HI ALL!
Nothing huge to report. Just living life which has gotten to be a nice, normal routine. Classes are going well and are pretty interesting. On Saturday night I went to this great classical music concert at the beach with about 100 piece orchestra, and people singing opera as well. it was really gorgeous and almost surreal to be listening to that music on the beach with thousands of people.
2 Stories/Musings:
Yesterday I had an appointment at the gym to meet with a professor to go over a weight training regime. (A professor is like a personal trainer but just walks around the gym helping people with general questions etc).
Anyways, my Professor´s name was Ramón. Generally in LA personal trainers are either full time (usually pretty succesful) personal trainers, or trying to make it into acting, modeling, coreography, etc etc. Well! That´s not the case with Ramón. As we were talking I found out that he has his BA in Physical Education, which seems to be required of personal trainers here in Brasil. BUT he is only a 'professor' part time because he is currently doing his Masters in Stem Cell research and muscle rejuvination! AND once he finishes his Masters he is going to start his Phd and after about 3 years into his Phd he is going to go do some research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York! So, the point of this whole rambling was just how the entire time we were discussing stem cells, and research and education and I just never would have guessed that he was so involved in research and that being a professor was just a side job (and that he has no desire to be a model, actor, etc). anyways, so far he´s my favorite professor because there is so much to talk to him about and what not.
2nd story:
last night i went with a bunch of people to this place guapo loco, where from 11-1 its R$20(for girls, 40 for guys) for unlimited beer, margaritas, water, and these plates of food. anyways, ive heard that it was usually packed, but last night we were the ONLY people there, which lead to excellent service. but, one interesting theory is to why it was so empty was that our waiter told us that brazilians get paid at the beginning of each month. therefore, because this was the end of the month, many people may not have had the money they had at the beginning of the month to go out, and also because there is a holiday next week people might be saving their money for the holiday. nonetheless, it was a group of 7 of us, and i realized it really doesnt matter if the place is crowded or not, becuase as long as your with good people having good conversation, you dont even notice. (and you get a lot better service). but, the whole reason i wanted to tell this story is because as we were leaving, people split up and walked two different ways and my one friend, a girl had on one of those tiny shrug jackets, and the only guy in our group didnt know most of the other girls' names, and as we left, he yelled "bye girl with the small jacket". it might not sound or seem funny and perhaps its one of those things you had to be there to hear, but it was actually hilarious at the time.
this weekend I am going to Tiradentes in Minas Gerais so I will post about that when I get back, and definitely post pictures as well!
TCHAU GENTE!
This blog initially recorded my amazing adventures in Brazil, Chile, Budapest, Spain and Portugal. Now it is being resurrected to once again tell the tales of a year abroad in Brazil!
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Thursday, August 24, 2006
random great wednesday in rio!
WHOA look at this crazy-ness! another post after only 3 days! but its not too long and is funny, so im gonna post it so that I dont forget it, etc.
Last night me and two friends went to the "best mexican food restaurant in rio" called Guapo Loco. It was actually quite good with good food and nice pitchers of margaritas. So, we´re sitting there talking and two people come up to us and end up being american tourists looking for a bar to go to, and we told them its way too early (it was about 8:30) and that no bars would be active right now. so that was that. then a few minutes later, this guy across the aisle from us asks us in english where we are from. and we tell him we live in rio studying abroad etc etc. 2 seconds later I find out he is a Stanford grad student and just moved to rio teaching at the american school! so crazy and such a small world. later we met up with other friends at this great bar devassa where they brew their own beer and that was nice and fun. anyways, it was an excellent wednesday night that i felt like recounting.
lessons learned: (1) there are a lot of americans in rio. (2) americans are somehow all connected. (3) wednesday is a perfectly acceptable day of the week to go out on.
HAPPY beginning of the weekend all!
Last night me and two friends went to the "best mexican food restaurant in rio" called Guapo Loco. It was actually quite good with good food and nice pitchers of margaritas. So, we´re sitting there talking and two people come up to us and end up being american tourists looking for a bar to go to, and we told them its way too early (it was about 8:30) and that no bars would be active right now. so that was that. then a few minutes later, this guy across the aisle from us asks us in english where we are from. and we tell him we live in rio studying abroad etc etc. 2 seconds later I find out he is a Stanford grad student and just moved to rio teaching at the american school! so crazy and such a small world. later we met up with other friends at this great bar devassa where they brew their own beer and that was nice and fun. anyways, it was an excellent wednesday night that i felt like recounting.
lessons learned: (1) there are a lot of americans in rio. (2) americans are somehow all connected. (3) wednesday is a perfectly acceptable day of the week to go out on.
