I finally got my first beach day of the trip! I´ve been anticipating the beach in Rio since almost a year ago, and I´m just elated to have gotten to do it. It´s not as intimidating as the pictures make it look - there are ugly people mixed in too, and not everyone wears the skimpy little shorts. It was an amazing site though. Looking out from Ipanema, the few rocky islands in front of you are the only things blocking the view of the horizon. Then, looking to the right is Leblon, then a huge, beautiful, densely forested hill with a favela at the bottom. Behind you are the hotels and expensive aparments, and then to the left is more beach; a big rock ends Ipanema and the land cruves and you´ve got Copa Cabana. So anyway, there was plenty of fun to be had on the beach. I went with the same English girls I met yesterday and we just tanned, swam, stared, and burned a little bit. The only thing I´ve burned is my scalp, (un)lucky enough. I´ve never done that before.
Last night we got a group together at the hostel and went in search of an advertised street party. It was pretty awesome. The official start time was 7pm and we thought that was outrageously early, so the English girls, a new guy from Kentucky, a Canadian couple and I went out to find it around 9. We had directions to a point, and were told to follow your ears from there. On the way, there was this wild, spontaneous parade of people in outrageous outfits..... imagine the sesame street wardrobe shaken and poured over a group of people. Oh, and imagine a few drag queens fell out of the mess too. They had drums and stuff, and we joined the parade which stopped traffic when they decided to have a dance party in the street. No one honked or anything-busses, cars, trucks, just waited, then when we all moved, they waved and yelled funny things that I couldn´t understand. We didn´t make it to the street party, we went to a club instead, which was really fun anyway. Usually back home, the music breaks up at points into something that you don´t want to dance to so you can stop sweating for a second, but at this place that was not the case. The music is so good! So we shook it up all night. The girls had a bit much to drink, but I actually maintained a little buzz and not much more. Normally, that statement would be a complete and utter lie. The truth is, I didn´t even want to drink because it was interfering with dancing, not out of some moral obligation to be responsible. Thanks to the humidity, my shirt was still soaked this morning when I woke up. A disgusting indication of a night well spent.
So that´s the rundown for Rio so far, I´ve made quite a bit of headway in the two days. People here are really friendly and helpful. The guy who sold me the map yesterday showed me where we were and laughed and corrected me every time I pronounced something wrong. My neighborhood is Catete, pronounced Catetchy, more or less. I was saying ´Catetch´ and he thought it was really funny. Then this random girl walking next to us yesterday gave us some advice for Carnaval. Basically, be careful and dance your ass off. You can´t go to a bad party. Everyone on the beach is nice, to the point that you don´t know if someone is flirting with you or just being cool. I could get used to this!! So I´ll probably buy a hat so I can go to the beach again tomorrow. I can´t believe I burned my scalp, how weird is that? It really hurts! We all just stopped off at this cafe, and I think the girls are headed to Copa Cabana - we figured we HAD to go drink some caipirinhas in Copa, ya know?? And we´ll be singing that song the entire time.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
I only have 15 minutes free and I´ve used half that already, so I have to mae this fast!
I´m in Rio now, its totally different than SP and I love it too. The bus ride over here was incredible. I woke up sometime during the middle of the 7 hour trip and we were winding through a narrow mountain road on this huge, double decker bus. Rounding each curve, the view opened up with rolling hills then mountains far in the distance. It was storming and you could see the wall of rain and lightning striking what had to be 10 miles away... huge, thick bolts, it was so beautiful. Arriving to a city by bus gives you a much different impression than arriving by plane. The city sort of creeps up on you as the area gets more developed, then BAM! You´re in the worst parts of the city you´ll see the entire trip! But here I am. I was under the impression that I was staying in Copa Cabana, according to a map I looked at before I left, but no, I´m in Catete. Better, actually. The streets are really busy with bars and restaurants and it feels much better than the reputation Copa has.
Today I had my first little hissy fit, but it didn´t develop into the kind I´m known to have (when I punch a wall or break an electronic thing). I was alone, I had left the English girls I had met at breakfast to do my own thing. I have no map, no book, and at that point, I had spent all the cash I had on me. My one saving grace has been the Banco Real - the only bank that I can withdraw money from. I left them at the Pao de Acucar, Sugarloaf, and figured I´d take out some cash, buy a map, and walk to somewhere I knew. I have 3 minutes to finish this. Rio´s nickname should be the city with no map. No one sells them! I went to a gas station. No. A big, touristy, coporate hotel, no. Went to Banco Real along the way and couldnt get cash. Then I was pissed. What huge city has no maps!!!!????? Then I stumbled upon a Citibank next to a newstand. 2 hits at the same corner. I was found again. So I bought a HUGE pineapple juice, sat down, and planned my trip.
My mohawk is gone and I miss it! Rio is awesome, now that I have a map. The city is less aesthetically stimulating than Sao Paulo but the people are wayyy more so, if you catch my drift. Time up!
