O Gringo No Brazil

2008-07-22T12:46:00.000-07:00

I've been too lazy to post anything about hang gliding or my last couple of days in Brazil, but I was able to see my family today that I haven't seen in 10 years. That is something worth posting about.

I was so happy to get to see them and they were so happy to see me it was like we hadn't been separated for so long. Despite both the length time since I last saw them and the Portuguese/English language barrier, I loved being with them. To be able to sit with them and try to blunder through a conversation has been the happiest experience of my entire trip.

Luisinho, my godson Ericris, and my Grandpa were especially great to see. Luisinho and Grandpa have the biggest hearts of almost anyone I know and Ericris holds a special place in my heart because he is my godson. I wish that I could see him more and be available to support him.

In all, this was a great way to cap off an amazing trip to Brazil. I might end up posting the pictures of my hang gliding adventure later on.

2008-07-16T17:20:00.001-07:00

It's been a couple of lazy days. I windsurfed yesterday and today but unfortunately don't have any pictures of myself doing it, even though I may be on a sports channel here doing it. Cabelo was being interviewed by a sports news crew and Thomas and myself were in the background windsurfing while he was getting interviewed and they also took some shots of us.

Meeting Thomas was a cool experience because he's been working with the band O Rappa here for almost 11 years and O Rappa is a pretty huge band in Brazil. He gave me a ride back to Barra Leme and I got to listen to them in the car, pretty sweet sounding. I'm going to try to pick up one of their CDs before I leave. His parents are both from Britain but he grew up in Brazil so he speaks fluent Portuguese and English with a British accent.
Anyway, I hang glide tomorrow afternoon which I am definitely going to get pictures of in case it's the last thing I ever do.

2008-07-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

I just got home a little bit ago from one of the most insane sporting experiences of my life. A football game at Maracanã. It was a great game to attend because Flamengo and Vasco were playing each other and those two teams have a huge rivalry. Anyone in Rio will typically either cheer for Flamengo, Vasco, Fluminense, or Botafogo. By cheer I mean live, eat, and breath that team.

It took us around 40 minutes of bus-hopping and subway riding to get to Maracanã but the travel time was worth it. All of the people at the game are fanatical and there are constantly huge group cheers and flags waving, not to mention the fireworks and flares illegally brought into the game. A small police force waits outside the gates to make sure that there isn't any trouble between fans of the two teams. Greenstreet hooligans in real life.

Cau was excited to convert me into a Flamengo fan and after tonight I can say that I definitely am. Flamengo ended up winning 3-1 and they are currently in first place in the league. As an added bonus Ja Rule was in the stands as well.

The game tonight may be the most insane sporting event I will ever attend in my entire life. Here is my doing my best impression of "I'm an idiot foreigner lets see how much I can stick out" for a picture.

I think tomorrow is going to be a sit around and do nothing day after the intensity of this weekend. Maybe windsurfing if the weather cooperates.

2008-07-13T18:53:00.000-07:00

This weekend was awesome. Went to Buzios which is about a 2 and a half hour car ride from Rio. We got a late start leaving on Friday so we hit traffic in the Rio to Niteroi drive and driving to Buzios took 5 hours.

Friday evening Cau and I went to a bar called Zapata which was kind of a hole in the wall but definitely fun. Buzios is definitely a tourist destination because I was able to talk a lot of english with people in the bar. I had an extremely humorous telephone conversation that night as well.

Saturday I slept in really late and then went to the downtown area to shop for some souvenirs. I was a little bummed that we didn't make it to the windsurfing competition but it would have been a 2 hour round trip to watch maybe an hour's worth of competition.

Saturday night the housekeepers made a really great dinner of fish and some other things that I'm not to sure of. I thought it better not to ask and just go ahead and eat it. I also included a picture of Benjamin, who is the new son of Diana who was at the house this weekend as well. He's a cute kid.

