two question today were, 'should I go in winter' or 'which is best SP or Rio'. Why not ask all your experts back home?

Esjay

Plenty of guys would like to hear about Brazil. Including me. However there has to be Good Things and People there also. You sound like you tried many things and some didn't work out the way you planned or wanted them to. Welcome to earth. I've had plenty of things that didn't work out. You stand back, Say to Yourself, ..Oh well...another experiment that failed....you laugh at yourself and the things that went wrong, kick back, have a think and move on back to trying to acheive the original goals. But with the knowledge aquired of 'what didn't work'. It's ok...every honest person has experiments that failed . And the more one lives 'outside the box' the more likely things are to go wrong in the game somewhere along the line. But surely you can look back and see where things were good ? And that's what people like to hear about. The missteps combined with the success's to help develop plans that help avoid the downs and point others towards the up's. Surely if you had it all to do over again there are things you know now, you didn't know then that would help guide you toward more of the good and less of the bad. Why don't you pass on some of that kind of wisdom to the guys here that are interested.

Regards, Houndog

Well yes & no. Sure, one can't completely totaly know a place short term. One could not even know the city I live in, if only here for a week or two. And believe me there is plenty here you don't want to know. But with certian insights it is possible to gravitate towards the better things and away from the worse things. However, unless you see both how is one to know ??

******Even if you make short trips or just haven't been there often, the 'novelty factor' gloss's over the cracks. You can't see with an unbiased mind and will only see the positive aspects. ***

Well yes & no. You don't hear the guys that have been to our Ladies and their relatives house's in Colombia talking about the fact there is NO hot water. NO A/C, only fans if they're lucky. Very few phones, high unemployment..but it's all there. Poor beggar children asking for money. Hunger, poverty, desperation. WE SEE IT. Good People are not blind. We don't talk about it much because of the way the People there are able to cope with the circumstances. Inspiring actually how positive about tommorow they are and grateful for 'What they Do Have' they are. I thank my God everyday for the bounty of blessings he has bestowed on me when I compare myself to them. Yet they take there circumstances in stride and carry on...I for one am always humbled by there acceptance and perserverance and tenacity to accept their situation. And grateful I don't have to walk a mile in their shoes.

**After an extended period the 'novelty factor' wears away and you can see how a place really is. ***

Read the above again.

**Knowing Portuguese is exceptionally important in Brasil, you may think you can communicate via a dictionary but in general you will lose most of the message. its not just the actual words but the tone and manner of use. If you aren't fluent you lose most of the message.**

Esjay...communicating is important 'everywhere'. There are misunderstandings right here on this board all using the same language. And this is a real world perfect example. "IF", "IF", "IF", WE TRY...and possess "A TRUE WILLINGNESS & DESIRE" to communicate with each other then we move past the misunderstandings. However..."IF" there is no true desire to get along and communicate and gain understanding of course no amount of dialouge will suffice. The women here or there that truly want to be with you will make an equal amount of effort to 'help' get beyond the misunderstandings...in fact that was and is one of my tests of true sincerity here and there. Willingness to expend effort vs Paying Lip Service. Like the saying goes, actions speak louder than words.

Regards, Houndog

Esjay

ps you could say the above about anywhere (ha ha beat you too it!) ****...yep..I said it about Houston...LOL