Maxing out on fun

AWOOOOOOOO! Has it been a week and a half already? It really feels like ten. Here's some highlights from the past week.

Saturday 3/3: Emporio in IPANEMA

So on Saturday our hostel was suddenly packed with people and they were all looking to crew up and have a good time (I hate these kinds of people...OHHHH!). Met a bunch of Germans, Norwegian girls and Australians and headed out to the party in Ipanema. We got there and entered the bar, but then quickly walked back out. Por que? Porque there was a van literally half a block away on the street selling beers for more than half off the bar prices. Worst part - they let you bring the beers from the street into the bar. Just like in the USA. Unfortunately forgot my camera, but there's always more where that came from.


Sunday 3/4: BAILE FUNK (Favela Funk Party!)

So the favela was calling my name on Sunday, where every week they throw a HUGE party. Funk (as characterized by the nonstop CHA CHA...CHA - ear blasting music) is the music of the lower classes, and these lower classes can get LOW LOW LOW. The hostel offers a R$70 ($45 USD) tour, since the favela is a shanty town and infamous for being dangerous. After signing up and paying, we find that some of our hostel-mates have canceled our reservation, saying they have another guide who can get us in for a fraction of the price. However, the bargain price means a lot more people are coming, from about 6-7 to about 27. Check us out in this little mini-van taxi:

After a fiasco of a trip (even though we had Portuguese speakers, getting to the favela at night is scary business), we arrived and had a casual huddle before stepping into the favela. In this picture, we had a guide surprised by how many of us there were, and telling us (English, Irish and Americans) to watch ourselves and be on our best behavior (i.e. don't get toooo drunk and aggressive. bad things can happen).


We then walked through a police barrier where they all had AK-47's draped around their necks. SAFE. After all that hype and concern, this place turned out to be HOT and CRAZY, just how I imagined it. Here's me (sporting the stylish workout dri-fit shirt) and my homie from Birmingham, England, BEN:

Me, Andreia (South Brazil) and Kelsi (not "Kayli", as mentioned from previous post) and some background dudes. Why can't people you give your camera to frame a picture well???
Me and Martine (Norway):We ended up piling back into the minivan and getting home safe and sound. So much for the danger. Worst part was that I literally couldn't hear anything for at least a day.

Monday: Early rise for the view of a lifetime (for some). SUGAR LOAF!!! Major nerves since I was going to get on the Rio Bus system (confusing and no portuguese to help me navigate once I'm on) by myself and get some shots from atop the Pao do Acucar. Luckily the directions from the hostel reception were right on and I was there in no time. R$53 (Muito Caro!) to take both cable car lifts up Sugar Loaf levels 1 and 2.

Hung around the top for a few hours and just soaked in the D!!! It was beautiful, but I wish it wasn't so cloudy/hazy. The pictures obviously didn't do it justice. Check out the little monkeys (about the size of a squirrel) that I saw hanging around on level 1.




Later that day, I got back to Copacabana and joined some of the hostel people on a walk down the beach to catch the sunset at the Arpoador (a big, China Walls-like rock that sits in between Copa and Ipanema beaches). This place is great for watching some crazy surfers handle their business.

Here's an early sunset picture:


Here's me (a little blurry as taken by my boy Tiago from Sao Paulo):

Here's Tiago (in the kind of picture I was asking him to take of ME):

and here's the very end of the sunset - check out the favela lights coming on in the mountain to the right:

Tuesday: MELT in Leblon

I don't even want to mention this one. It was like a CLUB from LA/SF/Anywhere in the states that was terrible. Back to chest with other people the whole night, ID required for the first time since the airport, and free caipirinhas only til midnight (I'm growing to hate these things). A few beers before leaving the hostel, about 5 free caipirinhas and a major crowd made me feel sick, so I ended up leaving after about 2 hours. All was well, got home and had a major hangover the next day.

Wednesday:
Absolutely nothing. Sat around the hostel all day and drank water, trying to get rid of my headache and find a way to not succumb to a cold that had been making its way into my body. Although it was a nice switch, it was bad timing for me to move to a room with air conditioning as it seemed to make my cold symptoms worse.

Went with a few people out to a churrascaria (think Rei Do Gado), where I ate my first real meal of the day. I tend to eat big, meaty meals on the queasiest of stomachs. Had my first MMD (mid-meal dook) in Brazil, and ended up with a ton of leftover eat on a plate. Cy Young. Not bad, but not as good as the US churrasco's i've been to. RDG fo life!


Thursday:
Decided it was time for a change in location. Many people I considered friends left the day before, and with an influx of Spanish speakers who were not very outgoing to the English speakers (What's up with these peeps from Chile???), I joined some people in a quest for a hostel in Ipanema. Walked our way up and into a random hostel in an alley that contains about 12 of them. Saw the room, tested the mattresses, good to go! Booked rooms and went out to the beach where my skin took a beating from the sun. I like Ipanema way better.

Returned back to the hostel and crewed up with the Germans, a guy from BsAs, and a girl from London to head to STADIUM RIO (ENGENHAO) for my first FUTBOL (Soccer!) match between FLAMENGO and EMELEC (Ecuador's second-best team.) Since the world-famous Maracana Stadium was being renovated for the World Cup in 2014, we had to trek out to the outskirts of RIO via the metro/train. Luckily, we were able to hook up with some English speaking-Cariocas (people from Rio) who were nice enough to help us get there safely and buy some tickets from the scalpers. At first, the tickets would not run through the machine, which made all the fans behind us start yelling and screaming "Stupid Gringos" or "F-ing Americanos", and made some of us scared for our lives. We calmly exited the line and found a machine that worked, and we were on our way. Running up a major spiral walkway to get to the seats, we finally arrived:





Ronaldinho (Flamengo) scored the only goal of the match (my first live match/goal, and it was in Brazil by Ronaldinho!) to lead the Brazilians to victory, 1-0. Casual trains back to the hostel, stopped in at McDo for McChicken meal #2.

Awesome times so far!

Miss you all and hope you're doing well! Until next time, Ate Mais Tarde!