Lookin Like Lobsters

The past few days around here have been pretty mellow.  Carnaval really takes a lot out of you, so we spent a day sleeping and hanging around the house.  Our bodies were grateful for the rest and the lack of alcohol in our systems.

Yesterday, Mike and I decided to hit the beach again.  The last time we went was during Carnaval and it was packed.  And when I say packed, I mean sardines-in-a-can packed.  So around noon we hopped on the Metro and went to hang out on Copacabana.  Even though we knew that it is a tourist spot, we figured that we needed to go there because we're in Rio and, well, why not?

Mike hanging out on Copacabana, pre-sunburn.

So we rented some chairs and an umbrella from one of the stands that line the beach and decided to hang out in the sun for a little.  After about 15 minutes, we slathered on some sunscreen, jumped in the water, and hung out in the shade.  Despite taking the necessary precautions against the sun, we both ended up looking like lobsters.  It looks like we sat out there for two and a half hours with no sunscreen on.  Luckily we didn't burn our backs (that would have made for a truly miserable plane ride) and the burns don't hurt all that much.  I'm thankful that I threw some aloe in my bag at the last minute.

In the evening yesterday, we went on a walk around the bay in Rio with Fabiano and some of his friends (one of which is an American woman visiting from St. Michaels, MD).  We took in the sights as the sun was setting and it was absolutely beautiful.  There were lots of yachts and small boats hanging around.

The yacht club.

When we got back, Fabiano cooked us this amazing Brazilian meal (the name of which is escaping me right now).  It was our last night with him because he had to go out to the country to organize a friend's wedding.  It was a nice night.  And it rained, which cooled everything down (thank God).  As one of Fabiano's friends said, "We only have two seasons in Brazil.  Hell and summer.  Right now it is hell." I cannot tell you how much I agree with that statement.  Especially because we have no AC.

Today Mike and I hit up some of the shops in Rio.  Fabiano introduced me to this bag designer, Gilson Martins.  Now I'm obsessed.  As soon as we walked in, we were offered cold beers (stores in America, take note).  While browsing, they kept topping us off.  I still can't decide if they were trying to be nice or trying to get us drunk so that we'd buy more.  If Mike hadn't stopped me, I probably would have bought everything in the store.  We also hit up the Havianas store in one of the malls.  Sadly, they didn't have my size in the really funky-do sandals that they don't sell in the States.  I'm holding out hope for the airport tomorrow.

Tonight the house is just about empty.  It's just me, Mike, and Lautaro.  It's probably a good thing because we need to pack but I cannot remember the house being this quiet.  Then tomorrow it's off to the airport.  I'm sad that we're leaving but it will be nice to be at home.  I'm going to turn on the AC when we walk in just because I can.  It's going to be amazing.  And probably really cold.

A Taste of the Action

Here's a video from the bloco right outside Fabiano's.

Carnaval

Since quite a few people have been asking me about my Carnaval experience, I thought I'd write a quick update.

Like I said last time, we go to blocos (or block parties) to celebrate Carnaval.  I heard somewhere that there are about 400 all over the city of Rio, which I can believe.  Some of them stay in place but some of them move around like a parade.  The ones that we have been to have been super crowded.  A friend here said that there are smaller ones around the city, but I think Fabiano likes to go to the big ones so that's what we have hit up thus far.

This is just the entrance to one bloco!

Each bloco has a specific start and end time.  Some of them start as early as 9 AM and as late as 10 PM but really it goes 24 hours.  People will dress up for them.  There have been lots of guys in drag, which are hilarious, but I've seen other costumes as well.  And it's not just adults that join in on the fun.  I've seen very small babies with their parents dancing around to the music.  Anyway, the fun thing about the blocos is once one ends, you wander until you find another.  You usually don't end up walking more than 10 minutes before you find the next party.  And since there are no open container laws in this country (!!!), you can roam around with a beer in hand.  

The itty, bitty baby was dressed up as Snow White.

Some of the blocos are sponsored by a beer called Antartica, so there are offical vendors selling them for cheap.  You find other types of vendors selling food or my new personal favorite, alcoholic push pops.  I'm pretty sure that at the ones that aren't sponsored there are just random vendors walking around.

The bloco in front of where we are staying.
This wasn't as big as some of them that we've been to.

The blocos also have bands playing at them.  But it isn't just random music.  There are Carnaval songs that the play.  Everyone knows all the words and starts jumping up and down and dancing to them.  The songs can date back as far as the 1920s.  I've started to pick up on some of the words because Fabiano has been playing them on repeat pretty much since we got here.

Some of the floats we saw on the way home.

At night is when the samba parade starts.  We're not going to that because the tickets are ungodly expensive, but you can get a little taste of what it's like here.  They go all night.  You have 90 minutes to get from one end of the sambadrom to the other with making as few mistakes as possible.  We watch some of it on TV when we get home.  When Mike and I were making our way home from one of the blocos, we saw some of the floats on the side of the road.  They were pretty impressive.

Well, that's about all I've got for now.  I'll keep the pictures coming, I promise.  Mike has taken over 700 pictures (wow!) which I promise to share with everyone when we get back.

Gardens and Cristo Redentor

Alright.  Post dois.  Here we go.