Saturday night Cau and I went to a nightclub called Privilege. It was fun but expensive and it was pretty much all foreigners. Met a couple of Germans, French, Canadians, and Americans. Nightclubs are expensive in Brazil. Privilege was the cheaper of the two and it cost 60 reais to get into which is roughly 40 bucks. The other club we might have gone to was 150 reais. Rip-off.

This morning we got up early enough to go to Geribá beach which is the most famous beach in Buzios. It was extremely beautiful but I wanted to enjoy it and go into the ocean so I left my camera at home.
After a good lunch we packed up and drove back to Rio. Nothing of note on the drive back except Fernando drives like a mad-man. Averaged around 160 km/hour which is almost 100 mph. As soon as we got back I started another adventure which I'll write about next.

2008-07-10T19:58:00.000-07:00

Interesting day. I didn't get to windsurf today because there was little to no wind. But oh well. Instead I went with Cau to his University, PUC (an acronym, the full name escapes me). Took a bus there and back, which is always a fun experience just because of the people I see on the bus. Also the bus went on a highway that passed Rocinha so I got to see that from a distance.

The university itself is interesting. It is nothing like Miami, thats for sure. It is mostly on maybe 2 acres of land and a bunch of vertical buildings. The library is a lot smaller then at Miami and I feel like there is no student culture almost since people live at home, go to school, then come back home afterwards. Maybe I'm wrong. I'm glad that I go to school in the U.S. though, thats for sure. Also, I was dumb and forgot to bring my camera to take pictures.

Tomorrow I'm hopefully going to get some windsurf time in the morning if the wind allows it then I'll be leaving for Buzio in the afternoon for 3 days which should be a blast.

2008-07-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was an incredibly busy and satisfying day. Some hiking followed by some windsurfing and then finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

I woke up at 6:30 to get ready to climb Pedra da Gávea and then Joana picked me up at 7:30 along with Camila and Julia. (and her mom, whose name escapes me) At the base of the road we met up with João and Andrea and walked to Floresta Da Tijuca.

The trek up Pedra da Gávea takes around 2 hours of solid hiking up some pretty challenging terrain. If you look at the sign picture you can see that the trip to the top is nearly 2000 m and the change in altitude is 844 m. I wouldn't call the area sorrounding the trail "jungle" but it was definitely nature. We had to climb a rock face that I am pretty sure you normally need climbing equipment to do safely, but oh well, we all made it alright.

The view from the top of Pedra da Gávea is amazing. We were able to see most of Rio and even Cristo Redentor in the distance. It was odd and a little saddening to see Rocinha (The largest favela in the entire country of Brazil). I say odd because this large shanty town is nestled up right against a golf course reserved for the wealthy of Brazil. It's also neat to see hanggliders launching off of Pedra Bonita and then glide down to the beach.

On the way back down we stopped at a waterfall and stripped down to our bathing suits to cool off under the water. Also, to reaffirm the idea that the surrounding area was positively nature, we saw a little monkey.

As soon as I got back from the hike (around 3:30, so the entire trip lasted around 7 hours), I went with Cabelo to learn some windsurfing. He said I am picking it up quickly and I was sailing and tacking into the wind by the time it was getting dark. Rad.

Contrasting yesterday, today was very laid back. Took a walk on the beach and then went with Cau to Thiago's house for a barbecue this evening with some friends. Good times all around. I'm going windsurfing again tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have picture from that to show tomorrow.

2008-07-09T15:40:00.000-07:00

I have been too busy enjoying Brazil to post in a couple of days. Two nights ago was a very relaxing day consisting of some beach time and then at night watching Joana play beach soccer. I think girls soccer (sports in general as well) might be more developed in the USA but I can't say for sure as I've only had a few encounters with girls' sports here.

Afterward I went with Joana and a few of her friends to a bakery (I guess that would be the best name for it) in Barra da Tijuca where we sat around outside drinking a couple of beers and socializing. Bernardo and Magao showed up later in the night. Magao is going to New York in August and he is going to try to visit Miami for a day. For reference, Magao is the one who always has his eyes shut in any picture.

