Rio de Janeiro Hostel: Piratas de Ipanema Guesthouse

Episode 9: New Year´s

2012-01-04T18:50:00.001-02:00

a Carnaval-esque bloco, a Pirata Caipirinha Party, fireworks and a David Guetta concert on Copa beach help us ring in (or should I say Rain-in?) 2012.

...´12

2012-01-01T10:46:00.004-02:00

Click here to view all of my pics from the last couple nights in Lapa, at Piratas & on the beach. Happy New Year everybody!

2011 Checks Out

2011-12-29T09:00:00.007-02:00

Today is the big arrival day for our New Year´s crowd, and once they are here we´ll be busy entertaining and putting together what promises to be an awesome Pre-Party before everyone rolls down to the beach to watch the fireworks, dance to David Guetta and welcome in the first sunrise of 2012.

So with a little time to reminisce I thought we might award the past year´s Highest, Lowest & Wildest:

The High:
Too easy. The wedding of Rodrigo & Mary Ellen in July left everyone involved misty-eyed, inspired... and horribly, sloppily wasted. It was perfect having Paul behind the bar, Rafa on the barbecue & Suka spinning the tunes... like a Pirata satellite party. And I am happy to report that R & M are still a big part of the extended family; looking forward to sharing many more good times with them in the years ahead.

The Low:
Also a very clear choice. After years of the possibility lingering as the white elephant in the dorm room, Freddy finally managed to put together a sale of the property. Sometime next year, possibly right after Carnaval, the Guesthouse will permanently close, and a Pirata diaspora will spill out across Brazil (and beyond). For all its shortcomings and faults, this project had become an opportunity few people ever have the chance to realize: a stress-free, labor-free adult lifestyle just beyond the reach of the Establishment. Bohemian-wannabes the world over are still gasping in disbelief that such a situation was voluntarily handed away. That said... all your favorite stories have endings, don´t they? So too must this.

And finally, of the more-or-less 2,000 guests who have passed through Rua Joaquim Nabuco #165 in the past 12 months, we honor 1 as the winner of the annual Golden Coconut. After much consideration and deliberation, our panel of experts has chosen:
He parties like a mid-´80´s rock star. He´s willing to put together a barbecue any hour of every day. He often returns from a night out to find that I have given away his bed, and happily flops into the nearest hammock. You kinda wanna party with this guy, but you´re kinda afraid to party with this guy. He was only supposed to be here for a couple nights back in September... and he´s still here. Congratulations Ozman... the 2011 Golden Coconut is all yours.

Freddy´s Birthday

2011-12-19T13:58:00.002-02:00

We toast to Freddy and help him celebrate life Pirata-style.

Episode 8: A Pirata Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T16:09:00.001-02:00

The ´house celebrates the holiday with a pot-luck dinner & the Beer Pong World Championships.

Status Update: still going

2011-11-22T09:56:00.001-02:00

Well I didn´t realize anybody actually READ this blog! Fear not, future guests, Piratas will be open for New Year´s Eve and Carnaval. After that, who knows... but your reservations are fine, and those finale parties should be our finest (or ugliest) moments ever. See you when you get here!

The beginning of the end... of the beginning?

2011-11-09T09:57:00.002-02:00

Piratas... sold? Piratas... sold out?!

Indeed, the rumors appear to be true, and the process appears to be rapidly underway. Just a couple months after hanging a FOR SALE sign above the front gate, Freddy went to Centro yesterday and signed his name to a document that will- with a few more signatures- transfer ownership of Rua Joaquim Nabuco #165 out of the hands of the Mello clan, to whom it´s belonged for more than 100 years. Worthy of a blog post, ya think?

Everyone has questions... I don´t have the answers yet. We are fully booked for New Year´s Eve... will we be open? We are also fully booked for Carnaval in mid-February... will we be partying? I hope to have clear, solid confirmation soon, you´d think next week at the latest.

Of course there is the bigger question, which I have patiently been addressing for a few months: What happens next? To Freddy & Eva? To Priscilla, Gabe & I? To the ever-present, Neverland-like crew? Are there 3 different answers to those 3 different questions, or 1 response that will cover them all?

Stay tuned. These are turbulent times out on the high seas. Though unstable, it´s exciting... and you always gotta take excitement over stability. It´s the Pirata way.

Episode 7: Marlon´s Dozen

2011-10-22T11:42:00.002-02:00

Marlon celebrates 1 year in the ´house Pirata-style to the tune of Gonçalo, our Argentine-Uruguayan amigo.

Episode 6: Winter Chillin´

2011-09-02T11:07:00.002-03:00

Brian gives a detailed status update, Marlon gets his first tat and we ponder the life of the Ipanema beach worker... all to the sound of Suka singing.

Episode 5: New Things

2011-08-26T10:03:00.002-03:00

Episode 4: Paul turns 1

2011-08-12T09:54:00.002-03:00

Episode 3: The Freddy

2011-08-05T10:02:00.001-03:00

Episode 2: Meet the Piratas

2011-07-29T10:23:00.002-03:00

Episode1: The Concept

2011-07-25T16:31:00.001-03:00

We´re back, and rolling

2011-07-20T09:30:00.002-03:00

The ´house is still in-tact, so full on my first day back that we didn´t have enough beds for all the reservations... nice job, Freddy! That´s exactly the kind of problem I was hoping for!

In my time away, newly-revealed information suggests that this beat-up jalopy of a building will still be standing here for a long while to come. So I´m not re-adjusting to life-as-I-knew-it so much as we are all re-focusing on the future-as-it-now-looks. More questions than answers on how to go about that, but all in good time. You can bask for now in the peace-of-mind that Piratas will once again be doing New Year´s and Carnaval. Reserve while you still can!

Along with the more assured longterm outlook, this week feels like the right time to overhaul the Rio Hostel Project blogging. Much as I´ve enjoyed recounting my experiences here, there are obvious limitations in storytelling when you´re always hearing the tales from my perspective, in my words. The best thing about this place is the collision of worldviews, collision of personalities, collision of traveling-types. And I have long been bothered by my inability to accurately & honestly communicate those to you.

So I got me a video camera, and a snazzy laptop with AVID editing software. My goal, beginning this Friday, is to post weekly video summaries that better capture life here at #165. Don´t expect much from the early offerings (I´ve got a lot to learn-by-doing), but as the process improves I hope to be far less of a narrator or commentator and more of just a proctor, allowing the long-termers and short-termers and vagabonds and tramps and gypsies and accompanying characters to speak for themselves. The topic will remain the same: How and why people travel, and the concept of travel in a global community. The struggle to graduate from voyeur to participant.

Be patient with my primitive tech-savvy, and try to focus on the content. Any story about a guesthouse, afterall, oughta be told by the guests.

PARABENS!

2011-07-03T08:56:00.003-03:00

The wedding of Mary Ellen & Rodrigo was a blast. A really great time. I feel the same as everyone else in the ever-extending Pirata family: just honored to be invited. Looking forward to the good times ahead.

Speaking of good times, Priscilla, Gabe & I are leavin' on a jet plane TONIGHT for 2 weeks in the land of milk and honey. That's right. The U.S.A. It's a chance for them to experience the culture I come from, for a change. Oughta be fun.

The 'house is still open! It'll probably be crazier than ever before! But you'll have to find out firsthand, because this blog is having an

INTERMISSION

State of the Hostel XXXVI: July '11

2011-07-01T08:17:00.002-03:00

How's the 'house? Virtually bug-free and backpacker-full.

How are the long-termers? Thiago & Julian have jobs, Rafa's on the verge of celebrity, Francisco went back to B.A. & Marlon continues his Jiu-Jitsu training. Paul & Suka still handle the night shift. Bruno the volleyballin' Mexican and Jose the Peruvian guitar wizard are still with us. Susan is maintaining the course, steady-steam ahead. Orfeu keeps growing while Samantha keeps worrying that one of these days we're gonna boot her out onto the street where she belongs. And today is Gabe's last day of school before a much-anticipated month-long Summer vacation... which happens to technically be Winter vacation.

What's on tap for July? The local social event of the season tomorrow, the wedding of Mary Ellen & Rodrigo. Next week, high drama: the Would-Be-Buyer returns from Italy with a paper to sign. If it gets signed and a few other dominoes fall, you could accurately call that "the beginning of the end" of the RHP. Don't fear, never fear, many memories still to be made.

I should mention how much I regret not documenting with video these last few weeks, which must be recorded as the Golden Age of music here in Piratas. Felipe has returned to us from his Euro travels, back to Life, and that means we've got about TEN strummers and drummers and jammers regularly strumming and drumming and jamming. Beautiful tunes spill out onto the street virtually every hour of the day & night. It's special. Sometimes it's a little annoying, but as the boys move into employment and some of the drifters drift on, I know I'll miss the songs when they're gone.

Comic Books & Cultural Planes

2011-06-29T08:01:00.004-03:00

There are, I'm sure, big fat books by big smart people on this subject... but allow me to offer them field material.

Last weekend, when we had the international student group in the 'house, double-digit nationalities theoretically colliding and merging and bridging gaps while building future networks, I was thinking... didn't they all seem like they were from the same neighborhood?

Just about every one of them spoke English without a trace of an outside-suburbia accent. Aside from the natural appearances, there was nothing about their manners of dress, behavior, appetites or interests in Rio notably distinguishing any of them. I would bet you $100 right now that every member of that group comes from a decently-off, internet-connected, quality-educated childhood. Not that there's anything wrong with that... but not that there's anything culturally diverse about it, either.

If The Traveler were a comic book character, the name of his arch-rival would be, of course, Globalization. It would be a good comic book, actually, because Globalization does a lot of long-term good for a lot of people, and its only an accidental side effect that has him wreaking havoc on our hero's favorite hobby.

My point, I guess, is that the interchange between, for example, the Indian and the Russian and the Colombian and the Chinese- which you would think would be pretty incredible- was far less interesting and colorful then, say, between Suka- a Brazilian Rasta-wanderer-one-man-band from downtown Belem, and Priscilla- a Brazilian beautician-mother-wife-party-planner-beach-and-party-scene-expert from outside of Belem. It just seems like Suka and P have more differences between them to note.

So, two things:

1. When I boast of the variety of passports in the 'house at any given time, you gotta understand that, unfortunately, that does not guarantee a variety of views, a variety of meals being prepared in the kitchen, a variety of styles or interests or methods or even accents, let alone languages. Maybe this is a part of why YOU have to go THERE instead of waiting for THERE to come to YOU: the ones who can afford to travel are not necessarily the ones you want to interact with. The "upper crust" is not the richest part of the pudding, am I right?

2. The other great rival to our hero The Traveler is his woebegone half-brother, Higher Eddie. Eddie chose a different route, pursuing classroom, school-book goals. In doing so he gained a vast amount of theoretical logistical skill while inadvertantly sacrificing the only time he would have in his life to construct his identity out of the lessons of practical experience. And one day he found himself really articulate, really clever, and really, as they say here in Rio, "without salt". And when he spent a weekend at Piratas, none of the long-termers could figure out where Eddie was actually from. Some suburb somewhere.

An eye on July

2011-06-28T08:30:00.002-03:00

Sun, rain, sun, rain... not the best June we've ever had. But you gotta pass through it to get to High July, to Rock in Rio, to NYE... so we do.

Everyone's looking forward to this weekend's Pirata family celebration, the wedding of Rodrigo & Mary Ellen. As cross-cultural unions go, it's quite a gold-standard example to hold up to the doubters and haters and say, "You see? All that really matters is the one-on-one connection!"

Our crowd is the guidebook hauling demo, good people, sad for them that the weather's so much worse than the European Summer they left behind to fly here. Keep your chin up, you can always come back, right?

Every night now, the 'house band jams. You can't put a price on the atmosphere they create. Play on, playas.

Good kinda full house

2011-06-24T08:04:00.002-03:00

Sure enough, I was correct, and we have 13 members of AIESEC helping us with a full-house holiday weekend. Is it true that we maybe would've been full regardless of the renovations? Yeah. But is it true that, because of the renovations, everyone's enjoying a peaceful, unbitten night's sleep for the first time at Max Oc in more than a year? Yeah. The benefits to last night's Caipirinha Class, this afternoon's beach football, the beer-b-que and all will come later, come in July, as word spreads that Piratas is once again a place where having a good time doesn't require suffering through unpleasantries.

