Rio

So, I'm really behind in this blogging but February, besides being shorter, has also been incredibly crazy. The first weekend, I went to Rio with Belo Brasil, as an exchange student trip. It was really cool and there were about 64 exchange students from Rotary and AFS. We stayed in this hotel on Copacabana, ironically named Hotel Mirasol, almost the name of my city. But there were a whole bunch of people I knew, from my district and from the US. There were also four Wisconsinites, which was kind of crazy, I mean, let's be real, no one has ever heard of Wisconsin and here we are in Rio in four. There was also a healthy dose of Thai folk. Consequently, everyone started conversations with me in Thai, followed by a confused look on my part, more confusion in their part, and usually a clarification in English. A majority of this trip was English, to be honest, and there were Thai students who were speaking better Portuguese than the Americans, sad fact cuz the American couldn't put together a single sentence in Portuguese. 

Anyways, I found myself good friends with a girl from Stevens Point and another from Iceland, as well as the Italians in general, who were the only country to speak Portuguese.

But as for what we did:

The day we arrived, we went and swam in the hotel, ate dinner, then walked along the sidewalk near Copacabana.

The next day we walked through the historical central of Rio, which is really cool, but better described in pictures. There was also a Starbucks, which all the Americans started screaming about. After this we went to some mall to eat (a very expensive) lunch and wander around, while people bought r$100 mascara and brasil jerseys that cost r$200. After lunch we went to the Pão de Açucar which you get to via cable car and it's pretty, but honestly I think they stay kinda cool and get increasingly cooler throughout the trip. Also I forgot, we went to this super cool staircase with tiles from all over the world and it's huge, but also better describable in pictures. Then we ate dinner and went to this feirinha to buy cheap souvenirs from Rio.

Day two, we started off...ok, to be honest, I'm a little bit lost as to when we did what after this but we went to Praia de Ipanema, which was cool but it was Friday morning so there was essentially no one there. We also went to this military fort thing and the cool part there was going up on top and looking out over the ocean.

I think it was this day that we also went to a favela, and the one we went to was famous because Michael Jackson filmed a music video there for a song "They Don't Care About Us" http://youtu.be/QNJL6nfu__Q. And in this favela, which was one of the better ones that exis, you're not allowed to photograph any of the residents; just the things. Honestly though, I did t even bring a camera, and it felt kind of invasive to be there. Like, all the residents were super used to it and waited for our group of 70 to pass instead of trying to push through the crowd, and supposedly our money goes to better the place, but this being said...it felt invasive and disrespectful nonetheless. 

Oh also, after this we had a samba and funk class...haha...samba is hard and let's not talk about funk...ha....

Day 3: 

Today we started out at Cristo Redentor, by far my favorite location of the trip. You go up by train, for like half an hour then there are tons of shops that sell exactly the same things for exactly the same overpriced prices on the way to Cristo. There, there are tons and tons of people taking pictures, and the trick is zoom way out and lie on your back because Cristo is huge...like I'm pretty sure there isn't a part of Rio from which you can't see him. As unreligious as I am, it's impossible to not admit that it's and pretty incredible landmark...more so than the Statue of Liberty, and comparable with the Eifel Tower, in my opinion, at least.

After this, we went to Maracanã but weren't allowed in to look around because it was a game day. However, we went and bought tickets for the game, which was Flamengo vs. Fluminense, the two biggest teams in Rio de Janeiro. We chose to root for Flamengo, as they are more popular.

After this, we went to Copacana, which was super close and super crowded as it was Sarurday afternoon. Then we all grouped up for the game and the lucky few of us who were ready early got to go on the bus of the Northeast Dream Trip 3 and didn't have to pay for a van, as this wasn't part of the normal schedule. But anyways, so we met up with the dream trippers, and there were even more people who I knew, from my district here and another girl who I met in the Dallas airport on my way here (weird, right?) Anyways, Flamengo lost 0-3 and after the second goal, half the stadium got up and walked out in frustration. 

Anyways, after this, we went back to the hotel and ate pizza. Afterwards, people were all signing things and being thrown in the pool and the Belo people tried to make people calm down but eventually they gave up in mild amusement and left us to our chaos. Then they tried to announce departure times but after like half they told the first group to leave so everyone started crying and hugging and after about and hour of this, they got a bit annoyed, since half the people still didn't know what time they were leaving. But anyways, the next morning we got up at like 4 in the morning to see the people before they left, and to leave ourselves and on the flight back, I had a bunch of people on the first one to Campinas, and two from my district to Rio Preto. 

Also, the Shihan, like the master from karate, was on the flight from Campinas to Rio Preto. I almost had a heart attack I was so surprised. But anyways, I went to this future outbound orientation where they chose their countries for next year. It's different, because they have this test and the people who score highest on the test choose first from available vacancies and they all go up on stage and announce the country they want and whether to send their application now or wait.

Also this year, a vacancy opened for Taiwan and no one was choosing it so the district chair went up promoting t and I said ok next person up is going to choose Taiwan because of her doing this. I was right. And not impressed. Whatever, this kid'll figure it out eventually.