I´m in Rio now, its totally different than SP and I love it too. The bus ride over here was incredible. I woke up sometime during the middle of the 7 hour trip and we were winding through a narrow mountain road on this huge, double decker bus. Rounding each curve, the view opened up with rolling hills then mountains far in the distance. It was storming and you could see the wall of rain and lightning striking what had to be 10 miles away... huge, thick bolts, it was so beautiful. Arriving to a city by bus gives you a much different impression than arriving by plane. The city sort of creeps up on you as the area gets more developed, then BAM! You´re in the worst parts of the city you´ll see the entire trip! But here I am. I was under the impression that I was staying in Copa Cabana, according to a map I looked at before I left, but no, I´m in Catete. Better, actually. The streets are really busy with bars and restaurants and it feels much better than the reputation Copa has.
Today I had my first little hissy fit, but it didn´t develop into the kind I´m known to have (when I punch a wall or break an electronic thing). I was alone, I had left the English girls I had met at breakfast to do my own thing. I have no map, no book, and at that point, I had spent all the cash I had on me. My one saving grace has been the Banco Real - the only bank that I can withdraw money from. I left them at the Pao de Acucar, Sugarloaf, and figured I´d take out some cash, buy a map, and walk to somewhere I knew. I have 3 minutes to finish this. Rio´s nickname should be the city with no map. No one sells them! I went to a gas station. No. A big, touristy, coporate hotel, no. Went to Banco Real along the way and couldnt get cash. Then I was pissed. What huge city has no maps!!!!????? Then I stumbled upon a Citibank next to a newstand. 2 hits at the same corner. I was found again. So I bought a HUGE pineapple juice, sat down, and planned my trip.
My mohawk is gone and I miss it! Rio is awesome, now that I have a map. The city is less aesthetically stimulating than Sao Paulo but the people are wayyy more so, if you catch my drift. Time up!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Pre-Carnaval Mayhem
Next week is the magnificent, the legendary, CARNAVAL!!! This weekend in Sao Paulo, you could feel the energy building. Friday night I just chilled out because I was tired. I went to a bar to say bye to the Norwegian kids I had met, then just went back to the hostel and slept. I think I´m allergic to the pollen here, I´m such a baby. One guy said it´s impossible because it rains every day, but I don´t feel sick and I think anything is possible, so I´m saying I´m allergic. Saturday was a little crazy, but once again I stayed a bit calm, despite my biting urge to do something craaazy. On my walk back from site-seeing, again a sweaty, exhausted mess, the streets were beginning to come alive. It was around 7pm and the market I had seen earlier was closing down as the restaurants and bars on the periphery of the square were packed full of people. My pal decided to rest at the hostel, so I dropped my stuff and went back out. Our little symbiosis has been really great-he speaks Portuguese but can´t read a map for shit, while I always know where we are but am a total dumb ass with the language. Anyway, off I went.
The sun sets late here, so I had a good hour and a half of day light left. The crowded bars were a bit less than inviting to the lone wanderer who doesn´t speak the language, so I walked past. I turned down a street that looked lively enough, and started to hear music. Some guys had opened up the front of a guitar shop and set up a drum set, bass, guitar, and a rack of clarinet, sax, and a trumpet. They plugged the stuff and and made an impromptu concert in the street. A crowd materialized in seconds, the corner store turned into a bar, essentially, since drinking is allowed in the street here, and it was a little dance/jazz/chill-out session for about a half hour. I love that kind of stuff. First off, drinking in the street sets a really chilled-out vibe and is wayyy better than being stuck in a crowded bar. Plus, this was just a random gathering of passers-by:moms, dads, kids, teenagers, old people, random hippie guys and girls...... just really really nice. So after that, I came back, cooked some dinner (saving money where I can) and hung out. I took another walk later to check out this club that the hostel owner told me about, but it was to no avail.
Last night was when I got to really let off some steam. We went to a Samba school practice. Sounds tame, but it´s not. Being the week before Carnaval, this is their last chance to rehearse before they go. The school is just a school, but this `practice` was really a huge outdoor performance. The street was closed, there was a massive stage, food stands and people with coolers full of beer, soda, water, cigarettes, and candy were all set up outside the make-shift wall framing the venue. You have to pay to go in, and it´s definitely one of those places that made me glad I didn´t have anything on me except a few reis in my swimming trunks, but it was absolutely incredible. We were somewhat early, and maybe an hour after we got there, it was jam packed. The samba dancers were insanely awesome, and this country seems to have an infinte amount of talented percussionists that make it impossible not to be moving. I was intimidated about being surrounded by Brazilians dancing, but in the crowd, there was no rule as to what you´re supposed to do, it was just a free, do as you please, vibe. Everyone is drinking, smoking, eating, laughing, and dancing. Kids are running through the crowd, parents are holding their babies up, it was just a huge, awesome gathering. If this is the teaser before Carnaval, I can´t imagine what the real deal will be like! Long and short of it, we made some Brazilian friends in the crowd, had a crazy drive through the city to go other places, and just had a great night! One of the Brazilian guys we met warned me about Rio, but he also was talking about the huge rivalry between Cariocas, the people from Rio de Janeiro, and the Paulistas, a bit more clear in its meaning. But he said it´s dirtier, poorer the people are arrogant, the beaches suck...... I have to take some of it with a grain of salt, considering how, from Atlanta, we talk shit about every other southern city, and from new york, we talk shit about every city. I´m totally not ready to leave this place yet, but tomorrow is my last day! After Rio, I´ll have to drag Natasha back here for a couple days. Anyone would love something about this city, despite the incredibly bad rap it gets.