HAPPY beginning of the weekend all!
Monday, August 21, 2006
Daily Life in Brazil<--LONG POST!
Oi Gente!
So I have no huge adventures to recount, but I have started daily life and a routine here in Brazil, so in this entry, I will describe, my new, normal, every day life here in Rio!
This post is going to have various bits of information, factoids, thoughts etc, so be excited!
First, I finished my second week of classes, so here I am going to give a little recap of them all.
Monday and Wednesday I only have one class: Education and Society. This class is quite good so far. The teacher likes to do a lot of discussion and so far the people in my class have had quite insightful opinions. This class basically looks at education in Brazil, which is extremely interesting because Brazil doesn’t have a good public education system, therefore people who can afford it go to private schools, which increases the extreme rift between the rich and poor in Brazil. I think this class will be really interesting and insightful overall. (Random note: There is a group of kids in this class who are extremely friendly to me, and I think its because they are still relatively new to university life and studying with foreigners, so I think they are mostly fascinated by me. They keep telling me if I need any help to ask them. I’m sure I will soon.)
On Tuesday and Thursday I have 3 classes.
My first is Brazilian Culture. This class is really interesting and actually pretty fun because the teacher is funny and young and the class is semi-rowdy. This class looks at various Brazilian history and social and anthropological texts to see how Brazilian culture was formed. This class is semi-rowdy with boys that like to crack jokes etc. One of my favorite ‘jokes’ needs background info. The first day of class there were about 9 foreign students in the class. The next class it was just one other foreign student and I. The biggest loud mouth in the class, Francisco exclaims in Portuguese, “Where did all of the tourists go?! Ah I know, to play capoeira and futebol (soccer)!” The next class Francisco was out and when he came back the class after that he said, “Sorry, I was playing futebol and capoeira with the tourists”. Ok…so its not that funny but those are the kind of sarcastic-ish remarks that are made. However, me and the other foreign student in the class, have gained the respect of the other students, seeing as we haven’t left to play futebol or capoeira, and have therefore made some nice friends in the class who help us out. Also, this class is a tad difficult and at times hard to understand every detail. I went through three classes thinking this thing called “Canudos” that my teacher was discussing was a man who had been the President of Brazil (or at least a candidate). At one point I just wanted to make sure I understood correctly, so I asked my teacher, and he laughed at me (good heartedly) and made me aware that Canudos was a city in Bahia, and not a person…so I was a bit off. But I’m learning…
My second class is The Evolution of Taste and Fashion. I call this my guilty pleasure class. It has nothing to do with Brazil, but is a topic I have always been interested in. The teacher is extremely knowledgeable in the history of fashion around the world and is a clothes designer for the big channel in Brazil, Globo, which does most of the novelas, etc. This class is all girls except one boy. Half of the class is design students, and the other half is psychology or law students. When we went around the class saying why we had joined the class, all the psych and law students said that their heads were too full of hard information and they needed a fun class. And, they all said, “I’ve always loved fashion, and would love to model (or do theatre or acting)”! Haha guess everyone wants a guilty pleasure class like me.
My last class is Portuguese V. This class may be the most diverse class I ever take. The class is made up of: me, 5 other Americans, an Australian, a Peruvian, a French Canadian, a French person, a Cuban, an Argentinean who studies in France, and two Norwegians. The class is very good and really tries to solidify the grammatical rules into our heads while also working extensively with comprehension and complex thought/speaking processes. It’s a good class and I have met some nice friends in it.
Some notes about overall class culture in Brazil (its kind of shocking so hold on tight!)
Cell Phones: So, most of the students aren’t rude enough to answer their cell phones in class. But it doesn’t mean they don’t answer their cell phones. People constantly have their phone ring and they will walk outside of the classroom and talk on the phone until their call is over. People will also leave the classroom if they see their girlfriend/boyfriend outside to go make out with them! Right in front of the classroom window! It’s pretty funny and 100% accepted. A friend of mine told me that in one of her classes, there is a couple that makes out in class, but I have yet to see this for myself. But, the most noticeable thing about class culture in Brazil is the lateness. People come in from 5-45 minutes late. 75% Class Attendance is required in Brazil, but there is no penalty for tardiness. The only class I have where people come on time is, Portuguese, where no one is Brazilian and therefore everyone is punctual. Often, teachers come 5-20 minutes late as well. I have not yet been able to come to class late, and whenever I come on time, people always comment how I am early. IM NOT EARLY! IM ON TIME! I have however, managed to stop coming to class early, which is good.