So whattawegot this Friday morning? Roll call:

China, India, Colombia, Russia, Mexico, U.S., Argentina, Peru, Denmark, England, France, Poland, Germany, Sweden, Israel, South Africa and of course Brasil. Not a bad salad.

Good beach weather today to help with the hangovers. The weekend's only beginning.

I smell AIESEC

2011-06-21T08:31:00.004-03:00

When it's a holiday weekend and you're getting reservations from Chinese and Indian folk, you know it's gotta be that student society, AIESEC. They stormed this place in our first year and it was fantastic, let's hope that's what's on the immediate horizon.

Rafa and Julian painted the front area of the 'house, painted it a light teal and it looks great. Today they move into reception. More paint! More bright colors! Don't stop!

Check out this article about Brazilians buying up land in America because its cheaper than buying it here... the most interesting line: "The fastest economic growth in two decades and accelerating inflation last year made Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia more expensive than any U.S. city..."

Does that explain, at least a little bit, why our June numbers are down? Is everyone freezing their butts off in Bolivia's winter so they don't have to pay so much for bread? Probably not really, but it's a sign of where things are going. If you're gonna run game in Rio, run it to the high-rollers. It's a big bet, but it's the smart bet.

Misfits with nice tans

2011-06-20T09:03:00.003-03:00

Tonight is the last night of Marte, who has been an in-and-out part of the 'house scene now for more than 2 years. Her departure doesn't mark the end of the long-termers, but she is the last one of her kind... like Ravi and Seb and Silje and Vik and Kiran and Anne-sue and Laura and so many others. With the future of 165 in doubt, so to is the liklihood of any of them passing this way again. The long-termers we host now have more black and white, less culturally-curious perspectives; they are either determined to stay and live, or they have no other option but us... Piratas, the tropical version of the Island of Misfit Toys.

Painting this week, or perhaps wasting hours staring at an un-opened can of paint. We'll see. Big crowd expected for the Corpo Cristi holiday weekend kicking off Thursday. Got a booking for 5 Chinese, which'll double our annual average. Hope they're not a hit squad!

The sun is back and the beach is once again hopping. That's great news for us.

Plumber Appreciation

2011-06-16T07:57:00.003-03:00

The big fella with the bashful smile who saved us from a sewage situation last night, he's been here before and will be back again. He lives on the block, seems to have figured out that, since everybody, everywhere needs a handy plumber, why not offer those services in a nice neighborhood? It's the same work wherever you go, but a half-block from the beach the kids can play in the sand while Daddy mends pipes and unclogs drains for the kind of clientele that's more interested in the job getting done than the asking price. Savvy guy. The only downside is that this clientele don't like to wait; if they come knockin' at the door during dinner, dinner gets reheated later on. But they know it, and they know they'll pay a little extra for it. Time is money, right?

Also yesterday, since we are on the subject of the neighborhood, I paid the guy who guards parked cars on the street to bring his big ol' flat wheelbarrow up here and, over 4 trips, haul away the busted scraps from the fallen roofing. He makes his money guarding parked cars on one of the safest streets in the city, and otherwise from people who live on the street and need something large transported, like a t.v. or a ton of junk. There's a side income in marijuana, but it's not like the good life of our plumber. This guy often spends the nights curled up on the flat freight transporter, and does not get to set the price after the work.

We are now in the second half of June and I swear to you there has not been a real Rio beach day yet this month. We are a beach house. This vexes me. I am vexed.

But not too vexed. The property sale is humming along at a pace somewhere above zero. Genuine talk of "intent to buy" paperwork, blueprints, investors on board, somehow-relevent green lights. It need not go any faster, so long as it goes. Interesting.

The Magic Bullet

2011-06-15T07:57:00.003-03:00

A 'house anecdote for your entertainment. Sure, we leave a lot of 'em off the blog, but someday you'll read 'em:

Yesterday morning Julian (congrats Julian, by the way, on getting a job! I have more respect for this guy every day) found a very small bullet in the upstairs hallway. How small? I'm not really good at that sort of thing; its smaller than any I've ever used or loaded, about the size to fit in a pellet dispenser.

So how do we react to a situation like that? Well, it's all about context. There are times when we probably wouldn't do anything, but on this particular Tuesday we were already several days into Freddy being fed up with a few low-brow guests, the Spaniard and his lady of the night and the peculiarly-associated student-friend of the lady of the night. So in a sweeping move that physicists will study at thinktanks for decades, that tiny, magical bullet knocked three grown adults out of Piratas without ever even being fired, and did so without grazing a hair on a head of any of the boys- you know the boys- who have no doubt been well aware of and thigh-high in all the goings on from the very beginning, as they always tend to be. Alakazam!

On a separate note, I believe statistics would show that a higher number of fellas gets booted out in the slow season than the high season- and therefore a greatly disproportionate amount. You'd think it the other way around, that in times of their highest expendability they'd more likely get tossed, but then you'd be misunderstanding the mechanics of the operation. It is in the time's of greatest stress on management that their antics are least tolerated.

Of course we never figured out where that bullet came from, if anybody in the house had a firearm or anything like that. But it was interesting, I'll tell ya, how quickly the names of the 3 were volunteered (shall we use the word "sacrificed"?) following Freddy's threat to call the police and have them sweep the premises. Should we take that as a sudden conversion to good Samaratianism... or as plain evidence that some of our precious, darling, ne'er-do-wrong long-termers have good reason to avoid any searches?

Just another day at 165!

Climbing back to Zero & the Favela Tour Scene

2011-06-14T08:21:00.003-03:00

Rafa did an amazing job, and now all the rooms of the house are far better off than they'd been. All of the mattresses are enclosed in strong plastic casings, and all of the frames and walls have been thoroughly cleansed. He even rehabilitated two single beds, and now that its clear the average backpacker is too high-class for hammocks, we may start looking for more bunks to reboost our base availability. Maybe back to the sardine system.

Anybody wanna paint? Seems like the logical next step. The rains are gone, the sun is out but its not too hot. The house is kinda busy, but it's only gonna get busier in coming months, so if we're gonna re-color, this week is the week.

An interesting thing happened yesterday, in the realm of Rio tourism: Marcelo Armstrong, who has managed the most widely known favela tour operation in the city for nearly 20 years, stopped by for a visit. He seemed legitimately distraught that we no longer send our bookings his way, and went on a bit of an agitated tangent over the hordes of start-up competition he now must compete against. I figured his op was so vast that we were but a pebble whose absence would go unnoticed, but I suppose there are a lot of pebbles our size needed to fill the wagon.

Anyway, the reason I find Marcelo's plight interesting is because he is now finding himself the victim of the success of the favela pacification programs and his own admirable efforts to bridge the gap between the outside world and the world on the hillside. Heck, even I could lead a group of foreigners on a walk through Rocinha in the afternoon without fear of being roughed up or assaulted... I wouldn't know what I was talking about, I wouldn't have the first-hand P.O.V. that Rodrigo does (the reason we book Rodrigo's tour), but the afternoon population in the favela has become so conditioned to the presence of tours, of foreigners, etc., you don't need a special pass from anybody to go in there. Maybe it was a lot different when Marcelo's groundbreaking business got started. Maybe he feels a little like others are thanklessly profiting from scaffolding that he erected. But maybe that was inevitable, maybe that's a sign of progress, and maybe Marcelo needs a second phase to trailblaze, so that his projects continue to receive funding, and so the gap between the cultures becomes even more of a blur.

Drenched, but drying

2011-06-10T08:06:00.003-03:00

You might mistake my lack of recent updates for project fatigue, when in fact it has more to do with tech woes. I haven't had my own computer in a while, and the ones we've got to work with don't work so well with photo uploads.

A lot going on in-house that's gone undocumented. Among the long-termers, Marte now works for a Zona Sul pub crawl and may finally have discovered her partying limits. Francisco got a job (hooray!) working in a Spanish restaurant. Several of the 'boys are prepping for upcoming interviews... I think it's the rain that's responsible for this madness. We haven't had a beach day yet in June, going on 3 weeks since the last quality one, and that's got us all a little off-kilter.

One of our all-timers, Sebastien, ships out tomorrow toward Easter Island. Tonight's Caipirinha Class is a toast to he and his unique being; the only Polish-speaking, mankini-wearing, dog-loving pump-turner-offer Aussie we're likely ever to have as a guest. Big Havianas to fill.

And that reminds me: we have a whole new cast of long-termers, not at all like last season's cast. We consider anyone who sticks around for at least a month a long-termer, and here's the list of the newest members of that club:

- Scott, who is on his way toward the 2 month, 2,000 beer mark

- Jose, from Peru, who is studying in the city

- Urko, Spaniard, who will probably check out one day in handcuffs

- Lua, probably Argentine, lured in by Francisco, also a student

- Bruno, Mexican volleyball player, club scene guru, back for a month despite once being kicked out of here

- Julian, tattoo-artist-musician-younger-brother-of-Francisco, who it turns out is a good worker, so we're gonna get along just fine

... and of course Marlon and Susan and Marte are still here, Suka and Paul work the nights, Thiago and Rafa lend a hand as well. That's 13 people who more or less live here, not counting Freddy and I, Eva and Priscilla or Gabe. That's 18 people, and then Victor is here the majority of every day hanging around, so that's 19 pax without any traditional backpacker guests. That means only when we are completely full, jam-packed do the traditional backpacker guests control the atmosphere.

But they are here, too. And after yesterday's de-bugging efforts, I'm expecting a good month to launch us into July. All we're missing is that Rio sunshine, but it can't be long now.

State of Piratas XXXV: Can you believe it?

2011-06-06T07:55:00.005-03:00

Here we are, a full 3 years later. This began as an attempt to run a guesthouse that encouraged individual cultural submersion while discouraging time-wasting, easy-way-out traveler-clique habits (status update: FAIL). Marriage and long-termers transformed the project into somewhat of a modern-day hippie-commune, with tourists passing through and taking pictures of the kid and the dog and the walls just like they did at the Sugar Loaf. The sound of Father Time's footsteps, combined with a weariness toward spoiled malcontents, led to an emotional abandoning of the project's future, with all optimism and forward-thinking focused on property sale, and with it reinvention. Yet here we are. Here we still are. A half-block from Heaven, but forever just a half-block.

In Y3, 1,990 different guests spent at least a night in the house. 10 shy of a nice milestone, but about a full month's worth more than Y2. It was enough... more than enough. Y3 brought us Ravi, Paul, Susan, Laura, Marlon, Dan... good people, very good people with whom we are better off for having partied. We mixed more than our share of caipirinhas, soaked up more than our share of sunshine, wasted far more than our share of hours on idle daydreams and labored far less than our rightful share of hours in the cogs of the machine of society.

Now we sit at a very critical point (within the context of our very un-critical lives, you understand), our tiptoes curled 'round a tightrope between action & inaction. We have foolishly let the potential of property sale seduce us, and we wake from that spell (at least I wake from that spell) to find, many months later, that realization still a half-block away. In the meantime the 'house- never exactly a state-of-the-art structure- has fallen so hopelessly into disrepair that our clientele now exclusively consists of vagabonds, tramps, gypsies and thieves. In other words, don't name your place "Piratas" if you wanna attract mermaids. Name it, for example, "MERMAIDS".

But Rafa's return has rejuvenated us. Like a flash of conscience, his energy and goodwill have forced us to look in the mirror and feel the burn of the shame of our laziness. Afterall, we live here. Our original success did not come from trying to please strangers, but from creating a place that we enjoyed. If we can get back to that, they'll come back to us.

And so the gutter has been fixed, the crumbling wall knocked down, and this week will see fresh paint, new, reinforced mattress covers, and every room cleaned by gloved hand with the toxins to kill all the little terrorist critters who hide in the dark corners of the walls and the frames. Today Priscilla is making a feijoada meal for anyone who'd like to partake, and tonight we'll have a birthday cake to celebrate the bounty of June: Eva, Marte, Francisco, me and the partnership that gives life to this blog.

