These are photos of Avenida Paulista in Sao Paulo. Paulista is the most expensive strip of land in Latin America. It is the Wall Street of Brazil. Foriegn investors come from all over the world to do business here, so it's no wonder why there's so many hookers right around the corner on Rua Augusta. I took these photos from this rich, gay Dutch guy's apartment when we went there one night. I have some Brazilian friends who live in this area too.
As an American, I'm generally used to a higher standard of living than most Brazilians. Obviously....but even on what I make here I could never afford to live in a place like this. It's really weird because some of my Brazilian friends think first world people are rich and spoiled, but I sorta felt out of place among some of these wealthier crowds, like I would here. The people were nice and hospitable, but it just felt a little alien. I may be first world, I may have some money, but I'm still working class.
I don't know... Questions about class are always tough ones, even in the US, where people have this idea that America is this land of opportunity, and nobody has to struggle. But it gets even harder when you compare class here to class in the 3rd world, where the gap between rich and poor is much larger.
Why do I ramble on about these things? Because I'm a thinker...and I can't help thinking about these things.
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These are pictures of a very large cemetary for dead rich people in Sao Paulo. All these elaborate tombs remind me of that little part at the end of A Bronx Tale, when the gangster dies. The kid is talking about when someone in the Mob dies everyone sends these huge floral arrangements like it's a contest to show who cared the most.
One of the big differences that I never thought of is that the US is a country that was largely founded by protestants, so we generally don't have the beautiful religeous decoration that they do in Catholic countries.
I was raised Catholic. My family is mostly mixed white nationalities (maybe some American Indian). The only Europeans that were still alive when I was a child were my Sicilian grandparents. I never got communion or confirmation, but I've been baptised and I've been to a lot of weddings and funerals. I think Catholicism can be kind of morbid at times, but if you step back and look at it, the Catholics do have a very beautiful sense of aesthetic. Statues, painitngs, stained glass, incense, organs, tortured bodies, pieta... Way better than those boring Protestants.
My friends were in Northern Ireland a few years ago. They were telling me about the troubles and that some Catholics have this idea of breeding out the Protestants. "Years ago, we were only 30% of the population...but now we're 40%!"
It's funny because If I didn't even know Protestants existed until I was in middle school, and even then, most of the people I knew were raised Catholic. I knew what a Jew was before I knew what a Protestant was. Between the Irish, the Italians, the French-Canadians, the Polish, the Puerto Rican and the Mexican immigrants, I think the Catholics have been successful in breeding the Protestants out in New England.
[IMG]
http://suicidegirls.com/media/members/6/07/157076/64314/839199.jpg[/IMG]
hey, who does this guy think he is?
***
update...new dirty pics of me in my adult material folder
As an American, I'm generally used to a higher standard of living than most Brazilians. Obviously....but even on what I make here I could never afford to live in a place like this. It's really weird because some of my Brazilian friends think first world people are rich and spoiled, but I sorta felt out of place among some of these wealthier crowds, like I would here. The people were nice and hospitable, but it just felt a little alien. I may be first world, I may have some money, but I'm still working class.
I don't know... Questions about class are always tough ones, even in the US, where people have this idea that America is this land of opportunity, and nobody has to struggle. But it gets even harder when you compare class here to class in the 3rd world, where the gap between rich and poor is much larger.
Why do I ramble on about these things? Because I'm a thinker...and I can't help thinking about these things.
***********
These are pictures of a very large cemetary for dead rich people in Sao Paulo. All these elaborate tombs remind me of that little part at the end of A Bronx Tale, when the gangster dies. The kid is talking about when someone in the Mob dies everyone sends these huge floral arrangements like it's a contest to show who cared the most.
One of the big differences that I never thought of is that the US is a country that was largely founded by protestants, so we generally don't have the beautiful religeous decoration that they do in Catholic countries.
I was raised Catholic. My family is mostly mixed white nationalities (maybe some American Indian). The only Europeans that were still alive when I was a child were my Sicilian grandparents. I never got communion or confirmation, but I've been baptised and I've been to a lot of weddings and funerals. I think Catholicism can be kind of morbid at times, but if you step back and look at it, the Catholics do have a very beautiful sense of aesthetic. Statues, painitngs, stained glass, incense, organs, tortured bodies, pieta... Way better than those boring Protestants.
My friends were in Northern Ireland a few years ago. They were telling me about the troubles and that some Catholics have this idea of breeding out the Protestants. "Years ago, we were only 30% of the population...but now we're 40%!"
It's funny because If I didn't even know Protestants existed until I was in middle school, and even then, most of the people I knew were raised Catholic. I knew what a Jew was before I knew what a Protestant was. Between the Irish, the Italians, the French-Canadians, the Polish, the Puerto Rican and the Mexican immigrants, I think the Catholics have been successful in breeding the Protestants out in New England.
[IMG]
http://suicidegirls.com/media/members/6/07/157076/64314/839199.jpg[/IMG]
hey, who does this guy think he is?
***
update...new dirty pics of me in my adult material folder
VIEW 25 of 51 COMMENTS
I can't do max dead lifts ,because I have a bad back...too many years of construction...get out while you can Joe. My back goes out almost on a weekly basis...it really sucks...get used to the pain...(I guess)
Trainer can bench 380!!!...he also has been lifting since he was 14...now 38.