"There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures."
(Julius Caesar Act IV Scene III)
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures."
(Julius Caesar Act IV Scene III)
......and fuck losing those ventures!
As to why I chose Brazil, it was a fairly obvious destination for me. Wanting to combine travel, adventure and culture with learning a new language and skills (I'll be learning Portuguese and Kitesurfing while in Rio) within a country that oozes a joie de vivre, China was not one to spring to mind. Brazil on the other hand.....with its cultural diversity, weather, vast and varied landscapes, outdoor culture, bundas (literally 'ass'), football, music, dancing, economic potential, current political climate (Presidential elections are 31st October).... was pretty much a no brainer. Three conversations with my mates Sam C, Dan S, and Henry C who had all experienced Brazil, consolidated my choice of destination. Originally planning to come back to London for the end of February, on closer inspection carnival is on the 5th-8th of March, and that was something not to be missed......then of course a few days rest, and so March 14th it was for the return flight.
I arrived in Rio on the 19th October five hours later than scheduled. Within a mere half hour of landing in Sao Paolo late for the connecting flight, I experienced what I have now been warned is the Brazilian tendency towards bureaucracy, procrastination and the blaming of technology and others for failures. But being relaxed with a general sense of laissez-faire is as much a part of their blood as haemoglobin, I have come to realise. This attitude sits well with me.
Apartment location and map of Rio
Apartment location and map of Rio
In Rio I am staying in an apartment dubbed the 'Ipanema Penthouse' that I found through a friend at Penn (Dan M if you're reading this many thanks), and it's the absolute perfect spot for the month that I'll be spending here. It's located in the tree-lined Posto 9 (Nove), half a block from Ipanema beach and with a balcony view of the beach and islands. I'm living with five others who I hadn't met before, each one very nice, and after a week there's a good bond between us.
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| Posto Nove with the two brothers in the background |
Sacha is the 24-year old French landlord who after finishing his masters at Columbia moved out here and is living with his Norwegian girlfriend Hanne, who models and is taking an online Finance course. He has setup a company in Sao Paolo, and they switch between Rio and Sao Paolo for work, and aim to create the best flat share in Rio. No doubt they are already there. Lloyd, a 33-year old Aussie has lived in over eight countries and is spending two months in Rio, combining it with weddings he is attending. He is now writing a research paper on not-for-profit companies, and later plans to launch an independent political party in Australia. Mark is 40 from Berlin and is spending a month in Rio having spent some time here before and is writing a book on the history of Bossa Nova music, which emerged from Samba music in the '60s and particularly around the Ipanema area. Perhaps the most famous song is 'The Girl From Ipanema' by Antonio Carlos Jobim and written by Vinicius de Moraes after whom the street we are on is named. In the '60s and even now, the big Bossa Nova artists acclaimed legendary status (the Frank Sinatras of Brazil), and Mark has been sitting down and interviewing those that are still alive, with some pretty epic stories to tell I'm sure. Laura, 22 is from Frankfurt and studied in San Diego and is now looking for a job here while learning Portuguese. So quite the cultural mix, with German, French and Portuguese being flung around. Arlette, from Rio, keeps us all in order and is here 6 days a week - a must given that we all share one bathroom. Each of us has a room to ourselves with a double bed, there is a balcony with a beach view, and a newly painted bar that we christened on Saturday with a Caipirinha drinks party.
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| Sacha and Hanne at the bar |
Rio is an interesting and diverse city, divided into several different areas each with its unique vibe. Bosa Nova bars and beach vibes in Ipanema and Copacabana, boutiques and PUC university in Leblon, Samba in Lapa, bohemian life in Santa Teresa, old town and business in Centro, Baile Funk music in the Favelas. There is one constant, the insatiable desire to dance, party and be merry. The Cariocas (Rio natives) are a passionate bunch, passionate about their bodies, passionate about their sports, passionate about their country. The Brazilian flag is omnipresent - on towels, on trunks (Sungas are the skimpy speedos that people wear), in bars, on cars, on bodies. I have noticed that there is a prevalence of tattoos - here, more so than other places, your body is your temple and you enhance it with whatever means possible (Brazil has one of the highest cases of plastic surgery). Brazilians drink beer ice cold, and the bottles come in a cooling sleeve accompanied by small glasses. Rather than one beer each, sharing a bigger bottle ensures that it always stays cool - cool is never far away in Rio. Sunday, I headed up to the bohemian Santa Teresa with a friend, Mark and his girlfriend, to watch the local derby football game on TV between Flamengo and Vasco de Gama (there are four teams in Rio the others being Fluminese and Botafogo, Flamengo being the biggest). Players swap shirts at both half-time and full-time, and give half-time interviews which is unheard of in Europe.
