2014 World Cup - Day 18 - Travel day to Belo Horizonte

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Today was a travel day for me as I made my was from Rio to Belo Horizonte, which is where Brazil will Germany in the first semi-final of the World Cup.

I grabbed a bus from Leme to downtown Rio, then walked the rest of the way to Santos Dumont airport. This airport is right by the water right across from the Sugar Loaf. Once again, the plane left on time and landed 20 minutes early. From above, as we approached Belo Horizonte, I was surprised at how big Belo Horizonte is. Residential buildings everywhere.

On the ground, I grabbed a bus from the airport to the city center. The International Airport I landed at is about 40km from the city, so it took us about an hour to arrive at the bus depot. There, I had a good lunch: meat and rice and beans. Typical Brazilian dish.

During lunch, I phoned my hostel to tell them I was on my way. I had grabbed instructions at the bus depot on how to get there. While I was doing that, this German guy approached me and started speaking to me in german. I said, in English, that I couldn’t understand him, and he asked where I was from. After I explained, he told me I basically look German. Haha No surprise there. I helped him get a bus ticket and find his platform, then was on my way.

I waited for my bus for almost 40 minutes, and the bus stop was right on a super busy avenue in downtown Belo Horizonte. The feeling I had, while waiting, was the same feeling I had when Janel and I walked through downtown Durban in South Africa 4 years ago. At that time, we were told by policemen that it was not safe for us to be there and that we should leave. Nothing every happened of course, but the feeling of uneasiness was there. Here in Belo Horizonte, lots of people were walking by, some begging for money, and there was constant traffic and chaos. The only reason I was uneasy really was that I had, with me, my ticket to the semi-final game. I guess if anyone had approached me, I would have given them everything I had except the ticket. Haha No surprise there either, right?

The bus ride to the hostel was very interesting. Once again, both the driver and a fellow rider were extremely helpful. The lady helped me get off at the right stop. The bus ride to the hostel itself took about 25 minutes through very narrow, winding streets. This is when I realized how hilly Belo Horizonte is. It’s not flat at all, and when I got off the bus with my bags, I endured a pretty steep decent down a hill to where my hostel is. My hostel, in fact, is on another uphill.

The hostel is nice and I got my dorm room to myself. The only issue really is the location. I chose this location as it’s closer to the stadium; the other location available is closer to downtown but I’m told this location is nicer. At the end of the day, I had a room to myself in a nice hostel for a pretty decent price. At one point in time, I was having some difficulty finding a place to stay in this city.

I didn’t really do much the rest of the day and just stayed at the hostel relaxing. Not sure if the trip caught up with me today but I felt very sleepy on the bus ride into town and again once I arrived at the hostel. So in the evening, I just grabbed a sandwich and some goodies nearby and stayed at the hostel. I met a few Brazilians and we chatted for a couple of hours. Nice folks, one of them had been living in Vancouver for a while, the other is interested in leaving Brazil. One interest bit in this conversation is that I neglected to tell them, at first, that I lived in Canada telling them instead that I was from Blumenau. You see, when I meet people here in Brazil and start talking to them, they know I’m not from Rio or Sao Paulo or Brasilia, etc... Once I tell them I’m from the south, it all makes sense to them. This way, I avoid telling my story all the time. So as the conversation went on, they had assumed that I lived in Blumenau still. At one point, one of them made a comment how tropical British Columbia is compared to Alberta, and that the ground is always frozen and the sky always dark in Alberta. At this point I had to interrupt him and tell him that this was not really the case as I lived there. Haha I felt sort of guilty not disclosing this initially so I came “clean” to defend Alberta. I apologized a few times and they understood. They, in fact, laughed.

The other thing is that I never have tickets to World Cup games. Whenever people ask me, I say no. I don’t want people knowing I have tickets because I don’t want to be a target of any kind. So once I came clean about living in Canada, I also confessed to having a ticket to tomorrow’s game. They also understood why I do this.

Tomorrow is gameday of course, Brazil vs Germany, 2 giants fighting for a place in the Final. Germany started the World Cup playing well, but they have not impressed me in the last few games. Brazil started the World Cup poorly and struggling with nerves, but has gotten better and nerves weren’t an issue in the game against Colombia. Some will say Germany is the favorite to advance to the Final, so I hope this helps Brazil start the game with less pressure in their shoulders. They know the entire country is all in now, on their side, and it will be a big blow if we lose. At the end of the day, I’m going there to have fun and see history. If we come out of there alive, my ultimate dream can come true this coming Sunday: Brazil lifting the World Cup trophy in Brazil, and me watching in the stands.

Before I get too excited about this possibility, we need to battle Germany.

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