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*** Edited to add some photos... haven't got a laptop with me or editing software, makes this whole process very arduous! These average shots will have to suffice for now 😉 ***
Rio de Janerio, Brazil
So, I left Santiago really pumped to start my trip. I was feeling super confident and free. I almost missed my flight to Rio despite being 4 hours early at the airport - a mix of my lack of Spanish & again their complete lack of any kind of organisation over here....and then I got off the plane in Rio....confident feeling, now gone! The difference in safety was like night and day and I had a few issues getting to my hotel etc (transfer I had booked in Sep 09 didnt show up, always handy). The culture shock as we were driving past the favellas (drug lord controlled slums) was pretty crazy.... I could't believe these tiny cement boxes that people were living in, & the state of the street kids running around. It was definately sobering.
The boys showed up that night which was nice because I didnt feel that comfortable going out at night by myself. We decided after the first
few days in Rio, that it's almost as if they sat down and thought about the hardest possible way to do anything, & then said, 'sweet, lets run our city like that! haha. Nothing makes any sense, nothing is on time, nothing is ever clear something is always broken and shops open and close whenever they feel like it (even simple tasks like buying food is a complete mission!). The language barrier of course doesnt help... but I knew it wasnt only that when I apologised to a local for holing him in the Supermarket queue, & is reponse was 'dont worry, this is Brazil, nothing ever works right here'! haha. Rio is also crazy expensive (everything was basicaly the same price as Aus, except cigs and beer which were cheaper), but, in exhcange for paying a premium the quality is terrible, which makes forking out all this money hard to swallow. It's SO HOT there too- it was about 40 degrees every day. I can see how their culture evolved into wearing minimal clothing all the time haha.
Despite all that, we had a great time in Rio. The beach is beautiful (we stayed in the posh area,
Ipanema, so it was very clean too). Sitting on the beach at 7pm, watching the sunset over the mountains with the Christ the Redeemer statue looking out over the city was really quite a magnificent experience. The whole beach scene is quite majestic and the people are beautiful here too. Of course, there are women of all ages walking around in their gstring bikinis. Many were gorgeous, but even the ones who really
shouldn¡t be wearing a gstring were flaunting their assests with pride. The Brazilian men running around the beach in their Euro trunks showing everything off was quite a sight too! The plus side was for once I didnt feel out of place though because it Brazilians seemed to be a quite a busty race! Over here though, its all about booty, not boobs. Still, if Dan left me for more than 2minutes at a time it didnt take long for the locals to try it on with me in broken English. Even when Dan came back they didnt let up!
Mostly in Rio, we just partied, a lot (that much, if nothing else, Brazilians can definately party very well haha) with a few cultural outings in
between like a visit to the Christ statue (well worth it for the 360 degree view of Rio) and markets in the downtown/oldtown area (lots of remnants of Portugese architecture, unfortunately destroyed by graffti mostly).
One highlight was an arranged trip to a favella funk party - pretty much a massive night club inside a huge shed thing in the favella (slums!). They transferred us there by bus and brought us in through a shop and straight up to VIP area (to keep us away from the locals). The hotel pays off the security to search all the locals for weapons and make sure the tourists are left alone. Sounds sketch I know but oh my god, it was the BEST night! It definately shits all over any festival we have at home, but we all felt a bit retarded and inadequate cause man, these people can MOVE. Their culture is just so sexual! The beers were like $1R each and they had this show in the middle where the host was pulling people from the crowd and making them dance battle. A few Aussies got up and it was hilarious watching them fail at trying to battle Brazilians
dancing haha.
Dan and I went to the Samba parade in the Sambodromo (its what you would have seen on TV as 'Carnival'). That was incredible. I cant even describe the level of extravagance that goes into these routines and costumes and floats. Each school takes 1.5hours to get from one end of the runway to other, and 6 schools perform. It makes for a long night!! The locals here just go nuts over it too, it starts at 9am and doesnt finish til about 5am an they just dance pretty much the WHOLE time. Crazy. However, they do also play the same song over and over and over again for the whole 1.5 hours... I can safely say that I don't enjoy samba music anymore! haha. I will post a few vid's soon I think on if I can work out how, so you can get an idea, because I honestly cant find the words to do it justice. The only downer was being followed by 2 guys on the way back... took Dan and I being quite crafty to carefully get out of that situation unscathed! (Again - no freak outs please people, it really wasnt that
bad!). Of course other than the main parade, there are street parade's & blocos (parties) where they have to block off all the roads because there are so many people drinking and dancing to the live music and marching with their bands. We hit a few of those & they are pretty loose. We were also lucky to have some free cocktails in the VIP room with a lovely Aussie couple, Martin & Jackie (friends Reece had met eariler in his travels) at their beautiful hotel the Intercontinental... it had it's own private beach & the most amazing night view of the beach on one side and the favellas on the other. Sounds weird, but the favella all lit up at night was actually really beautiful.. shame it doesnt look quite as nice during the day! :S
Xx
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Vickie
non-member comment
Teli's travels
Hi babe, thanks for the updates. I was just thinking last night that i hadnt heard anything from you in a few days and then presto there is an email today :) sweet. Love the photos - shame you couldnt bring that costume back ... looks fantastic .. imagine wearing that to a fancy dress here. All sounds like fun - cant wait to hear more about where you currently are. Love ya xxx