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Someone stole my hair!!!! Hello everyone
My trip is quickly coming to an end so I this will be my last report for 2008. God willing next year, it will come to you from India or Vietnam/ Cambodia.
Last we talked, I had just arrived in dreary Copacabana as it was overcast. I did find an amazing 3 bedroom apartment from www.rioapartmentrentals.com. I met the owner at his restaurant/ bar and he hooked me up with a super pimped out apartment for $80 US which is a steal. After getting settled down for the week, I spent most of the first week sleeping as I have much sleep to make up for.
My trip to Peru (if you want to see my blogs, just click on RODDDDMANN & it should list my two blogs from 2007) was very physically and schedually challenging. I was really on timelines last year which made the trip a bit tiring. This year, I wanted to be more relaxed. As that did not really happen in BA and Iguazu, I resolved to spend the rest of my two weeks really focusing on relaxation and that is exactly what I did.
By slowing it down, I think
Christo and me
I am the one in front I got a chance to really understand RIO and the culture to a point that I would have not seen in the past with my superficial visits.
Rio is an amazing yet odd place. A minimum wage job pays about $600 REIS which is about $360 US. While most of the people that work in the businesses around RIO make this little, the cost of everything is so out of whack with reality. I tried to have a small bag of clothes cleaned at a place & they wanted $25 REIS or approximately $15 US. To put it in perspective, an average person earns $30 REIS a day so that would mean the same cost in LA would be approximately $51 dollars.
In another words, the spread between the haves & have nothing in this society is huge. There are many homeless kids sleeping on the streets and single mothers too. Its is hard to see when they are right outside the most beautiful hotels. Long story short, poverty is everywhere from the FAVELAS to the beaches.
As a result, the danger level is definately higher here than in any other city I have travelled to. Dont
Christ the Redimeer
I miss you this much get me wrong but you are actively aware of your sorroundings at all times. Luckily, I am not a small man so there are better targets but I was definately glad I was not a GRINGO as they are affectionally known down here.
All the guide books do go a little too far in scaring folks though. My recommendation is to never show anything of value on your body (watches, rings, bulges in pockets from cameras and money). It worked well for me.
The city is built around the most beautiful pointy yet high and small mountains. For example, Sugar Loaf (See pictures) is one of them. As a result, you can see mass density of buildings throughout the city build all around these beautiful mountains covered in actual Amazonian Atlantic rainforest.
I went to see the big view from the Christo statue (See pictures). The statue stands at 2100 feet and is absolutley massive. The view from up at the statue was unbelievable. It was so nice, I went back twice (also because my camera batteries died on the first try =). The train ride up is also very pretty as it gives you an opportunity
to get into the Amazon like trees and shrubbary.
I spent a lot of time up there just staring out into the city and, at that elevation, you can clearly see all the favelas intermingled with all the expensive areas. It is only because of a treaty of sorts that more crime does not take place as the police do not go into the favelas and the drug dealers dish out there own form of law within the favelas.
The CENTRO of RIO is the central shopping district and the downtown. It is absolutley nuts down there. I have never seen so many people packed in such a small space. All the high rise buildings are right by the main shopping area full of thousands of small mom and pop stores. But even here, the prices on certain goods are crazy. A COHIBA 50 ring cigar goes for $48 ries, or $30 US. It is frustrating to be in such a high cost place as you know it is the as a result of all the tourists.
The rest of the vacation has been made up of walking on Ipanema beach and working on the tan. The
Christo Up close
there is a chapel at the bottom of this past 3 days have been terrible though as it has been raining a lot. Those are the only times I got lonely on the trip as the rain forced me to stay in my apartment in Ipanema. With only two channels in english, I was forced to watch STAND BY ME in portugese (COREY FELDMAN sucks even in Portugese).
Today, I made it to SANTA TERESA, their area that the artists and like folks have taken over. It is very beautiful and the views of the city are amazing also. I spent the rest of the day walking the city & have been consulting a restaurant owner friend on his new menu and overall restaurant procedures. Unfortunately, the commute to work here from LA would be long or else I would pitch DLC to add him as a client.
I am leaving for LA on Monday and should be back to work on Wednesday. My plans for the rest of the trip are mostly to work on my tan as the rain has put a damper on that original plan.
My overall general thoughts are:
1) Buenos Aires is amazing and should be on everyones list
of vacation places. The mix of Europeon culture with the energy and sulturiness the South American dance influences make it a definate destination point for me in the future. The only thing that really is bad is the dog poop thing and super amount of smoking in all places. If you can deal with the pooch landmines on sidewalks everywhere and the smoke, you are good to go.
2) Iguazu goes hand in hand with BA. You have to hear the thunder of the water from miles away to understand the feeling of being in one of mother nature best sites.
3) Copacabana is over-rated though worth visiting. Ipanema is the place to stay in RIO.
4) The women of Brazil are beautiful but I will take my California girls over them any day =)
5) 3 week vacations are about 5 days too long. I think I could of been home earlier and still in the same state of relaxation.
6) Who knew the sound my sister made when she was singing persian songs when we were younger is the international Brazilian sound for calling a waiter over. The Pssouu sound cracked me up
Sugar Loaf
felt like such a tourist taking this picture but had to as I kept thinking they were calling a cat over but it was the waiters.
7) RIO is over-rated. I would recommend it only for Carnival.
I hope you enjoyed reading about the trip and I will see you soon.
Rodney
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