2008-07-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

Here are the few pictures I ended up taking today that are worth putting up. On another note, the food in Brazil has been amazing wherever I go. Honestly, not a bad meal yet.

2008-07-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

Even though I was a lazy bum all day I made it out to the beach. It was extremely windy today so the kitesurfers were out en mass. Also there were a lot of beach soccer and fotvolle games going on. Overall today was a very relaxing day to sit around and do nothing. I'll add some pictures when I get back from dinner.

2008-07-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

Last night was another great time going out. I first went to a party at Thiago's neighbor's house and they all spoke great English. The party was actually a welcome back party for Bernardo who was studying at UCLA for 4 months, the number of times he used the word "dude" was great.

Cau and Filipe picked me up from the house and we went to another nightclub, Ilhau (I think?). They explained that this place was not as upscale so there were more of a variety of people there, which would be a good experience. We took the bus to Ilhau because there is a new law in Brazil that was just passed on Tuesday that if you get caught driving with even a BAC of .01 then you lose your license for a year. Cau and Filipe believe the law will be repealed because you can eat two liqour candies and be considered illegal.

I really enjoyed the live music. Even though a lot of American music is played in Brazil, the country is still able to retain a very strong musical identity. The band played a variety of music last night but I especially like Samba and Bossa Nova.

It's a beautiful day out but unfortunately I've wasted most of it sleeping, but one lazy Sunday is never a terrible thing. Also, getting home from Lapa at 6 a.m. Saturday morning and 5 a.m. this morning has worn me out. I'll make it out to the beach though because there will be a ton of kitesurfers out this afternoon.

2008-07-05T14:15:00.000-07:00

I spent some time walking the beach today. I am still amazed at the general lightheartedness of the Brazilians I've seen and met. I know that Brazil faces a multitude of issues and problems that need to be dealt with, but its hard if not impossible to think of anything negative when you're on a beach and the foremost thought in everyone's mind is only to enjoy the moment at hand. I will admit that my view of Brazil is highly romanticized because I have not seen the poverty and pain that is an integrated part of life in the favelas (slums).

At first I was apprehensive to come down to Brazil alone. I worried that without bringing friends, the trip would not be as fun. I consider myself lucky now though, as being the only American amongst a group of incredibly friendly and hospitable Brazilians has given me the opportunity to experience a small taste of what it is like to be a local, albeit this taste comes without the realities of a job.

2008-07-05T12:54:00.001-07:00

I forgot I had recorded this gem of a video last night. You may be asking, "John, is that seriously a midget wearing a straw hat dancing on stage?" Yes, my friends, the answer is a yes. Brazilian club promoters know exactly what their people want.

2008-07-05T09:33:00.001-07:00

Lapa must be one of the most insanely fun places on Earth. There are a thousand people partying outside (no open-container laws in Brazil) and a thousand people partying in the various nightclubs. For a very catholic country, these guys like to party hard.

We partied in the streets for a little bit which was crazy because people go around selling shots of Tequila and there are street beer vendors. Add music in with the alcohol and random groups of dancing just start to pop up along the streets.

Next stop was Fundicão, a nightclub. Brickstreet and Pachinko have nothing on Fundicão, they're not even in the same league. This was my first experience ever in a nightclub so big that it held 500+ people. That night was a funk carioca group playing all night and it was great music to dance to (Also the socioeconomic implications of baile funk and how its creation/messages relates to the lower and Afro-Brazilian classes are very interesting).

Its a beautiful day out today and now that I've beat my hangover I'm going to hit up the beach and attempt to surf again or see what other crazy things are happening on the beach.

2008-07-04T17:04:00.001-07:00

I had a pretty laid back day today. Took a walk, took a nap, watched Portuguese soap operas. I tried surfing for about an hour but the riptide was so bad that it wasn't safe to stay out in the water.

