In Copa- Copacabana!

Yesterday was such a long day. We started it off early by jumping in a bus towards Rio de Janeiro. We started up the coast, then country side, then Rio. The tall buildings of the city lie right next to the beach and back up into the steep hills. The first day was foggy and everyone was so anxious to see Christ the Redeemer on the mountaintop. Our hotel, the Atlantico Copacabana is in the beach town of Copacabana and the first thing we did was walk to the beach. Oh- after buying a pair of Havianas (my tevas are dead). Havianas are flip flops made in Brasil. They are comfy and were really cheap.

At the beach we ordered coconut water and the guy (literally) threw the coconut up in the air, chopped his knife a few times and stuck a straw in the green nut. All three of us laughed. Steph and I got churros from a street vendor and Doreen and I got acai. Acai is a local fruit that is served like a smoothie. It is really dark and we ate it with granola. We had dinner at a churrascaria last night. The restaurant was all you can eat and we did just that. There was a salad bar with sushi and then they bring out big hunks of meat and cut off pieces onto your plate. Everything was sooooo good.

We woke up full this morning so we walked to the top of our building (15 flights) to see if we could see the Christo. We couldn’t see him, because there was a whole lot of fog. I spotted it as soon as we climbed in the tour van for our city tour. We went to visit him first and on the way up we spotted some monkeys. The driver asked if anyone had a banana and I did, so we fed it to the monkeys so they would stick around long enough for us all to take pictures. The views from there were great and then we went up into the fog. The Christo was awesome, but it was so foggy at times we could not even see it. We got some good pictures and then headed out. We stopped to take pictures of a favella on the way down. A favella is Rio´s shanty towns. I think there are 3 and this one- well, let´s just say: If you must live in the slums, this one has the best view.

Unfortunately the futbol stadium was closed so we moved on to where they hold the Carnival in Rio each year. All the women tried on mock costumes and danced around while the men took pictures. We visited the ´new´ Cathedral (there must be and old one). It was circular with four huge stained glass windows. I can not even explain it, you all will have to see the pictures. We drove through Ipanema and the group ate lunch in Copacabana. Since we had brought snacks, we walked down to the fort that sits on a peninsula between Copacabana and Ipanema. Last stop was the Sugar Loaf or Pao de Acucar. The views were phenomenal since the sky had cleared. To end the day trip, Doreen donated some money to a metallic street performer. She gave Doreen a kiss on the hand and a little ring for a souvenir.

All three of us love Rio so far and are definitely excited about the weather. The weather in Rio is what we expected for the rest of the cities that we visited, so we finally get to wear something other than our jeans and jackets. We only have 2 days left, but we still have a lot planned. We are going out tonight to learn Samba (typical Brazilian dance). Tomorrow we are going to a futbol game and I want to pick up a Caipirinha. (A Caipirinha is a Brazilian mixed drink that is made with lime, sugar and a liquor made from cane sugar.)