Yesterday, Fabiano, Lautaro, Mike, and I headed over to the Jardim Botânico (Botanical Gardens) to spend the day photographing all sorts of different plants. Traffic getting over there was pretty bad, but Fabiano informed us that the Botanical Garden neighborhood is infamous for that.  It also didn't help that our cab couldn't go over 20 km/h because it was a piece of crap.

Anyway, the gardens were beautiful and there was no shortage of things to see.  There were plants from all over the world there but Fabiano made sure that he took us to see the things that grow in the Amazon.  We saw these beautiful, massive water lilies (where I proceeded to take a wrong step and end up mid calf deep in mud.  Not so much fun).  We also saw these little monkeys that couldn't have been bigger than the size of my hand.  From what I understand, these little guys are the squirrels of Rio.  They'll throw half eaten fruit at you while you're walking (I know because I watched Fabiano get clocked in the head with one.  He was not amused).  Because traffic was so bad on our way back home, we ended up taking a short walk around the lake in the middle of the city.  The view was absolutely beautiful.

When we got back, Mike and I went to a restaurant down the street to get dinner.  Since neither one of us speak Portuguese, we knew this was going to be an adventure.  We ended up playing a game of food roulette (point to something random on the menu and hope that it's good).  Luckily, we chose correctly.  Mike got a steak and I got Rabata (very similar to Ox Tail Soup).  It was all good.

Today Mike and I headed over to see the most famous landmark of Rio, the Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer).  The entrance is about 20 minutes on foot from where we're staying.  Once we got there (about 1 o'clock) we were informed that the next avaliable tram you can take up the hill and through the jungle to the statue was going to be coming at 4:40.  We were not too amused about that because it would have pretty much messed up our day if we had to wait around for close to four hours. But there were the guys standing at the bottom of the entrance selling bus tickets for about the same price. So we hopped on a bus about five minutes after we got our tickets and started on our way to the top.  There were lots and lots of hairpin turns involved getting up there. It got a little exciting but we made it one piece.

We had to make a pit stop and buy our tickets on the way up.  As soon as we got them, we took another bus to the base of the statue.  We took the stairs up instead of waiting for the escalator because it was a super long line.  Once we got to the top, it was very crowded.  Despite the crowds and the haze, we managed to get some great pictures.  While I was walking around the base of the statue, I noticed that there was a small chapel located in the back that looked like it could only fit 20 or so people.  Then after about 30 minutes of walking around, we decided to head back.

Now we're killing time until a bloco (a carnival block party) starts in Ipanema.  It should be fun.  It will be my first one so I'm excited to see what's in store.  I'll post more later!

First Days in Rio

I just woke up from a power nap and have some time before we head out to go dancing, so I figured that I'd write a quick update.  So far, our trip has been pretty laid back.  Our flights were pretty smooth, thank goodness, and we landed in Rio at 10 o'clock yesterday morning.  We grabbed a cab at the airport and had it take us to our friend Fabiano's on the south side of town.  The house that he lives in is also an art gallery, a hostel, and a cafe.  The cafe is closed for carnival but the rest of it is very much open.  The building is close to 100 years old and is just beautiful.  We are also very close to a lot of restaurants and bars at the bottom of the street which is really nice.

Yesterday we took it pretty easy.  We hung around the house because we were so exhausted.  Around three we ended up crashing for about four and a half hours.  That night we went out.  Fabiano ordered us all sorts of wonderful Brazilian food and drinks.  (Side note: Rio is not as cheap as the rest of South America from what I gather.  Food and drink prices are pretty close to what they are in DC).  We stayed out until about three in the morning.  It was a lot of fun.  

Today we got up and hit the beach.  The water was really cold, but that was nice because it is so hot here.  We were at Ipanema beach (see left).  Fabiano explained to us that Copacabana is full of tourists and if we want to go to a "real" Brazilian beach that this is the place.  There are little kiosks on the beach that rent out chairs and umbrellas, as well as making drinks.  We set up about 100 feet from the one that Fabiano uses a lot so that we wouldn't have to go far to get anything.  It was wonderful.  I love the beach so much so this was pretty much paradise for me.

I'm getting flack from everyone for being on the computer so I better run.  I'll be back with a longer update later!

Boo Cold. Yay Sun!

Anyone who knows me well will tell you that I hate the cold.  A lot.  Which is weird because I went to school in cold places and absolutely love hockey.  I know that DC has been having a rather mild winter comparatively (Snowmageddon anyone?) but I want out.  No more biting winds, promises of snow, boots, hats, coats, or spirithoods (what the hell is with those anyway?).  I’ve hit my limit.

So taking a page out of last year’s book, Mike and I have decided to fly south for the winter again.  Well, for two weeks of it anyway.  We’re off to Rio de Janeiro on Monday for Carnival!  Both of us are excited to experience what is supposed to be one of the biggest parties of the year.  We will be staying in a hostel owned by a friend of my family’s in the Laranjeiras neighborhood.  Needless to say, I’m pumped!  I’ve even been learning some Portuguese with the help of Rosetta Stone (thanks Mom!) and let me tell you, the pronunciation is some kind of strange.  Every time I think I have it down, something wacky comes up and I feel like I’m back at square one.  But I’ve learned how to say “drinking,” so I think I’m good to go.

As you can probably guess, I’m going to start posting here again while we’re in Brazil.  I might be able to post pictures this time as well so you all can get a taste of our trip.  But we're not quite there yet and I still have work to do.  It's so hard to focus with so little time left before we leave!  For now though, it's back to the grind...