I´ve managed to not blow my budget here, but it´s a constant fight to resist the temptation of the insane amount of nice restaurants, bars, and clubs that are constantly making me drool. Like, I will walk past a clothing store and have to go in because A) I like the nice clothes, but also B) because of the amount of attention they pay to detail in the architectural design. Everything is beckoning you to go in, even more so than in New York. Then the restaurants, it´s the same thing. So many design elements go into these restaurants! They´re not grossly expensive compared to what I´m used to, but more than I would like to pay. The bars also. The one we went to the other day had a regular-width bar that just wound through the entire room, so wherever you´re sitting, you would be at a somewhat open angle to other people there that you are not with. Everyone ends up facing each other. The design is supposed to faciliate meeting new people, to oppose the tendency of going to a crowded place to hang out exclusively with the people you came with (shout-out to Annie :) Very cool stuff, anyway. Alright, I´m going to go reheat some of the food I made the other night and figure out what´s going on tonight. 2 nights left in Sao Paulo, then Rio or bust.
The sun sets late here, so I had a good hour and a half of day light left. The crowded bars were a bit less than inviting to the lone wanderer who doesn´t speak the language, so I walked past. I turned down a street that looked lively enough, and started to hear music. Some guys had opened up the front of a guitar shop and set up a drum set, bass, guitar, and a rack of clarinet, sax, and a trumpet. They plugged the stuff and and made an impromptu concert in the street. A crowd materialized in seconds, the corner store turned into a bar, essentially, since drinking is allowed in the street here, and it was a little dance/jazz/chill-out session for about a half hour. I love that kind of stuff. First off, drinking in the street sets a really chilled-out vibe and is wayyy better than being stuck in a crowded bar. Plus, this was just a random gathering of passers-by:moms, dads, kids, teenagers, old people, random hippie guys and girls...... just really really nice. So after that, I came back, cooked some dinner (saving money where I can) and hung out. I took another walk later to check out this club that the hostel owner told me about, but it was to no avail.
Last night was when I got to really let off some steam. We went to a Samba school practice. Sounds tame, but it´s not. Being the week before Carnaval, this is their last chance to rehearse before they go. The school is just a school, but this `practice` was really a huge outdoor performance. The street was closed, there was a massive stage, food stands and people with coolers full of beer, soda, water, cigarettes, and candy were all set up outside the make-shift wall framing the venue. You have to pay to go in, and it´s definitely one of those places that made me glad I didn´t have anything on me except a few reis in my swimming trunks, but it was absolutely incredible. We were somewhat early, and maybe an hour after we got there, it was jam packed. The samba dancers were insanely awesome, and this country seems to have an infinte amount of talented percussionists that make it impossible not to be moving. I was intimidated about being surrounded by Brazilians dancing, but in the crowd, there was no rule as to what you´re supposed to do, it was just a free, do as you please, vibe. Everyone is drinking, smoking, eating, laughing, and dancing. Kids are running through the crowd, parents are holding their babies up, it was just a huge, awesome gathering. If this is the teaser before Carnaval, I can´t imagine what the real deal will be like! Long and short of it, we made some Brazilian friends in the crowd, had a crazy drive through the city to go other places, and just had a great night! One of the Brazilian guys we met warned me about Rio, but he also was talking about the huge rivalry between Cariocas, the people from Rio de Janeiro, and the Paulistas, a bit more clear in its meaning. But he said it´s dirtier, poorer the people are arrogant, the beaches suck...... I have to take some of it with a grain of salt, considering how, from Atlanta, we talk shit about every other southern city, and from new york, we talk shit about every city. I´m totally not ready to leave this place yet, but tomorrow is my last day! After Rio, I´ll have to drag Natasha back here for a couple days. Anyone would love something about this city, despite the incredibly bad rap it gets.