Maybe we'll get lucky. Maybe the Italian guy will snatch up this place to construct a hotel. Maybe one of the agencies eager for the commission will find a future-minded, deep-pocketed purchaser. Maybe that'll happen this afternoon, or next week, or next month. But if it does, I know it will feel a lot sweeter if, in the time we have left, we can restore this place to the glory days of not-so-long-ago, when the only thing disrupting your quiet night's slumber was the racket from the caipirinha class downstairs, and the only reason to stay somewhere else was that we didn't have any more room back by the pool.

Rafa Returns, Renovations Resume

2011-06-03T07:47:00.002-03:00

Yeah, so Rafa is back for a little while... and in his second day in the 'house he did more to improve the place than Fred & I have managed in the year+ that he's been gone. We've got plans for lotsa fixin' over the next couple weeks, to prepare for the Secoond Summer crowd. And also just because we are very broken and need a lot of fixin'.

Coming up on 3 years of this... addressing that Monday. There are many ways to measure success and failure, and with this feeling a bit like the beginning of the end we'll need to go back back back back to the original intentions if we're gonna do a proper reflection.

Like re-taking a class on breathing

2011-05-27T08:11:00.006-03:00

The final weekend in a not-so-bad-but-not-so-spec Maio dawns with rain clouds and gusts of sand-shifting winds. We're 25 guests shy of 2 grand with only 5 nights to go, bit of a tall order. But that number's just a shallow benchmark. We know- now- that it's far, far better to have 5 pax stick around for 5 nights than host 25 for 1 frantic night.

By the way, we've made two mistakes in the past week that I thought I'd record for posterity. These are lessons we already learned the hard way, why is it that we must re-take the course?

Lesson 1: If your guests are trying to finance their travels by selling homemade jewelry on the beach... you should probably have them paying in advance for the bed. Did it. Did it. Did it. Did it. Relaxed, trusting their integrity based on the previous behavior, then BAM! I honestly think they would have stuck around longer, but they woke one morning to find it wasn't ME in reception, saw the opportunity and figured they'd take it.

Lesson 2: And there's really no getting around this, it's kind of like a Law of Physics: if you are going to host nomadic, lifetime backpackers, you cannot allow them to accumulate a debt to you that is greater than the value of their possessions. Because the moment that happens, they will happily abandon their clothes, bags and even passport, knowing that they'll need less cash to replace them than they would to return and reclaim them. Saw this coming, saw this coming, saw this coming... anybody need a backpack? A Chileno passport? I'll give ya a good price...

Why travel when you can't afford to, you ask? Probably, for most of them, because its equally unaffordable to stay in one place, and a lot more difficult to be opportunistic. Why is it such a daunting challenge for us to hold them accountable on a daily basis, you inquire? Well, it's really only about 1% that generate grief, and they so desperately avoid me and fasttalk the others that it doesn't feel worth my time to spend all day, every day, hounding them. By prioritizing relaxation- along with the others like me in the other towns along the trail- we make it possible for them to keep existing, keep moving, keep scrapping and scrounging. It is a lifestyle.

Mixin' Caips

2011-05-21T13:26:00.003-03:00

Suka's returned from Belem, and the nightshift crew picked up where they left off. Nothing like some Friday night caipirinhas after the Friday night cigar and directly before the Friday night pizza.

Batch #1

2011-05-20T10:05:00.003-03:00

48 bottles of Pirata beer now sit in an undisclosed location, carbonating, resting, waiting to be sampled in June. After 2 weeks in the fermenter, the stuff looked like a golden lager and smelled like stained tables at the Hofbrau hall in Munich... we'll see what it tastes like.

Francisco's brother Julian arrived yesterday, with Francisco coming today. Julian is a tattoo artist, his bro is bringing his equipment... you know what that means, don't you? And since Thiago is also back, I was thinking we'll do a barbecue party for them, Salvo's dad as well, Saturday night.

Did I mention that there's a huge international surf competition going on this week, here in Arpoador and in Barra? Kelly Slater is competing, as is every other big name. I should've mentioned it. There's another competition next week in Saquarema, I wonder if they're all going there, too.

The numbers game has come down to the wire, keeping life interesting: We only needed 129 new visitors in the hecka-slow month of May to hit 2,000 guests for the Pirata calendar year (we came up short in Y2 and did not count in Y1). With 12 nights left, we're at 71. Can we manage to lure in 58 more trail-beaters before June? We'll have 2 weekends, that'll help.

Caipirinhas & Lapa this evening... and me and my buddy Orfeu's cigar night!

Plastic Math

2011-05-18T07:43:00.005-03:00

So we "fixed" the lack-of-roof problem yesterday with a 5 X 3 (meters) tarp of blue plastic, some bungee chords and a rope. I wasn't too hot for the idea, but then it rained, and it worked. To quote Dom Frederico, "We could spend R$2,000 on a new roof one time, or spend R$75 on some plastic maybe once, maybe a few times, which do you prefer?" When it comes to counting currencies, it's true our greatest reservoirs are of time & energy, not cash. And in the grand scheme of things, isn't that better than the other way around?

Good news on the Pirata beer front: I now have enough bottles collected (almost enough for 2 batches), the caps fit and the brew is 'bout ready for the next phase. Sanitizing, sterilizing, bottling tomorrow morning, which would give us the weekend for another wort session if we think we can pull it off. Hurrah!

a variety of ponderings

2011-05-17T07:39:00.004-03:00

It's chilly and windy with sporadic doses of rain. Surely this can't last forever, but we may go a week without the beach scene.

Updates on the Life:

- Orfeu lives, and is well. Samantha still retreats in fear every time our new Lab pup bounds toward her, but coexistence is not outta the cards.

- The wind blew so wicked Sunday night, and our air-rusted irons resisted so little, the rear portion of roofing blew offa the 'house. Now the stairs and entrance to the girls' restroom have no protection from the elements... but a great view of the stars! We'll need to fix this ASAP for the sake of the stairs. The rain 'round here drops like acid bombs.

- Ravi is gone... gone to Singapore! Via London?! Does this kid have no idea how to read a map or use a compass? We've sung so many accolades in praise of our Pirata brother, you can handle one more: from now on, when appropriate, I'll be employing a new verb here on the blog:

ravi: v. (rah-vee)- to go where one wants, to do what one wants, to live how one wants (ex: Tom just arrived from Mendoza, where he ravied two years, learning the art of the winemaker. OR Michelle is our newest long-termer. She hopes to ravi in Rio for a while, though she knows not yet how.)

- Thiago has returned from his European adventure, and sounds like it was a good one. What's his next move? The last few days have felt like a return to the era of the Ipanema Boys... say it ain't so! He mentioned an interesting and very telling thing about his reunions with many old guests: their home lifestyles are much more serious, reserved and restricted than their holiday attitudes and inclinations had been. That might sound obvious to you, but you aren't growing up inside of a hostel, which (as we've said before) is a lot like growing up in Neverland as one of the Lost Boys. Let's hope he's inspired to seize life by the reigns. But its just as likely he'll be inspired to return to Neverland and try to reach 40 without having to worry about anything more threatening than a tick-tocking crocodile. A tempting option.

- Dengue! Dengue in Zona Sul... sonofabitch. This is big on my mind. Ella had it, now Sebastien's got it, and the Copacabana Doc told Freddy that Seb was his 30th case that day. Dengue fever is spread by mosquitoes, who favor dirty, still water, and it had never been a problem here in the paradise of Ipanema so long as I've been around. Unless you're already dying or a newborn, it's not life-threatening; just a pain in the ass for about one miserable week. But if an outbreak hits the hostel world, well, that could be a real drag. Aside from steering clear of unkept water tanks and un-chlorined pools, and wearing a lot of spray-on repellent, there's not much you can do to avoid it. Gonna be monitoring this, particularly short-term guests with flu-like symptoms who may not even realize what they've got until they've hopped on a 36-hour busride.

Introducing Orfeu

2011-05-10T08:35:00.005-03:00

Here he is, the newest shipmate:
He's a 50-day-old black Labrador, and his name is Orfeu... an homage to the excellent film Orfeu Negro, which you simply must see if you have any interest in Rio, Carnaval and their cultural histories. He's a make-up present from the lady who sold me the beagle Pegasus.. ah, poor Pegasus; his fate was as inescapable as Eurydice's (NOW do you wanna see the movie?!)

We also have another interesting new guest in the 'house... Xian, from a "central province" in China. He has paid for a month and plans to maybe spend 3. Do you wanna know what he's doing here? He's working for a Chinese company that is teaching the Chinese language to Brazilians who hope to one day conduct business with the great Eastern power. Xian will spend a month learning Portuguese, and then he'll start the teaching, and if it goes well they'll get him a work visa... WRITE DOWN THE DATE! In 10 years will there be a bigger market for Cariocas to learn Chinese than English? Will it be the youth of China who fund their never-ending travels by picking up private students on the fly? Will the masses of would-be English teachers find themselves without a market?

Can you picture it? I can.

The DI View

2011-05-09T08:04:00.003-03:00

We hiked to the top of Dois Irmaos Saturday morning, and it was fantastic. Dois Irmaos are the two peaks looking down at Ipanema from the West, the background detail of the mandatory photo every tourist takes when they first arrive on the sandy beach. Finally, after 3 years, I have seen the opposing view. Here are some pics from the roundtrip 2-hour trek:

From the top:

After a jaunt like that, I bet you'd like a beer, wouldn't you? Take a look at my first effort to extract the sugars from malt:
Still want a beer? Take a look at my first effort to boil (then chill, then ferment) wort:

Still want a beer? Bottling in 2 weeks, then our first sampling probably at the Piratas party in June.

The Line-up

2011-05-06T08:23:00.002-03:00

Looking forward to the imminent agenda:

Caipirinha Class tonight, not a big crowd in the 'house but nice people, and I haven't had a drink in a week.

Saturday morning hiking. Gotta find a trail from Alto-Leblon up Dos Irmaos for a view of Ipanema. Ravi, Seb, Marte, Gabe, Priscilla and anyone else up for some hoofing. When we get back to the shack we'll be milling, mashing, lautering, brewing and fermenting our first test batch of... Sea Dog Grog? The brand, like the beer, is a work in progress. You gotta start somewhere.

Sunday is Mother's Day! We've got 4 mom's in the 'house (Eva's Mom, Eva, Susan & Priscilla) and I'm sure there will be plenty of hugs and well wishes and flowers all around. A little afternoon sunshine for a little afternoon beach time would be swell.

Weekend Potential

2011-05-05T08:14:00.004-03:00

Preparing for possibly 25-ish arrivals today, on account of an actual reservation for 5, a couple of Suca's amigos and a promise from yesterday's Chileno newbie, Dino, of a group of 17 with bicycles completing a cross-continental road trip in Rio. We don't actually have room for all of that, but we'll wait and see how it shakes out.

The materials and ingredients for our basic beer-making operation have arrived! Now we make a plan, and this weekend we make some wort. The only goal at this point is to get hands-on experience with the process, keep good notes and avoid making the same mistake more than once. Hopefully we'll have some drinkable samples by my birthday.

Sunny day, should be interesting.

The Occasional Easterner

2011-05-04T08:36:00.003-03:00

There's a Russian father-daughter tandem in the 'house, and I think that has to make it official: we get more Russians than Czechs. I used to think Czechs went everywhere, and maybe 5 years ago they did, and maybe the economy isn't growing like it once was. Whatever the comparison, we're still only talking about random pop-ins. The day when a group of Eastern Europeans storms the 'house and lays siege for 2 weeks is a long way off.

Planning a weekend early-morning hike with Ravi and the Ravi-ettes, maybe up to the peaks that overlook Ipanema. If we can get up for it (and by we I'm not talking about me), and if the rain blows away, should be a fun time.

Wild waves have washed out the beach, no telling when Fatima will be back down there. Not showcase days for the city, but still better to be here than not.

