Iguazu and Rio de Janeiro

---

Iguazu falls- they are nice. go look up a picture of them online since i dont provide you any pictures on this blog.

Rio de Janeiro, a tropical pais: First Impressions
I havent been to a place like this. i have heard many things before getting here, usually along the lines that it is dangerous, the second most dangerous country in latin america after venezuela (colombia where there is a civil war is supposedly third!). around the city you sense a sort of uneasy peace that exists in the tourist areas of the city. the main beaches copacobana and ipanema, clean large beautiful beaches right in the middle of the city, are very safe but just behind the hills are large favelas (shanty towns). also on one end of the line of hotels, i think the sheraton is the last one in ipanema, there begins a favela with the most wonderful malibu like view. apparently there is a police line just past the sheraton that maintains the separation and keeps the favela from pouring into the tourist area. but the separation is not complete: there are poor and criminal elemets even in the tourist areas and occasionally more organized criminals are let loose to burn tourist buses (with people inside) as an example to politicians who want to clean up the street. so you feel this tension every where you go. while sunbathing in copacobana, the peace is broken by a police helicopter every hour or so, maybe just to signal that they are there. talking to people from rio, you learn that many if not all have been robbed multiple times. but the mentality is a positive: they get robbed but they are happy any way. this is the order here. poverty next to wealth, and they accept it, and the misfortunes that come along as well. its a tropical pais afterall!

Lapa Street Party: every friday they have this enormous street party in bohemian part of the city, for no other reason than its friday. there is little order to it all, people flood the alleys and the streets and make shift stands of alcohol appear everywhere and independent waiters carry trays of techila through the crowd, and traffic is stopped because of the mass of people. despite the disorder, it is very safe.

Soccer Match: Flamengo verse Botafogo
we went to a game featuring the biggest rivalry in rio de janiero. the game promised to be great and it did not disappoint. it ended in a 3-3 tie, and was packed with energy and neat brazilian soccer moves. some that i havent seen since von berger in high school. the crowd was very funny: on each end of the stadium were the opposing fans, each side having 30 or so enormous flags. when goals were scored the people jumped in unison giving the impression that the entire stadium was vibrating up and down, or collapsing. they also had those neat fireworks, and flares that sometimes get out of control and burn the flags and the people in the stands. and the very special fireworks that go BOOM that if left in your hand would surely blow it off along with part of your forearm. it was awesome. brazil is a tropical pais.

final note: the french guys had some errands to do and they got robbed a little bit. two 16 year old kids who were learning how to stick people up with knives approached the french guys in a tunnel (i would not have taken the tunnel). one kid reluctantly was following the bigger kid who seemed a bit cracked out and crazy. each french guy held each kid at bay, holding the hand with the knife while they negotiated what they were willing to give up. the french guys knew the kids were scared and very nervous, and the smaller one wanted to leave. after about 2 minutes , it was agreed to give up about 50 dollars (not the bag which had passports, soccer tickets, bus tickets, credit cards, much more value). the french guys know that had it been seasoned professionals, they would have gotten away with everything in less time.

ill be in brazil, the tropical pais, for another month. at this rate the adventures are just beginning. will tour some more around rio, before taking a bus to san salvador de bahia.

---