I´ve managed to not blow my budget here, but it´s a constant fight to resist the temptation of the insane amount of nice restaurants, bars, and clubs that are constantly making me drool. Like, I will walk past a clothing store and have to go in because A) I like the nice clothes, but also B) because of the amount of attention they pay to detail in the architectural design. Everything is beckoning you to go in, even more so than in New York. Then the restaurants, it´s the same thing. So many design elements go into these restaurants! They´re not grossly expensive compared to what I´m used to, but more than I would like to pay. The bars also. The one we went to the other day had a regular-width bar that just wound through the entire room, so wherever you´re sitting, you would be at a somewhat open angle to other people there that you are not with. Everyone ends up facing each other. The design is supposed to faciliate meeting new people, to oppose the tendency of going to a crowded place to hang out exclusively with the people you came with (shout-out to Annie :) Very cool stuff, anyway. Alright, I´m going to go reheat some of the food I made the other night and figure out what´s going on tonight. 2 nights left in Sao Paulo, then Rio or bust.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Just a Quickie
This hostel is awesome. I can´t get my phone to work so far, so sorry for not calling anyone. But obviously I´m fine. This city is so much cooler than I had imagined, especially considering the amount of bad things so many people said about it! The neighborhood where I´m staying, Pinheiros, is pretty well-off and I spent a good amount of time in Jardims today, which is definitely more chic and swanky than what NY has to offer. I bought some flip flops for the scorching heat, and started to get tan... more like red.
Last night, with a little bit too much indulgence over a bottle of tequila, I met a bunch of kids at the Hostel. A pair from Norway, a guy from Peru, a few Australian girls (there are so many Australians everywhere-doing the tours in NY I met more of them than anyone else. Like roaches! But not in a bad way, they´re just everywhere!) and a guy from Berlin who is Portuguese-Italian - not that I like to talk about people in a utilitarian manner, but having a friend that speaks Portuguese is awesome. So me and this kid hung out all day today, and whenever I had any trouble he was able to jump in and help me out. Perfect. The Peruvian guy was insane. Me and him were going at the tequila like Jaws at that fishing boat. He spoke so many languages I wanted to puke on him. Pachuco, the International, he called himself. A bit extravagant, but it was a great time. So I went to bed late and woke up like a monster this morning. Breakfast here is nice though. They actually have really good coffee, unlike any coffe at any accommodation I´ve ever stayed at. This is Brazil, so I guess if they didn´t have decent coffee they would be being inappropriate. I was thinking about the part in Pulp Fiction at Quentin Tarantino´s character´s house. [I doñ´t need you to tell me it´s good coffee. I spend extra money at the grocery store for this, so I know it´s good. I don´t need you to tell me it´s good]. I expressed my joy to the Norwegians but kept my mouth shut otherwise.
So today, Ricardo (the Portuguese-Italian-German guy) and I walked 50 miles. The city is certainly huge, but there is so much to see! We started just before noon, walked through Jardims and saw some really cool shops - all the designer stuff, but the architecture is just amazing. It´s so so contemporary, and that architecture mixed with the tropical plants and trees is gorgeous. Then we went downtown. It could have been a downtown anywhere in North America. Basic mess of congestion, bad guys, good guys, office workers and police, in the midst of a beautiful theater and the tallest building in Sao Paulo, the Bank of the State of Sao Paulo. Then we hopped the Metro back to the Avenida Paulista and rested a bit. Then it started to rain. Apparently it rains every single day between 4:30 and 5:30, like clock work. It´s amazing how much rain falls, the streets turn to streams, the watter draggin any loose items it finds - garbage bags, shoes, whatever is hanging around the street or loosely attached to one´s foot. There aren´t really a lot of bars or pubs here, you have to search like hell for them. Instead there are juice bars. Stocked with melons, pineapples, coconuts, passion fruit and a dozen other things, you order what you want or any mix of options, and bam, fresh fruit juice. Tastes great in this hot weather.
I just got back to the hostel from this bar that was recommended-we decided to grab a little drink to finish off our journey. I had a couple caipirinhas with lime and passion fruit. Delicious. Due to the amount of fluids I lost today from sweating, I feel a little loopy from just that. Now everyone is asking where I´m going out tonight. I am dead. But it´s Friday night, it´s almost obligatory to go somewhere. I´ll see what happens.
Some day when I´m rich, I´m buying a place here. If only it was closer to the beach!
Last night, with a little bit too much indulgence over a bottle of tequila, I met a bunch of kids at the Hostel. A pair from Norway, a guy from Peru, a few Australian girls (there are so many Australians everywhere-doing the tours in NY I met more of them than anyone else. Like roaches! But not in a bad way, they´re just everywhere!) and a guy from Berlin who is Portuguese-Italian - not that I like to talk about people in a utilitarian manner, but having a friend that speaks Portuguese is awesome. So me and this kid hung out all day today, and whenever I had any trouble he was able to jump in and help me out. Perfect. The Peruvian guy was insane. Me and him were going at the tequila like Jaws at that fishing boat. He spoke so many languages I wanted to puke on him. Pachuco, the International, he called himself. A bit extravagant, but it was a great time. So I went to bed late and woke up like a monster this morning. Breakfast here is nice though. They actually have really good coffee, unlike any coffe at any accommodation I´ve ever stayed at. This is Brazil, so I guess if they didn´t have decent coffee they would be being inappropriate. I was thinking about the part in Pulp Fiction at Quentin Tarantino´s character´s house. [I doñ´t need you to tell me it´s good coffee. I spend extra money at the grocery store for this, so I know it´s good. I don´t need you to tell me it´s good]. I expressed my joy to the Norwegians but kept my mouth shut otherwise.