State of the Hostel XXXIV: May-laise Abounds

2011-05-02T09:58:00.002-03:00

I awake to a post-bin Laden world and find Rio a whole lot more interested in Flamengo's exciting victory over Vasco in the final of the city tournament... maybe most of the papers just went to press too soon? Hard to say, but since its a business, the question is which would sell more copies in this town on this Monday morning of 2011: a photo of the world's most wanted terrorist with the word MORTO, or a photo of Ronaldinho triumphantly hoisting a cup?

Mass Exodus Monday in full effect, if they can wake up in time to catch the buses outta town. We've had a good run the past two weeks, great crowd, now sorta going back to the long-termers and building from there. No great expectations for May, which remains the only month of the year that we've never had a full-house.

Ravi has returned! The long-termer list looks like this: Paul (South Africa), Marlon (Brazil), Susan (America), Marte (Norway), Sebastien (Australia), Rey (Israel), Anna (Germany), Ravi (India), Ella (Austria) Henry (Sweden), Charles (France) and Suca (Brazil). By June half of them will be gone... but don't be surprised to see new names become familiar ones.

Personal goals for the month include brewing our first batch of beer, acquiring a man's best friend to keep Samantha company on watch, and otherwise staying the course. Looks like Piratas is gonna hit the 3-year mark in stride.

Look Who's Crashing

2011-04-28T07:54:00.003-03:00

Certainly appears we'll stay jammed through the weekend; lucky break this time of year.

Who are these ragtags? There's the Swede fellas, of course, who now control the entire second dorm, some of the big dorm, and collectively consume gallons of alcohol per day. There's a group of Scots with full-body, zip-up animal costumes. There's a pack of Brits, though I don't expect them to linger much longer.

Then we've got our soloists: I haven't told you about Henry, the first serious online gambler we've ever had, who is trying to bankroll his travels by beating other Henrys at Texas Hold 'em. He'll be in 'house for a month. By the end, he'll probably have convinced me to do the same thing... then he can bankroll his travels by beating Brians, too... maybe that's the whole scheme...

I also haven't told you about Suca, the newest Pirata staffer. He's from Belem, he plays a mini keyboard powered by a steady stream of air, blown through a plastic tube while performing (think about how accordians work), and he's already hung up a sign advertising his Dread-making talents. Worked his first night-shift last night. Interesting dude.

Sonny from South Korea is a nice guy, Celio is back for one more round at Piratas, and there's obviously quite a few others you won't hear about today. And so on.

Rodrigo & Mary Ellen get married

2011-04-27T09:07:00.006-03:00

In case you missed it:

Is there a sweeter, kinder couple in the world? Hopefully we helped make it an evening they'll long remember.

By the way: Same woman judge that sent Priscilla and I down the drain (PATH, I meant to say PATH, I swear!). Cartorio weddings are quite a spectacle... a dozen or so couples at a clip, all different stories, all heading in different directions, connected by the one night they'll point back to and celebrate as the moment of realization.

Directly behind the judge is a large portrait of Jesus... but behind her to the right is an old placard, this one:
In other words, this particular office handles all the local documenting of births, marriages and deaths... the Big Three events of human life, so it would suggest. This sign really injects a buzz into the proceedings.

Happy Birthday, Susie Bombshell

2011-04-26T09:46:00.002-03:00

We had the honor of helping Susan celebrate her twenty-fifth 29th birthday on Sunday. She's been in-house now for a half-year, and if that doesn't make her one of the most laid-back, flexible and adaptive rock stars in the world... I don't know what criteria you're using to quantify them.

Cake! Snacks! Adult magazines! Bacardi Mojito punch! Sailor hats made from newspaper! Balloons! All for one very special member of the Piratas family.

Big night tonight: Mary Ellen & Rodrigo's wedding #1. We'll host the reception afterwards... should be fun, and should bring back some memories of our own leap of faith.

Roll Call

2011-04-22T10:14:00.003-03:00

Who's in the 'house for the holiday weekend?

1. Sweden... Sweden is very, very in the 'house.
2. Norway
3. Belgium
4. Holland
5. France
6. Spain
7. Germany
8. Israel
9. South Africa
10. Japan
11. Australia
12. U.S.
13. Canada
14. Brasil
15. Argentina
16. Crazyville

Am I missing someone? Maybe... I'm not 100% on the South Americans, they may very well be Chilenos. Air mattresses all over the place... caipirinhas tonight... nothin' to it but to do it...

Awake

2011-04-21T09:37:00.002-03:00

At 7 I opened my eyes, sat up, got up, showered and descended to reception. How? Did an alarm go off? I don't remember hearing an alarm go off. And how?! We trolled through Ipanema last night, winding up at Emporio, winding up doing shots and slurring speech, winding up in a taxi because the 10-minute hike seemed too daunting.

Susan is a funny drunk. She couldn't stop laughing, roaring and roaring with a menthol in-hand, crouched against the outer wall of the joint. Something tells me tonight won't be as ambitious.

3 Brit girls checked out this morning, having served their 2-night sentence... expressions of indescribable anguish splattered across their faces. I understand how they feel, I've seen it before: the only thing more frustrating, to some, than the "unacceptable" living conditions of Piratas is... well, is how many people all around you are accepting it. It's the peculiar reality that keeps this ship afloat, which I tried to explain, which didn't really mend their shattered worldviews.

Did you know coconut water hydrates better than regular bottled water? Did you know they sell it on the beach, where the chair and umbrella are FREE? Did you know that's a half-block to the left? GO.

State of the Hostel XXXIII: Pascoa

2011-04-20T07:53:00.003-03:00

Tiradentes Day, Holy Week & Easter are upon us. This is the first real test of the hammock renovations, the first time people with online bookings are sleeping in them. I'm a little disappointed how put-off some backpackers are by the notion of spending a night in a hammock, when they've clearly never done so before... I mean, sailors and prisoners and indigenous South Americans have been rockin' these things for centuries. To say you need a "real bed" rather than a hammock is like saying you need "real food" instead of the local culinary options. Try something new!

A large gang of Swedes, some of whom stayed here last year after the hard rains and flooding, control a lot of the energy in the 'house, and will control it for the foreseeable future. Very cool people, very easy-going and fun-loving. Other than them, it's all pairs and solos from around Europe. We're gonna have to keep the high-energy ones occupied.

Exciting items on the agenda, lifestyle-wise: Susan (a Pirata since October) will celebrate her birthday Sunday. Then Mary Ellen & Rodrigo (our Favela Tour friends) will marry in the Cartorio Tuesday, followed by a reception here at the 'house. Saude! Cheers! Chin chin! Skol!

Our misadventure keeps moving along... Paul remains our rock on the nightshift, but his sidekick Charles will be off next week and I'm already losing sleep looking for a replacement (YOU, perhaps?). Marlon & Marte have both found jobs, so along with Susie Bombshell that makes 3 people who are living here, working in Rio, sorta doing the life thing, not at all doing the traveler thing. Sebastien has returned, Ravi soon will and that's kinda giving the place a pre-Thanksgiving vibe. Maybe we can do something celebratory for May Day to mark the reunion.

The holiday weekend begins TONIGHT; concerts and DJs and street madness and funk scenes and beach parties and chocolate. With the sun shining, there are a bounty of good things to do day & night... if you can't enjoy Rio over these next 5 days, buddy you. are. hopeless.

Committment Day

2011-04-18T08:40:00.005-03:00

With the big holiday weekend approaching, we're once again faced with a conundrum. A lot of reservations set to arrive starting Wednesday, but a lot of good folks in the 'house who want to stay through instead of moving on. The professional thing to do, I suppose, would be to honor the reservations... that's what we normally do, that's what everyone normally does. But when you do that, you are basically kicking out people who want to be here and like being here to accept new arrivals who may not like it, may not stay, or may stay but then write bad online reviews.

Minimize the variables, that's the strategy we'll employ. Anyone who wants to stay through next weekend must commit to it today (and I think you know what I mean by "committing"). Once I've got those locks, I'll go ahead and cancel some of the reservations... sad for them, but they've still got a few days to figure out a Plan B, and adversity builds character.

A splendid weekend: Friday night we had a beer-b-que & beer pong tourney prior to the Lapa van (Chef Gabe could have his own Food Network show), Saturday night we went to The Week, in Centro (can't believe it took me 3 years to get there, easily one of the 2 best clubs in Rio... so far), sunny, gorgeous afternoons on the beach and funk last night... when you have a good going-out crowd, life is easy... the city sells itself.

Finally, Chandler checks out?

2011-04-15T08:16:00.004-03:00

The tv in the sala died yesterday... it's good for sound but not for, y'know, watching. Just a few meters away from it is a much bigger tv that I got from Lee for free... free because it does not even turn on. So here we are with the question: do we need these life-suckers? These time-wasters? Presented with the opportunity to permanently and forever kick every cast member of Friends out of Piratas... do I really want to pay to let them come back in the 'house?!

Well, it's Friday man and the weekend awaits. What we need is sunshine, high-energy arrivals, fun-lovin' Cariocas at the Lapa street and Favela Funk scenes.

So no more pool table and no more tv... what could we do with that space? More hammocks? A permanent Caipirinha Class set-up? A water fountain? A... caipirinha fountain?

Faces in the crowd

2011-04-14T09:01:00.002-03:00

Anna from Germany and Ray from Israel arrived separately but have been nearly inseparable ever since... they've both been here now for what? 3 weeks? Is it 4 already? They share the bond of being solo backpackers, and also the characteristics of being kind, generous and light-hearted. Can't expect them to stick around much longer but then again, stranger things have happened, eh?

This morning Quentin, a French returnee, showed up. Last night 3 Swedes and before them another pair of French returnees. Coincidence? J' ne sais pas.

Next weekend, an unusual combo of a midweek national holiday followed by Holy Week and Easter is almost fully booked already (Exchange students and Brazilians being the bulk of it)... this one's not lookin' too shabby, either. April has its moments.

Where's Fatima?

2011-04-13T08:45:00.006-03:00

Her tent was not on the beach Sunday or yesterday. Monday she was there with a small supporting cast, mentioned something about a disagreement with her sons... you gotta wonder if our Posto Pirata situation is in jeopardy. Gonna stay on top of it because those tents are registered and controlled, and if she has any desire to sell-out and retire maybe we could work out a deal. I don't know if I'd like to work on Ipanema beach every day... but I think I know some people who would!

13 arrivals yesterday, real tossed salad of Brits, Spaniards, a Frenchman, a Venezuelan, an American, some girls who sound Irish... expecting a few Scandinavians sometime today. Nice to have new blood, new energy midweek.

I've placed an order and hope to find out today the shipping time for my beginner brew kit & starter materials. First steps are alway modest, cautious... but then, there's nothing cautious about a first step, is there?

The Now & the Soon

2011-04-12T08:04:00.002-03:00

Timur from Russia (says from a small place outside Moscow), has been in the 'house for 2 weeks and will be for one more. He doesn't speak very much English or Portuguese or far as I can tell Russian, but he's very friendly and seems happy to be here. Paul has taken him under his wing, as he so generously does with so many of the solo guys passing through, looking to make the most of their time in the city. Spent a couple hours baking on the beach with Salvo yesterday afternoon... switching up the schedule with Cap'n Freddy so that I'll have more daylight free and I'll be back in reception in the evening for a little bit, to let everyone know their options and encourage them out into the night. I'm usually hanging around at that time, anyway, so it makes a lot more sense. Speaking of everyone, quiet around here but with 11 reservations for today... that's a big April Tuesday by our standards. We'll see what they're made of.

Law of the Sunga

2011-04-11T09:46:00.002-03:00

It's a be-a-u-ti-ful Rio morning, hot 'n sunny like we like it. I strolled down to the Lotteria to pay the month's dues, a pair of dogs walking their owner got into a yap-yap with another pair, same breed, out walking another owner (same breed, too), then the next thing I know the old man waiting with me starts a conversation about how annoying all the dog-walking on his street is, more to the point how annoying all the dog-yapping is. Then I realize all he's wearing is a sleeveless pull over and a blue sunga (Speedo). Then I recall that when I was in this line last week I also had an old man in nothing but a sunga in front of me, and how I'd meant to mention that admirably...

