Going Away Party in RIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday night was a very sad but fun night as it was my last night in RIO... The hostel threw me an amazing going away party!!! There was a BBQ and then some other tourists were playing guitar and it was just so much fun and a good send off from RIO although I have been sad since I`ve left... I made some amazing friends there and plan on coming back next year hopefully to work at the hostel that I stayed at for a few months... Rio definitely is a magical place as my brother put it... It`s like nothing else you`ve ever seen or experienced in your life........... The night ended at about 4am when I decided to go to bed since I had to wake up at 10am to get ready to go to the airport......... My next goal is to make it back to RIO to work... Too bad that I couldn`t stay on now but I have other commitments to attend to in the United States soon after I get home............ There`s always next time!!! :`(

Mais Novas Amizades!!!

Here are just a few more of the many new friendships I have made from staying at the Che Lagarto Copacabana Hostel and around Rio for 3 weeks now... It has been an amazing experience, and I really hope that these will be lasting friendships... They will be on my end as we have shared many great experiences together... Tomorrow I depart Rio, and it will be sad to leave, but I won´t say goodbye... I´ll just say see you later either in Rio or another part of the world!!! ;)

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL--Copacabana & Ipanema Beaches

The other day, a friend that I met at the hostel and I decided to go and take a walk from Copacabana to Ipanema taking pictures along the way... It was a very nice walk as it had been raining during days prior and the weather turned out to be nice that day... These are two of the most famous beaches in the world and I have been staying about 4 blocks up the street from Copacabana Beach (La Praia) for the past three weeks... It has been an amazing experience and I hope to be able to come back to my friend´s wedding in Sao Paulo next year and then stay on to work in Rio for the summer... We shall see what my situation is like in the United States by then, but that is yet another dream that I have... Life is full of dreams that you have to try to make become a reality!!!

Partying in RIO!!!!!!!!!

Well, despite the rain, a few of us from the hostel decided to be strong and head out for a night on the town in Rio on Wednesday night... We started out by going to have a Caipirinha (the typical Brazilian drink) or two at one of the stands on Copacabana beach and then we went to hit up some bars... We met up with some other people from the hostel at one of the bars and then just a couple of us went to Emporio, a bar in Ipanema for the rest of the night... The night ended in the wee hours of the morning... Fun night!!! :)

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL--Botanical Gardens

On Tuesday, one of my friends friend´s offered to take me out in Rio to show me around a bit more... He picked me up at about 9am and took me to the Botanical Gardens, which were HUGE and very beautiful... You can see the Christ statue in the background from parts of the gardens as well... It was a nice day too which made it even more fun since for two days after we went it was raining... Brazilians are very nice and welcoming which makes it a wonderful country to be in as well as the other amazing things that the country has to offer... :)

JOB OFFER IN RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

WOW!!! So I got a job offer at the hostel that I am staying at in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil... I became friends with all of the people at the hostel since I have been staying here for almost three weeks, and I was always joking around with the manager who kept on saying "why don´t you stay and work with me?" I kind of thought that it was a joke until yesterday when she pulled me aside and she told me that she just spoke to the owner about having me work with them and he said that that was fine... I guess that they would give me a deal and pay me more than some of the other tourists who worked there, but unfortunately I had to decline the offer... They would also give me a free room, breakfast, internet, discounts at the bar, etc... I would love to stay but I have one of my bestfriend, Jeff´s, wedding to attend a few days after I get home... I told her that I will probably be back in Brazil next year since one of my friends is getting married, and maybe I could work for the summer depending on what my situation was in the United States... She was very happy and told me to stay in touch and we´ll figure something out... It was a huge compliment for me to be offered the job although I can´t accept it right now... I am currently trying to change my ticket to go back to Santiago from Saturday to sometime next week because it is supposed to be pretty cold in Chile now, and I want to stay more time in the warm weather and I´m having a great time and meeting such great people, but we shall see what happens... ;)

Cockroach Drama

Oh My God!!! I almost had a heart attack yesterday when I went up to my room to use the bathroom and a huge cockroach ran out from underneath one of the mats... I managed to kill it although it took some fighting... First I broke his leg and he started limping away and then finally I got the rest of him and his life came to an end... Then I came downstairs and mentioned it to my friends who work here as well as other guests, and they started laughing and said that they´re everywhere and sometimes they find rats coming into the hostel area from off the street as well... I realize that cockroaches are everywhere in this type of living arrangement but I DID NOT want to be sleeping with one last night............. No more drama!!! Why am I always the one confronted with drama??? As J puts it "No more Latin drama..." ;)

Gays, Lesbians, and ME

Last night was a very different night in Rio... Tamara, one of the women who works at the hostel, told a lot of us about a party that was up the street from the hostel so it was within walking distance... It was to our surprise after we go there that it was primarily a gay and lesbian party... We were all drinking and having a good time and there were about 2 others (one guy and one girl) from our group that were straight as well... It was really funny when I walked outside with one of the guys I was with and two people started talking to us (a guy and a girl)... Then Ian, the other straight person from the hostel, started messing around with them (he had already had quite a bit to drink) and saying that I was his fiancé and that we were getting married in August and were just here on vacation... They then got a bit defensive and the girl said "don´t worry! I like girls and he likes guys... This is the type of party that you are at!!" Of course we knew that but had already had a bit to drink so we were just joking around with them... It was a very interesting night!!! I think that tonight will be back to the Lapa where there are lots of clubs and bars and partying as always!!!