So today, Ricardo (the Portuguese-Italian-German guy) and I walked 50 miles. The city is certainly huge, but there is so much to see! We started just before noon, walked through Jardims and saw some really cool shops - all the designer stuff, but the architecture is just amazing. It´s so so contemporary, and that architecture mixed with the tropical plants and trees is gorgeous. Then we went downtown. It could have been a downtown anywhere in North America. Basic mess of congestion, bad guys, good guys, office workers and police, in the midst of a beautiful theater and the tallest building in Sao Paulo, the Bank of the State of Sao Paulo. Then we hopped the Metro back to the Avenida Paulista and rested a bit. Then it started to rain. Apparently it rains every single day between 4:30 and 5:30, like clock work. It´s amazing how much rain falls, the streets turn to streams, the watter draggin any loose items it finds - garbage bags, shoes, whatever is hanging around the street or loosely attached to one´s foot. There aren´t really a lot of bars or pubs here, you have to search like hell for them. Instead there are juice bars. Stocked with melons, pineapples, coconuts, passion fruit and a dozen other things, you order what you want or any mix of options, and bam, fresh fruit juice. Tastes great in this hot weather.
I just got back to the hostel from this bar that was recommended-we decided to grab a little drink to finish off our journey. I had a couple caipirinhas with lime and passion fruit. Delicious. Due to the amount of fluids I lost today from sweating, I feel a little loopy from just that. Now everyone is asking where I´m going out tonight. I am dead. But it´s Friday night, it´s almost obligatory to go somewhere. I´ll see what happens.
Some day when I´m rich, I´m buying a place here. If only it was closer to the beach!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Bom Dia, Brazil!
Ahhh Sao Paulo. Its reputation precedes it, but a reputation is just that. People tak a lot of shit. As soon as you walk out the doors of the airport you instantly feel like you´re in a massive, cosmopolitan city. Mexico City is weird in that, despite being one of the hugest cities in the world, it doesn´t feel that way at all until you´re sitting in traffic.. which was always. But here you get a great feeling. For as big of a city as it is, it is very clean and pretty. And the plants and trees everywhere are gorgeous. And the 85 degree weather! This is a great second stop.
I talked to the girl at the tourist desk at the airport for about a half hour so she could tell me things. She kept laughing at me because she thought I was stupid. Then I got on a bus which let me off on the Avenida Paulista, I guess it´s like a combination of Park and 5th Avenues. Beautiful. Then I walked to the hostel. It was a verrrry long walk. I started to hate myself but didn´t want to spend money on a cab. I was embarrassed because I was sweating profusely (people here don´t sweat) but then it started to downpour. Only on those summer days in Georgia when the rain makes the pavement sizzle have I ever been more glad for a storm. But now I´m here and it´s a really nice hostel. I couldn´t get in for a minute because no one was there to buzz me in, but then this other guy came who was also trying to get in and we talked and he was really nice... we had a decent conversation in Spanish. That´s going to be my saving grace because I don´t understand shit of Portuguese but I´ve been able to pass through with Spanish. In New York, I considered myself quite accomplished with Spanglish, then Mexico helped, and now I´m about to create my version of Spaniguese... or whatever gets me by.
The hostel is insanely nice. Clean, new, artsy, the owner is one guy and he told me everything I need to know. Luck is on my side so far. The neighborhood is really nice, and there´s a great square around the corner that has a market Saturday and he told me the best places to go out every night of the week. All I need now is some friends. It´s a hostel for my people, which I didn´t know when I booked, but how about that luck? I need a shower desperately because we didn´t have hot water yesterday in Mexico so I had to use a bucket, so I don´t feel sufficiently bathed. That plus theovernight flight, plus all the sweat it took to get me here, I´m a pig. The rain helped a little but now I smell like I used to smell after working at Nani and Papa´s warehouse.
So that´s that, I love Brazil. Everyone has been so nice so far, and everyone is good looking... or maybe I should say there aren´t a lot of ugly people here. However you cut it, it´s great. Awesome first impression, I know I´m going to love this city. Now I start the countdown to Carnaval and meeting with Natasha.
I talked to the girl at the tourist desk at the airport for about a half hour so she could tell me things. She kept laughing at me because she thought I was stupid. Then I got on a bus which let me off on the Avenida Paulista, I guess it´s like a combination of Park and 5th Avenues. Beautiful. Then I walked to the hostel. It was a verrrry long walk. I started to hate myself but didn´t want to spend money on a cab. I was embarrassed because I was sweating profusely (people here don´t sweat) but then it started to downpour. Only on those summer days in Georgia when the rain makes the pavement sizzle have I ever been more glad for a storm. But now I´m here and it´s a really nice hostel. I couldn´t get in for a minute because no one was there to buzz me in, but then this other guy came who was also trying to get in and we talked and he was really nice... we had a decent conversation in Spanish. That´s going to be my saving grace because I don´t understand shit of Portuguese but I´ve been able to pass through with Spanish. In New York, I considered myself quite accomplished with Spanglish, then Mexico helped, and now I´m about to create my version of Spaniguese... or whatever gets me by.