I admire the way old Cariocas roll around town in their sungas. My wife lets me wear mine at the beach, but I have to wear board shorts over top of them walking to and from. I go along because its not worth an argument, but when I hit 60- maybe even 55- I'm turning off the hearing aid and donating my board shorts to Goodwill. I'll be in that Lotto line with the rest of 'em, tanning my thighs and not giving a damn!

Long-termer Laura's Great Escape

2011-04-08T08:22:00.004-03:00

Laura, our blond Brit big-dorm long-termer, will roller skate all the way to Colombia tomorrow (IF she can survive 1 last Rio Friday night). She's been living here at Piratas for a little more than 8 months. To put that into perspective for you, Laura arrived on August 3rd... since then, 1,361 different guests have passed through our blue front gate. Some people cannot imagine spending 8 hours in the big dorm, let alone 8 months. We'll mix caipirinhas tonight in her honor, and wish her luck on the next adventure... didImention IF she can survive 1 last Rio Friday night.

Great crowd, great weather. Along with the usual suspects of options there's a Hash run in Flamengo tomorrow and a football derby in Engenhao Sunday. But if you're lookin' for ME, you might wanna check Fatima's tent first.

Beware the pattern

2011-04-07T07:45:00.005-03:00

Charles handled his first night shift well enough... or so it appears. The secret to night shift is this: go as wild and crazy downstairs as you wanna, so long as by 7am-ish, the place looks clean & calm. By the way, I can't believe I forgot Martin the painter and VIK when I was listing former staffers the other day... how the hell did I forget Vik?

The bulk of last weekend's crowd is still here... that's a pleasant surprise. Will they make it a back-to-back? Real fun, friendly, self-sustaining band. The variety in the 'house right now spans: England, France, Spain, Germany, Austria, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Israel, South Africa, Australia, Venezuela, Brasil, and several solo Americans, off the top of my head. Pretty sure France has the most.

My meeting with Botto didn't materialize, rescheduled... still determined to have a home-brewing contraption operational by the end of the month. I just want a little guidance... are we not all brothers in booze?

The Turkish restaurant is open again, after a week hiatus, much to my surprise. Still pluggin' along, that place. I used to get excited when I'd pass an empty storefront with a For Rent sign; I'd scribble down the number and rush home for Priscilla to call and inquire the price, all the while brainstorming what we could do to maximize that space.

But now I see them every two blocks. And now I see a Ghost Monkey crouching above the rental sign, pointing at me, its mad eyes screaming, "Beware the pattern! Beware!" Is the economy weaker than was thought, or are there simply too many merchants offering the same wares? Is the problem the market or the recognition of the breadth of "demand"? Are there even more stores going out of business than there were 2 years go, or am I just getting better at spotting them?

Sunny day. Beach day. Samba tonight in Lapa.

How to Brew in Brasil, Way 1

2011-04-06T08:37:00.003-03:00

Despite my breathtakingly busy schedule, made a lot of progress on yesterday's grog goals:

All equipment & ingredients necessary to set up a small or even very large home brewing operation can be ordered from Sao Paulo via this site. There are even recipes for the main types of beers, lager and ale and whatnot. The only catch is that a shipment of more than 30KG (such as the complete kit for 20 or 60 litre systems) requires special delivery arrangements... I might be calling them to find out the specifics on that.

It appears that you could have everything, including all the malts, bottles, all that and be ready to roll for roughly R$2,000. Not bad. Very do-able. But not the best we can do.

Tonight I'm meeting with Leonardo Botto, maker of Botto Bier and president of the Rio chapter of AcerVa, the national microbrewers club. His emails are very friendly, and I'm hoping he reveals a vast array of options much closer and at least a lil' cheaper than Sao Paulo, so we can get moving on this mad experiment. Progresso!

Hey, looky here, 2 fresh sunny morning arrivals, straight from Sweden... WELCOME!

A vision... of grog

2011-04-05T08:06:00.003-03:00

While there are many downsides to the ever present PROPERTY FOR SALE rain cloud lingering over our heads and dousing our solar-powered optimism, I've begun to view the 'house as more than merely a backpacker hosting & analyzing operation. It's also a big freakin' space, which I'm free to use however I choose, so long as the use does not imperil the profit margin.

The ideal would be to find a use for the space- something that can be done concurrently with the managing- that could be more than just a hobby or entertainment... a step in a direction toward THE NEXT THING.

Well, now that we've got the time, the funds, the energy, the area & the looming pressure to prepare for a Post-Piratas world... I think it's time to learn the art of craft beer making. The project will surely capture the interest and approval of our guests, and if I really dive in now, I think we could be ready for the next level- the serious level, in 6 or 7 months time, should an ambitious and deep-pocketed soul show up with a briefcase and bulldozer at our front gate.

There are 7-hour Saturday courses offered monthly in the city, by "artesan" members of Rio's branch of the national microbrew association (ACerVa), "How to" walkthru's for hobbyists. There's one this weekend in Botafogo. While the internet provides more than a sufficient amount of information, photos, videos, all that jazz on the full Monty process, I don't know where I can buy the stuff, and I'll hit up the seminar if, between now and then, I make no headway with emails and walkabouts. Pretty sure Rio doesn't have a branch of Homebrew.

Besides, such an event is good practice for my Portuguese. And you never know who (potential partners? investors?) you might run into there.

Muito o Nada

2011-04-04T07:58:00.004-03:00

Our latest arrivals are a happygolucky Aussie and a pair of Colombian couch surfers, our first CSers of the year. I'll take 2 at a time, 2 days at a time, but more than looking for company and atmosphere I'm looking for a night shift candidate to spell Paul.

Paul's the best we've ever had on the watch, and we've had a lot of 'em (Rafa, Matias, Diego, Andre, Damien, Claudio, Victor, Thiago, Francisco, Kiran, man I'm forgetting quite a few, its early and I'm but a half-cup of joe into my morning wake-up routine). But he's clockin' every 10-7 now and I'm afraid we're wearing him down. If we can't find responsible relief soon I may shoulder the extra time myself; finally I've got a 2-month span with no marathon prep or apartment or other distractions, stable and with more material than ever. It feels like time to wrap up the RHP testament. Or should I abandon the notion of production and try surfing instead?

Questions abound! Is this Laura's last Monday at Piratas? Luca's? Will April score more sunny days or cloudy ones? What does Fatima's clan do when it rains? Are they selling umbrellas on the sidewalks of Centro? Why has the Turkish restaurant been closed for a week, vacation or- finally- submission? Do those 3 guys who park & watch cars on the street for tips make more money parking & watching cars on the street for tips or selling marijuana? Is that the best cover job ever for a street dealer?

Questions abound!

March's Fool

2011-04-01T16:05:00.003-03:00

Not so much an "April Fool's!" as an "F U!", I thought you might enjoy a little story about the other day.

The Other Day...

... I was walking down the street in Copacabana, when a passerby caught my eye. By his barefoot-on-up appearance, it was evident that he spends day and night scrounging to survive on the streets of Zona Sul. But you see folks like that wandering Copa all the time. What caught my eye was his shirt: yellow, Brazilian football crest, the numbers 165 centered on the front, larger on the back a-la jerseys, with the word scrawled from one shoulder blade to the other in an arc: PIRATAS.

Back when the World Cup was happening, I had 2 of these shirts made, for Freddy & I. A few weeks ago he gave his to Pavel, our Polish Jiu-Jitsu guest, as a parting gift. My first reaction was, "I can't believe Pavel- such a nice guy- gave away Fred's present!"

So I caught up to the fellow- he was walking with a friend- and asked him where he'd scored such a unique piece of clothing... replied nonchalant that he'd got it off another person on the street last week... Pavel left a while ago... hmmm...

"Is it yours?"

"I think it's my friend's, yeah!"

"Do you want it back?"

As it was quite filthy, I did not.

So I rolled back to the 'house and checked my closet... sure enough, my shirt is gone. Sure enough, last week 2 Aussie girls stayed here for 6 nights (on a 7 night reservation), then pretended they were going to the laundromat at 11am, abandoned some bags of cheap clothes in the room to create an illusion of remaining and never came back... the landromat skip-out, I've now been victimized by it TWICE.

Only this, the second time, the culprits were out for a measure of vengeance, and chose to steal my hostel shirt from the clotheslines and- apparently- make a poetic statement by presenting it to a homeless guy. I admit, that is a poetic statement...

but I mean come on! They weren't on a holiday package, they'd never complained to me and I'd never asked them to pay, assuming they (like 99% of Australians) would responsibly handle their debt. They could've left after the first night, could've switched to any of the 40 other hostels in the city any day they chose. Instead they elected to stay, and then to run, and more price-less-ly to steal my cool shirt.

The fact that the guy looks a lil' better in it than I did is a matter of only minor emotional compensation. There's a lot to be said about the non-confrontational, passive aggressive behavior that has now claimed both my iPad and my Piratas shirt in less than a month. And there's also a lot to be said about what exactly is inspiring this NOW, between my demeanor and the hostel, after 2 and a half years of occasional complaints but no thefts of my personal property. Several things to consider.

Caipirinhas tonight! Not a big crowd but a nice one, looking forward to the weekend and the month ahead.

Not a fan of the lamb

2011-03-31T09:07:00.003-03:00

Quiet around here... too quiet. Quarter-full-quiet. Wrapping up March is always more about putting together a strategy to take advantage of the next 2 months; personal improvement, outside-the-lines focus, Second Summer prep.

Why wait for tomorrow? No Lagoa Challenge tonight, not after the long lay-off, but I'll do the Ipanema Dash down to the end of Leblon and back, 7 pm, everyone's welcome to join. Overcast skies may make the beach less appealing, but you can't beat this weather for some outdoor sport.

The latest arrivals have been May from Korea, Daniel from Israel, Timur from Russia and Barbara from Barcelona... how's THAT for variety?

Introducing the newest crewmember

2011-03-30T09:29:00.004-03:00

Meet Pegasus: He is a full-blooded beagle, and he's Gabe's puppy; the newest Pirata long-termer. Just shy of 2-months old, Pegasus is a few vaccinations away from being ready to roam the streets. But he's got the energy and Samantha appears to approve of her running mate, so the next couple months- otherwise slow and quiet around here- oughta be a little more entertaining. Poor guy has gone from Jacob to Odie to Pegasus in less than 24-hours, but I think this one'll stick.

I applaud the choice... 3,000 years is long enough for the word to be associated with a flying horse. You can't be afraid to challenge the status quo, and if that's a lesson you can learn through puppy-naming, all the better.

One More Woofer?

2011-03-29T07:28:00.002-03:00

Nice weekend, a group of 10 French architecture students arrived straight outta Europe and made the house a full one. No real complaints about the hammocks or anything else, our kinda crowd... good times.

Dan left for the States yesterday.... helluva nice guy. This place won't be as light-hearted or as easy-going without him. He arrived just after New Year's and skipped our Carnaval but otherwise was as consistent an ingredient in the atmosphere of the place as anybody; one of the faces I'll always attach to Summer Eleven. Helluva nice guy.

I've gone ahead and set special prices for the weekends of Rock In Rio in Sept/Oct, and also for New Year's Eve and Carnaval 2012. Why not? If 165 miraculously sells, we'll buy tents for all the holiday cancellations.

There's a very good chance Samantha will have a new sidekick, a Robin to her Batman. Probably before the end of the week, maybe before the end of today. That I've agreed to it, that I'm even maybe a little excited, hints at how much I have changed.

Sunday Reflection

2011-03-27T08:41:00.006-03:00

Gabe is battling his way through "The Little Prince", a classic for all ages and one I never got around to. Finished it just now. Here it is, in case you have an hour to burn before the games come on the t.v.. I can only imagine what it would've been like to process this story at 10... but now, to read it is to wonder, "How do I, on my little planet, compare with the King, the Drunk, the Businessman, the Lamplighter? What would the Little Prince have thought of me?" Maybe, most importantly, "Am I taking good care of my rose?" Seems like something worth wondering on a quiet Sunday morning.

Hang em high!

