I´m sitting near an open window at the Cafe Rio hostel in the Larenjeiras neighborhood. An hour ago I had planned on moving from this hostel to another hostel in Ipanema, but it started pouring rain. So now I´m sitting here getting caught up on the news, answering emails, and looking for places to live in San Francisco. Here´s a rundown of the past few days...
I got on a bus in Ouro Preto at 10pm on Friday, and arrived at 430 am on Saturday morning... 1.5 hours before what I had expected. If I had arrived at 0600, I figured it would be safe enough to take a city bus to my hostel. However, 0430 is still the `madrugada`(same word in Portuguese and Spanish), which basically means the very early morning when people are still up partying (today I learned about the Galo da Madrugada, a massive rooster that people party around thats part of Carnival). Anyway, I decided to go ahead and make my way to the hostel. This involved asking a series of questions to the friendliest people I could find, and my pointing to an address. After a few questions and a few missed directions, I found my bus and rode 25 minutes to Cafe Rio. The overnight bus was not of the Argentine quality, and the´interstate` to Rio was bumpy to say the least (not to mention, curvy), so I was tired and promptly took a nap in my new hostel.
I woke up with enough time for breakfast, then took a bus down to Leblon and Ipanema beaches in the afternoon (see photo from previous post). Leblon and Ipanema are two of the nicest (probably THE nicest) neighborhoods and beaches in Rio. Its Winter in Brazil (highs of about 75 degrees farenheit), so the beach traffic was pretty tame (no hordes of bikini-clad women, although there were more than a few dudes wearing speedos and playing soccer volleyball). I walked all the way down to a rock formation jutting into the ocean, where there happened to be a Nike `jam session,`which was basically a rock/surfing/skateboarding expo. Kind of stupid, but it lit up the rocks, so the beach was pretty crowded and therefore safe.
A note on the safety in Rio. Many people told me horror stories of the bad stuff that happens in Rio. My friend Lloyd was held up at knifepoint at night on Copacabana beach. My dads friend took a cab from the airport, and the cabbie took him out to the country, robbed him, and left him there. Another friend was mugged and had the glasses stolen off his face. However, there are also stories like that of my friend from Fuqua, David, who has only been mugged once and has lived in Rio his entire life. Even though I do well to avoid obviously sketchy situations, these stories spooked me and I wasnt sure what to expect from Rio. After a few days of being here, my conclusion is this: Rio is like DC or NYC or Bogota... cities that have had reputations of being violent in the past, but that are now much better. The same refrains apply: dont be stupid, dont go to the beach at night, dont brandish your iphone or expensive camera. Ive taken the bus everywhere in Rio, and its been totally fine. You just have to proceed with a mix of confidence and awareness.
Anyway, when I got back to my hostel after the beach, I met a hostel-mate from Brunei (300K population, turns out) who is a ship navigator who gets 5-month breaks after 5 months of working nonstop (his route is boring... from Brunei to Japan. Every week. Nonstop). After a minute of knowing each other, we decided to go out to Lapa, the `going out` district in Rio (the other option of the night was to go to a Vasco de Gama soccer game... Juninho´s return match... but the game was sold out). The hostel owner recommended a samba club, which we went to (charged a cover, but probably worth it). We then walked around the district, ending up in some pretty interesting places. Im very glad I went... it was good to see this side of Rio on a Saturday night.
On Sunday I woke up late and headed down to the beaches again to see a craft fair. I ended up finding an antique fair and spend a couple hours perusing the goods, then sat down for a sandwich and an `acai bow`,`which is kind of like a smoothie plus frozen yogurt. Acai is huge down here... they love it. Theres also a ton of juice bars around the city... serving all kinds of healthy frozen drinks, vitamin infused stuff, etc. Its a nice touch.
Anyway, I took the metro back from Ipanema because the hostel owner (Jaques) offered to take me and two other travelers (a very cool couple from MN, but who had also lived in Alabama) to a Botafogo game vs. Curitiba. The stadium is 3 years old and beautiful, but there were only about 15 thousand people there. They were definitely rowdy, but I had the same reaction as I did when I went to the Bernabeu, River Plate, and La Bombanera - in terms of atmosphere and crowd participation, DC United acquits itself very well. I asked a few Fogo fans what they thought of US soccer, and got the typical reply: once the US has a better club system with academies, theyll be much better. Brazil fans dont think we will ever be dominant though. Jaques liked my Clint Dempsey jersey and asked about Benny Feilhaber.
Monday - I woke up feeling a bit under the weather, so took it easy. I went up to Christo Redentor. Its quite something. The day was a bit hazy, but I could still make out everything below. I had tried to go on Sunday, but the line was literally 3+ hours long. On Monday I walked right in with no wait. From the Big Jesus, you really get a sense of how beautiful Rio´s topography is. After an hour at the top, I came down to have a smoothie + sandwich and read my Keith Richards book. I still wasnt feeling well so I went for a run (up a hill, then down).
