By now all of you sure know that the Olympics will be held in Rio in 2016.

What will this mean?

*Traffic will be at a stand still on Avenida Atlantica

*They will fix the favela AND drain the stinking swamp between the airport and town

*They will put all the thiefs in jail

*They will shut the termas

*The termas will be full of visitors, and will be out of robes when I arrive

*Fiscal will charge me 10 reais for each beer HE drinks and I pay.

*They will close HELP in 2016

and.. worst of all....

*They will insist that the check-out girl at Zona Sul will be friendly to the customers......

Isn't this a disaster???

World Cup in 2014 too.

From what I've heard about violent street crime in Rio from this board, sounds like ultra-stupidity to have a major international event there, but what do I know?

well help will probably close this month,and scortshow will charge at least 250 for 2 hours.if youre lucky the new help disqo will be open.location according to the professor it will be i sofietel area.

Porker, everyone I've talked to about it - including some girls - all find it amazing that Rio was selected. It looks good on paper - growing country, South America gets it's first Olympics, etc - but the reality is far from good. I have no idea how they'll get people from Zona Sul, where all the hotels are, to Barra, where most of the events will be. They can't build new roads or anything due to the morros. They could bring in all the military police in the country to man the street corners, but unless they plan on moving a couple MILLION favelados out of the state, they're going to have to deal with the crime and squalor. I told one of the guys last night that the best move they could probably do is just pay the capos of Comando Vermelho, Terceiro Comando Puro and Amigos dos Amigos to just close up shop for a few weeks and keep as much of the riff-raff in their favelas as possible.

Honestly, the crime part can be handled - just bring back the death squads for a few years, then literally blanket the whole city with police. But, if someone can tell me how to get hundreds of thousands of Olympics people a day around the city, let me know as they barely get it done today.

In typical Brasilian fashion, plan the party, but don't plan for the party prep or the aftermath.

*They will shut the termas

*The termas will be full of visitors, and will be out of robes when I arrive

The closed termas will be full of visitors? Interesting. Only in Rio...

From what I know, they are going to invest $8B in infrastructure before the games. Perhaps, some of that is also for the World Cup, although is a much smaller event.

Part of the investment is supposed to be a continuation of the Metro from Ipanema all the way to Barra. That would be really slick. Of course the worry is corruption will drive the cost of the project out of sight.

As far as hotels, they have stated that they are going to bring in a lot of cruise ships and the athletes will be sleeping on the cruise ships.

If it's taken them 8 years or whatever to go three miles from the Arcoverde stop to the still-unfinished station at Praca Osario, how do they plan to dig 10-12 miles under Ipanema/the canal/Leblon/Gavia/Sao Conrado and all of the morros and favelas in between? It's impossible to get Metro out there that fast.

I would love to know where all of the cruise ships that will act as floating hotels are to dock. The only place is the port and the naval base in Centro, not exactly close to Barra.

I hope they pull it off, but my honest opinion is they've bitten off way more than they can chew. If the IOC wanted the Olympics in South America, I think Buenos Aires or Santiago would have been better spots. Maybe even Sao Paulo.

Bwana Dik... I appreciate your "Only in Rio" comment....

The real reason they chose Rio is because the fastest sprinters in the world have been observed there - right there in Zona Sul:

It is 50 year old gringos running away from enterprising favelados on Senora Nosaa Copacabana, just after nightfall. I personally know several sprinters who - despite their beer bellies - have unofficially broken Olympic records in order to save the 300 reais in their pockets which they had budgeted for other use later that evening....

There certainly is potential for new records in our Cidade Maravilhosa.

I just learned that the rowing and canoe racing will take place in Lagoa! That is right outside of my front window. It can't get any better than that.

It would be so so cool if they could extend the Metro to Barra. It would really get rid of tons of traffic. I agree with Cat that based on past history, it does not look good. But I hope that Rio and the rest of Brazil knows that the whole world is watching. This is not something they want to f*ck up. Time to turn a new leaf and move Brazil up a notch on the world stage.

The metro to Barra will be finished in about 200 years :-)

The Olympic infrastructure may be done in time..........if the Olympics were to be held in another 20 years.

What a mess!!

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/27/us-brazil-infrastructure-idUSTRE72Q18820110327

That article, and what it describes, defines the term "clusterfuck,"

I think the criticism of Brasil can be summed up in one word - "Duh".

No shit, it's all fucked up. Just like I said when the Olympics decision was made, and thousands of others who frequent Brasil.

I know Im naive but its still a little surprising to me.

Jesus F'ng Christ!! Literally the whole world will see this disaster unfold in real time. This is an emergency. Its time to set aside standard practices and do what needs to be done no matter how culturally alien it might feel.

How? Here's the reality of the article

1) No one in power in Brasil is going to do anything unless they get an envelope of Reais stuffed in the pockets on a regular basis.

2) The "professional" class are just idiot friends and relatives of politicians who are too lazy and too stupid to do the jobs they were given to do.

3) No one in Brasil ever wants to be held accountable for anything, be it building a subway or soccer stadium, or bringing the right plate of food to a customer at a restaurant or fixing the cable TV when it goes out. There's no concept of customer service.

4) In a nation of a hundred million workers, the education system is so bad that they can't find people who are smart enough to pour concrete and hang steel. As you might guess, it's harder to find people to be good nurses, teachers, accountants, police and everything else.

So, in a country where the rich sit on their asses because they can, the professional class are lazy and stupid and can't do their jobs, and the poor are so fucking stupid they can't even do manual labor - which is one step up from walking erect on the evolutionary scale - how do you expect them to 1) process the facts that they're in way over their heads 2) accept these facts and formulate a solution and 3) carry out the tasks required of the solution?