2011-03-25T08:14:00.003-03:00

A slap on the back for Freddy; the hammocks are up! 4 in the sala, 3 in the first dorm, 4 in the second as alternatives to the bunk beds in the big dorm and the pairs of them still downstairs. With the lockers in the hallway the rooms have a whole lot more space. And frankly, it looks like a hostel oughta look, in my own interpretation of the word. Now if we can only get Senhor Trash Collector to take away the chopped frames, broken pool table, thrashed sofa and whiners, the place will feel a little bit fresh.

Expecting both the 150th and 160th guests of March to walk through the gate today. Should that happen, we'll probably be at max for the weekend.

Tonight will be Salvo's last Caipirinha Class! He's been rocking our Friday's for awhile now, but life is calling, a job and an apartment with the girlfriend... ah, LIFE. We're gonna make it a good one and throw in a bbq for old time's sake;.. let's not get too nostalgic, he's just going to Copacabana. You know he's still gonna be in here every afternoon, recruiting the crowd to join him at the beach work-out point. Itallian Stallion!

UPDATE: Did you enjoy that Motorhead video yesterday? Andre the Tour Guide walked in last night and, apropo to nothing, mentioned he'll have tickets for all the nights of Rock in Rio... and he can get me a package deal! Now. We. Are. Talking.

Our latest arrival was Ricardo, a returnee, just like he promised he'd be the last time I saw him... 5 months ago? Yesterday also featured a Brazilian from Vitoria, a young Slovenian couple, 3 IthinkArgentines and- my personal favorite- an Austrian husband & wife combo finishing up a 5-month backpacker trek with 4 nights on a top-and-bottom in our big dorm. No younger than late-60's. No older than they feel.

On the horizon: Rock in Rio

2011-03-24T13:54:00.002-03:00

On the weekends of 23-25 September and 30 Sept- 2 Oct, our fine city will host one of the biggest musical events in the world this year: Rock in Rio. Tickets are crazy expensive, but the line-ups are crazy good. If you can only afford to go 1 night instead of on a package deal, which do you choose? Take a look at the headliners:

23 Sept: Elton John & Rhianna
24 Sept: Red Hot Chili Peppers
25 Sept: Metallica (& Slipknot! & MOTORHEAD!!!)
30 Sept: Shakira & Lenny Kravitz
1 Oct: Coldplay
2 Oct: Guns 'N Roses

The reason for the post is that I've received 10+ emails inquiring about accomodations for the event... in the last week. Pretty early planning, but then again, tickets are all but long gone. At first I thought "Gotta go!", but really, unless you buy a package for all the nights (you know, instead of buying a dependable used car), you're really just going to a regular concert with a lot of opening acts. I'm told RHCP never disappoint, but I've wanted to see Motorhead live for a long time... and then there's our whowouldathought second shot at GnR... decisions decisions.

Bigger question than "What should Brian do?" is "Will this be like another major holiday?" Will the hostels be jackin' up their rates because the city will be flooded with rockers? That'd be sweet for the otherwise-dead end of September timeframe... oh, and on that note, high-five to the city planners who had the sense to schedule a major tourism event during the down-season when everyone could use a little boost... that's how to do it!

"Why Motorhead?", you ask? Do you not know!?

The Sound of Sawing

2011-03-23T16:14:00.004-03:00

Do you hear that? That's the sound of Freddy with a hacksaw choppin' bunks in the first dorm... the only way to get them through the door is to cut them in half, believe it or not. And we're all about gettin' em out that door.

I journeyed to Sao Cristovo this morning on a hammock mission. Now with all the parts in place, we're underway with the renovations. The fellas that park the cars on the street will stop by later to collect the unwanted bedframes, which they can sell for scrap metal. Everybody wins... except for the beds.

Our most recent arrivals are Pitter (from Minas Gerais, in town for a conference), Vanessa from Argentina and Ana who is German but only speaks to me in Spanish. Pitter was actually here before, when he led the bus-load of revelers to our doorstep for November's Gay Pride parade. Great guy. That's 1 returnee, 1 online reservation and 1 walk-in, which is more or less consistent with the average.

Photos of the new-look-ship coming soon... so cool, you need fake Ray Ban's to view them!

Amid the Calm

2011-03-22T13:00:00.002-03:00

Quiet day, though not lacking points for contemplation.

Mary Ellen & Rodrigo stopped by... their Carioca Free Culture favela tour is gaining traction and proving popular enough with our guests that I never even mention alternatives. They've just turned in their marriage paperwork at the cartorio, and will likely walk down that aisle sometime in the next month. This is a funny world we're living in down here, on the fringe where the foreign and local merge like new-age colonials. Priscilla & I, Andre & Sarah, soon Mary and Rodrigo... who will be next? Thiago? Marte? Laura? Luca? Silje? Paul? Susan? Lacey? Ella? Place your bets... my money's on SALVO!

We're moving forward with an all-the-way beach house idea. A week from now there'll be less bunks, more hammocks, and the air-mattress-on-the-floor option all around. Simple. Easy. Laid back. The question is not "Will they still come?", the question is "Will they do online reservations for something called 'floor inflatable'"?

More long-termers movin' on in the coming week. Two roads diverge but once... it's nice to have Facebook and the internet, to be able to stay in touch and see where the road not taken leads those who took it. I dunno... sometimes its just as nice to wonder and not discover.

Our most recent arrivals (last night) were two nice guys from Israel who are now on a bus on their way to the Christ statue.... thought you'd like to know!

One Last Burn

2011-03-21T09:47:00.005-03:00

The house was packed and the sun scorching through the weekend. We won't see many more of those combos for awhile... you can sense the season's end 'round the corner.

A good crowd, very laid-back and amused by the condition of the 'house as we continue to re-invent post-Carnaval. Air mattresses on top bunks doesn't work. Neither, for that matter, do stick-like supports. More switcheroos today as the crowd clears; we'll need to be ready for 40+ again by Thursday, I wager. Gotta hang more hammocks.

The mega-moon was cool. The next time one of those happens (2029), there will probably be humans sitting on it waving back at us... but will they have wine? Work on it, Virgin Galactic!

Obama apparently came and went. I saw no evidence of the fact, but I guess we avoided the choke-points, and world events had him crawling through with a subdued profile... wouldn't want anyone thinking he was enjoying the trip. 1 more valid reason not to run for President- "Fun" can only be a covert-operation.

Hopefully a return of the "Lagoa Challenge"this week. Otherwise, biz as uz!

A Weekend of Big O's

2011-03-19T13:01:00.002-03:00

Guess who's back? Paulo, our old Italian marathoner! Nothing better than when former Piratas return to the Mothership... will be fun having him around to remind me how out of shape I am.

Tonight will be the biggest full moon in 20 years, due to timing, the orbit's proximity to Earth. Can you think of a better place to enjoy it than Copacabana beach, or at the luau scheduled for Praia Vermellha in Urca? Can you think of a better beverage than a bottle of wine? Bring a canga and join me on the sand!

Tomorrow, Barack Obama (whom I'm told has replaced George Bush as President of the U.S. since I left town) will be visiting Rio, no doubt in search of a new Chief of Staff (Sorry dude, but unless I can write my own dress code, drink on duty and grow a big beard, I'm stayin' right here... but Freddy's interested in the position...). He was scheduled to give a speech to the masses in Cinelandia square... but that's been cancelled. You could still hang out and catch a glimpse of him as he heads inside to talk with the VIP's, but that's about it. His published agenda includes the Christ statue, a favela tour and Samba City, and he'll stay in the Marriott in Copacabana. I'm a little more excited about that full moon, to be honest.

There's also a Carnaval party in Lapa tonight and a football derby (Botafogo X Vasco) in Engenhao tomorrow. The sun''s out... you should be, too!

3 Years On

2011-03-18T07:20:00.002-03:00

Today marks 3 years that I have lived in Rio. Not just been based here, but other than a week-long honeymoon to the North, I haven't left the state at all in that time. Is this what settling down looks like? This isn't what it looked like in the brochure!

I can happily report that there's been more to the story than just "The Rio Hostel Project". In Year 1, it was the running of a hostel in a foreign land that dominated my thoughts and attention. In Year 2, it was the adjustment into married life, and the balancing of it with the hostel scene. Without question, the third ball thrown into the juggler's rotation in Year 3 was parenthood... Gabe and I finding common ground among our expectations for a "Stepfather" and developing my own Dickensian character through trial and error (and balancing the role with husband and hostel manager). There are all kinds of things to think about when you're wondering "How can I ensure the impact I have on this kid is as positive as possible for him?", and the time passes quite quickly by. I've found I'm not any better at the 3rd task than I've been at the first two, but every sunrise seems to wipe the slate clean, and we're back at it.

I still cringe when young, innocent guests ask, "So this is what you're gonna do for the rest of your life, huh?" Pretty definitely not. I can't even forecast for the next year, man. But taking it as it comes, I still like Rio (ah hem, IPANEMA, anywhere else could be a world of a different experience), still like the hostel lifestyle (though this particular one could use a little tweaking; why am I always awake at 7AM?!), and I'll stick with the family as long as they stick with me (Gabe checks his watch, shrugs and says "I'll give ya 5 more minutes").

Expect Y4 to add yet another ball to the juggler's rotation. What might that be...?

Green on the Brain

2011-03-17T08:45:00.002-03:00

Today is Saint Paddy's Day, the one day of the year (other than the Superbowl) when it is perfectly excusable to spend more than 4 hours in an Irish pub. I wish I owned an Irish pub, just for this day. I also wish Irish pubs acted like it was Saint Patrick's Day every day, with green beer and folk songs and old men at the bar in tweed jackets with suede elbow patches, diluting the misery of lost potential in pints of thick, soupy Guiness. Shenanigans will open at noon and will be the place to be. You know, other than the 15 better places to be around the city... like the beach... or the other beach... or the other one...

Represented in the 'house last night: America, UK, France, Austria, Spain, Italy, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa... 30+ in the crowd, not bad, should be a good weekend.

End of the LT Era

2011-03-16T07:43:00.004-03:00

Silje, who more or less spent the last 14 months of her life living in a dorm room in Piratas, returned to Norway yesterday. While many of David Blaine's longevity stunts have been entertaining and detrimental to his health, none have compared to what Silje's so cheerfully endured. Her time spanned two Carnavals, the World Cup, a New Year's, busy seasons, slow seasons, suffocatingly hot nights when sleeping in the room was impossible and roommates and housemates of all levels of crazy. She's the first one since Rafa whose departure feels like a bold step away from one lifestyle, into another. Silje wasn't traveling through, she was living here. It will be strange now that she is not.

And just like your old coach was already running drills with a new, young prospect before you'd even finished cleaning out your locker, Piratas moves on. New guests arriving daily, trying to treat them like the first and feeding off their fresh enthusiasm for Rio. Come April, we'll still have Susan (America), Luca (Spain), Yannic (Greece), Paul (South Africa) & maybe Ella (Austria) keeping life rhythmic. Not a bad bag, but I think the days of 15 Long-Termers are behind us, and I think maybe we should leave them there. Consistency is nice, but too much consistency is boring. Let's declare an end to the "Long Termer Era".

A few wheels in motion. We've killed the upstairs 8-bed dorm... it is no longer a part of the hostel, and will be renovated and used as my private study... where I will study items of great consequence, no doubt. All of those beds and frames are heading out the door (to make space for... profound thoughts!). The living room is getting halved, and what's cut out will be reconfigured with 4-6 hammocks.

Today, as we're back in that season, I'll start accepting 1-2 Couchsurfers again. That was good for us last year, I only stopped because we stopped having space. Otherwise, the show goes on.

State of the Hostel XXXII: Mid-March '11

2011-03-14T09:05:00.003-03:00

Where to go from here? Our 3rd Piratas Carnaval in the rearview, the 'house in need of some TLC, the season shifting into the unpredictable weather, unpredictable crowds of April-May... I suppose it's UP or SIDEWAYS, eh?

We've thrown out all of the mattresses and wood from the downstairs dorms, replacing them with new supports and air mattresses. The A-M's have long been the preferred choice of long-termers who had determined to stay here regardless, but will they be acceptable crash points for newbie's? I'll tell you next Monday. The early indication is they work just fine on the lower beds, but are not so easy to "mount" when on top.