The hostel is insanely nice. Clean, new, artsy, the owner is one guy and he told me everything I need to know. Luck is on my side so far. The neighborhood is really nice, and there´s a great square around the corner that has a market Saturday and he told me the best places to go out every night of the week. All I need now is some friends. It´s a hostel for my people, which I didn´t know when I booked, but how about that luck? I need a shower desperately because we didn´t have hot water yesterday in Mexico so I had to use a bucket, so I don´t feel sufficiently bathed. That plus theovernight flight, plus all the sweat it took to get me here, I´m a pig. The rain helped a little but now I smell like I used to smell after working at Nani and Papa´s warehouse.
So that´s that, I love Brazil. Everyone has been so nice so far, and everyone is good looking... or maybe I should say there aren´t a lot of ugly people here. However you cut it, it´s great. Awesome first impression, I know I´m going to love this city. Now I start the countdown to Carnaval and meeting with Natasha.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Adios, Mexico
Today I fly out of Mexico. It´s a sad last day. It´s raining and a bit cold. It was snowing when I left NY. It seems like, for as long as I can remember, whenever I am leaving a place there is some sort of precipitation. Maybe it´s some cosmic sign of something. I´ll miss Mexico but I´m ready to move on. I got an email from my hostel in Sao Paulo asking what time I was arriving, and I realized that I booked it for tonight... but I fly out tonight so I don´t get there til tomorrow, duh. Whatever.
Yesterday I woke up somewhat late and went with Juana to the market where her husband, Juan, and son, Miguel, work. It is like a garage sale for 20 square blocks. Holy shit it was the biggest market I´ve ever seen or could imagine. It´s all recovered stuff from the trash at the front, then there´s new stuff as you get further in. The people selling new stuff set up closer to the center because the police are constantly walking through looking for pirated and stolen stuff. So I ate tamales and drank atole with Juana, then bought some hair gel.... I felt like a true Mexican. Everyone uses so much gel here. I knew that before I came, but it´s still a noticeable thing... EVERYONE uses so much gel.
Yesterday also happened to be one of the biggest festival days during the year in Mexico, it´s the festival of the nino dios. It´s a very holy thing and despite all the explanations I still don´t really understand it. Much like the Catholic Church. So anyway, as a result of this festival, I was bracing to face two of my greatest fears last night. I like to consider myself a rational person and I´m really not afraid of much of anything... not in a tough-guy way, just in the way that I can reason through things. But if there´s one thing in this world that scares the absolute shit outta me, it´s a carnival or fair. The type with games and dangerous rides and clowns... oh my god. Make that carnival a facet of a celebration in the Catholic Church and forget it. I mean, I went to mass as a kid and I can stumble my way through the Catholic things, thanks to my grandparents, but it´s just one of those huge entities that I feel lost in. So in the afternoon I went with the kids and their mom to the church, which was actually absolutely beautiful - every surface was covered with flowers, from the floor to the roof. It wasn´t just church, it was a cathedral. Amazing. But on the way back, we wound through the streets where the carnival was being set up and my stomach starting twisting. No way in hell I wanted to go back there. It´s like a county fair but in the streets of Mexico City. Terrifying. But I couldn´t bring myself to explain that I have this totally irrational phobia of carnivals to a 4 and 6 year old who were just dying to return. So I sucked it up. I know there´s a God because it started to rain. It was a freaking monsoon, so I knew that I was reaping the benefits of having gone to church earlier.
Juana and I went later on in the night, even though the kids had cried for not being able to go. We went to see the band and the party and it was great. Micheladas as big as movie-theater sodas, and all kinds of Mexican food was out, and we just passed through the part with rides and games pretty quickly. I was wishing I was with someone my age because the party was great... everyone was drinking and dancing and it was just one of those big, crowded things that you can´t not enjoy. I´m trying to think what I´m missing, but I´ve covered the highlights so far I think. I have to be rushed here because Im´at the internet cafe and am keeping the others waiting. But I just had a great last lunch - ox tongue stewed with guajillo chiles and some black beans. They made it last night and it smelled so good. I managed to stay healthy the entire time here, and I´m soo so happy for that.
The family is so worried about me leaving. Juana thinks I´m insane. Mostly because of my jacket. Whenever I put it on, she just snears at me and rolls her eyes. She wouldn´t let me wear it anywhere, but I´m a little bit insane so I fought her enough throughout the week. She kept trying to give me this huge hoody so that way the raterros wouldn´t look at me or touch me. I hated it, haha.
Alright so this is the end of Mexico. I´m ready to let my Spanish marinate for the few weeks while I´m in Brazil. Hopefully the Portuguese will help to nail home some of what I´ve learned, because I feel like I know less Spanish now than when I started. That can´t be true, but it´s how I feel.
Good bye, Mexico, hello Sunshine!!
