Ah, Rio
Well, it seems I fall in love with every new city I visit. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil certainly is a paradise. And, although I am not a big beach person, I want to move here, learn Portuguese, buy a fio dentao (string bikini), work on my body and tan a whole hell of a lot more, and work, learn, live, and play. The night life is great. (Of course, the bars and clubs were my first stops.) Actually, there was reason for hitting the night life first…a couple reasons: 1) I arrived on a Thursday, the official start of any weekend; 2) Friday was a holiday, Brazil´s version of dia de muerto, or all saints day, I believe; and the big reason 3) my cash card did not work for the first three days I was here, and I spent most of my cash before I realized this. But bars, clubs, and restaurants take Visa. So I walked around with only 5 brazilian realis (about $8) for most of the weekend, plus the 12 realis I won in a game of poker on Thursday night. That´s right, Justin and Sully, I actually won a game of poker! What luck, cuz I really needed the cash.
So this is what I´ve done so far. I live in a hostel that is one of about six in a little alleyway in Ipanema. I was exhausted from my 1 am flight from Lima and time change, so I didn´t want to go too crazy on my first night. I was told that people hang out at the hostel next door, so I stop by and ended up staying until 2 am. I met people from Brazil, Switzerland, Germany, England, and Austria. I learned how to make the national drink and one of my favorite drinks in the world, the caipirinha, and made about 12 for all the people who were hanging out. Then someone whipped out the cards and luck was on my side.
Friday night I hung out in Lapa at a huge club called Rio Scenario. Huge. At least 2,000 people can fit in there. The line starts at 9 pm and is already a half hour wait. Vendors sell you beer and snacks as you wait. Street parties are the thing in Rio. You could walk around Lapa hopping from bar to bar and never see the interior of one. Lapa has the added beauty of centuries-old aqueducts that no longer function but are a series of white, stone, double-stacked archways that are still strong enough to hold a train track on top. These lit up a night are gorgeous as you pass under them on your way to get lit up yourself. Anyhoo, Rio Scenario is a must-see with two floor, tall ceilings, walls covered in art and antiques, different parts that are like a restaurant then like a bar then like a club then like a concert venue. A samba 8-person band plays earlier in the night, then you can go up to the more night-clubby part to dance to DJs. The beer is also great here…a bit more light and refreshing than the average beer in the States. I´m actually drinking it, which I rarely do. If you´re at the Brickskeller in DC, see if they have Devassa and try it to see what I mean.
Saturday night, I decided to check out the scene in Ipanema, which is not the same vibe as other parts of Rio and is a bit more expensive. I went to 69, a club two blocks from my hostel and above a bar where my friend works. There is an interesting system of payment here at many clubs/bars. You get a card when you enter and pay the entrance fee, which was expensive, 40 realis, at this club. And there are different levels of payment, you could pay just to enter and not drink, for example. Then, throughout the night, your card, which could be an actual card like a hotel key card or a piece of paper, is your tally of drinks, and you pay at the end at the cashier. It´s actually pretty efficient, in a way, but a bit of a waste of paper and plastic. 69 played hip hop and house music, and I danced the night away, even saw some friends I met on the beach.
I spent the only sunny parts of my time here on Friday and Saturday during the day at the beach. It´s been raining pretty much most of the rest of the time and will continue to rain until I leave on Thursday. No matter. The temperature is in the 70s and dips down to the 60s at night. The rain makes it a bit harder to see, but does not take away from the beauty of this place. I will probably not get to see the blue-green sea, as it is obscured by muddy water from rain drainage. I will try to do the mountain top beautiful sites in the rain in the mornings to get some sort of clarity, but my photos will be rainy/foggy. Cristo Redentor, or the big white Christ statue with open arms on a mountain top, is lit up at night and mysterious with the surrounding clouds. I told a friend that I thought it was ironic to have a giant Christ looking over this city of debauchery, and he was confused as to why I thought it was ironic, and even seemed a little offended. It´s not that I don´t think this city can be holy, I simply thought it was ironic. I find my cultural differences with people are the most distinct when touching on the subject of religion. My politics, on the other hand, seem to be similar to the view points of the majority of people I meet.
So here´s what I´m thinking. I could get my Spanish and Russian up to full working speed, learn Portuguese and French, study a bit about the hotel industry, and find a job down here in tourism. Huh? Yeah? What do you think? I´m a likeable gal. Now who will hire me to travel and have a cushy job in a hotel? “Public relations and diplomatic liaison” sounds like a good title. I could advise people on where to stay, hang out, and eat for the price that is affordable for that person. See? I´m thinking down here…haven´t killed all those brain cells yet.
Speaking of that, what are my plans for tonight?…