Going a step further (into the abyss?), we will likely remove the entire bedframes from the small dorm upstairs this week, replacing them with hooks and hammocks. We could comfortably fit 6, I think. Like air mattresses, hammocks are easy to clean, cheap to replace and relatively bug-repellent. Also like air mattresses, you kind of need a special breed of traveler to accept them as a "bed". But if we're destined to be the "cheap & easy & next to the beach" place, we might as well embrace it all the way.

Otherwise, the 'house is still the 'house. Shaking up staff and saying farewell to some long-termers: this week Silje & Pavel & Sebastian, and by April Laura, Marte, Lacey and some others will all be outta here. Francisco & Felipe are gone, I should mention, though I don't think we've seen the last of either.

Otherwise the 'house is the 'house. Pretty busy weekend all things considered, now let's hope the rest of the month goes better than it did last March, when Fred's roof blew into the ocean and the ocean blew into the big dorm. Remember that?

Carnaval Snapshots

2011-03-10T09:06:00.001-03:00

When you have more than 80 people crammed inside a crumbling house for a full Carnaval week, in the end you have 80 different experiences, running the spectrum from great to awful. That's how it always goes. Here's a little documentation from the group I was running around with:

We started with a free all-u-can-drink Caipirinha night in the house Thursday, to welcome the guests, let them get to know one another, give them a mask and introduce them to the wonderful national cocktail:

Friday night was a metro ride to Lapa...

Where free concerts and a whole lotta people were waiting:

Saturday morning we took the bonde into Santa Theresa...

... For the 8am bloco where everybody dolls up...

Saturday evening was for Bande de Ipanema's bloco, the favorite of the Zona Sul crowd:

Sunday, after the "Kitchen Bloco" from yesterday's video, we piled into vans to check out the Rocinha favela Carnaval scene. Funky!

Most of the house went to the Sambadromo Monday night... But some went club - hopping to soak in the vibrant shows:

Tuesday, as has become the tradition, we went to Scala for the nationally -televised Gay Ball... hey, you can't beat the music!

So... was it a good Carnaval? Honestly, 7 days is a long time for us to operate jammed. Though we had a really cool crowd this year, I'm not sure we were ready for them. As usual, the ones who had the best Carnaval were probably the ones I rarely saw.

Was this the last blowout at Piratas? Maybe. Maybe it's time for something different. Like, I dunno... a traveling circus instead of a stationary one?

Kitchen Bloco

2011-03-09T11:39:00.001-03:00

YouTube Video

Carnaval '11's Top Ten To-Do's

2011-03-03T08:40:00.001-03:00

Not in order of importance, but in order of happening, I promise that if you can fit all of these into your schedule and budget you will have an unforgettable week. And awaaaaaay we go!

1. Lapa street party, Friday, 4 March- put on a costume, metro to Cinelandia by around 11pm and join the throngs of revelers. Careful with your camera.

2. Santa Theresa bloco Céu na Terra, Saturday, 5 March- bloco starts at 8 am... Catch the sunrise from Santa Theresa, the hillside next to Lapa, then find the music and join the jam.

3. Mangueira feijoada, Club Scala, Saturday, 5 March- 1300 hrs, samba party and traditional Brazilian meal at the club a short walk from Cinelandia metro stop, on Ave. 13 Maio. A great intro to the premiere Samba schools, and a great meal.

4. Bande de Ipanema bloco, Saturday, 5 March- 1800hrs start time in the square next to Piratas. A whole lotta people, a whole lotta action. Tired yet?

5. Posto Pirata, Ipanema beach, Sunday, 6 March- don't forget that we are a half block from Ipanema beach, and you get a free chair and free umbrella from Fatima's tent every day! They are calling for summer sun on Sunday, soak in the rays with an agua de coco!

6. Favela Funk, Sunday, 6 March- No trip to Rio is complete without a favela party, and they know how to have a good time during Carnaval! The vans leave the house around midnight... A whole new perspective, a whole new party. Not to be missed!

7. Sambadromo Parade, Monday, 7 March- Salgueiro goes through at 10 pm... Don't miss them, so arrive early. Metro to Praca Onze, follow the signs to your section from there. Take your camera, it's an amazing spectacle!

8. Ipanema bloco madness, Tuesday, 8 March- Literally blocos from 10 am on, up and down the beach, centered around Posto 9. Carnaval has reached fever pitch at this point. Don't be shy!

9. Gay Ball, Club Scala, Tuesday, 8 March- by far the best, wildest ball we can afford to attend, we'll try to be there before midnight to negotiate a group deal with scalpers. Bring a camera, but leave the judgements at home... A night you'll remember!

10. Food challenge: over the course of Carnaval, you should sample all of the following: açaí, agua de coco, an x-tudo burger, a regular Caipirinha, a caiprifruta de maracuja, a plastic, colorful tube of cachaça mixed with honey, an all-u-can-eat Brazilian barbecue restaurant, a meal that includes rice, black beans and faroffa, and of course a full, filling serving of feijoada.

There you go! It's not an all-inclusive list, but it's a lot more than I did my first Carnaval, and it's enough to let you experience the different styles of music and festivities that make up this holiday. If you have any questions, if you need any help... ASK, ASK, ASK. Don't be afraid to try new things, meet new people, stay up a little later than you're used to or fall in love with a guy you just met who doesn't speak English and is wearing a dress just like one your mom has at home...

Bom Carnaval!

The Eve of Debauchery

2011-03-02T08:24:00.001-03:00

Today will be all sorts of Helter Skelter in the hope that tomorrow will run smoothly. Carnaval offers a timely excuse to clean the house, inventory and shake the dust off of... off of everything. We're shakin' dust offa dust around here. I'd like to say thanks in advance to Priscilla & Diana, who will be up to their elbows in @&$?!%#* this afternoon.

Tomorrow I'll post "Brian's Carnaval Recommendations", and that will serve as a 24 hr reference for the guests to use to make their plans. As a preview, here's recommendation #1: GET AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER!

My goal this year- my 5th festival- is to break away from the must-do's. Time management- balancing hosting with husbanding- has been a glaring weak spot in the past. Now with the help of Paul, Kiran, Susan, Ella and Diana, as well as the newly-stocked Monster Khaos energy drink (official sponsor), I hope to pull off a little burning-at-both-ends magic. Wish me luck. And don't try this at home... leave the piracy to the professionals.

Ravi Pandeiro

2011-02-27T10:37:00.001-03:00

YouTube Video

Tremendously enjoyed yesterday's bloco. Check out this video. Ravi's dedication to learning has been impressive this last half year, and now he gets to reap the rewards of the commitment. Ravi's not going to the bloco.... He's DOING the bloco. He won't be watching the parade through the Sambadromo... He'll be PARADING. Respect.

In addition to the usual cuckoldry...

2011-02-25T09:35:00.001-03:00

... There will be a bloco/ parade down Av. Rio Branco this evening, 8pm: Cordao Da Bola Preta. Take the metro to Cinelandia and you'll find it, then just roll from there over to Lapa for the street party.

Saturday could be the greatest non-Carnaval party day of the year for Samba lovers. The first edition of the Ceu Na Terra bloco in Santa Theresa... kicks off at 8 in the morn!

Then after a nap on the beach, join us for the bloco by Ravi's samba school, 4 pm in Laranjeiras. It'll be sweet!

Cap it off with Sambaland, a free Samba show open only for Carnaval, very chill. Take the metro to Praca Onze and you'll find it there starting at 7pm.

Sunday you will have a bloco rolling down Ipanema beach at 11 am... Heading straight for us. Another will start at 2, same area, different music, for the late-risers. After that head to the Sambadromo, where defending champion Tijuca will have the honor of doing the final rehearsal at 9pm... Free for you! Not to be missed!

Don't forget the usual suspects- caipirinhas tonight before the van to Lapa, Favela Funk Sunday and Posto Pirata on Ipanema beach all sunny weekend. Don't let me catch you watching tv!

Happy Returns

2011-02-24T08:25:00.001-03:00

Did I mention Diana is back? She was here in Y1, around the time of the first Pirata Thanksgiving. Now she's on staff, not long-term but through the upcoming madness. Also... I feel a presence in the Force... Could a house favorite's return be imminent?

I'm not canceling the Lagoa Challenge this week... But I won't be on it, either. I went from feeling 15 to 55 in one afternoon at a water park and am still working my way back down to the 30's. Hopefully by the weekend... But go do a lap!

Priscilla has started with the wall decorations, and I've overheard her and her gal pals coordinating Carnaval costume plans. Only in such a conversation do the words "nun", "devil", "bunny", "nurse" and "student" get mashed together, all with the prefix "sexy". Excuse ME, but I thought Carnaval was about Samba parades! Yes? No? Ah, I see... NO.

A "no excuses" kinda weekend

2011-02-18T09:25:00.001-02:00

What more could you ask for?

Today there's the beach, a group Sugar Loaf hike/ climb, an afternoon favela tour, 7pm all-u-can-drink Caipirinha Class then a van to the Lapa street party.

More... You want more?

The Carnaval blocos kick off tomorrow (the kids just can't wait) with Banda de Ipanema at 6 pm in the square, an earlier one at 3 in Laranjeiras, an even earlier one at 2 in Parque do Cantagalo. Catching 1 is mandatory... 2 is pro, 3 would be a little to busy to enjoy yourself.

More?

The semifinal round of the city tourney Guanabara Cup features Flamengo X Botafogo at 5 on Sunday. My team, Vasco, is so bad that they haven't even been invited to compete this year. But if you wanna see some passionate Cariocas, score a seat in the Flamengo section for this match.

Follow that with the funk party and you've got a weekend to misremember! We've got a full house, let's hope they spend more time out than in!

The Pre-C Routine

2011-02-17T09:11:00.001-02:00

Carnaval is closing in... Finally put the matrix together yesterday morn, discovered we are over-booked by 15 reservations, and thought "yeah, that sounds about right". You gotta do Pirata Math to understand that some will never show, some will not stay, and some will happily accept a hammock if it saves them some money. Not our first rodeo.

This year's package sets up what will amount to the biggest blitz ever: 41 scheduled arrivals on 3 March. Planning with Salvo a special caipirinhas-on- check-in all- day party... Masquerade madness to get everyone in the right frame of mind.

Changing of the guard coming soon: Kiran, who has done a great job, is heading out... Who will be next in the long line of Pirata staffers? It takes a special breed. And who will Priscilla take on as her new partner in the highly lucrative beer & water business? You know where to send your resumes!

Lagoa Challenge IV tonight at 6! I truly look forward to my weekly "Lap of Reflection". See you there?

Summer Scene

2011-02-14T10:10:00.001-02:00

This was the view from the rocks of Arpoador last night:

As I do not smoke marijuana, I don't hang out there so often... But it's a heckuva chill scene! Families, fishermen, musicians & lovers sprawl over the boulders and take in the fantastic view of Ipanema, Leblon, Dos Irmaos, Vidigal and Mother Ocean. Cool breeze, lots of vendors and little hassle. A great second evening stroll option to Copacabana and the night market.

Check it out!

Friday Night Caips

2011-02-12T08:14:00.001-02:00

Getting better every week... How could anyone say "no" to R$5 all-u-can-drink before Lapa? Even RAVI couldn't turn that down!

Lagoa Challenge III... & Picnic!

2011-02-11T15:27:00.001-02:00

Thanks for the pics, Laura!

Runnin' & Rollin'

2011-02-11T09:55:00.001-02:00

Congrats to Kiran, Ravi, Lacey, Dan (skateboard) and Laura (roller blades) on completing the lap 'round the Lagoa last night... Our numbers are growing! Big thanks to Priscilla for the picnic, and to Susan and Gabe for joining us for some post-run football... Who knew Lacey was a female Donovan? Who knew Susan could move like a human pinball?

Caipirinha madness tonight with resident- barkeep Salvo, then the Lapa street party (as you may have guessed).

Noteworthy: beginning today, there is an actual brokerage tasked with moving this house on the market. The future is unwritten... Experience Piratas while you still can!