Yesterday I woke up somewhat late and went with Juana to the market where her husband, Juan, and son, Miguel, work. It is like a garage sale for 20 square blocks. Holy shit it was the biggest market I´ve ever seen or could imagine. It´s all recovered stuff from the trash at the front, then there´s new stuff as you get further in. The people selling new stuff set up closer to the center because the police are constantly walking through looking for pirated and stolen stuff. So I ate tamales and drank atole with Juana, then bought some hair gel.... I felt like a true Mexican. Everyone uses so much gel here. I knew that before I came, but it´s still a noticeable thing... EVERYONE uses so much gel.
Yesterday also happened to be one of the biggest festival days during the year in Mexico, it´s the festival of the nino dios. It´s a very holy thing and despite all the explanations I still don´t really understand it. Much like the Catholic Church. So anyway, as a result of this festival, I was bracing to face two of my greatest fears last night. I like to consider myself a rational person and I´m really not afraid of much of anything... not in a tough-guy way, just in the way that I can reason through things. But if there´s one thing in this world that scares the absolute shit outta me, it´s a carnival or fair. The type with games and dangerous rides and clowns... oh my god. Make that carnival a facet of a celebration in the Catholic Church and forget it. I mean, I went to mass as a kid and I can stumble my way through the Catholic things, thanks to my grandparents, but it´s just one of those huge entities that I feel lost in. So in the afternoon I went with the kids and their mom to the church, which was actually absolutely beautiful - every surface was covered with flowers, from the floor to the roof. It wasn´t just church, it was a cathedral. Amazing. But on the way back, we wound through the streets where the carnival was being set up and my stomach starting twisting. No way in hell I wanted to go back there. It´s like a county fair but in the streets of Mexico City. Terrifying. But I couldn´t bring myself to explain that I have this totally irrational phobia of carnivals to a 4 and 6 year old who were just dying to return. So I sucked it up. I know there´s a God because it started to rain. It was a freaking monsoon, so I knew that I was reaping the benefits of having gone to church earlier.
Juana and I went later on in the night, even though the kids had cried for not being able to go. We went to see the band and the party and it was great. Micheladas as big as movie-theater sodas, and all kinds of Mexican food was out, and we just passed through the part with rides and games pretty quickly. I was wishing I was with someone my age because the party was great... everyone was drinking and dancing and it was just one of those big, crowded things that you can´t not enjoy. I´m trying to think what I´m missing, but I´ve covered the highlights so far I think. I have to be rushed here because Im´at the internet cafe and am keeping the others waiting. But I just had a great last lunch - ox tongue stewed with guajillo chiles and some black beans. They made it last night and it smelled so good. I managed to stay healthy the entire time here, and I´m soo so happy for that.
The family is so worried about me leaving. Juana thinks I´m insane. Mostly because of my jacket. Whenever I put it on, she just snears at me and rolls her eyes. She wouldn´t let me wear it anywhere, but I´m a little bit insane so I fought her enough throughout the week. She kept trying to give me this huge hoody so that way the raterros wouldn´t look at me or touch me. I hated it, haha.
Alright so this is the end of Mexico. I´m ready to let my Spanish marinate for the few weeks while I´m in Brazil. Hopefully the Portuguese will help to nail home some of what I´ve learned, because I feel like I know less Spanish now than when I started. That can´t be true, but it´s how I feel.
Good bye, Mexico, hello Sunshine!!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Mexico!
So my first stop along the way has been great. Since I´ve been here once before it feels somewhat homey, and I´m staying with Marisol´s family who won´t let me do ANYTHING!!!!! They´re so scared for me. I flew in and immediately her aunt, Juana, asked me ´how crazy are you, wearing expensive shoes and an elegant jacket?!´ Whatever, it´s not as bad as they say. This internet cafe is actually the first place they let me go alone. I make it sound like it´s bad, but it´s really awesome. I´m eating like a king. My diva status has earned me 2 more birthday parties here, in addition to the 7 I had back home. I´m sleeping between Juana´s house and her parents´ house and there are millions of family members and kids and babies I´m seeing again... it´s really nice, actually.
Last time I was here, I got really sick. This time, no. I´m eating too much and my body´s telling me so, but it´s really rude (apparently) to refuse anything at all, even 4th servings, so when I start to feel like throwing up, I just put my napkin and any trash from the table in my plate. It´s the only way. Yesterday, we loaded up the truck and went to the zoo at Chapultapec. The highlight was a brief wandering through Polanco, the super swanky side of Mexico City that is an entirely different world from the rest of the places I´m seeing. What keeps smacking me in the face here is how insulated we are from the normal realities of sustaining a population.... That´s to say you watch your food die then you eat it. You throw trash away, but between your relatives´houses, you drive through the landfill. Parks are built on top of old landfills - I was thinking, yeah they do that at home too... in Staten Island! The water doesn´t come during the day at Juan´s house, so they have a cistern to store it for the daytime. There are hundreds of people that work in the landfills recovering stuff to sell at markets.... it´s so GREEN and sustainable!! Really though, I love this country thanks to the people hosting me over here. And the food, there´s no close second.
