Thursday, February 21, 2008

Rio Trip Part one.

So, I caught a bus to Rio at midnight last night and have no idea how I mad it on. After the Corinthians match we (the gringoe, gaucho and paulista) walked home from the match to the paulista's house and on the way, (this one's for you A.Kos) had a hot dog (no picture because you're supposed to be scared of bringing your camera blablabla) in the street and got caught in the mother of all rainstorms! I mean 5 inches or so in an hour. Flooded streets and three idiots laughing and drinking in the rain trying to make it home without being totally flooded out (which is ridiculous because 5inches in an hours is like pure water coming down we could have drowned) so we get to the paulistas abode and in true Brazilian style, take showers and change into his clothes. So, now there are three paulistas that are no longer soaking wet standing in his house and we decide to watch a film, and drink. Keep in mind that this is around 1930 and I need to be at the bus depot on the OPPOSITE side of town at 2400. So the film we decided to watch was called Tropa De Elite which is all about Rio and it's dark seedy underside. Great I thought, I'm going here. If you can get your hands on a subtitled version I highly suggest getting it and watching, very good, as good, if not, better than City of God.

So that's done, I'm a bit toasty and I need to go to the Gaucho's apartment and get to Terminal Rodoviário Tietê which is about an hour drive, oh and we need to get gas, so it's 2330, and I'm at the Gauchos house and we decide it's better to go to the Metrô and so I rush through the tunnels and lo and behold, I make it. I'm safely on the midnight bus to Rio, and fall directly into a drunken slumber. Only to wake at 615am in Rio De Janeiro. I promptly hit the first bus I see to Copa, Copacabana/Where music and passion are always the fashion, yes I know that song is about another place but that place was named after this one. So there I am, on the beach, looking up at beautiful mountains and gorgeous blue ocean, but I'm too tired to take a picture. What a mess. I have my bag, so I can't go into the water, there's no locker anywhere and I don't have a place to stay so I just walk up and down the beach loving my life a little more every moment. I can't believe I'm here. The thing that I notice the most, is how similar the beach here is to the beach in Los Angeles. In fact the whole city feels like this.

So after a walk up and down the entirety of Copacabana I receive a call on my mobile that gives me the address for the place where my friend is staying, so off I go to the Lagoa neighborhood and immediately I am saddened by the distance from the beach. I want to live on the beach! but it's a quick-ish bus ride so I didn't complain too much. After all I'm in paradise right?

More later, I need to get some work done.

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