Landed

Hello from Rio!  It’s hot, sticky and from what I can tell so far, a spectacular place.

Why do I feel like I'm always going somewhere? (On the way down... )

The trip down (literally) took half a day, but made it without too much trouble.  Only had one minor false alarm because of the short (30 minute) layover in Atlanta.  I had to hustle, but made the connection alright, but had a little scare that my luggage didn't  when my suitcase came out long after everyone else had gotten theirs once we had arrived (and was buried under staff checklists).  I spent some time chatting with the airport staff as I was waiting, though, who were very nice and gave me some good tips for the city.

Welcome to Rio

So my first impressions of the city came before I had really even reached it... on the bus-ride in.

The highlight of the trip was definitely passing several lots housing the massive Carnival floats as well as the favellas, or poor areas of the city.  Even though I'm normally not a big fan of the type of travel where you "experience" places through glass, I was absolutely in heaven just drinking in the scenery and people watching from my seat. The architecture in the area around the domestic airport was beautiful, for example, but it also raised a lot of questions for me about Rio's history, as the area was visibly only an echo of what it must have once been and represented.  Will have to do some more reading on this one, but there were basically a lot of old, European-looking buildings, many of them with dirty or damaged facades and huge pieces of the buildings missing (it makes you wonder what will become of all the big, shiny glass buildings closer to Ipanema and Copacabana in a hundred years or two).  

After passing the favellas, the sharp contrast with the nicer areas definitely hit me and I know there is a lot to learn about the people and culture here, as well.  The city is surprisingly green, surrounded by mountains, with large, blunt peaks providing a beautiful backdrop.  Many of them are blanketed with an air of affluence, too (as the large, colorful houses packed closely together would suggest).  

I also saw the famed Jesus statue for the first time on the ride in, but in all honesty, it was much less of the presence I expected it to be.  In fact, I first thought it was a just another radio tower (as the other peaks in the area have large, looming towers that almost trump the Jesus)... but maybe the view is different from the center of the city.

As for walking around, I’ve only seen a few streets in Ipanema, but I’ll explore soon.  The cobblestone and busy foot traffic strike me as charming, though.  And I don't think I've encountered such an overwhelming population of swimsuit-clad commoners in other cities I've been to. Nothing extremely skimpy, as I would have expected, but the old men walking around in speedos (or “d***stickers” as a Norwegian guy I met called them), flip flops and t-shirts are pretty funny.

The Locals

Much like with Italy, I also have to admit I am having some trouble figuring out who the typical Brazilian is supposed to be.  Sure, Pelle and Giselle look different, but one of the first observations I’ve made about the people here is that Brazilians definitely take on a lot of different looks.  I haven't been here long and have yet to hit up the big touristy sites, but - outside of the hostel - pretty much everyone I’ve encountered seems to be from here and every time I think I’ve met another traveler (from anywhere), they start to talk and I realize I’m wrong.  There was one guy I swore was German or Swedish at the airport (looked like he could have been my friend Krista's brother), who totally surprised me with his Portuguese... and it’s happened a few times since. I guess there is a lot of European history, influence and emigration here, but I still find it surprising. 

One benefit of this fact that there is a lot of variation in how ethnic Brazilians look is that I've pretty much been able to blend in wherever I go.  Most people seem surprised when they talk to me and I respond with a confused look and reply to their Portuguese in English (and then I get the same confused look back if/when they don't understand). Thankfully, though, I've been lucky to have met a lot of really friendly, really helpful people who do speak pretty good English. I asked the lady sitting next to me on the bus, for example, if she knew where the street my hostel is on was, and before I knew it, I had a little network of people on the bus figuring out exactly where my hostel was and coordinating where I should get off and where I should walk when I did.

Sweet Dreams

I couldn’t sleep on the plane (despite taking advantage of the wine.... watched a few episodes of Dextor, the Tudors and finally saw Up and Inglorious Basterds to pass the time) so I’m going to leave this now and take a nap for a bit. Feliz Natal (Merry Christmas) to all of you, though, and I am sure there will be much, much more to share very soon.  

From Ipanema, B