Rio Wrap-Up

Wow - we've been busy. Here's the scoop on what we have been up to:

Jan. 2

Down came the rain so we headed to the mall to check out what's hip in Rio. The clothes are awesome. The Brazilians have a great fashion sense. Unfortunately nothing is cheap so we are only window shoppers. It looks like Strawberry Shortcake has made a comeback in Brazil too. We were in a store called TACO (it was a cross between a Gap and a Roxy store) and there were two heavily armed guards wearing bullet proof vests. Shoplifters beware!

After the mall it was only drizzling so we hopped a bus to Leblon and Ipanema Beaches. Even though it wasn't quite what we had planned (we were supposed to work on our tans) it was still fun to take a look and people watch. Plus, I needed the exercise after all the meat at the churrascarias. We had our first "standing up" lunch. We have been spending too much on food so have instituted the occasional standing up lunch policy - everything is cheap. Overhead is low when you don't have to make space for tables.

That afternoon we hung out at the hostel and met a couple friendly guys from Australia and UK. Most of the backpackers we have met are not fans of Americans so we were actually surprised they talked to us for so long. It did come out later in the conversation that they think Americans are arrogant, that we have been making a lot of enemies as of late and that they predict our downfall in about 20 years. Well, at least they talked to us.

We had dinner (a good one, finally, yes!) in an area of Rio called Flamengo. It was cool to be in a non-touristy neighborhood that was older and had more character than Copa or Ipanema.

Jan. 3

Another rainy day but, heck, the rain kind of cools us down so it's good. Unfortunately the wind messed up our hang gliding plans for that morning. We have rescheduled for the 9th, when we are back in Rio for one day so cross your fingers and toes for us. We decided to head to the Botanical Gardens and met a nice Mormon missionary on the bus there. He is from Idaho and has been in Rio for about 18 months. He was friendly and it was interesting to learn about his mssion. No, he didn't try to convert us!

In the afternoon we headed over to the eclectic Santa Teresa neighborhood. We waited in line for a very long time to get on the tram and it was hot hot hot. So, I admit I was a little sour when I boarded the tram but as soon as we started moving those negative feelings were erased. The tram was totally old school - I doubted if it could make it up the hill! We flew along the tracks and went over a very narrow bridge that crossed the road about 50 feet below. Since I was sitting on the outside edge I figured this would either be "my time" or a really thrilling ride. We raced up the hill and people would jump on as the tram slowed. It was obiously a game for the kids as they would run along side and jump on at the last minute. Then they would kick their feet out and jump back on. It was so cool. We rode to the top and got off. It didn't feel like a very safe area so we hung out at the bar and waited for the next tram to come by. A group of kids were playing tag out in the street and it was fun to watch. Four of the kids lived in the neighborhood and were dirty and wore tattered clothes. Four others had come up on the tram with us and seemed to be from an upper-middle class family. I don't think their different backgrounds mattered for a minute - as soon as they saw each other they started the game and were laughing and shouting. It was cool.

After our trip back down on the tram we toured the Municipal Theater. It is absolutely beautiful - however, there is no A/C!! They actually cut a hole in the square outside the theater and had a tunnel that led inside. They put a giant block of ice in it so the wind would bring the cool air into the theater to cool down the patrons. We were lucky to hear this little gem since the tour was in Portuguese. While we were in line to get in we met a really nice couple, Mariana and Felipe, and they translated for us during the tour. Their English was great and they were very helpful. Felipe had lived in Houston for a few years when he was young and then was an exchange student in NY when he was in high school. They recommended that we visit an exhibit nearby with old photos of Rio so we checked that out. It was amazing to see how the city has changed since the 1800's!

Only one more night in our hot, sweaty hostel!!!

Jan. 4

Woke up early on our last day in the cave. We caught the bus to Petropolis, which is a mountain town about an hour from Rio. The bus was actually really nice and we had more leg room and recline than on the plane - now this is the way to travel! The ride was beautiful...and somewhat scary as the side rails were only about a foot high and there was a sheer drop off on the other side. The driver had the pedal to the metal and we arrived safely.

Petropolis is a medium-sized city that is primarily a summer spot. It's pretty peaceful here and there are a lot of cool old buildings. It's also big for outdoor stuff so we're hoping the rain will let up and we can go for a hike tomorrow. Today we took the walking tour of the historic district. The most amazing thing that happened was that as the rain storm blew in the clouds raced in at street level in about 1 minute. It was incredible to see the clouds rolling down the street toward us. We took some pictures so hopefully they turned out and we can post them in the next few days.

Language & Communication

In general, we have been able to get by with my Spanish skills. Portuguese is very different than Spanish but there are enough similarities that I can usually read things and I've caught on to the basics in Portuguese. Each encounter with someone is a test. Luckily when we have really needed it someone who speaks English has been around to help. We had Mariana and Felipe on the theater tour. On the tram the ticket guy tried to make us pay twice and the people next to us spoke English and helped us out. At other times we have had a lot of fun trying to work through the communication barriers. We went to a pasta place last night where you choose your pasta, your ingredients and your sauce. They had an English menu but no one there could understand it so we couldn't order off of it. It was a hoot as I translated what I could and we pointed and gave the thumbs up to get through the rest. The people working there were young and we all had a great time trying to talk to each other. We've had a lot of other little successes like that and it makes things fun, makes me feel good about my ability to communicate and definitely lights a fire in me to work on my Spanish skills again!

General Thoughts

Every time we travel we feel lucky to be from a country where people have so many opportunities, are allowed many freedoms and can choose their own path in life. At the same time we feel that there is a lot to be learned from the people we meet when we're outside of the country. We have it pretty good in the U.S. It's easy to take things like trashcans, public restrooms and handicap access for granted. As we walk around Rio we are reminded to appreciate how fortunate we are.

--Jen

PS

No spell check so pardon my typos.