Rio de Janeiro residents have begun to fight the increasingly high prices of hotels, rent, food, clothing and entertainment which have made the 2016 Olympic City and host of the 2014 World Cup a difficult place to live. With the typical local sense of humour, comments on social networks have given others a glimpse of the borderline ridiculously high cost of living in the city. The term “surreal” has increasingly been used to refer to current events in Rio de Janeiro. Incidentally, this was the name given to an exclusive currency created in jest for the city by web designer Toinho Castro to substitute the Brazilian currency the real. The proposal for the Surreal was the subject of comment in a note published in a widely read newspaper, O Globo: “Tem mais a ver com a nossa realidade”, diz, citando um diálogo-que-gostaríamos-de-ouvir: “Quanto é a água, moço?” E a resposta: “Cinco surreais…” [cerca de 2 dólares americanos] “It's more appropriate to our day-to-day lives”, he says, quoting a dialogue we'd like to hear: “How much is the water, young man?” And the reply: “Five surreals…” [around 2 US dollars] “The Surreals: the face of the new currency they've been talking about…” Artwork by Patrícia Kalil shared on Facebook. The Facebook page “Rio $urreal – NÃO PAGUE” (Rio $urreal – DON'T PAY) “publicises and boycotts extortionate prices” charged around the city. Created on 17 January 2014, the page attracted more than 95,000 followers in three days. A gente aqui não faz a apologia de “tudo tem que ser barato”. Não, não é isso. Quem quiser comer ostra, beber espumante, jantar em um lugar cujo chef estudou no Cordon Bleu… Bem, tem que arcar com este preço. E, de vez em quando, todo mundo tem direito a tomar espumante, comer uma iguaria, enxugar a boca com guardanapo de pano – se puder pagar por este luxo ocasional. Comer bem dá alegria, dá conforto, é um convite à confraternização. Bons ingredientes custam caro. Funcionários bem treinados também. Logo, ninguém aqui acha absurdo pagar mais por aquilo que de fato custa mais. É o justo. E você merece fugir do feijão com arroz e do trivial de vez em quando. Não merece? Duro mesmo é pagar R$ 30 reais por batata frita [cerca de 13 dólares americanos]. Ou R$ 11 por um suco [4,7 dólares americanos]. Ou R$ 8, R$ 9 ou R$ 10 por uma garrafinha de água mineral [entre 3,4 e 4,3 dólares]. Ou R$ 15 pelo aluguel de cadeira e barraca na praia [cerca de 6,4 dólares]. Estes são alguns dos absurdos. We're not arguing here that “everything has to be cheap”. No, it's not that. Those who wish to eat oysters, drink bubbly, dine in a restaurant whose chef studied at Cordon Bleu… Well, they have to bear the expense of doing so. And, from time to time, everyone has the right to drink bubbly, eat a delicacy, dab their mouths with a cloth serviette – if they can pay for this occasional luxury. Eating well brings happiness and comfort, it's an invitation to socialise. Good ingredients are expensive. Well-trained employees are too. Nobody here thinks it absurd to pay more for something which actually costs more. That's fair. And you deserve to escape from the old beans with rice of every day from time to time. Don't you? What's really tough is paying 30 reals for some chips [around 13 US dollars]. Or 11 reals for a juice [4.70 US dollars]. Or 8, 9 or 10 reals for a little bottle of mineral water [between 3.40 and 4.30 dollars]. Or 15 reals for a seat and shade on the beach [around 6.40 dollars]. These are just some of the absurd prices. A “case of hyper-surrealism” was reported on the page by follower Clarissa Biasotto: Hoje fui à praia do leblon e me deparei com um gringo sul-americano perguntando a um vendedor ambulante se ali era a praia do leblon. O vendedor respondeu que ali era copacabana, ficou enrolando o gringo dizendo que não sabia e no fim disse que aqui no Rio tudo é pago e que, por isso, a informação também era paga.. enfim, o gringo já tava pegando a carteira e perguntando quanto o ambulante queria quando eu tive que gritar pro gringo que era sim a praia do leblon.. o gringo chegou a perguntar se aquilo foi uma pegadinha.. enfim, achei vergonhoso, surreal.. Today I went to Leblon Beach and I came across a South American tourist asking a street seller if this was Leblon Beach. The seller replied that it was Copacabana, he carried on deceiving the tourist saying that he didn't know and in the end he said that here in Rio nothing is free, and for that reason, the information also had to be paid for. The tourist was already getting his wallet out and asking how much the seller wanted when I had to shout at the tourist that yes, it was Leblon Beach. The tourist even asked if it was a joke. I found it shameful, surreal.