Rio de Janeiro
Day Four - January 5th
Upon landing in Rio, we took taxis to the Premier Hotel, which is where we would be living for the next 3 days. I stayed with the same roommates I lived with in Manaus since we all got along really well. Apparently no one was able to sleep on the plane, including Tait, so he gave us a few hours of relaxation time. We were allowed to do whatever we wanted with our free time - nap, explore the city, eat, go to the beach. I chose to nap for an hour and then go check out Copacabana with a few of the other girls. We got lunch on the beach at a little tiki bar and then ran through the scorching sand to put our toes in the water. I'm surprised the bottom of my feet didn't burn off. This sand was HOT!! They actually had a hose running from the sidewalk all the way down to the water. It had holes poked in it so the water could wet the sand and create a cool path to walk down. I think the locals were automatically able to pick us out as tourists since we were the only ones sprinting down the beach with our feet on fire. The water felt so nice but I was wary about swimming in it. All of the articles I had read prior to the trip talked about Brazil's nonexistent sewage system, and how a lot of the sewers empty right into the ocean, but regardless, the beach was beautiful. You could see the mountains along the coast and the skyscrapers were so close to the water it seemed as though they were built right on the sand. We tried to lay in the sun for a bit to get a little color, but I couldn't even last 5 minutes; the sun was just way too hot. So instead, we walked back to the hotel and got ready to meet Tait in the lobby at 3.
He had plans for us to experience Rio's subway system, which didn't end up being the best idea. We had a few hiccups throughout the process of riding the train to Paraguayana. The doors of the train did not stay open long, and since we had such a large group, some of the students were not able to make it on the same train as us. Amidst the chaos, one of the girls in our group got her leg stuck between the closing doors. Our friend Tyler tried to pry the doors back open to free her leg. She got her leg back in one piece, but Tyler and a few of the other students were waving goodbye to us from the loading platform with her flip flop in hand. Instead of riding the train directly to Paraguayana, we got off at the next stop to wait for the students that got left behind. Since we were so unfamiliar with the city it was definitely best to stay together. Once again, we were one giant group of Americans pushing our way onto the subway. This time we made sure to get on as quickly as possible so we wouldn't lose anybody. Our day in this new part of Rio consisted of us walking around and checking out some of the open markets. We did a little bit of sight seeing too, but had no clue what any of the intricate buildings were or what they were for. This was the downside of not having a good tour guide for this portion of the trip. We frequently got lost and knew nothing about the places we were in. Even so, we managed to stay on the bright side and still made things interesting. Although we were only a few days into the trip, everyone in the group had managed to bond with each other. It was nice to know I had a huge new group of friends that shared basically the same interests as me. I definitely made some REALLY good friends over the course of the two weeks. That was one of the best parts about traveling with so many people. You always had someone to talk to and things to do. I really couldn't have asked for a better group of students to explore Brazil with. We made our way back to the subway station and rode the train to the hotel. We had some time before presentations that night so I showered real quick and then walked down the street with my roommate to find something to eat. We came across a restaurant on the corner that served Chinese food, so I ordered an enormous plate of shrimp fried rice. It was my first taste of Brazilian Chinese food and it was delicious. We made it back to the hotel just in time for presentations. I had a hard time falling asleep that night because I was so excited to see what adventures we had planned for our next day in Rio. |
Day Five - January 6th
We woke up early this morning, as usual, quickly ate breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and then made our way to Corcovado to see the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer. I underestimated the size of this statue, it was HUGE! Trying to get a good picture of this massive thing took a lot of maneuvering. It was so hot and the place was jam packed with people, so it was almost impossible to get a clear shot. They had several of these mats lying on the ground in front of Cristo. People were laying down on them to get a good angle of the statue. Although I was a little concerned about getting stepped on, I figured I had nothing to lose and laid down on the mat anyway, and I'm sure glad I did. I got some of my best pictures from this spot. I probably took at least a hundred photos of Cristo, the man was just so photogenic. While we were there I made sure to snap a few pics of the views as well. The look of the city was amazing from this elevation. It was still early in the morning too, so the fog on the water made the view even more spectacular. We did have a tour guide leading us around the city all day, although I don't believe he really knew what he was talking about seeing as though he barely spoke English.
