Rio from Below

Along with the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, and the Taj Mahal, Christ the Redeemer is one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. And as I mentioned, standing up on Corcovado in His shadow, looking down on the city of Rio below, is an astounding view. But alas, what goes up must come down. We came down from the views from heaven to experience seven wonders (or at least some of the memorable features according to Erin) of Rio de Janeiro circa April 2014.

 It was still a beautiful view looking up from below.

 
1. Contrasts.

 

A favela on the road up to Cristo Redentor

 

 A favela can be seen twinkling over Ipanema at twilight. Things look different in the dark.

Old city, new city, beach resort and favela. Rio (and Brazil at large) was a city of stark contrasts and disparities between those with the reais and those without.

2. Traffic.

 

Riding buses and taxis, it often felt like we were looking for the exit sign. Gridlock, insanity, and people selling biscotos on the freeway. Needless to say everyone experienced a cab ride from hell (with some less trusting gringo tourists debating if they would need to jump over and take the wheel at times).

 Saida=exit.

3. Portuguese.

 My Portuguese can be summed up in one word. Obrigado (thank you). Yup, that's as far as I got. My limited Spanish/Spanglish didn't help me much either. Luckily Robin was willing to have a go with our handy dandy Brazilian Portuguese phrasebook. We probably tried "Voce pode recomendar um restaurante" 5 times without receiving a recommendation. And we practiced guarda volumes (luggage locker) only to never find one. But the phrasebook did teach us some valuable phrases that we will try out the next time we're in Brazil (once we have a little longer to practice.)

Posso te dar um beijo?

Por favor use uma seringa nova. 

Nao deveria nunca ter deixado voce chegar de mim. 

see if you have any Portuguese skills :)

But even when the languge barrier breaks down, there are creative ways to get a message across. We became pretty good at bilingual charades, though acting out there's a leak in the bathroom of my hotel room and there is a large puddle of water was a little tricky. My favorite strategy was to just keep repeating the exact same thing, each time a bit louder. Because I didn't understand the first time, I'll get it once you're shouting. You can also be rescued by some very nice women who speak English and recognize that the two gringos with luggage do not fit in and appear to have no idea where they are going. And since we're living in the 21st century where iPhones and Wifi abounds (except when you happen to leave an iPhone with one of those crazy taxi drivers) there's Google translate.

4. Futbol! 

 

 Those are soccer balls in the air in the background.

On in the beach, on the television, in the park, in the bar. Futbol (translation: soccer) is everywhere. Which brings me to the excitement in Rio currently, the 2014 World Cup starts on June 12th. I can hypothesize that it's going to be a mess (partially due to the above mentioned reasons).

5. Beaches.

Tall and tan and young and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking 

Barra da Tijuca, Copacabana, and Ipanema. Tiny bathing suits, soccer volleyball, coconuts, and cold water. Not a bad backdrop for a work conference.

6. Samba.

Oh yeah, the conference. I missed going to the samba school and a night out in the Samba club, but luckily, our conference organizers brought the samba to us! The drum beats were infectious and the costumes were bedazzled. It didn't take long for the International Congress on Physical Actvity and Public Health to become an international dance floor. Trying to lurk and observe the shaking and jiggling from the outskirts, Robin and I may or may not have been pulled through the crowd out onto the dance floor by a festively dressed dancer. Unfortunately, no one saw nor can confirm these speculations.


7. Caipirinhas. A little ice, a little lime, a little sugar, a little more cachaca (sugar cane liquor), and you have Brazil's national cocktail. Best sipped outside along the ocean sand or killing 9 hours before a flight. But that just leads to a whole lot more to say about Brazillian food...

Disclaimer: yes, I stole some of Robin's pictures.