Prehistoric sized butterflies and great earrings! (& PICS!)

Long time no blog!!! I know I know, I need to be better at keeping up with it!

Here’s a new blog—in list form once again! No transitions between topics, but highlights of life here in Rio.

1. It’s raining again. Right now. My roommate and I were taking a lovely walk on the beach tonight and it started pouring rain—we came home soaking. Seriously, Rio? This is the most Rain everrrr! Where’s the sun?!!

2. My research is going well! I’m still working in the Biblioteca Nacional using a Rio de Janeiro city directory from 1897. The other day someone took my Microtext machine. Not cool. My machine is the best one—the only one I know how to load without asking for help. I cant let someone take it again! I think I’ll be going to UNICAMP in Mid-Late May to work with the peeps there and do some research at their archives—will keep you posted.

3. Last week there were two holidays in Rio. One on a Wednesday and one on a Friday. That’s CRAZY/makes no sense. Most people used it as a 5 day holiday, even though Thursday was technically not a government holiday. It just made me less productive. But, it was a fun week. I think Rio has 15 government holidays (federal + state/city). That’s NUTS!/Awesome.

4. Last weekend they had this festival in Rio called the Viradao Carioca, which had a ton of free concerts, shows, etc. I went to one with some friends on Friday night where Cidade Negra was playing (a Brazilian Reggae group) and then had a DJ playing Baile Funk. It was really fun. And free! And outdoors! And soo fun! And too hot!

This is my friend Chardet and I at the concert in Praça XV.  It was probably 2am at this point. 

It might be hard to see in this photo, but there are like 6-7 guys all peeing again these two concrete things near this building.  It's so funny because a) its more or less illegal/prohibited from peeing on the streets in Rio now (or at least it was during carnaval) and b) there were like 50 porto pottys 15 feet away.  ahhh brazil.

Guys dancing to Funk music.

More dancing.

"The Scene".

By the way a "X-tudo" is actually a "Cheese Tudo" which is a cheeseburger with everything on it.

There were tons of carts at the concert selling: beer, caipirinhas, soda, water, cheesburgers, hotdogs, popcorn, french fries, meat on a stick, filled churros, and I'm sure more.

5. Last night I went to a restaurant with Pizza Rodizio. Which is a restaurant where the waiters bring a bunch of different types of pizzas to you and you can have as much or little as you want, plus they have dessert pizzas. It’s awesome. It was R$15, which is $8.50. That’s NUTS. For a nice restaurant, where you can sit for hours and try a bajillion types of pizza. So good. If you (ANYONE) comes to Rio, I promise I will take you there.  Also, Hawaiian Pizza here in Brazil is called Californian Pizza. Who knew?  I think Pineapple and Ham seems much more Hawaiian to me than Californian, but maybe Brazilians think California is like Hawaii?  

6. We had a MASSIVE butterfly come into our house last weekend and park there for like 1.5 days. It was hugely prehistoric sized, and very Brazil like. And then it went away. But, it really reminded me I was in Brazil.

7. I went shopping at this awesome store here in Rio that is plastic/acrylic jewelry, boxes, picture frames etc. These are two pairs of earrings I got there recently!

I’ll blog more soon!! Now I’ve been reminded of how easy it is to do these list blogs—so I’ll be doing more soon!!  Also, I'm going to be taking and posting more pictures now!! Blogger has updated it's interface which makes posting photos way more pleasant!

Hope you are all doing well!!
Beijos
Hannah

The Mall on a Sunday...who knew?

Update on the rain situation: The major crazy rain situation has died down. However, the weather is still super spastic. for example yesterday and today were clear with no rain and very few clouds in the sky, and tonight it started raining again. It's inconsistent at best but as long as it sunny-ish during the day, i'm good.

Yesterday two of my roommates and I went and sat at the beach because it was the first nice and non rainy day in such a long time. But it was windy to the point that we had our kangas on like blankets. Even though it wasn't a super sunny day at the beach it was just so nice to sit on the beach and enjoy the not rain. (and grilled cheese on a stick and coconut water).

Last night I went out with two of my roommates and one of my american friends. it was way fun! we danced!

This morning I slept rather late and it was still a really nice day, so I walked from Ipanema to Leblon on the beach which was gorgeous. Then I circled back and went to "Shopping Leblon" which is a relatively newish shopping mall in Leblon with one of the ONLY two Starbucks' in RIO! The mall isnt that great store-wise, but it's got a Zara, Free Wifi, and Starbucks.

The CRAZIEST THING WAS: at starbucks I told the girl my name and a) she didnt ask me to repeat it b) she acted like she had heard it before and c) she spelled it right on my cup (which barely happens in the US). So, I've come to the conclusion that the Starbucks employees are given training on American names, just like I'd heard that the Starbucks employees in Chile had to speak some amount of English. Also, an Iced Tall Skinny Vanilla Latte has never tasted so good!

The mall was PACKED TODAY until around dinner time. I'm still not sure yet if the mall is always packed on Sundays or if it's more of a not 100% beach weather effect, but it was full of Brazilians of all ages having starbucks, Pao de Queijo and shopping!

