Well, today has been an interesting day. I got my first lil sunburn (my fault for not putting on enough lotion, some Nivea aloe lotion to fix it at the mall, a Brazilian phone number (still working out how to unlock my US cell), and best of all, I met the couchsurfing host!
Moving to my new home in Rio
I met Pria at the Tijuca subway station at 4 and led me to her house. I had the suitcase with me, which isn't huge, but it's definitely bulky compared to the hiking backpack I'm used to and I was glad the house wasn’t far.
Pria and her family live in a pretty nice, gated apartment complex in the middle of a residential neighborhood. It’s a little funny because I feel a bit like a high school exchange student with the whole family, even grandma who is visiting from the Amazon, in the same house and because nobody other than Pria speaks English, but so far, it's going really well. Pria's grandma keeps making her translate all of her questions and stories (in addition to making sure I’ve had dinner and have tried the traditional Brazilian fare, haha) and tonight we went to the mall to run errands with and return some presents with Pria’s sister who just got married. It was pouring when we got outside, so probably a good time to be inside and the girls were fun to hang out with.
I was a little annoyed earlier in the day when I took the subway here for the first time and it took much longer than expected (although I got to use the Ipanema metro station, now open for a whole 5 days). We're a bit more removed from the city center than I thought I would be, too, but I definitely feel like I’m getting a taste of REAL Brazil.
Pria and I already have plans for the next few days and she wants me to go out with her friends for New Years (taking first train home), which I sort of feel obliged to do despite the plans I have with people from the hostel I was staying in. Either way, we’ll still be able to check out New Years on Copacabana and Priscilla is extremely nice and pretty laid back, so I think it’ll be fun.
Anyways, just wanted to check in quickly and let everyone (ie my mom) know that I'm here, safe and the couch-surfing bit is going well. Besos from Tijuca and more soon - b
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