I have no class on Fridays, which is excellent!
Now to discuss other Brazilian things!
JUICE!!!! Brazil has the most amazing juices ever. On almost every street there is at least one Juice (suco) stand/ little store. These suco stands have about 25-50 types of fruit depending on where you go, and you can decide what fruits you want to mix and then they make your suco fresh from the fruits. My two favorite mixtures so far are orange w/ pineapple and strawberry w/ tangerine. I need to start being more adventurous and trying some of the fruits from different parts of Brazil that I don’t yet know. Everyone here drinks sucos and its SOOO good! Mmmmm!
BEACH CULTURE!
It is said that people from Sao Paulo called Cariocas (people from Rio) lazy because they are always at the beach, and never working. I certainly don’t think Cariocas are lazy or don’t work, but it does seem like they are always at the beach. No matter what time of day at what beach, there are people, swimming, eating, hanging out, and tanning. On Monday and Wednesdays I usually go to the beach after class, which ends at 11, and it’s so nice because it’s not too crowded, but not empty and its nice to just relax and hang out. I could get very used to going to the beach every day.
LAST PIECE OF BIG NEWS!!! I JOINED A GYM! And it is AMAZING! There is a word here used a lot called “chique”. It means ‘chic’ and is pronounced sheeky. My gym is the epitome of chique! But its so amazing and I go ALL the time because I love it so much and I don’t get bored working out there. My gym is called ProForma and has three floors. The first level is the cardio room, the bag check, the bathrooms/showers, the yoga room, and the ROCK CLIMBING WALL (I have yet to try this, but will)! The cardio room currently has 8 TVs at the front of the room, where you can plug your headphones into your cardio machine (my preference is the elliptical) and you can watch one of the shows on the 8 TVs. If there is not a show on you like, you can have one of the people working there change it, and find a show you like. BUT, at the end of august, they are putting a TV on EVERY Cardio machine, so you can watch whatever you want!! I’m so excited! There are also 2-4 people walking around who check your heart rate every 20 minutes! It’s so funny when they check it because then they say “Muito Bom” “very good” but its not like I am choosing my heart rate! Nonetheless, it’s nice that they check it. The second floor is the weight room and has more machines then I have seen in my entire life. Every three weeks you meet with a professor and he goes over your weight room work out routine and the number of reps and weight of each machine etc. Then, each time you go back during each three-week period, you go over to a computer, and print out your plan on a little piece of paper. (All of that is included in the price of the gym). AND! Best part of the weight room! There is a DJ! I’m not sure if there is one there all the time, but I think from 5 or 6 pm on, there is a guy spinning records and you can request songs and what not! Then, the third floor has the other classrooms. There is a running class classroom, a spinning class classroom and two other classrooms. So far I have a taken a muscle class called Local and a dance class where I danced a Brazilian dance called forró. I like the classes because they are fun and a change of pace, but I like the elliptical and weight room more, because I think I get a much better workout. ALSO my gym has free Internet, so I get to check my email at the gym as well. The gym also has a little café called Fit Café, with drinks and snacks, but I haven’t tried any yet. Sorry for babbling so much about my gym but I was just shocked when I found out how many chique things there were in it, like the TVs, heart rate checkers, and dj in the weight room.
I think everyone is now completely updated on everything!
YAY! Hope everyone is well!
ps. last night we went bar hopping in ipanema. went to one bar called banana jack where they ahve banana flavored beer! crazy. also we went to a bar called shenanigans, an irish pub which was very fun and lively. they have a quiz night which I want to go back and see!
tchauu
So I have no huge adventures to recount, but I have started daily life and a routine here in Brazil, so in this entry, I will describe, my new, normal, every day life here in Rio!
This post is going to have various bits of information, factoids, thoughts etc, so be excited!
First, I finished my second week of classes, so here I am going to give a little recap of them all.
Monday and Wednesday I only have one class: Education and Society. This class is quite good so far. The teacher likes to do a lot of discussion and so far the people in my class have had quite insightful opinions. This class basically looks at education in Brazil, which is extremely interesting because Brazil doesn’t have a good public education system, therefore people who can afford it go to private schools, which increases the extreme rift between the rich and poor in Brazil. I think this class will be really interesting and insightful overall. (Random note: There is a group of kids in this class who are extremely friendly to me, and I think its because they are still relatively new to university life and studying with foreigners, so I think they are mostly fascinated by me. They keep telling me if I need any help to ask them. I’m sure I will soon.)
