Obrigado Rio

Rio is a dynomiiiiite place. Awesome, most naturally beautiful place i have been, and an unbelievable gap between rich and poor. The rich live like kings, soaking up large homes, condos and driving the most expensive of cars. Whereas the favelas of Rio house the poorest of the poor. These favelas are marred by graffiti, crumbling buildings, garbage, sewage and telephone poles with 5000 random wires attached for free electricity. Where everyone comes together is the central spot for all Rio social life...the beach. The beaches here are of the finest white sand and all look beautiful, but there are vast differences. The beach I am located near and where the youth (16-30) go is Ipanema, it is supposedly the best beach in Rio, there are however nicer outside the city. Ipanema tends to be the most popular, both among young Rio adults and young tourists.

The apartment Dylan and I are staying is very small, but 2 blocks from the beach, and about 5 blocks from the best part of Ipanema, post 9. The door is loose, the TV wont turn on , and the fan doesnt work, the air conditioning does however. Ive been here for 3 days, Dylan for 1, and its been above 30C everyday. While there are tourists in Ipanema, it is more of a local feel than the overly touristy Copacabana, which was made famous by songs, articles and other things, mostly prostitutes. The locals say dont walk at night in Copacabana unless you want to get robbed or whistled at by hookers. Last night me and Dylan went for a walk to see if it were true. The whistling was true, but we didnt get robbed. I think we picked a good night to do it though as there was a world cup qualifier on between Brasil and Colombia, so not many people were out.

The day I arrived I took a taxi from the bus station and drove through the winding streets of Rio, past the giant lake in the middle of the city. Everyone thinks of Rio as a beach city, prime with nightlife, and it is...but it is also a city of 11-12 million people, and it expands much like any other major city. The oddshaped mountains and hills around the city are astounding, and look like they have been carved out by some twisted artist with nothing better to do with his time.

Wednesday, Dylan arrived. I was having lunch with my friend Ale, and she saw him walking on the street. You see, i thought he had the address of the apartment but in fact he had deleted since he used it for his travel visa. So, he was walking to Ipanema to go to the beach, when Ale spotted him, haha. Anyway, the 3 of us went for a couple beers, than headed to the beach. It was later in the day, but still hot, and the beach was still really busy. Dylan bought some Kanye West sunglasses. After Ale, caught her 2 hour bus home, to Ilha do Governador. And Dylan and I went for some dinner which we were craving. We went to an Irish Pub in Brasil, Dylan had a cheeseburger and I a club sandwich. And it was delicious. At the Irish pub in Brasil, we listed to Jazz music, quite the combo.

Just got up today, headed to the grocery store, cheaper to buy food there than eat out all the time. Dylan and I had an easy going day, soaking up the sun on Ipanema, where the beach is the place to socialize. We had corn on the cob and empanadas on the beach, as well as a few ice cold bevys. At night we met my friend Ale and her cousin Roberta at Shenanigans for some terrible live music, which consisted of a Brasilian guy singing Cyndi Laupers Time After Time in English...funny but putting up with him singing for about an hour could drive the most stable of people insane.

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