I am still possibly going to the nightclubs with Cau tonight. When we go out it will be a winning situation for everyone because girls will be interested in me because I am a gringo and then Cau and his friends can drop in and pick them up. I'm the ultimate fishing bait.

If I end up going and taking pictures I'll put them up later. And a very happy 4th of July to everyone in the USA.

2008-07-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

Filipe, Cau, and Lucas took me to play futbol with some of their friends. I told them in broken portuguese that I was terrible at futbol but they said don't worry because they are all very bad too. When a Brazilian tells you they are bad at futbol, take the best player you know and he/or she probably isn't as good as the Brazilian. I got my ass kicked.

I made up for my lack of finesse with hustle, but still got laughed at as the gringo with terrible footwork. We had one shot at winning a game when we tied and then went to penalty kicks. Everyone scored and then I missed on my penalty kick. Luckily, Fernando missed for the other team so I was saved and hoped that we would win/lose before we got back around to me. But I had to go again and missed again (a kid from the other team insisted on giving me high fives for this) and Fernando made it. In total, we lost 4 games.

We're going to a nightclub tomorrow night so that should be a hilarious experience. Tomorrow during the day is going to be another attempt at getting to surf.

2008-07-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

Not too shabby of a view to wake up to in the morning. The fluminense vs LDU game last night was insane. Imagine 12 drunk kids shouting at the top of their lungs in Portuguese and broken English (English and broken Portuguese for me) at a television for 120 minutes straight. The game ended in penalty kicks with LDU winning, which got my new friends excited because they're all botafogo or flamengo fans. No pictures though.

After breakfast I went for a long walk on the beach, maybe 7 miles total. Every couple hundred yards they have little stands (the red one in the picture) where you can order food, beer, or coconut milk and people sit around and talk or play cards. Its overcast today so there aren't many people on the beach but there are also volleyball nets every so often for people to get together and play.
And if you notice in the picture, yes those are speedos galore. I really should have brought mine down. I'd look spectacular.

Lucas is taking me to surf now, so hilarious pictures may ensue at a later time.

2008-07-02T16:07:00.000-07:00

I touched down in Rio around 6:00 a.m. Ohio time this morning. Sat next to a girl on the flight who is Brazilian but goes to school at Georgia State, Laura. I got her number and hopefully I'll be able to meet up with her and her friends this weekend to see the nightlife.

This trip is going to turn me into a coffee drinker. I only slept about an hour on the plane and as soon as I got into Rio it was already time to go see the Corcovado a.k.a. Christ the Redeemer a.k.a. The Big Guy himself.

On the tram back down we were lucky enough to be the car with a pagodeiro group playing for tips. By the end of the ride everyone was tapping along to the beat.

Afterward we drove around and I had a chance to see some Brazilian culture. I can say without a doubt that the people here are as a whole some of the most beautiful people in the world. A testament to this is the fact that even the baggage claim people at the airport are good looking (No offense to American baggage claim people, I'm sure you're good looking too). Everyone here is much more friendly and open to conversation among strangers. I like it. a lot.

Eating at a Churras Caria is an experience too. You have a stop/go sign and when you have it set to "go" every meat cut imaginable cooked in every way possible is going to come at you. PETA would flip a shit. As a side note, Brazilian beer is moito bom.

By the end of the meal I was running on empty in terms of sleep. I came back to the apartment, opened the window so I could hear the ocean, and took a long nap. Life is tough, let me tell you.

But now it's time to go watch a soccer game with some friends. Everyone has been chanting for the home team all day and in order for them to move on they have to win by a +3 goal differential. If I take pictures I'll post them later.

Tomorrow...

2008-06-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

At this time tomorrow, I'll be on a plane heading for Rio de Janeiro. Good stuff, right? Right.

Hopefully I'll update this bad boy regularly, probably not though. And don't expect long reads, I place high importance on brevity of words. I'll probably just post lots of pictures, seeing as they are each worth a thousand words.