Also, my roommates IM'ed me from the other room tonight saying they had a craving for some more of my delicious brigadeiro, so I whipped it up for them and it was delicious once again!! I guess it's a good sign if Brazilians are asking me to make my brigadeiro...unless they're just lazy hahaha!

Here's to hoping for a dry, sunny, productive and fun week!

beijos,
Hannah

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Well I don’t know how much it has been on the news in the states, but life in Rio right now is CRAZY and WET. It has been quite rainy here the last month+, but yesterday afternoon it started to rain torrentially and it’s been on and off since then. I don’t know if Rio is officially under a state of emergency or not, but close to 100 people have died, some neighborhoods were completely flooded, some buses were flooded with mud and water, some houses in favelas have slid off of the mountain sides, and the lake flooded to the point where people don’t know where the lake was and where the road is.

So I should have known the rain was bad yesterday when I tried to walk somewhere a block and half away in Ipanema and the streets were so flooded that I couldn’t actually go where I was intending, and had to return home in defeat, and soaking wet. (I did end up getting out during a lighter rain moment, but I got stuck in it again on the way home and was soaking wet).

So I went to bed with it still pouring and I woke up thinking I would go to the Biblioteca Nacional for a few hours, but I was wrong!! My roommate was awake and watching the News which was only talking about this crazy rain storm and the aftermath.

The bus system was basically shut down and because some of the roads were SO flooded, people were stranded and couldn’t get home from work last night and were still out on the streets or in their cars this am. In general, Ipanema was fine apart from a little bit of flooding in the streets, which drained quickly. But a bigger problem, was, even if Ipanema was okay, a lot of people who work in Ipanema, live far away, and without buses running, can’t get from their far neighborhoods to their jobs in Ipanema—so a lot of stuff was closed.

I stayed in most of the day doing work and only went out to the grocery store later in the evening. 2 observations: 1) the grocery store was closing early because the employees needed to go home while the rain was light and 2) many of the shelves were close to being empty, so I think it’s very clear that this rain is a big deal to people here, and people are surprised, worried and stocking up.

My apartment is on the main street in Ipanema and it’s so eerie to be looking out the window all day, and have the street be almost completely empty. The governor of Rio told people to stay indoors today and it really seems like they did. Usually the street is full of cars, taxis, busses and motorcycles—not today!

It’s always striking when natural disaster type events happen in cities that are so large, and in your neighborhood or area things are wet but fine and a couple of neighborhoods (or even streets away) people are stranded and streets are flooded.

I undoubtedly feel very fortunate to be in a safe neighborhood with relatively good irrigation and sewage and few problems other than not being able to cross the street. In fact, today was quite fun. Two of my roommates and I stayed in all day and did work in our pajamas, made fresh hot brigadeiro, and warmed up some pão de queijo. Like the saying goes, when life gives you lemons, turn it into an all day slumber party.

I hope everyone is safe and dry wherever they are!

Beijos,
Hannah

Current Rain Updated: it's been vacillating between light to no rain, to torrential rain with crazy winds. 5 minutes ago it was light or not raining at all, and now it's torrential. It's still unclear if tomorrow Rio will be closed again, or if the worst of the rain is over and life will start going back to normal. I'll keep you posted!

Gym culture, a pretty library, and the least religious Easter ever

An update on life in a somewhat organized list form!

1. Women wear the most impractical spandex outfits to the gym ever. One-piece spandex outfits. With crazy patters, cut outs, and designs. I also don’t know how they pee.

2. Easter here is the most non-religious holiday I’ve ever experienced. Today is Easter and I haven’t heard Jesus’ name once (woohoo!) but I have been given a chocolate egg with turtle tattoos inside and seen the lines people stand it at chocolate shops to buy gourmet chocolate eggs. And the rafters at grocery stories are covered in hanging chocolate eggs. I’m very content with Easter here in Brazil, and don’t feel the least bit left out! I’m very much looking forward to wearing my temporary turtle tattoos!

3. I started doing some research in the Biblioteca Nacional this week. I think it was the perfect place to start my work because a) its RIGHT by/at the metro b) they had exactly what I was looking for c) it’s a beautiful century+ old building d) a nice guy helps me put my microfilm on the machine every day e) it’s slightly too cold (note to self, bring a sweater next time).

4. My internet was down for almost a week—it was painful, but I survived. I’m a trooper…hahah right.

5. Went to a churrascaria last night for the first time on this trip. It was so delicious. Meat down here tastes much better than in the US. And it’s such a fun experience eating it!

6. The weather is supposed to be rainy and cloudy all week—perfect weather for the archives!!

7. I made brigadeiro, a Brazilian sweet, from scratch. I was/am very proud!! Brigadeiro, according to wikapedia is, "The candy is made by mixing sweetened condensed milk,butter and cocoa powder together".

8. More blogs soon! I’m learning that list form allows me to write blogs much quicker—so get used to them!!

Tchauzinho!