I'm not a resident, just a frequent visitor, so I only see Rio in snapshots. But, what I've seen over 8 years is that they can get some things done, but not after a huge amount of talking, bickering, suing each other, screaming and yelling. Pretty much just like negotiating a session with a freelance GDP, minus the suing each other. Their arrogance and social norms combined with their laziness and general stupidity means that the Olympics may be in London or back in China in 2016 and the World Cup will be a fucking logistical nightmare in 2014.

The only reason these events haven't already been pulled is because FIFA and the IOC are as lazy and corrupt as your average brasilian politician.

Brasil - a good place to eat dinner and get laid. A bad place to stage a major international event that means transporting, housing, feeding and entertaining a million rich, foreign visitors.

I won't add anything to what the article said, but will agree that Guarulhos is the worst fucking major international airport I've ever set foot in. I might rank JFK #2. But at least at JFK you can get into the city fairly quickly. Not so at GRU.

Oh well.

Clearly Rio's beaches, the pride and joy of the city, have some work to do before being ready for the Olympics. It seems that the water used for the beach showers is tainted and can make you quite sick!


http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-daily/contamination-of-rio-beach-showers/

thanks for the info. I used those showers all the time. no more!

Here's another bit of news:

In December, the General Osorio and Cantagalo metro stations will be closed, and will remain closed for 8 months, while construction on the metro beyond General Osorio supposedly goes into high gear.

Get this: the plan is to build an underground walking tunnel from General Osorio and Cantagalo to the Siqueira Campos station. Seriously!

Basically, transportation in the Zona Sul is going backwards by about 5 years.

Only in Brazil!!!!

http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-real-estate/general-osorio-cantagalo-metro-to-close-for-extension/

BD,

With regard to the unsanitary beach showers, I have an enlightening and explanitory story. Several years ago while on Hooker beach, I needed to take a leak so I walked down into the surf and relieved myself. As I was standing there taking my leak with my feet firmly planted in the sand, two topless garotas played in the surf just 5 meters away. As my attention focused on them, i neglected to pay attention to the surf. Moments later, I was stuck by a hugh wave that shoved me backwards, hyperextending my right knee and completely tearing my right hamstring muscle.

Limping back to my chair next to where Latinalover was sitting, I cried out in pain. Mildly concerned, LL asked what happened. Instead of sympathy, all he said was, "you fucking idiot ." Typical, so typical of him. By now you're probably wondering what this story has to do with unsanitary showers. Well, just read on and I'll explain why.

Hours later I was to me Lucy and her mother out at the Pizza Hut in Barra for a "R$21 all you could eat pizza feast." I struggled to get on a bus, then struggled to get off at Barra Shopping mall to meet them. As I limped up to Lucy and her mom, she asked what happened? When I told her what had occurred in the surf she said, "Why you no go to bathroom where I go on the beach?" I briefly thought about telling her hat I would get arrested for using a lady's room when she said, "I always pee in the shower on the beach--all Brazilians do."

As if that news wasn't bad enough, we found out that we were a day early for the "all you could eat special." Dinner costs R$138.
Then to add insult to injury, Lucy bought some weird Brazilian spray ointment that was supposed to relieve my pain. Unfortunately, when she sprayed it on my hamstring, she got some overspray on my scrotum and I hit the fucking ceiling. It had that same burning sensation as putting Oil of Wintergreen on a jockstrap.

Hopefully, I explained why the samples take from under the beach shower were so contaminated.

BTW, my hamstring healed up nicely after I bound it with duck tape.

Jag

The brasileiras just add more "pollution" to the problem.

A typical night out with Lucy...expenses exceed budgeted amount by a factor of 3.

Duct tape? Did you ever meet Duct Tape Billy????

The study found fecal matter in the water coming out of the showers. Lovely. And much worse than urine, which is relatively harmless, after all (but can be a bit malodorous).

BD,

At ever shower Moms wash off their kids butts, putting fecal matter into the sand. From there the dirty water filters down to the aquifer where is once again pumped up into the shower head. It's an endless cycle that they all somehow survive.

Jag

Does the water in Rio come from wells near the beach? Generally, water filtering through soil gets purified by bacteria that eat organic matter (as long as it's not a relatively indigestible chemical contaminant).

Well, are they still plowing under the rivers of shit that come down onto the beach from the favelas after heavy rainstorms?

Hunterman,

About 8 meters under the beach is an unconfined aquifer which is brackish in nature because of it's close proximity to the ocean. Years ago rudimentary shafts were sunk into these aquifers which were then hooked up to gas powered pumps. The pumps run as needed to supply water to the showers. On a typical day, they're on about 30% of the time.

Yes, you are right, sand and dirt are great filters. That said, no filter works well unless it is cleaned or changed from time to time. Unfortunately, these showers are in operation 365days a year, filtering through the same sand each and every day with diminishing effectiveness.

Jag

Jag, A clarification....I did not say "you fucken idiot." What I said was "only an idiot can pull his hamstring taking a piss."

Same thing as far as i'm concerned. BTW, here's a photo of my leg two weeks later.



Jag

That little boo boo... my leg was purple from my heel to my waist when I tore my hammy.

That's normal for hemophiliacs.

Jag

I resemble that remark, I am not a homo.

Where are the black boxes when you need them?

Purple from your heel to your waist? What is that - a foot and a half?

Hdog, LOL, you are fucking killing me.

AZ...don't encourage him. I may have to put up with him in Bogota next week.

hdogger, no, that would be my cock.