Rio de Janeiro. June 29 - July 2nd, 2009

Rio de Janeiro, June 29th, 2009

I must admit after all of the horror stories and red flags and warnings I was a bit nervous to travel alone to Rio. At the end of my first day here I would like to contest that (in my opinion thus far) Rio de Janeiro is about as dangerous as a grasshopper. I spent the day walking along the beach with my new friend Dona Carmen. She’s 86 and MAN can she walk… we walked all the way from Copacabana to Ipanema (wow. I’ve always wanted to name those two beaches in the same sentence) That evening I was toast, however, Dona Carmen’s daughter, Anita, offered to take me out with her nephew, Junior (he’s around my age) we did a “driving tour” of the hotspots in Rio and ended up down by Praia Vermelha (Red beach – it’s really not that red, more of a brownish color). Looking up you can see the mile long stretch of cable that takes the tram to the top of “Pão de Acucar” (Sugarloaf). This must be the highest couple of mountain peaks in Rio and the tram takes you to both, it’s pretty stunningly beautiful.

So, we noticed that there were some musicians setting up on the beach and Anita asked what the deal was. Apparently every Monday and Wednesday night this group of various musicians get together to perform an impromptu concert on the beach (or rather on the stone walkway right above stairs to walk down to the beach) They were playing typical Brazilian tunes – jobim, vinicius de moraes – all my heroes. When Anita mentioned that I was a singer as well, they invited me to sit in as an “invited international guest.” So… towards the end of the concert I hopped on up and played “Girl from Ipanema” (in Portuguese & English) “Mais que nada,” “Agua de beber”, and the new song I recently wrote in Portuguese called “Pode ser.” Playing along with the other musicians was a blast and my music was really well received. It was a total highlight moment and a great way to spend my first night in Rio… just what I had always imagined Rio to be like. Full of music, culture, and history. It is so very very beautiful here. The landscape is just stunning. It’s also very sad. Rio is home to Rocinha, the largest favela in all of Brazil. The startling contrast between social classes here is disconcerting, and the corruption is apparent, even are poorest poor in the US are not this poor or desperate for that matter.







Anyways… moving on… we had dinner on a restaurant along Copacabana beach. It was crazy to be there after hearing about it for so many years, the Copacabana hotel is so gorgeous, hopefully when I’m rich and famous like Madonna I can afford to stay there for $3,000 a night (although truthfully if I ever DID have that much money, I definitely wouldn’t blow it on a place to sleep)

So we headed back to Dona Carmen’s little apartment in Tijuca (a neighborhood more towards the center of the city… pretty safe, residential) I fell asleep quickly because I was so excited to move to my new “home for two days” Anita’s nieces apartment (Carol) which is located just blocks from Ipanema beach! Tall and tan and young and lovely, the girl from Ipanema goes walking . . . . la la la la la la la la la la la llllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Umm. Sorry, got carried away. I <3 Vinicius de Moraes & Tom Jobim.

[From this date on there will be no original photos or videos for a little while as my camera was stolen before I had a chance to upload, I promise I'll still make it interesting for you]

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Since Carol was receiving a group of 23 missionaries from her sister church in Orlando, and they just happened to be hitting up the two tourist locations that I was dying to visit “Pão de acucar” and “Corcovado”… She took me to meet up with them then promised to meet me later for dinner at the church then I could stay at her house. This was a very nice offer, however, for those of you who know me, 10 hours on a van with American Christian Missionaries is not exactly my idea of a good time.

Luckily this group was very sweet, they were also very very American. The conversation revolved around the following topics: Desperately wanting a burger and fries, Saved by the bell, not understanding or caring to understand Portuguese, and how all Brazilians are dangerous.

Hmmmmm. It was a bit nauseating to be perfectly honest and it reminded me of all of the things I don't love about the United States. Furthermore this was the first time I had needed to speak English in nearly 3 weeks, so it was just… weird.

After lunch we arrived to the famous tourist destination: Pão de Acucar (sugarloaf) – it’s an skyline tram that takes people from sea level to the top of the tallest mountain peak – then across to the top of an equally tall peak. I have absolutely no clue as to how they rigged this thing way up there but it is so so so so beautiful. I must have taken a hundred pictures up there just trying to capture the spread of landscape that makes up Rio’s coast line – then of course – there is the statue of Christ the redeemer looming ahead at all times – great protector of the city of sin. We visited both mountain peaks and just as the sun was setting I was able to snap some phenomenal sunset shots of the coast. It was truly a special moment for me to finally be there after so many years of dreaming about that very moment. Here's a photo I found online to give you an idea... no it doesn't compare at all to the many priceless photos that I took on my camera which most likely now belongs to a dirty, barefoot four-year old, or a monkey.


We headed back to the vans and up to Corcovado in the hopes of seeing the monument. When we got there, however, it had closed two minutes prior and we were unable to ascend. Boo. I was pretty upset, but I did my best to hide it.

We drove to the church where the Brazilians had prepared this amazing dinner/party for the missionary group. It was awkward as everyone was coming up to me (assuming I was also a missionary from Florida) and wading through their English in an attempt to greet me. I tried to explain that I spoke Portuguese and that I actually wasn’t part of the group. No use, I had entered with the group, therefore, I was one of them. I sat alone on one side of a table, ate quietly, and read my Brazilian fashion mag in silence.

We headed home and I told myself that tomorrow would be the best day yet since I was going to spend it on Ipanema beach!!!

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009.

