Happy New Year everyone! Has all of the snow melted yet? Anyway my first week in Rio has had some good highlights:
I maladjusted to the time difference by staying out until Madrugada (5am) my first night. My friend Rodrigo was having a hellish day (car trouble) and told me he was only going to have 4 glasses of wine in a relatively tranquil neighboorhood in the zona sul, which was where the hostel was located. Another friend of his joined us and we convinced Rodrigo to go to the historic bohemian neighboorhood closer to downtown called Lapa (which is where my current hostel is near). This automatically translates into staying out until Madrugada. It was a funny night.
My Bday was interesting. I went out by myself (which I do quite often) to the main city on the east side of Guanabara Bay called: Niteroi. The best thing about this city are the views of Rio (see my facebook). During the day, I walked waaay too much and did not eat nearly enough. When I got back to the hostel after sundown, none of my traveler friends were there and I almost started to feel a little down. Two attractive Brasilian women were on there way out at the time so I ran into reception and demanded in Portuguese to be sent out to do something. The guy at reception told me to go with the girls, who were on there way out to a samba school. One of them was actually the host and the other a guest. I payed the nominal activity fee and was ¨picked up¨. On the van ride, it was quickly apparent that I was the only gringo in the group. I introuduced myself and told everyone that it was my Bday and was immediatly serenaded by the Brasilian Bday song. The Samba School :Salgeiro was freakin insane. They played various musical styles and even gave a shoutout to all the Bday people in the house! We were supposed to stay out until 12:30....we returned at 3a. Im not saying that Ill keep this pace up forever put I am having fun this first week.
New Years....well maybe I should not admit this but it was a bit anticlimatic. I went out with the hostel group. I lost them on the beach! To salvage the situation...I just sat next to a single gal on the beach named Barbara. It was good portuguese practice and at least I got a hug at new years! Whoo hoo 2009!
Staying with so many world travelers means that the majority of conversations are in English. This obviously does not bode well for my portuguese/culture immersion. I am looking forward to my class starting in about 2 weeks in the lovely beach town of Florianopolis!
The weather has been a bit iffy...the first sunny day I witnessed a mass exodus to the beach. The scene at Ipanema is nothing to mess with... a lot of eye contact and smiling..its nice.
Im glad that I have so much time. There is less pressure to see everything at once and just FYI Im thinking Ill leave the Cristo Redentor (Christ Statue) out until I return to Rio in May. (less rain and crowds).
Sorry for the delay on this post. Im planning to post maybe once a week so stay tuned!
Tchau e um abraço
Mike
I maladjusted to the time difference by staying out until Madrugada (5am) my first night. My friend Rodrigo was having a hellish day (car trouble) and told me he was only going to have 4 glasses of wine in a relatively tranquil neighboorhood in the zona sul, which was where the hostel was located. Another friend of his joined us and we convinced Rodrigo to go to the historic bohemian neighboorhood closer to downtown called Lapa (which is where my current hostel is near). This automatically translates into staying out until Madrugada. It was a funny night.
My Bday was interesting. I went out by myself (which I do quite often) to the main city on the east side of Guanabara Bay called: Niteroi. The best thing about this city are the views of Rio (see my facebook). During the day, I walked waaay too much and did not eat nearly enough. When I got back to the hostel after sundown, none of my traveler friends were there and I almost started to feel a little down. Two attractive Brasilian women were on there way out at the time so I ran into reception and demanded in Portuguese to be sent out to do something. The guy at reception told me to go with the girls, who were on there way out to a samba school. One of them was actually the host and the other a guest. I payed the nominal activity fee and was ¨picked up¨. On the van ride, it was quickly apparent that I was the only gringo in the group. I introuduced myself and told everyone that it was my Bday and was immediatly serenaded by the Brasilian Bday song. The Samba School :Salgeiro was freakin insane. They played various musical styles and even gave a shoutout to all the Bday people in the house! We were supposed to stay out until 12:30....we returned at 3a. Im not saying that Ill keep this pace up forever put I am having fun this first week.
New Years....well maybe I should not admit this but it was a bit anticlimatic. I went out with the hostel group. I lost them on the beach! To salvage the situation...I just sat next to a single gal on the beach named Barbara. It was good portuguese practice and at least I got a hug at new years! Whoo hoo 2009!
Staying with so many world travelers means that the majority of conversations are in English. This obviously does not bode well for my portuguese/culture immersion. I am looking forward to my class starting in about 2 weeks in the lovely beach town of Florianopolis!
The weather has been a bit iffy...the first sunny day I witnessed a mass exodus to the beach. The scene at Ipanema is nothing to mess with... a lot of eye contact and smiling..its nice.
Im glad that I have so much time. There is less pressure to see everything at once and just FYI Im thinking Ill leave the Cristo Redentor (Christ Statue) out until I return to Rio in May. (less rain and crowds).
Sorry for the delay on this post. Im planning to post maybe once a week so stay tuned!
Tchau e um abraço
Mike
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