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Oi.
Am currently avoiding packing by doing anything else I can think of. Rio is great, I dont want to leave, hence I dont want to pack.
As Bo said - the flight here was exciting. The minibus we booked to pick us up at 5am showed up half an hour late and we were scared we would miss out on more Lan Chile ham and cheese sandwich goodness. Luckily, we had plenty of time, and Lan Chile gave us the choice of sandwiches or omelletes. Brilliant.
We got to our hostel by about 4pm and immediately left for a walk around Copacabana. This was followed by a bbq at the hostel - nowhere near as awesome as a Manningham Street bbq, but very very good none the less. Bbq was followed by Caprihana´s at the hostel bar, followed by an outing to possibly the most expensive bar in Rio. They gave us swipe cards to us as a tab until we left. Then a hideous woman with the best slicked back hair I have ever seen came, swiped the cards and let us out. If only I hadn´t broken my card by playing with it, like I did my license back in Oz.
I then ended up in a taxi with 5 other people from our hostel (a tight squeeze, thank god for airconditioning) and sat on the beach watching the sun rise, drinking beer and eating x-burgers. The others were amazed at my inability to get the food in my mouth. We also lost 2 guys who were with us. One of them was last seen arm wrestling local kids on the beach. We supposed the other had gone to get some crack - and were slightly worried, he had been mugged 3 times in 3 nights already at that stage. When we found them the next day, they had been mugged again. 4 times in 4 days is a pretty good record I reckon - totally their own fault though, for trying to buy drugs in the early hours of the morning in Rio. I think I got back to the hostel and was watching bad tv. Then I think I sent some emails. I am very unsure.
Our second day in Rio, after my 7am ish bed time, didnt begin til midday. We went to Ipanema, the famous posto 9, where all the hotties hang out. Watched some of a game of what appeared to be volleyball, except noone was allowed to use there hands. It was amazing and went for ages. Ipanema was followed by a tastey meal from Bob´s. I had a Big Bob burger meal. No points for guessing who rivals Maccas in Rio. Then it was back to the bar at the hostel for more frivolity. We got picked up from the hostel at abou 11pm, thrown onto minibuses and taken to a local dance party in Favela. We had VIP passes, meaning we didnt have to mix with the locals if we didnt want to (apparently it can get a bit rough and scary, but I thought it was fine - except the number of locals who loved loved loved me, I think they were the only words they knew). Beers were 1 Real or about 50cents AU. Bargin. Except I had had too much and was tired, so I got onto the Vodka and RedBull. Eventually the Vodka ran out, so it was Teachers and RedBull. This is a bad idea and I hope noone else ever has the misfortune to try it.
The club involved a whole lot of people and a whole lot of arse shaking to Portuguese doof doof. My arse refused to shake, but the locals were amazing. We got picked up at about 5am. My minibus home was great - initially the guy next to me was threatening to vomit everywhere, so I snuggled over and joined in some awesome karoke - atleast the 3 boys and I thought we were awesome. The rest of the bus were not so amused. I think they just didnt know the words to Agadoo.We found Bo back at the hostel, followed the ship and turned right at the tree to get to the beach for another sunrise, some jokes about dead babies, more beer and more x burgers. I have no idea why they are x burgers. They appear to be hamburgers to me. Sunrise was not so special, as it was raining. But that didnt dampen our spirits. The stray umbrella which almost killed me did. I copped it right in the ear. A few more centimetres and it would´ve pierced straight thru my skull and possibly that of the guy sitting across the table from me. Thats my story and Im sticking by it. Dont listen to Bo´s version, its crap. My life flashed before my eyes. Lucky I got away without even a scratch.

So thats our first two days in Rio in a nut shell. Beaches and alcohol basically. I blame the hostel (but its great and weve meet some awesome people).
More Rio stories will come later, when I´m not so tired.
I love you I love you I love you,
Cat

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