Tudo bem?

Oi everyone! I arrived safely and without incident in Rio. Jjust a disclaimer... Sorry for the mish mash of thought and poor english. It's just my verbal diarrhoea. I'm pretty schweepy and it's only 10pm here!!

At the start of my journey in Newark, I met a very enthusiastic and happy-to-be-here tourist from NJ who's 40 and still very much in with the party scene (all around the world, apparently - from NYC to Rio to Sao Paolo to Singapore). If I had more than 5 minutes to chat with him, who knows what other fiesta secrets he might reveal.

Carrying a 46lb kitebag, btw, is NO FUN. Super heavy, everyone takes pity on me. It's a bit pathetic. But anyway, it was really good for conversation. Everyone from the NJ Transit conductor to random passengers were chatting me up coz I looked about the same size as my bag.

Arrived at the Rio airport and paid for a cab (as I was instructed) in the secure area just after leaving bag check. Thank goodness my kitebag fit into the car. I was slightly worried. Arrived at the JW Marriott on Copacabana. Nice swank hotel with nice amenities, and a fake ocean view (I have to almost peer my head out the window to see the ocean).

All day today, the language barrier's been driving me crazy. Brazilians pretend to understand Spanish, but I'm not sure if they do. I'm frustrated that I don't understand portuguese or speak it. It makes adventures harder to come by.

After settling into my hotel, taking a luxurious shower, drawing money and buying my SIM card, I finally set off for Corcorvado. My concierge told me it closed at 7pm, but didn't tell me anything about the last tram service. It ended at 5:40pm and I arrived at 5:42pm. Just SLIGHTLY bummed. Don't know if I'll get to see it tomorrow. No warm and welcoming Christ statue for me, maybe.

So I left Corcorvado quite disappointed, got into a cab with a cab driver who was trying to cheat me. In a huff of principled indignation, I got off at Av Atlantico (instead of my original destination at Caesar's Park). I walked all the way from Av. Atlantico to R. Francisco Otaviano to Av. Viera Souta all by myself. No kidnapping. Phew. I wish I could walk around Rio more, coz that's definitely more adventure for me.

I worked my way around the curves of the Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, which I think would be infinitely more gorgeous if it weren't so cloudy. The beaches were lovely and sandy though, not like the pebbled Mediterranean coastline. I'm doubtful that the weather will be good enough for me to lay out in the next day or so, unfortunately. Shrug. And I must confess, as I strolled along the Copa, I had to bust out into one of my fav songs from graduation. her name was Lola, she was a showgirl, with yellow feathers.... I guess it's a good thing I'm travelling alone. Wouldn't want anyone to steal my thunder.

Discovered the Parque de Apoador/Diablo. Basically it's the park at the sharp right angle where Copacabana and Ipanema meet. On either side there were waves, though significantly more massive ones on the Copa side where surfers attempted to ride. The pictures will do more justice than my descriptions.

I was sorta at Apoador during sunset. Would have seen sunset if it weren't so cloudy, but the fog that set in let for a very pretty landscape in its own right. As I continued walking down Ipanema, the night lights from passing cars and residences started to twinkle.

After I was done playing on the mound, I made my way to Porcao Ipanema. Mmmm churrascaria!!! The setting was in a big impersonal dining hall type place. The meat came in huge slabs on sticks, and waiters walked around and served them to you. They would ask, medium? well done? and would cut the appropriate parts. I've never had such variety in my life. Here's the list of all I ate (in order of appearance):

1) frita banana - soooo good I had TWO
2) aipim frito (fried yucca) - some kind of fried dough thing. it was alright.
3) lamb
4) sausage
5) flank
6) chuleta rib steak - super fatty and succulent. One of my top 3.
7) top sirloin/sirloin
8) filet mignon with cheese - eh
9) rump steak - eh
10) chicken heart - eww
11) ostrich - had potential but too salty
12) Alcatra e coracao de alcatra (top sirloin & baby beef) - yummm! One of my top 3.
13) filet mignon - yummmmmm top 3!
14) contrafile sirloin steak - absolutely my #1

So most of the meats were alright, but the ones that were good were REALLY good. I loved the tapas portions of meat. Oh, and coz I was there by myself, I got extra attention. The right kind. At one point, there were four waiters fawning over me and making sure my glass was filled and my plate was full. Throughout dinner, the waiters would ask what my favorite cut was, and I'd get EXTRA. I got a total of three servings of #14 and actually ended with a double serving for the third. wahoo. So anyway, that leaves me super stuffed and really tired.

I'm back in my hotel at the exec lounge sipping on a glass of Chardonnay. Unfortunately, it's done and so is my night. Visiting favela do rocinha tomorrow morning! Wahoo! Very psyched about that. Boa noite!