Since I've been here the weather has been mixed, but always around 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit), most days are slightly cloudy, one has been clear blue skies, and it has rained once or twice - summer here is the rainy season, and in a few weeks the mercury should begin to rise. Rio is all about being outdoors, and on a sunny day even during the week the beaches become packed with Cariocas looking to tan, play kickup football, futevollei (a mix of football and volleyball played with anything but hands), surf, swim and workout on the workout bars. Down the road in Leblon there is a Venice Beach style gym on the sand that is free. Ipanema (Indian for 'bad, dangerous waters') beach is divided in to 'postos', with each area of beach home to a different mix of people. Posto 9 is the hangout for the most lithe and tanned bodies (ehem, that's where I live), posto 10 for sports lovers, posto 11 the pot smokers hangout (pot is bought in the favelas and is pretty liberalised here), posto 8 is where the favela kids come to splash about. Copacabana beach, which is longer and part of the bay (Ipanema is on the Atlantic so cleaner) is more of a hodgepodge and has a few more tourists. I have yet to explore Copa beach, but plan on doing so now that I have borrowed a bike. Sipping cold coconut juice fresh out the shell, or a freshly blended suco (fruit drink) is a standard affair not just on the beach, but all about town with suco bars on every corner. Açaí is a berry that is popular here, either blended with granola for breakfast or mixed with other fruits for a delicious smoothy. Cariocas tend to drink ice cold beer as liquor is expensive, but cachaça, a product of fermented sugarcane and similar to Aguardiente in Columbia, is the spirit of choice, served straight or with crushed lime and sugar in a Caiparinha, the Brazilian national drink.
On Friday, I headed up to Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) to see Rio's iconic statue of christ that stands 700 meters above the city at 38 meters tall, built in 1931. On a clear day (there is usually a haze over the city), the views of the city are impressive with Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain) and Maracanã, the famous football stadium, as well as the beaches and surrounding lush mountains, in full view. While definitely packed with tourists, Christ is as impressive as his UNESCO world heritage site status.
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| Cristo Redentor and some big statue |
On my return back to the apartment I received a call from my kitesurfing contact here, Martin, who was heading out with a buddy to kitesurf in the next bay a short drive away where the wind had picked up. As is the tendency to be spontaneous in this city, I hopped in the car with the two pseudo-Californians (both have lived in San Francisco a while and have picked up the rad accent and surfer looks - neither of them are) and headed to Barra de Tijuca to watch them catch some waves, run on the beach and take some pictures. I also setup my 10-hour course that I'll be taking, and am only waiting for the next day for the conditions to be right to start my first class flying the kite. Supposedly, once completed I'll be up and kiting in no time, ready to practice in the idyllic waters of the North later on in my trip.
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| Kitesurfing on Barra de Tijuca |
I have experienced a variety of nightlife here. My second night, after a flatmate dinner, Lloyd hooked up some tickets for a Diesel (the brand) launch party for their new 'be stupid' campaign (in my opinion a stupid campaign). The crowd was one of trendy and celebrity Cariocas with paparazzi in tow, and given the free drinks it turned out to be quite a night, experiencing my first taste of Lloyd's outrageously active dance moves (more like a very intense workout session), from which you want to keep well away lest you catch an elbow or fist to the face. The party took place in a plush mall at the bottom of a hill above which sprawls one of the biggest favelas in Rio. Favelas in Rio are generally up on the hills with ocean views, ironic in that they occupy what would in the West be the highest priced real estate. I have yet to enter a favela, but Alette has apparently invited us for dinner one night, and I'm excited about that. Apparently the Baile Funk parties (aggressive Favela music) are a spectacle not to be missed, with the hosts very accommodating to those looking for something different. Thursday night I went with Laura and Mark to the university area where the students congregate in the street, sipping on beers, smoking weed and chatting about the up coming elections, tomorrow's football game or the newest graffiti installation in Centro. Friday was a club night with Lloyd downtown hosted by a DJ from Sao Paolo, Saturday we had Caiparinhas at the apartment, and Sunday I went with my friend Mark and his girlfriend to a Samba bar in Lapa to practice my moves - there's small room for improvement, but no sore thumb.
I've been cooking at home quite a bit but have flavoured the typical rice, chicken and beans dishes that are popular here. In the morning, an espresso and suco are the perfect start to the day before either heading to the beach, to one of the attractions, a bike ride around the lagoon or through the botanical gardens, browsing the stores around Ipanema and Leblon or heading to Bajja de Tijuca for the various wind and surfing sports (including hangliding and paragliding). Yesterday I had my first Portuguese class with Roberta who I met through Dan M, concentrating mostly on conversation - having taken Italian, Spanish and French, I'm finding it a little tough not to confuse them and the accent is altogether different. Tomorrow morning's lesson will take place in the waterfalls in the hills above Rio. This weekend I'll be heading to Sao Paolo to visit a friend from Penn and heading to the beach with him.
Next post I will have the next two months of travelling planned out I hope. The plan is after Rio to head northwest into the Marshlands of the Pantanal (featured in Planet Earth) and stay on a finca (a farm) for a week, then south along the border with Paraguay to the Iguaçu falls that divide Brazil and Argentina. Then down to Patagonia in the south of Argentina, and up back in to Brazil or Uruguay for christmas, my birthday and new year's. Travelling will be part river boat, part bus and part plane. All still to be planned.
That's it for now. Até a próxima vez. See above slideshow for links to photos, I'll be posting more.
BTW...