Later that night a group of Indian university students checked into the hostel, and we hung out for a while. They indoctrinated me on the legend of Indian film star Rajinkanth. They were going nuts. To them, Indian movie superstars like this guy are a source of embarrassment (`why the hell do we like this guy? he´s so cheesy`) and complete, unadulterated adoration (there are websites that have Chuck Norris-like jokes such as Once Rajnikaant signed a cheque… and the Bank bounced``). Ive got to say, Im hooked. Its hilarious to watch these young Indian guys get so excited about a 60-year old movie star. Theyd ask me ´dont you adore Al Pacino, Brad Pitt, etc. like this?´). Nothing comes close to the Raji phenomenon. He´s definitely going to be my new obsession. I simply cant believe it. The Indian guys talked about Rajikanth´s `signature moves`that hes famous for. Heres a few videos...
http://youtu.be/7tAFZR5C_i0
http://youtu.be/siGP1pVFA10
Look up more on your own. Im hooked.
Ok, gotta wrap up this post and get to my next hostel. Today, Tuesday, I wasnt feeling well either so I just read a bit, did laundry, and walked around the neighborhood. A few closing observations...
I really like the Keith Richards autobiography, especially the music stuff. He talks a lot about how he and Mick were way into blues, and how the Stones began. I once took a summer class at UCSD on the Music of the 60s and wrote my final paper on the blues origins of the Rolling Stones. One of the coolest àcademic`experiences Ive had.
Conversations about the state and future of the world. I had a few of these. One was with the couple from MN (both getting their PhDs.. one in neuroscience and the other in International Education Policy). We talked about things like whether China will actuall overtake the US in economic power, political might, etc. Admittedly, Im not as up to speed on these issues as Id like to be. In school the past two years, these conversations were few and far between, which is unfortunate. I made a lot of friends from different countries and would try to have conversations (e.g. ask an Indian what he thinks of Indian democracy), but they didnt happen with frequency. With the Indian guys last night, we talked about Indias future, Indians´´complacent attitude of `thats just the way its gonna be` and why this attitude is holding India back in many ways), and some other things. I enjoyed this.
Cafe culture. I really dig these small cafes that are all around the city.
As a traveler, you have a choice. You can do all the tourist things (no harm in doing that), or you can try to feel like a local... get to know the place. Today I reached the point where I got a feel for the Laranjeiras neighborhood. It comes when you do normal stuff.. laundry, run, have a lazy day, go back to a restaurant for the second time. I prefer this style of travel. It requires staying in one spot for a few days, though.
I have concluded that Rio is a very livable city.
My Kindle is amazing. Great device. I really like the note-taking and underlining feature. You can underline, then the notes are consolidated for you, and you can easily share your notes. It makes reading more efficient.
This has been a huge blog post, and it has stopped raining. Off to Ipanema and LightHouse hostel.
I got on a bus in Ouro Preto at 10pm on Friday, and arrived at 430 am on Saturday morning... 1.5 hours before what I had expected. If I had arrived at 0600, I figured it would be safe enough to take a city bus to my hostel. However, 0430 is still the `madrugada`(same word in Portuguese and Spanish), which basically means the very early morning when people are still up partying (today I learned about the Galo da Madrugada, a massive rooster that people party around thats part of Carnival). Anyway, I decided to go ahead and make my way to the hostel. This involved asking a series of questions to the friendliest people I could find, and my pointing to an address. After a few questions and a few missed directions, I found my bus and rode 25 minutes to Cafe Rio. The overnight bus was not of the Argentine quality, and the´interstate` to Rio was bumpy to say the least (not to mention, curvy), so I was tired and promptly took a nap in my new hostel.
I woke up with enough time for breakfast, then took a bus down to Leblon and Ipanema beaches in the afternoon (see photo from previous post). Leblon and Ipanema are two of the nicest (probably THE nicest) neighborhoods and beaches in Rio. Its Winter in Brazil (highs of about 75 degrees farenheit), so the beach traffic was pretty tame (no hordes of bikini-clad women, although there were more than a few dudes wearing speedos and playing soccer volleyball). I walked all the way down to a rock formation jutting into the ocean, where there happened to be a Nike `jam session,`which was basically a rock/surfing/skateboarding expo. Kind of stupid, but it lit up the rocks, so the beach was pretty crowded and therefore safe.
A note on the safety in Rio. Many people told me horror stories of the bad stuff that happens in Rio. My friend Lloyd was held up at knifepoint at night on Copacabana beach. My dads friend took a cab from the airport, and the cabbie took him out to the country, robbed him, and left him there. Another friend was mugged and had the glasses stolen off his face. However, there are also stories like that of my friend from Fuqua, David, who has only been mugged once and has lived in Rio his entire life. Even though I do well to avoid obviously sketchy situations, these stories spooked me and I wasnt sure what to expect from Rio. After a few days of being here, my conclusion is this: Rio is like DC or NYC or Bogota... cities that have had reputations of being violent in the past, but that are now much better. The same refrains apply: dont be stupid, dont go to the beach at night, dont brandish your iphone or expensive camera. Ive taken the bus everywhere in Rio, and its been totally fine. You just have to proceed with a mix of confidence and awareness.