Yesterday Angel, one of the little kids of the family, got sick on the way home from the zoo. He puked everywhere. It was vivdly reminiscent of the last time I was here, in the same seat of the same truck, puking out the same window, it was even the same color! Poor kid, but better him than me! The first day I got here I was dead tired thanks to the amazing last-night-in-NY I had, and was thinking for about 5 hours that maybe this trip would be a good time to kick a nastly little smoking habit I´ve somewhat recently picked up........ but it feels soooo GOOOD to have a smoke after a huge meal that Mexico is a place that makes it impossible to stop.
Today I went to Tepito in el Centro, then to Merced. Both are huge market...areas is the best word, I guess... I bought some CDs in Tepito (I wasn´t allowed to wear my jacket there, according to Juana) and then in Merced the guys sell a lot of candies from stalls. And the girls sell goodies too, on the corners. It´s a really exciting and stimulating place but you can´t help but thank Juana for all the blessings she´s constantly saying. Police will go by in trucks, 4 in the back and 2 in the front... and the guys are like my age and look like boys with toys, only their toys are assault rifles. It looks crazy but Juan say´s they´re clowns. Juan is THE MAN. He is Marisol´s uncle and was with us the entire time last time I was here. He knows everything, can do anything, never gets mad and always has a plan. I´m about to go have a few beers with him, actually.
I´ve been sleeping perfectly because I´m totally surrounded by Spanish (what a surprise, I though all Mexicans spoke English...) as opposed to last time when I was with my friend Michelle whose family I am staying with now. It´s the best way though, considering what I´m doing, but it makes my brain tired as hell by the end of the day. I watched Terminator 3 last night, and it´s equally bad in Spanish as it is in English. Again, no surprise. The surprise was that you don´t need to understand everything they say to know exactly what´s going on.
I have to end the ramble. I´m having a great time so far, my feet are wet and I´m ready to dive in... I actually can´t wait for the new scenery in Brazil, if ya know what I´m saying. Juan must be waiting for the beers...
Last time I was here, I got really sick. This time, no. I´m eating too much and my body´s telling me so, but it´s really rude (apparently) to refuse anything at all, even 4th servings, so when I start to feel like throwing up, I just put my napkin and any trash from the table in my plate. It´s the only way. Yesterday, we loaded up the truck and went to the zoo at Chapultapec. The highlight was a brief wandering through Polanco, the super swanky side of Mexico City that is an entirely different world from the rest of the places I´m seeing. What keeps smacking me in the face here is how insulated we are from the normal realities of sustaining a population.... That´s to say you watch your food die then you eat it. You throw trash away, but between your relatives´houses, you drive through the landfill. Parks are built on top of old landfills - I was thinking, yeah they do that at home too... in Staten Island! The water doesn´t come during the day at Juan´s house, so they have a cistern to store it for the daytime. There are hundreds of people that work in the landfills recovering stuff to sell at markets.... it´s so GREEN and sustainable!! Really though, I love this country thanks to the people hosting me over here. And the food, there´s no close second.
Yesterday Angel, one of the little kids of the family, got sick on the way home from the zoo. He puked everywhere. It was vivdly reminiscent of the last time I was here, in the same seat of the same truck, puking out the same window, it was even the same color! Poor kid, but better him than me! The first day I got here I was dead tired thanks to the amazing last-night-in-NY I had, and was thinking for about 5 hours that maybe this trip would be a good time to kick a nastly little smoking habit I´ve somewhat recently picked up........ but it feels soooo GOOOD to have a smoke after a huge meal that Mexico is a place that makes it impossible to stop.
Today I went to Tepito in el Centro, then to Merced. Both are huge market...areas is the best word, I guess... I bought some CDs in Tepito (I wasn´t allowed to wear my jacket there, according to Juana) and then in Merced the guys sell a lot of candies from stalls. And the girls sell goodies too, on the corners. It´s a really exciting and stimulating place but you can´t help but thank Juana for all the blessings she´s constantly saying. Police will go by in trucks, 4 in the back and 2 in the front... and the guys are like my age and look like boys with toys, only their toys are assault rifles. It looks crazy but Juan say´s they´re clowns. Juan is THE MAN. He is Marisol´s uncle and was with us the entire time last time I was here. He knows everything, can do anything, never gets mad and always has a plan. I´m about to go have a few beers with him, actually.
I´ve been sleeping perfectly because I´m totally surrounded by Spanish (what a surprise, I though all Mexicans spoke English...) as opposed to last time when I was with my friend Michelle whose family I am staying with now. It´s the best way though, considering what I´m doing, but it makes my brain tired as hell by the end of the day. I watched Terminator 3 last night, and it´s equally bad in Spanish as it is in English. Again, no surprise. The surprise was that you don´t need to understand everything they say to know exactly what´s going on.
I have to end the ramble. I´m having a great time so far, my feet are wet and I´m ready to dive in... I actually can´t wait for the new scenery in Brazil, if ya know what I´m saying. Juan must be waiting for the beers...
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