On Tuesday and Thursday I have 3 classes.
My first is Brazilian Culture. This class is really interesting and actually pretty fun because the teacher is funny and young and the class is semi-rowdy. This class looks at various Brazilian history and social and anthropological texts to see how Brazilian culture was formed. This class is semi-rowdy with boys that like to crack jokes etc. One of my favorite ‘jokes’ needs background info. The first day of class there were about 9 foreign students in the class. The next class it was just one other foreign student and I. The biggest loud mouth in the class, Francisco exclaims in Portuguese, “Where did all of the tourists go?! Ah I know, to play capoeira and futebol (soccer)!” The next class Francisco was out and when he came back the class after that he said, “Sorry, I was playing futebol and capoeira with the tourists”. Ok…so its not that funny but those are the kind of sarcastic-ish remarks that are made. However, me and the other foreign student in the class, have gained the respect of the other students, seeing as we haven’t left to play futebol or capoeira, and have therefore made some nice friends in the class who help us out. Also, this class is a tad difficult and at times hard to understand every detail. I went through three classes thinking this thing called “Canudos” that my teacher was discussing was a man who had been the President of Brazil (or at least a candidate). At one point I just wanted to make sure I understood correctly, so I asked my teacher, and he laughed at me (good heartedly) and made me aware that Canudos was a city in Bahia, and not a person…so I was a bit off. But I’m learning…
My second class is The Evolution of Taste and Fashion. I call this my guilty pleasure class. It has nothing to do with Brazil, but is a topic I have always been interested in. The teacher is extremely knowledgeable in the history of fashion around the world and is a clothes designer for the big channel in Brazil, Globo, which does most of the novelas, etc. This class is all girls except one boy. Half of the class is design students, and the other half is psychology or law students. When we went around the class saying why we had joined the class, all the psych and law students said that their heads were too full of hard information and they needed a fun class. And, they all said, “I’ve always loved fashion, and would love to model (or do theatre or acting)”! Haha guess everyone wants a guilty pleasure class like me.
My last class is Portuguese V. This class may be the most diverse class I ever take. The class is made up of: me, 5 other Americans, an Australian, a Peruvian, a French Canadian, a French person, a Cuban, an Argentinean who studies in France, and two Norwegians. The class is very good and really tries to solidify the grammatical rules into our heads while also working extensively with comprehension and complex thought/speaking processes. It’s a good class and I have met some nice friends in it.
Some notes about overall class culture in Brazil (its kind of shocking so hold on tight!)
Cell Phones: So, most of the students aren’t rude enough to answer their cell phones in class. But it doesn’t mean they don’t answer their cell phones. People constantly have their phone ring and they will walk outside of the classroom and talk on the phone until their call is over. People will also leave the classroom if they see their girlfriend/boyfriend outside to go make out with them! Right in front of the classroom window! It’s pretty funny and 100% accepted. A friend of mine told me that in one of her classes, there is a couple that makes out in class, but I have yet to see this for myself. But, the most noticeable thing about class culture in Brazil is the lateness. People come in from 5-45 minutes late. 75% Class Attendance is required in Brazil, but there is no penalty for tardiness. The only class I have where people come on time is, Portuguese, where no one is Brazilian and therefore everyone is punctual. Often, teachers come 5-20 minutes late as well. I have not yet been able to come to class late, and whenever I come on time, people always comment how I am early. IM NOT EARLY! IM ON TIME! I have however, managed to stop coming to class early, which is good.
I have no class on Fridays, which is excellent!
Now to discuss other Brazilian things!
JUICE!!!! Brazil has the most amazing juices ever. On almost every street there is at least one Juice (suco) stand/ little store. These suco stands have about 25-50 types of fruit depending on where you go, and you can decide what fruits you want to mix and then they make your suco fresh from the fruits. My two favorite mixtures so far are orange w/ pineapple and strawberry w/ tangerine. I need to start being more adventurous and trying some of the fruits from different parts of Brazil that I don’t yet know. Everyone here drinks sucos and its SOOO good! Mmmmm!
BEACH CULTURE!