Anyway, when I got back to my hostel after the beach, I met a hostel-mate from Brunei (300K population, turns out) who is a ship navigator who gets 5-month breaks after 5 months of working nonstop (his route is boring... from Brunei to Japan. Every week. Nonstop). After a minute of knowing each other, we decided to go out to Lapa, the `going out` district in Rio (the other option of the night was to go to a Vasco de Gama soccer game... Juninho´s return match... but the game was sold out). The hostel owner recommended a samba club, which we went to (charged a cover, but probably worth it). We then walked around the district, ending up in some pretty interesting places. Im very glad I went... it was good to see this side of Rio on a Saturday night.
On Sunday I woke up late and headed down to the beaches again to see a craft fair. I ended up finding an antique fair and spend a couple hours perusing the goods, then sat down for a sandwich and an `acai bow`,`which is kind of like a smoothie plus frozen yogurt. Acai is huge down here... they love it. Theres also a ton of juice bars around the city... serving all kinds of healthy frozen drinks, vitamin infused stuff, etc. Its a nice touch.
Anyway, I took the metro back from Ipanema because the hostel owner (Jaques) offered to take me and two other travelers (a very cool couple from MN, but who had also lived in Alabama) to a Botafogo game vs. Curitiba. The stadium is 3 years old and beautiful, but there were only about 15 thousand people there. They were definitely rowdy, but I had the same reaction as I did when I went to the Bernabeu, River Plate, and La Bombanera - in terms of atmosphere and crowd participation, DC United acquits itself very well. I asked a few Fogo fans what they thought of US soccer, and got the typical reply: once the US has a better club system with academies, theyll be much better. Brazil fans dont think we will ever be dominant though. Jaques liked my Clint Dempsey jersey and asked about Benny Feilhaber.
Monday - I woke up feeling a bit under the weather, so took it easy. I went up to Christo Redentor. Its quite something. The day was a bit hazy, but I could still make out everything below. I had tried to go on Sunday, but the line was literally 3+ hours long. On Monday I walked right in with no wait. From the Big Jesus, you really get a sense of how beautiful Rio´s topography is. After an hour at the top, I came down to have a smoothie + sandwich and read my Keith Richards book. I still wasnt feeling well so I went for a run (up a hill, then down).
Later that night a group of Indian university students checked into the hostel, and we hung out for a while. They indoctrinated me on the legend of Indian film star Rajinkanth. They were going nuts. To them, Indian movie superstars like this guy are a source of embarrassment (`why the hell do we like this guy? he´s so cheesy`) and complete, unadulterated adoration (there are websites that have Chuck Norris-like jokes such as Once Rajnikaant signed a cheque… and the Bank bounced``). Ive got to say, Im hooked. Its hilarious to watch these young Indian guys get so excited about a 60-year old movie star. Theyd ask me ´dont you adore Al Pacino, Brad Pitt, etc. like this?´). Nothing comes close to the Raji phenomenon. He´s definitely going to be my new obsession. I simply cant believe it. The Indian guys talked about Rajikanth´s `signature moves`that hes famous for. Heres a few videos...
http://youtu.be/7tAFZR5C_i0
http://youtu.be/siGP1pVFA10
Look up more on your own. Im hooked.
Ok, gotta wrap up this post and get to my next hostel. Today, Tuesday, I wasnt feeling well either so I just read a bit, did laundry, and walked around the neighborhood. A few closing observations...
I really like the Keith Richards autobiography, especially the music stuff. He talks a lot about how he and Mick were way into blues, and how the Stones began. I once took a summer class at UCSD on the Music of the 60s and wrote my final paper on the blues origins of the Rolling Stones. One of the coolest àcademic`experiences Ive had.
Conversations about the state and future of the world. I had a few of these. One was with the couple from MN (both getting their PhDs.. one in neuroscience and the other in International Education Policy). We talked about things like whether China will actuall overtake the US in economic power, political might, etc. Admittedly, Im not as up to speed on these issues as Id like to be. In school the past two years, these conversations were few and far between, which is unfortunate. I made a lot of friends from different countries and would try to have conversations (e.g. ask an Indian what he thinks of Indian democracy), but they didnt happen with frequency. With the Indian guys last night, we talked about Indias future, Indians´´complacent attitude of `thats just the way its gonna be` and why this attitude is holding India back in many ways), and some other things. I enjoyed this.
Cafe culture. I really dig these small cafes that are all around the city.
As a traveler, you have a choice. You can do all the tourist things (no harm in doing that), or you can try to feel like a local... get to know the place. Today I reached the point where I got a feel for the Laranjeiras neighborhood. It comes when you do normal stuff.. laundry, run, have a lazy day, go back to a restaurant for the second time. I prefer this style of travel. It requires staying in one spot for a few days, though.
I have concluded that Rio is a very livable city.
My Kindle is amazing. Great device. I really like the note-taking and underlining feature. You can underline, then the notes are consolidated for you, and you can easily share your notes. It makes reading more efficient.
This has been a huge blog post, and it has stopped raining. Off to Ipanema and LightHouse hostel.
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