Carnaval & "High" season

2011-02-10T09:59:00.001-02:00

Well, we weren't gonna know til it happened, and now we know, cuz now it's happening. Carnaval, the crown jewel of the hostel calendar, takes place in March this year, rather than mid-Feb or late-Jan as is typical. Everyone had a theory on whether this would affect summertime stats, and most optimistically expected that, with the event functioning as a tail climax instead of half-way high, more or less the overall "everybody full all the time" standard would last a little longer than usual. Hooray!

Didn't go that way... Of course it didn't go that way. After a spot-on-typical Jan, Feb is behaving like the March of year's past. All of the traveler's who schedule Rio for Carnaval, and all of the backpackers who show up a week prior with tents and hammocks but without reservations... Well, they aren't here yet. Why would they be? It's not time. They are, at this moment, in Buenos Aires and Salvador and Lima and Iguacu, exactly where they would be in March if this were a typical year.

We're doing fine, thanks to our stellar reputation and the long-term crowd. But lesser, pricier hostels city wide are dropping their rates and playing it day to day, seemingly surprised to have vacancies. Don't be surprised, but don't panic! The hordes are coming!

Lagoa Challenge III this evening... See you at 6!

State of the Hostel XXXI

2011-02-08T08:48:00.001-02:00

We've certainly taken our sweet time getting around to this month's review, but what care we of times and dates? The first of the month offers no more significance- not a bill day or a pay day, for example- than the 8th. The daylight options of tours and beaches are the same Tuesday as Saturday, the night (pubs & clubs, street scenes & in-house mischief) as well, though crowd sizes ebb and flow. It is not uncommon for guests to be shocked when informed that 4 or 5 days (or, ahem, MONTHS) have passed since their arrival... But why would they be counting?

That said, there are items unique to the "now" in the house. I haven't told you about Greg, who arrived here a couple weeks ago on an off road motorcycle... From California. He's been repairing it and getting himself together for the next leg. Our first ever one of those.

I haven't highlighted Luca from Spain or Vania from Italy or Jorg from Austria or Lacey and Dan from the States, all of whom are pulling a month in-house, all of whom have had interesting times here in town. Or Andre, the Scandinavian Mountain, who also falls under the Long-termer label.

Thiago #2 is still around, along with a friend, Juan, from the Jiu-Jitsu circles. With Felipe and Barbara and Marlon, that's 5 near-permanent, no-relation Brazilians. Never thought I'd see the day!

Of course Susan and Salvo and Silje and Marte and Ravi and Laura keep us both anchored and entertained, Paul & Kiran keep the wild ones in check, and occasionally there are guests who survive a first night but not quite a week. And on and on.

But today is marked with a big circle on the calendar, not for who is here or who will arrive, but for who departs.

Thiago #1 will catch a flight tonight, to Europe and beyond. He has matured a great deal since first arriving in late 2008, has worked hard, saved up, and will go to see what lies beyond Brazil's beautiful shores. Maybe he'll return with a greater fondness for home, or maybe he'll find something better. He's entering into it with the right open-minded attitude, and we wish him well. Boa viagem e boa sorte, Thiago!

The Italian Stallion

2011-02-05T08:46:00.002-02:00

YouTube Video

The finest Caipirinha mixer in Rio, Salvo, hard at work getting the crowd weekend-ready.

Se ha-lo to my li-tl frien's

2011-02-04T17:17:00.001-02:00

Sure, we've got our share of problems... But the fish are back, baby!

Restoring Piratas to it's former glory, 1 step atta time.

Lagoa Challenge II, with a picnic!

2011-02-04T09:41:00.001-02:00

Priscilla organized a perfectly chill compliment to our weekly exercise session. Congrats to Kiran, Dan, Marte & Ravi on completing a lap... Hopefully next week they all come back for more!

Following the Legend blueprint

2011-02-02T10:07:00.001-02:00

Ronaldinho Gaúcho, 2-time FIFA player of the year, member of the last team to bring Brasil the World Cup, national hero and global icon, will play his first match for Flamengo tonight in Engenhao stadium in Rio. A very big celebration is planned for the 10pm start, as the latest Favorite Son is welcomed home.

While I'd really like to make it, and while you really oughta go (tour guide Andre offers ticket with roundtrip trans for R$65, not a bad deal), I've already witnessed this rodeo twice over my time here. Ronaldo, Phenomenon, returned from a souring career in Europe to discover adoring fans and a plethora of endorsement deals waiting in Sao Paulo, with the Corinthians, in my first year at Piratas. Then Adriano fled the pressure of high expectations for the comfort of home and less competition to lead Fla to the championship in one very thrilling season. Now, reading O Globo, I discover that this pattern has gone on since 1985, starting with Zico, and has included Junior and Romario as well.

Being from a country where home-grown stars play home-grown sports at home, and don't need to travel abroad to test their mettle against the best of the best, this tradition is a bit new to me. But it makes sense, and is probably the case for all football stars from all football-loving countries around the world. Of course you want to play your final years in front of adoring fans fond of remembering glory days, rather than in front of critics with tense nerves set in the present. Curtain calls are for cheers, not jeers.

The New Must-Do

2011-02-01T08:32:00.001-02:00

Notice anything new on the Wall of Options?

Take a closer look:

Beginning today, we are offering Piratas a new style of tour that will immerse the participants in a safe, genuine and honest favela-life experience. Our favorite Vidigal couple, Rodrigo & Mary Ellen, will take travelers on 3-4 hour walk-abouts of the hillside they call home, revealing the inner workings, hidden treasures, spectacular views and blunt realities that are the daily regularities for 20% of the population of Rio.

Two aspects set this option apart. The first is less seeing, more doing; the guides will take you through a Portuguese language session, so that you are more confident in your attempts to interact with the locals. And to emphasize the interaction over, say, classroom knowledge, they will delve into terms and expressions that are common on the streets. Legitimate "this is what they say, this is what they mean" kinda stuff.

The second fantastically refreshing aspect of Cariocafreeculture.com is the asking price: Nothing. You tip what you feel it was worth to you. This is a real-life couple eager to share a favela life perspective with anyone interested in a glance from a different point of view. If it's quality, as I'm sure it will be, it's a steal of a deal.

Considering that the average quality favela tour costs around R$50 and, because of that, is only undertaken by less than 5% of our annual guests, this option could really open up the scene for all the shoe-string budget backpackers who roll through here (239 in January alone, and I can't remember booking 5 tours).

Let's hope this leads to more guests getting more from their time here. I'm excited about it.

Return of the MunchKing

2011-01-31T09:51:00.003-02:00

Gabriel the Great returns from exile to reclaim his throne at Piratas today, and to bravely charge into 5th grade tomorrow. 5th grade... Remember that? Me neither. But this is a good morning to consider how Y2 can be better for Gabe than Y1. Maybe a midnight curfew for the 10-year old? Is that so crazy? Maybe a more consistent and rigid English program? If he performs well on his first wave of tests, shall we reward him with the carrot of the beach youth football league?

Great weekend, no excuses for guests to have had a bad experience. We did a Caipirinha party before a van to the Lapa street party Friday night. There was a great sunny beach day Saturday and free Samba school parades through the Sambadrome in the evening. Yesterday's options were a Vasco X Flamengo derby or a street bloco in Leblon, then Favela Funk last night. I chilled with Priscilla, we finally caught a 2011 sunset on Ipanema. Need to catch more of those.

For the record, 3 brave souls took on the Lagoa Challenge last Thursday- Priscilla by bike, Dan by longboard, Ravi by running. In an effort to encourage more guests to check out the beauty of the scene, we'll organize a picnic at the finish of the lap, and as a lil something for the non- exercisers, god bless 'em, every one.

Sunday on Ipanema

2011-01-30T20:21:00.001-02:00

Day & Night

2011-01-29T14:49:00.001-02:00

Finally getting the hang of the iPad blogging process. You can expect to see a lot more from here on.

Outdoor Objectives

2011-01-27T08:41:00.001-02:00

I've spent at least a couple hours on the beach chilling 3 days in a row, 4 outta the last 5. Finally, something from the original business plan comes to pass!

Did the trail hike up to the Christ statue with local guide Ravi on Tuesday... You bus to Parque do Lage, scramble up a broken, unkept runoff-like trail past some watering holes, stomp up the steeply-inclined rail tracks until they intersect with the road, walk it up to the souvenir shops, van down to the ticket windows, van back up to the turnstiles, admire the statue and view, then follow the road back downdowndown to the bus stop hauling toward Santa Theresa, to Lapa, to the metro, to home. It's a fun workout, there were some monkeys, but it eats about 5 hours and probably doesn't belong inside a 4-day itinerary.

Today we get back into scenic jogging with the gonna-be-weekly "Lagoa Challenge". I set off from the house at 7pm, walk via Ipanema to the lagoa, and I'll happily buy a beer afterwards for anyone that comes along and completes one 7.5 km lap around on foot, skates, bike, board or horseback. It's a very beautiful evening exercise, and a nice weekend primer.

Summer adjustments

2011-01-26T08:20:00.002-02:00

The Ben has left the building... Twas a fun few weeks, flew by, now back to the mission at hand.

Some of the hopefully- enhancements we will be working on over the next few days:

- fans in the small dorms. Big ones. Scary ones. Sound-drowning, hurricane-inducing, limb-severing industrial types.

- new info boards. 1 to focus on the Carioca Lifestyle by day (beach chilling, rock climbing, jogging the lagoa, working out in Arpoador, hiking Tijuca forest, the fruits and foods to eat), another to focus on night (favela funk, casa rosa, samba schools, bossa nova, Bip Bip, Caipirinha mixing, night market/ Copa beach scene, NOT SITTING IN THE HOSTEL, etc.), and a third board for house rules, ops, helpful guidance. I hope to have these ready by the weekend.

- a new blog style, guest- focused. After all, they are what makes this place cool and unique.

So I am looking forward to these 3 sure-fire improvements to the RHP. By the way, it's another beautiful day in Ipanema.

Pool Party Participants

2011-01-21T10:51:00.001-02:00

Summertime, and the livin's e-z.

The Best Mattress in the house

2011-01-21T08:31:00.001-02:00

...is the inflated Polk-a-dot one floating near the center of the swimming pool. Sleeping back there, where the air is cool and gently blowing, is more popular than any room. We could string hammocks and charge twice as much as a spot in a dorm!

Pool party yesterday, love the dog days of Summer. Everyone was still hungover from Priscilla's birthday shotfest celebration. A nice follow-up.

The weekend arrives and finds us all thinking it arrived 3 days ago. Lapa! Samba! Funk! Crowded beaches! Strong caipirinhas! Crowded rooms!

Hitting up Saquarema for the next few days, gotta show the bro the retirement package. Back Monday.

Sizzling

2011-01-19T08:21:00.002-02:00

The cold shower in the guy's restroom is so refreshingly cold after a night of swimming in my own sweat (at least I hope that was my sweat) that I could spend an hour in there. But then there's the coffee, the morning matrix review, and the slow trickle of greetings as the house awakes. Love morning at Piratas.

Today is Priscilla's birthday! Party week continues! We'll be at Mud Bug tonight, stop by and help us toast her!

Seriously, though, it's real freakin hot on these Summer nights. We need to get back into the Caipirinha Class, the beer-b-ques, the group excursions into the city... Gotta keep 'em active so they don't melt away in the dorms.

Tomorrow is a state holiday, which means tonight more or less kicks off the weekend. That's Carioca livin' for ya.

Raining rays in Rio

2011-01-17T08:59:00.003-02:00

You may have seen some of the news reports on the catastrophic flooding in parts of the STATE of Rio de Janeiro. Maybe 1000 are dead, many buried under gruesome mudslides and will never be found. Sad, ugly stuff. But the damage does not extend to Ipanema, where the beaches have been swarmed by sunbathers. Kind of like the view of favelas as a photo backdrop to shots on the sand, Brazil can be a nation of very stark contrast. I suppose most nations are.

Today is the 2-year anniversary of the wedding of Brian & Priscilla... Train keeps a' rollin'! I've never told this to anyone, but the night we got engaged I took a parlay of "3 years married, black man gets elected president & Spain wins world cup" at 350-1. 1 year to go!

Beautiful weather, busy house, plenty to do. Expecting another good week.