I was robbed today. It was rough. I was on the beach on Ipanema and I got up to do some stretching and exercises in front of my towel... I apparently was being cased and even though it was probably only 30 seconds that i looked away from my purse (which I had put into a hole that I dug, little good it did)

Here is the sequence of events post - robbery. I stand there completely baffled due to the fact that my entire life was in that purse (i know i know, i never meant to stay at the beach, but it was so beautiful i thought weeeellll, i can just lay down for a few minutes as long as i'm right next to my bag) then i got comfortable, let my guard down, and turned my back on my belongings. My mistake. Point taken. At least I wasn't physically harmed. Moving on.

A young carioca (probably about my age) approached me - oh by the way "carioca" refers to some one from Rio de Janeiro... Anyways, he could see I was distressed and knew I had been robbed, his girlfriend was American and they both felt terrible so they walked with me to find the nearest police officer. After a block or so we flagged down a cop and I jumped in the back of the car. We headed back to the beach to see if I could spot the guys that I knew were casing me. They were long gone. We headed to the "tourist police station" yes, in Rio, crimes against tourists are so common that there is an entire building dedicated to dealing with such crimes. I started a police report, got a hold of my mom to help me cancel my US bank cards and then faced the shocking reality that I had NO US passport and was supposed to travel to Bahia the next morning. I was basically invisible... by some twist of fate, my only friend in Rio, Anita, called the tourist police station looking for me after she heard what happened from a neighbor and she offered to meet me at the US Consolate.

Here is the twist. The US Consolate was about to close and if I didn't get there before 3:30pm there was no way they could issue me an emergency passport. So they called a private police escort for me and I waited on pins and needles until they arrived.

When they arrived these two scary looking Brazilians got out of the car, one of them was this tough looking black woman, with really kind eyes... I looked at her, my eyes filling with tears, and said, we have 20 minutes to get to a place that's 30 minutes away. She grabbed my arm, looked me in the eyes and said "oh, don't worry, we'll get you there, get in the car" - what happened next can only be compared to a chase scene out of one of the Lethal Weapon movies. Sirens blaring, obscenities being shouted out of the window, driving down one way streets, over medians, around trees. And then their is little American me holding on for dear life in the back of this cop car, with my fingers nearly bleeding due to how tightly I was holding on. The most surreal part of this journey was when we reached this tunnel packed with traffic and the siren echoed loudly off of the walls. My driver had no intention of stopping due to the wall of traffic ahead of us and I just watched in amazement as the sea of cars parted like the red sea. It was insane.

When I arrived at the consulate I was very well attended (believe it or not, Brazilians actually really like Americans) My friend Anita loaned me the money to complete the process, as I still had no way of retrieving cash, and within an hour I had a crisp and lovely temporary US Passport (I hadn't shown a thread of identity - they took my word for it).

I was tired, sad, and looked like a 90 year old street worker after the day I had had, however, Anita insisted on taking me to Corcovado to see the statue of christ... I just couldn't leave Rio without completing that mission. For me, seeing this magnificent sight without a camera is nearly pointless. It was absolutely one of the most stunning things I have ever seen. Not just the monument but the view of the city at night. Absolutely beautiful. I vow to go back and take 100 pictures someday. For now, here are a couple of shots from a camera phone as well as a couple of photos I downloaded off of the internet that capture very well what I saw.



I said a little prayer, cried a bit from relief and then we headed back to the car. As we were driving back to Carol's house (where I would be staying that night) we got a call from the Copacabana police saying that my passport, driver's license and some other documents had been turned in by someone off the street. Yipee. We headed straight to the station... here is why this is fabulous news. My original passport contains my 5-year Brazilian visa (which was a pain in the ass to get and says that for the next 5 years I can travel in Brazil for up to 3 months at a time anytime) The fact that I was able to regain possession of this eliminated a myriad of problems for me. So, we were happy, we ate Italian food before heading back to the police station to finish the police report.

At the end of the day, I had really only lost my camera, my wallet, some important contacts, some makeup and other personal items... but truthfully, looking back, it could have been SO much worse. I'm just so lucky to be healthy, safe and have enough money to get me through these next four days in Bahia until I fly home to São Paulo where a new bank card will be waiting for me - thanks mom!

Phew. boy did I learn my lesson. moving on.

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009.

I'm not going to lie, today is hard. I’m wary of everyone, I’m devastated that I’m about to visit a city that I’ve always dreamed of visiting with no camera to record its beauty, and I feel horribly horribly vulnerable. When I travel, I take it upon myself to remain very very strong at all times (even in the face of devastating circumstances). This is really the only way to keep my head above water. Furthermore, the moment I let my emotions take over it is very hard to move forward and I just want to curl up in a little ball until my mommy comes to rescue me. I didn’t cry much during the whole episode yesterday, and I have to admit, under the circumstances, I am surprised by my own strength, calm and perseverance. I can definitely say with confidence that there is something great about traveling with a companion, and I am looking forward to coming back to Rio accompanied at a later date.

Despite everything that happened yesterday, I really like Brazil. The people are so loving and warm. It’s truly a pretty great country, I had no idea. I mean of course I had romantic ideas about what it must be like here, but after spending this much time totally immersed in the culture and people it’s easy to see why most Brazilians are wildly patriotic (aside from their soccer obsession). The rivalry between Brazil and Argentina is also really interesting, especially because I’m headed to Buenos Aires to live for a while. The majority of Brazilians that I have met think I’m silly to be moving to a country where the people are so cold and arrogant. I understand the argentine stereotype, but hey, there are cold and arrogant people in EVERY country and the people that I happen to know in Argentina are pretty grand, just like the people I have been so blesses to meet here in Brazil. So I think I’ll just keep living my between cultures lifestyle and see if I can’t do my part to bridge the gap and misjudgments.