Our next stop on the tour was Sugarloaf. It was only a short drive away from Corcovado, so it didn't take us too long to get there. Sugarloaf was one of three mountainous islands off of the mainland. We had to ride in two different cable cars in order to reach the top of Sugarloaf. From here, you were able to get a 360 degree view of the ocean, several other islands, the harbor, and the rest of Rio. We were also able to see the beach we were relaxing on the previous day in Copacabana, as well as another famous beach known as Ipanema. I couldn't help but take tons of pictures; the view was just incredible. After spending quite a decent amount of time at Sugarloaf, everyone was beginning to feel rather hungry; this was our cue to hop back on the cable cars and make our way back to the mainland. We took the bus to Copacabana and grabbed lunch at a buffet right across the street from the beach. We all went on a city bus tour after finishing our meal. The first stop on our tour was at one of the most famous futbol stadiums in the world, the Maracana. Some of the World Cup games were actually held here. There was a street vendor selling fake Neymar jerseys in front of the stadium. I originally had no desire to buy one, but because more than half the class was purchasing a jersey, the man gave us a good deal. I figured why not, it was a good souvenir. My brother is a huge soccer fan and I knew he would greatly appreciate the thoughtful gift. The next stop on our tour was at the location of Carnival. It just looked like a long, widened street with bleachers up the sides. Ironically, there was a group of people dressed up in the traditional samba attire. They were covered in feathers, beads, and brightly colored garments. Whether they were professional samba dancers or not, we wanted a group photo with them. They were all very nice, but this may have had something to do with their intoxication. As it turns out, they were actually visiting from Argentina and just thought it would be funny to take some pictures on the famous street. Our tour guide, Osman, brought us to the outskirts of Lapa for the next stop. He pointed out an intricately tiled street with brightly colored stairs. Everyone in our group was determined to get a picture here. We originally felt as though this was a sketchy area, but after seeing all of the artwork and the friendly locals selling handmade crafts, I realized this place gave off some really cool vibes. Early on in the trip Tait had promised us that he'd buy us each a freshly opened coconut to have as a refreshing drink. Conveniently, there was a man selling these right on the corner. Tait followed through on his promise and bought us all some coconuts. The final stop on our tour was at a cathedral. We had actually walked past this building on the previous day, but had no one to point out its significance. It didn't look much like a cathedral anyway, which is why we must have missed it. The building was in the shape of a giant triangle and looked like a pyramid with steps going up either side. Once inside, I was in awe at the amount of stained glass in each of the windows. It went all the way up from the floor to the ceiling. Although there was a good amount of windows, it was actually very dim inside the cathedral, which I thought was very surprising. All of the cathedrals I have been to are very bright and open, and this one seemed so dark and dismal. By this time, I think everyone was getting exhausted and eager to get back to the hotel and relax. A bunch of us decided to end the day with a nice swim in the rooftop pool. The view from the top of our hotel was amazing. We were surrounded by mountains and at the highest peak we could see Cristo overlooking the valley. He was all lit up in the night sky. Almost everyone in our group came swimming that night. We made a whirlpool, played games, talked about our day, and had lots of laughs. Once again, I was feeling so blessed to be traveling with such a great group of friends. |
Day Six - January 7th
We started off our third day in Rio by heading to Tijuka National Park for a nice 3 hour hike. We stopped in the park's visitors center before heading on our way. They had a small museum filled with information on Tijuka's history, vegetation, and wildlife. I made sure to take lots of pictures of the exhibits due to the fact that I was giving my presentation on the same topic the following day. During our hike we came across some waterfalls, a suspension bridge, and some really cool looking caterpillars. I could have hiked there for hours, but not everyone seemed to like hiking as much as me, so we headed back to the hotel. Tait gave us the option to do whatever we wanted for the rest of the afternoon, or take the train with him over to Ipanema to get lunch and check out the beach. A few of the other students and I decided to go with Tait, and I was really glad I did. The beach here was awesome. There was live music and so many people were out walking, enjoying the weather, and hanging out. The water looked crystal clear, and even though I refused to go swimming at Copacabana, I caved and jumped off some rocks into the ocean with my good friends Heather and Tyler. Our plan was to climb back up the rocks and keep jumping off into the water, but this plan didn't end up working out so well. When Heather and I attempted to climb back up the rocks, a wave pushed her right into some barnacles and she cut her leg pretty badly. As we were swimming back to shore to get her leg cleaned up at first aid, a piece of human poop floated past my face... That was the last time I went swimming in Rio.
I finally got Heather to the first aid stand and no one really spoke English. Although, I was able to explain to the lifeguards what had happened in Spanish and they were more than willing to help. One of the lifeguards asked where we were from, I told him New Jersey, and he gave us a "rock on" hand gesture. I guess he thought we were pretty cool. We met back up with Tait and the rest of our group and showed them Heather's wrapped up leg. Tait insisted he tell everyone back at the hotel that she got bit by a hammerhead shark, so we played along with it. A few people actually believed this lie up until the last day of the trip. Instead of taking the train back to Copacabana, we decided to enjoy our last night in Rio and walk home. As we walked along the beach, I reflected on the past few days and quietly said my goodbyes to another great city. After presentations that night Tait had ordered us a bunch of pizzas as a late-night farewell dinner. Then a couple of us headed up to the roof to hang out and enjoy each others company. I knew we had another early day ahead of us, so I got my last look at Cristo and then headed down to my room to go to bed. |