On Brazil (or rather, Rio de Janeiro)
Até mais, Rio, cidade maravilhosa...
Agradeço a:
- Ana Cristina. Eu soube quando a conheci no avião que você era uma pessoa muito legal, muito meiga. Obrigada por me fazer companhia na minha viagem à sua cidade maravilhosa e por me convidar para sair nas minhas primeras semanas lá.
- Jeane. Você sempre era uma presencia tão meiga, tão carinhosa. Era você quem me preparou o meu primeiro prato de comida brasileiro, com muito carinho. Era você quem me calmou quando estava muito triste ao chegar ao Brasil.Você sempre tera uma parte muito especial no meu coração, nunca esqueça isso.
- Flávia Peixoto. Obrigada por me encontrar em Copa quando cheguei à cidade e ainda ficava bem triste por sentir saudade do marido. Obrigada por me leval para conhecer muitos lugares lindos. Obrigada por me apresentar à sua família tão gentil e legal, incluindo a sua linda irmã Paula. Te quero demais, amiga!
- Ana Flávia. Amiginha!!! Não vou escrever nada que você não sabe!!! Obrigada por esta nova amizade preciosa. Graças a você, o meu estadio aqui no Brasil não foi bom, foi ótimo Vou sentir tanta saudade de você e a Sosso. Te espero em abril...
- Tânia Bastos. Obrigada pela aula tão animada, divertida, educativa, e interessante. Meu português melhorou muito em pouco tempo. Você é sensacional!
- Ana Fletcher. If it weren’t for you, I am not sure I would have visited Santa Teresa. I surely wouldn’t have had such a nice time. So glad we were able to connect through sweet Juliana. Best of wishes to you in all of your upcoming changes.
- All my classmates and the IBEU staff. <3 li="" nbsp="">
Now, onto the less mushy stuff...Brazil! I started this blog
in 2009 when I was a very young lady off to explore South America mostly by
myself. Six years later, I am leave Brazil, where I spent a month and a half
living in Rio studying advanced Portuguese. This is experience was very interesting and
different for me because
1. I have never “lived” outside of the US (had a
routine, home, etc.) and
2. Brazil is the most developed country I have ever
been to outside of the US.
Because it’s so developed (in comparison to the other big
cities in countries I have visited) it’s an easy country to navigate,
especially if you speak Portuguese. Public bathrooms function well and a
relatively clean (again, in comparison with other tropical countries I have
been to).
Before arriving in Rio, I was very crazily warned about
crime, especially in Copacabana where I would be staying. I try to take this
with a big grain of salt, as this is the mantra all over Latin America. And I
think it’s a human thing – hazard bias – you hear about the bad and it sticks.
With that said, I was a little paranoid for the first few days. It wore off as
I became very comfortable with my surroundings. Big cities can be dangerous, in
most places in the world, and Rio is no exception.
I came to Rio at a very interesting time. They just hosted
the world cup (2014) and will be hosting the summer olympics next year (2016).
So there is a ton of construction projects all over the city. It’s also an
interesting time because Dilma is just getting slammed for the olympics,
inflation, the PetroBras scandal, etc. How much is really her fault and how
much is a remnant of Lula’s doing? Not sure, but it was Lula that won the spot
for the world cup and olympics. In any case, it was an interesting time to be
in Rio for sure.
The people: Amazing. So kind. BORN to talk. Very very
helpful. Met few mean people. And yes, there are a lot of beautiful women. Men
are highly outnumbered. Rio is a haven for dating/ficar-ing, partying, and
casual flinging. People seem to be uninterested in settling down into their
30s.
The food: I loved it. It’s similar to other parts of Latin
America in that rice, beans, and meat are staples and bread is pretty much
reserved for the morning. The red meat was out of this world. I ate lots of
file mignon. The big difference between other Latin American countries that I
noticed was the abundance of vegetables. At most restaurants the salad was dark,
fresh, and abundant. I loved that. Cheap pay by the kilo churrascarias
(barbeque) are pretty much brilliant.
The nightlife: Fun. Lots of everything. What’s hard for me
is that everything starts so late. Like 12 or 1 kind of late, which means the
next day is lost whether or not you drink. For me it’s not ideal, since I like
to be able to go out and dance for a few hours and come home long before the
sun comes up. But, that’s hard to find. With that said, there are lots of small
bars and shows with music that get started a little earlier, but generally
speaking nightlife happens LATE.
Leaving Rio: I went to Buzios and Petrópolis for weekend
trips. Both cool, both worth it. My friends’ family has a house in Buzios so
that was super nice.
Buying stuff:
- Ladies, get waxed. It will be the best decision. So cheap, and much quicker and less painful than in the US and other Latin American countries. Cariocas have this shit down to an exact science.
- Buy shoes. They are cheaper, lighter, cuter, and better than in the US. Leather is cheap.
- Bikinis. Duh. Not THAT much cheaper but yes, get those bikini bottoms so you can get those white cheeks some color. Hehe.
- Cangas. These are the sarongs that Brazilians use to lay on at the beach. Beautiful and about $8 each.
- Eat: Lots of churrasco, file mignon, feijoada, açai, [creme de e suco de] maracuja, pão de queijo, tapioca, brigadeiro, coxinha, and pasteis (savory).
Overall, I loved my time and feel like my Portuguese improved
(yay!). Rio is probably the most beautiful metropolis that I have ever been to.
Many agree – it’s simply marvelous. Brazil is a fascinating country – and like
most big countries – filled with diversity and stark contrasts. Desert, Amazon,
swamp, ocean...dirt poor to filthy rich. People who LOVE football and HATE
football. Rio is a city that’s hard to work in, since it’s so beautiful. It’s
so easy to ditch any homework for a day of sports, beach, or lounging in a
bar-zinho to chat and drink chopp/beer. Brazilians know this – if you want to
work “hard” it’s probably better to head to São Paulo.
Amazing country, people, food, city...thank you RIO.
Some neat videos:
1. Old video of Donald Duck meeting Jose Carioca
2. The video that helped win Rio the spot for the 2016 Olympics
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