25 days left.

Well it is only 25 days left in New York City. I have lived here for a little over 15 years and consider myself a New Yorker. I am originally from Ohio...but I have always felt more at home in New York. I love everything about the city. The bars, the clubs, the theater, the museums and the restaurants. So why am I leaving. Well I don't want to get all Carrie Bradshaw on you ...but it was love. Not love in New York but love in Rio. I am a gay man....and I came out when I came to New York. My love life has been less then exciting. I haven't had good luck in New York is an understatement. But when I went on Vacation last September I met Toni ( short for Antonio Vicente ) I met him on the last night in Rio. I wasn't going to go out that Sunday night...but I hurt my leg Thursday and didn't go out Friday. I went out to Le Boy club Saturday and did not meet anyone. But I had fun so I decided to go out Sunday. Well I met someone horrible. I met someone cute ( but did not speak English ) then i met Toni ( who also does not speak English but speaks Spanish ) So i went back home with him. The next morning I was leaving so I asked him to go to Ipanema beach with me. He went and we had a great time. I was a little embarrassed when we jumped from the boardwalk to the beach and i totally fell to my knees because of my bad knee. Well we also had lunch. We then parted so I could take a nap. In the evening we did Karaoke with his friend Jean. We then went back to my hotel ( me and Toni not Jean ) and he told me he did not want me to leave. Well I had to. So I said goodbye to him that night. He watched me leave in the cab at 4 am. Well we emailed back and fourth for awhile. I told him I would come for Carnival in February. On his second email he said he wanted us to get married. I thought he was crazy. But in the end I though I owed it to both of us to see. I went to Rio for carnival. He was crazy but in a good way. We danced. We drank ( Beer is really good in Brazil ) We went to the beach. I got to know his two roommates well ( Marco and Marcelo ). He lived with a gay married couple in Copacabana beach. He also has two dogs ...Cacau and Drago. Well he said he wanted to marry me and again. I told him if I could work things out maybe we could. At that point I had no Idea about Visas or things like that. Well I came back and leaving him that time was Hell. When i got back to New york I was a complete mess. I really felt like apart of me had died. Well we kept talking online. I told him i would visit in the fall and study Portuguese now. Well I started studying but we could only wait until May. Our birthday month. His birthday is the 7th and mine is the 20th. Well it was a great trip. I never had a party thrown for me before...but i got to meet more of his friends. We also went a little outside the city and met his brother and his brothers family....he has a wife and three children. Well in the end I told him I would move to Rio and marry him. So I have spent all summer selling my apartment ( not easy in this economy ) I am still in the process of selling...I have a buyer...they think the closing will be in November. I quit my job...my last day is the 30th of this month. I have been giving away a lot of my things and selling a lot on ebay. My father and sister are picking me up on October 2nd and I am going to Ohio for a week before I go to Brazil. So my time here is slowly coming to an end. Me and Toni now have video chats on MSN mesenger instead of emails. He is looking for a new apartment for us now. Either Copacabana or Barra da tajuca. My time here in New York is slowly coming to an end.