Tuesday 8 April 2008

Amazing Beaches, Christ the Redeemer, Crazy Soccer Fans, and So Much More in Rio de Janeiro and Floripa

So, my overnight bus from Brasilia to Rio went smoothly. In the morning when I was still on the bus and the hour of arrival approached, I was filled with excitement and anticipation. I couldn´t believe I was about to arrive in Rio de Janeiro. I remember the times before leaving Connecticut when my time in Rio seemed so far off, and just like I was about to arrive.

Once I arrived, I got a public bus to the neighborhood of Botafogo. Botafogo is located near Cobacabana and Ipanema, supposedly the two best areas to stay in, but offers cheaper accomodation. I found the hostel I found the day before on the internet and checked into my 24% bed dormitory. Upon going to the nearby mall, I found out how expensive the city really was when I paid more than I would at home for lunch. Then I headed for `Pao de Acucar,` (Sugar Loaf) a mountain in Rio that can be reached by a series of two cable cars. The view was incredible. I have never before seen a city that is anything like Rio. The beaches, mountains, islands, and Christ the Redeemer make Rio one of the most, if not the most, beautiful cities I have ever laid eyes on. I stayed up for over three hours, seeing the city by day, during sunset, and at night. Already, after only a few hours in the city, I was in love with it.

My next day I walked around the `Jardim Botanico` (Botannical Gardens) for a few hours and then headed to Ipanema beach to meet a friend I met that morning in my hostel. It was a great second day in the city. The next day I went again with the same friend to a few museums and checked out the cities center before heading to the beach in Copacabana.

I ended up staying in Rio almost two weeks, a lot longer than I planned. I visited all of the nice beaches, which were awesome. I went up Mount Corcovado to see Christ the Redeemer, my second world wonder of the trip! It was incredible. Not only is the view absolutely spectacular, the Christ is huge and it is mind blowing to imagine how they could have possibly brought it up to the top of the mountain. I saw two soccer matches at Maracana stadium. Definitely the craziest fans I`ve ever seen. Tons of HUGE banners, drums, fireworks, and everyone was jumping around and screaming throughout the entirity of both matches.

My last four days in Rio, I got to move out of my huge dormitory and into the apartment of a friend I met while in San Jorge by Chapada dos Veideiros. The apartment was in Ipanema only several blocks from the beach. It was awesome. Not only did I get to stay in a great location, I saved a lot of money, got to stay in a home as opposed to a hostel, and got to spend lots of time with my friend.

All in all, I absolutely loved my time in Rio. Unfortunately, it rained a few days during my stay but this was the only problem. I have heard that Rio is a very dangerous city, and allthough I did meet a couple who was robbed at knifepoint, I felt totally safe my whole time there. So far, Rio has definitely been the best city I have visited on the trip. Upon leaving I was not only sad but determined to come back to live there sometime in the near or distant future.

After Rio, I went to Florianopolis, a city in the south of Brazil that is partly on the mainland and party on Isla Santa Catarina. I stayed with a friend I met while in Bonito who is from Germany and studying abroad in Floripa (the nickname) for a year. I had hoped to find volunteer work to do there, but my search was unsuccessful. I decided to stay in Floripa for a while and then I would move on without volunteering. As a result, I would have to do more volunteer work while in Argentina. The beaches in Rio were awesome, but the beaches in Florianopolis are definitely better. I spent my time in Floripa going on hikes, visiting beaches, sandboarding (did not turn out to be as similiar to snowboarding as I thought. After taking a few runs I decided I was ready for the slope with the ´danger´ sign and I wiped out hard), biking around the city, and trying to learn surfing. It was great, but I ended up staying a little too long.

After Florianopolis, I left Brazil and entered Uruguay. More on that in my next post. So far, Brazil has been, hands down, my favorite country in South America. I was quite sad to leave Brazil, but as I said earlier, I am determined to return to live in the future. And I am still positive I want to take Portuguesse as opposed to Spanish next year at CU Boulder!