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Published: September 13th 2006
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Rio Hostel
Where I´m staying for the next couple of nights. Well, here we go then. The first real entry in my travel journal. I actually wrote this while sat in a cafe earlier, so it is just being typed here as I am sat at the hostel´s computer. (Excuse the strange punctuation - I can´t find everything I need!). It´s really hot here, around 35 degrees, which is going to take some getting used to after the temperatures we´d been having in the UK before I left. I am so pasty pale at the moment though, but I´ve got my legs out anyway!
Firstly, the flight. It was actually a fairly pleasurable experience, given how busy I had been in the days and weeks leading up to my departure. It didn´t seem like 14 hours in a plane at all, and I was lucky enough to be sitting next to a lovely couple on their honeymoon. They were really lovely, and unknowlingly put my nerves at bay. I managed to sleep quite a bit and, having set my watch to Brazil time as soon as I got on the plane, I think I may have averted most of the jet lag. Bonus!
So, after waiting for what seemed an
eternity to get through passport control, I met my taxi driver at the airport and, after a rather worrying few attempts to get money out of a Brazilian cash machine, we set off, speeding through the streets of Rio, heading towards my hostel in Santa Tereza.
Talk about culture shock! Upon leaving the airport, the first thing that hit me was the overwhelming poverty everywhere I looked. Immediately we were driving past vast areas where people live in utter squalor in what I can only describe as shells of buildings held together by miles and miles of washing line. Was
City Of God filmed here? If not, it might just as well have been.
After a fairly uneventful taxi journey (the cab driver did reach over to lock all the car doors as we drove through one particularly interesting looking area), I arrived at the hostel. It seems like a nice place, working showers and a nice pool/patio area outside where I arrived just in time for breakfast. Santa Tereza is an old, bohemian district, which is probably why I chose it. I met a lovely couple upon arrival at the hostel, who were really friendly and told
me to stick around for a BBQ here this evening, followed by some dancing, which sounds more like it! That will be great, as in my current delicate state I have been craving some company. And possibly some beer. I haven´t really met anyone else yet, as they were already out for the day when I arrived, although a German guy overheard me talking to the nice couple (whose names I have forgotten) about Couchsurfing.com. He must have misunderstood what I said, as he then proceeded to describe to me, in great detail, where I could find a great beach for surfing on Ilha Grande. Can you imagine me surfing?! I nearly laughed out loud but travellers etiquette (if such a thing exists) stopped me, so I smiled politely instead.
The hardest thing about being here at the moment is not being able to speak the language AT ALL, and having no phrase book either. I ventured out on a little expedition earlier to find one, but have returned empty handed. Oh well, when I´m feeling braver tomorrow I´ll venture further afield. I think I´ll feel better after that. I am currently feeling very fragile and only too aware
Can´t remember the name of this!
This is beautiful and old, about 5 mins walk from my hostel. The metro car runs over it. of my utter helplessness in a city so vastly different from home. I find myself grasping to make comparisons between here and home, and obviously not finding many. Which is fine. I´m just going to let it all sink in slowly.
While gaping with delight while out on my earlier trip at the wonderous selection of fruit and vegetables in a local shop, I found myself humming along to none other than a Robbie Williams song. I don´t know what made me more horrified - the fact that his crappy music has made it out here, or that I was humming along to it. I blame it on a momentary lack of concentration. That and the invisible jet lag, which is maybe manifesting itself in other ways ...
So, all in all, I have no regrets about coming here, even though I´ve been a little wobbly today. If I´m being honest, I think I hadn´t prepared myself enough for how I would feel to be on my own in a very strange city. As I watched the honeymooning couple together on the plane, I must admit to feeling a stab of longing for someone to share this initial experience with. But I´m sure these initial doubts and fears will soon dissipate. Just as soon as I can get my hands on a phrasebook or, even better, an interpreter!
My first Couchsurfing experience starts on Friday when, I´m hoping, things will settle down and pick up as I´ll be staying with locals.
I think that maybe, in a minute, after I´ve paid for my fairly greasy, indistinguishable lunch, I will cut myself some slack, stop beating myself up about being too much of a wuss to try and get the bus to Ipanema or Copacabana, and just go back to the hostel to chill before tonight´s festivities. (Which is precisely what I have done!)
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gareth
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i'm ssssssssssssooooooooooooooooo jealous!!!! and i know its only going to get worse!