It is said that people from Sao Paulo called Cariocas (people from Rio) lazy because they are always at the beach, and never working. I certainly don’t think Cariocas are lazy or don’t work, but it does seem like they are always at the beach. No matter what time of day at what beach, there are people, swimming, eating, hanging out, and tanning. On Monday and Wednesdays I usually go to the beach after class, which ends at 11, and it’s so nice because it’s not too crowded, but not empty and its nice to just relax and hang out. I could get very used to going to the beach every day.
LAST PIECE OF BIG NEWS!!! I JOINED A GYM! And it is AMAZING! There is a word here used a lot called “chique”. It means ‘chic’ and is pronounced sheeky. My gym is the epitome of chique! But its so amazing and I go ALL the time because I love it so much and I don’t get bored working out there. My gym is called ProForma and has three floors. The first level is the cardio room, the bag check, the bathrooms/showers, the yoga room, and the ROCK CLIMBING WALL (I have yet to try this, but will)! The cardio room currently has 8 TVs at the front of the room, where you can plug your headphones into your cardio machine (my preference is the elliptical) and you can watch one of the shows on the 8 TVs. If there is not a show on you like, you can have one of the people working there change it, and find a show you like. BUT, at the end of august, they are putting a TV on EVERY Cardio machine, so you can watch whatever you want!! I’m so excited! There are also 2-4 people walking around who check your heart rate every 20 minutes! It’s so funny when they check it because then they say “Muito Bom” “very good” but its not like I am choosing my heart rate! Nonetheless, it’s nice that they check it. The second floor is the weight room and has more machines then I have seen in my entire life. Every three weeks you meet with a professor and he goes over your weight room work out routine and the number of reps and weight of each machine etc. Then, each time you go back during each three-week period, you go over to a computer, and print out your plan on a little piece of paper. (All of that is included in the price of the gym). AND! Best part of the weight room! There is a DJ! I’m not sure if there is one there all the time, but I think from 5 or 6 pm on, there is a guy spinning records and you can request songs and what not! Then, the third floor has the other classrooms. There is a running class classroom, a spinning class classroom and two other classrooms. So far I have a taken a muscle class called Local and a dance class where I danced a Brazilian dance called forró. I like the classes because they are fun and a change of pace, but I like the elliptical and weight room more, because I think I get a much better workout. ALSO my gym has free Internet, so I get to check my email at the gym as well. The gym also has a little café called Fit Café, with drinks and snacks, but I haven’t tried any yet. Sorry for babbling so much about my gym but I was just shocked when I found out how many chique things there were in it, like the TVs, heart rate checkers, and dj in the weight room.
I think everyone is now completely updated on everything!
YAY! Hope everyone is well!
ps. last night we went bar hopping in ipanema. went to one bar called banana jack where they ahve banana flavored beer! crazy. also we went to a bar called shenanigans, an irish pub which was very fun and lively. they have a quiz night which I want to go back and see!
tchauu
Monday, August 07, 2006
BIG POST!! Salvador and many Photos!
HI! Sorry it has taken me a while to post, but I have been on vacation and now I am finally back in Rio at PUC. So, last week I went to Salvador Bahia from Saturday to Thursday. It was a really fun and interesting experience. Salvador was a really interesting place with such unique culture and music and food (which we didnt eat, so as not to get sick). It was really different than Rio, and overall I loved Salvador as a place to visit, but I am so glad to be living in Rio. I'll give some short recaps of my time in Salvador, but everyone has been bugging me for picture posts, so I am gonna post LOTS of photos! so get excited.
2 weeks ago: Finished my intensive portuguese class with the Brown group. Got placed in the highest level port class! Woo haha! It's a bit scary and challenging because it will be a lot of grammar but I'm sure I will be fine.
Last Saturday my friends Courtney, Elena, and I took an EARLY flight to Salvador, Bahia. We stayed in a cute Pousada in the old historic town called Pelourinho. The guy who worked at the front desk at the pousada had a slight speech impediment where he didnt say 'C's so at first we got a lot of the names and stuff wrong that he recommended, until we realized there were c's at the beginning of the words.
Pelourinho means "whipping post", so the old historic city is one of the main places in Brazil where slaves were bought, sold, and punished. It's a really beautiful old city with lots of hidden and tiny cobble stone roads, but it is deteriorating quite a bit. Nonetheless, very pretty. (as you will see in pictures soon.)
Another thing about salvador is that there appears to be a lot more (noticeable) poverty than in Rio. There are a lot of street kids begging and a lot more people living on the streets. But, Salvador has just as many positives as it does negatives. The culture and spirituality there is incredibly rich. We went to a candomble ceremony which was sooo different and quite spiritual. We stayed for about 5/6 hours and left at 1 am and the ceremony was still in full swing when we left. It was in a small farm town outside of Salvador, probably about 1-1.5 hrs away from our pousada.