NUEVAS AMISTADES

Since arriving at the Che Lagarto Copacabana hostel about 8 days ago, I have made many new friends (both Brazilian´s and other tourists from various other countries around the world)... It´s like a family in this hostel, and everyone is sooooooooooo friendly... We have been going out to party together with the other tourists as well as staff members at the hostel... It´s great because the staff know Rio very well, so they know exactly where to go out and just take us under their wing in a way... I think that on Friday one of the Mexican staff members is going to be leaving (back to Mexico or another country), so we are probably going to go out on Thursday to wish him farewell... Continuing to live it up COMPLETELY!!!!!!

Spanish VS. Portuguese

I must be getting a Portuguese accent or something when I speak Spanish because I have had about 3 different people compliment me on how good my Portuguese is... Meanwhile I don´t speak any Portuguese (only a few words) and am speaking Spanish to them the whole time although I am beginning to understand the Portuguese better after being in Brazil for more than 2 weeks now... Maybe it comes from being around a lot of people who speak Portuguese..... Not sure, but very interesting!!!

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL--Favela Tour

Today I went on a tour of the biggest Favela in Rio (about 300,000 people) called Rocinha... The Favelas in Rio are also the most famous in Brazil!!! Now, you might ask, "what is a Favela?" A Favela is basically a slum in a city although they can be anywhere... I didn´t want to tell anyone at home that I was going to see one because I didn´t want to freak anyone out... I was actually scared about going to one when I first got to Rio until I met some people who had been on the tours and said that it´s a "must do" tour... I got picked up from my hostel by the guide who does these tours twice daily and then we hopped on motorcycles to take us up to the top of the Favela and we made our way down by walking... These motorcycle drivers are crazy and I thought that I was going to die at certain moments, but it was really fun... Then the guide gave us some instructions and told us that we could take pictures except of people with guns or people dealing drugs... Also, the kids LOVE getting their picture taken because all foreigners to them are GRINGOS so their idea is that they will later be on television and become famous... SO CUTE!!! We went to a daycare, which is where the kids are able to be cared for while the parents are working or looking for work... It was very dirty and smelled like a sewer!!! The head guy of this Favela is 24 years old and makes about $4 million monthly... Of course he makes this money from dealing drugs... He was made the head guy after the last one was killed when he was 26 years old... They also probably get this status after they have also killed someone... Pretty sad!!! The last section that we walked through was where the drug dealings occur and you could see people smoking marijuana, and I also saw this guy with a gun attached to his belt... And all I have to say is why do bad things happen to good people??? As we were walking back to the car, I noticed that the bracelet that my friend, Yuko´s, mother gave me in Japan had fallen off... It must have gotten caught on something, but it´s a big bummer!!! It´s a crazy way of living, but was an amazing experience for me to take part in!!!

ONLY IN BRAZIL!!!

Last night I went out in Lapa (a part of Rio) with some people that I met at the hostel, and we had LOTS of fun... First of all, I am still getting used to the fact that it seems like all over South America things don´t really get going until after about 2am (I´m used to things CLOSING at 2am...Hehehe), so of course we just hung out and drank at the hostel until about 1:30am and then we got in taxis to go to hit up Lapa... When we got there we first went to this one bar that had live music and it reminded me of what Bob Marley days were probably like... Then we walked back to the main street and heard some music so we started dancing ON THE STREET!!! Eventually the DJ came over and told us to move closer... The thing that I didn´t realize at first was that the DJ was playing out of a garage type place (not a club) and there were women selling beer next to him... So we all continued to dance as a group as well as with other Brazilians who were sooooooooooooo much fun!!!!!!!!!!! The night ended at about 5:30am when we got back to the hostel...... ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS THAT BRAZILIANS DEFINITELY KNOW HOW TO PARTY!!!!!

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL--El Corcovado

Since it is raining today, I decided to take some time to update my blog... Yesterday I went with an American girl from California that I met in the hostel to see the Corcovado which is the Christ statue overlooking RIO!!! It was a cultural experience and something to see in Rio, so we decided to go even though she is Jewish and I am not religious..... :) We had a great time though!!! A driver drove us up to the top and also stopped off on another lookout point which had views of the Pão de Açucar (Sugar Loaf) and the Maracaná statium (probably the most famous soccer statium in the world)... That landing also had monkeys that would eat pieces of banana out of your hand... My brother definitely knows that I like monkeys a lot after our India trip... Hehehe!!! There was also a monkey sitting on the roof of the snack bar at the bottom when we finished viewing the Corcovado, so one of the guys who worked in the snack bar gave him two bananas..... Very cute!!!!!!

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL--Pão de Açucar

Rio de Janeiro is one of the most BEAUTIFUL places I have ever seen!!!!!!!!! Wow!!! Yet another absolutely amazing place... Today I went to Pão de Açucar with Samantha, the American girl that I met in Foz, and we had a blast... She arrived in Rio on Friday as well and stayed at another hotel for one night and then came to join me at the Aproador Inn on Saturday and left today... The hotel where I am staying is directly on the beach and so amazing that I decided to splurge and stay just one more night, so I will be checking into a hostel tomorrow (Monday)....... Pão de Açucar was awesome!!! You take a cable car to the top of this mountain that looks like a big rock, and the cable car stops at one other landing before arriving to the top of the Pão de Açucar (Sugar Loaf)... It has such beautiful views of Copacabana Beach (one of the most famous beaches in the world if not THE most famous beach in the world) as well as various other beaches that are like nothing else that you´ve ever seen........ I am loving life right about now!!! Hehehe!!! Things can´t get much better than this and Brazilians are just sooooooooo nice and welcoming!!!