Hi John!
Thanks for your kind words! Yep, I have been absent for quite a while, just reading some threads occasionally and never having the time to post. Despite having the luck of two major sport events being held here in a two year interval, on the economic/political events arena luck hasn’t been around, quite the contrary... Brazil is living what one could call a "perfect storm" in which an economic crisis fuels a political crises and vice-versa, with no end in sight. The economic slowdown is unparalleled here, something like what the months after September 2008 looked like in the US, but add the political crises to the script... Needless to say that under these circumstances my focus is completely directed to work, leaving me away from my beloved hobby and friends here.
As for the Olympics, even under this backdrop the city of Rio is in full force working to deliver a great event, and it seems by all I could witness so far that they are set to do a great job. The Zika virus is a major issue here, scientific discussions all over the media, politicians seizing the opportunity to take their share of the situation, the whole frenzy going on, but so far it's not perceived as a direct threat to the population in general, but to expecting mothers and the newborn, since the cases of microcephaly skyrocketed in areas were the Zika occurrence was strong. But as you know, even what looks like an obvious relation between Zika and microcephaly has been subject to dispute. The real problem IMHO is not Zika, nor dengue (which has been a million times far more of a problem) or chikungunya fever, but the mosquito that spreads them, Aedgis Egypti. The good news is that a massive campaign is underway to fight the mosquito, and the Olympics will be held during our winter here, when the mosquito population naturally drastically reduces. So frankly so far I don't think that it will affect the participation in the Olympics, at least from a rational standpoint, in light of what we witnessed so far and what the majority of the scientific and medical communities are saying.
I’ll be more than happy to bring and share the perspective of a local with those in the forum interested in the views going on down here.
Um abraço,
Carlos