We went on some day excursions while in Salvador which were really neat and different and fun. We went to this island about 40 min by boat from salvador called Itaparica which is most populated in the summer, as wealthy Brazilians have summer houses there. It had really interesting and beautiful beaches, but it was not good for swimming, because it was so shallow.
Then, one day we went to this little resort town called Praia do Forte. They have a great turtle reserve there which was really interesting and great to see. Other than the fancy restaurants and boutiques it was a really cute little town with a tiny church and people fishing and boating.
Something really neat about Pelourinho, is that they use a HUGE elevator as a form of transportation. It goes from Pelourinho to Cidade Baixa, which is a city below pelourinho, right on the ocean. the whole elevator ride is only about 20 seconds and its free saturday-monday, and costs, R$.05 during the week. It's a big tourist attraction, but it's used as a normal form of transportation too. So neat!
Apparently the entire time we were gone from Rio, the weather was TERRIBLE and it was raining and what not, but luckily, as soon as we got back the weather got very nice and it was complete beach weather for us! Once we got back, we just hung around Rio a bit. We went to this antiques street fair in o Centro and we also saw a great movie called Zuzu Angel about the military dictatorship. If it comes out in the US you should definitely see it!
Today was my first day of school and I only had one class, but it seemed managable and good. Tomorrow I have three classes in a row, so that will be the real test.
NOW FOR THE PICTURES: First are my random Rio pictures including Petropolis, and then Salvador!
LAPA at Night!
2 weeks ago: Finished my intensive portuguese class with the Brown group. Got placed in the highest level port class! Woo haha! It's a bit scary and challenging because it will be a lot of grammar but I'm sure I will be fine.
Last Saturday my friends Courtney, Elena, and I took an EARLY flight to Salvador, Bahia. We stayed in a cute Pousada in the old historic town called Pelourinho. The guy who worked at the front desk at the pousada had a slight speech impediment where he didnt say 'C's so at first we got a lot of the names and stuff wrong that he recommended, until we realized there were c's at the beginning of the words.
Pelourinho means "whipping post", so the old historic city is one of the main places in Brazil where slaves were bought, sold, and punished. It's a really beautiful old city with lots of hidden and tiny cobble stone roads, but it is deteriorating quite a bit. Nonetheless, very pretty. (as you will see in pictures soon.)
Another thing about salvador is that there appears to be a lot more (noticeable) poverty than in Rio. There are a lot of street kids begging and a lot more people living on the streets. But, Salvador has just as many positives as it does negatives. The culture and spirituality there is incredibly rich. We went to a candomble ceremony which was sooo different and quite spiritual. We stayed for about 5/6 hours and left at 1 am and the ceremony was still in full swing when we left. It was in a small farm town outside of Salvador, probably about 1-1.5 hrs away from our pousada.
We went on some day excursions while in Salvador which were really neat and different and fun. We went to this island about 40 min by boat from salvador called Itaparica which is most populated in the summer, as wealthy Brazilians have summer houses there. It had really interesting and beautiful beaches, but it was not good for swimming, because it was so shallow.
Then, one day we went to this little resort town called Praia do Forte. They have a great turtle reserve there which was really interesting and great to see. Other than the fancy restaurants and boutiques it was a really cute little town with a tiny church and people fishing and boating.
Something really neat about Pelourinho, is that they use a HUGE elevator as a form of transportation. It goes from Pelourinho to Cidade Baixa, which is a city below pelourinho, right on the ocean. the whole elevator ride is only about 20 seconds and its free saturday-monday, and costs, R$.05 during the week. It's a big tourist attraction, but it's used as a normal form of transportation too. So neat!
Apparently the entire time we were gone from Rio, the weather was TERRIBLE and it was raining and what not, but luckily, as soon as we got back the weather got very nice and it was complete beach weather for us! Once we got back, we just hung around Rio a bit. We went to this antiques street fair in o Centro and we also saw a great movie called Zuzu Angel about the military dictatorship. If it comes out in the US you should definitely see it!
Today was my first day of school and I only had one class, but it seemed managable and good. Tomorrow I have three classes in a row, so that will be the real test.
NOW FOR THE PICTURES: First are my random Rio pictures including Petropolis, and then Salvador!
LAPA at Night!
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