River of January (Rio de Janeiro)

Rio was a pretty amazing place to be. It has sooo many landmarks and it is a big city, but it doesn’t feel too crowded. I even went out IN the waves! I never do that! I also loved seeing the other half of Rio, the favelas. Everyone thinks that you’ll get robbed or shot in the favelas, they were wrong. And the culture really amazed me! The food was almost Mexican, but not quite.

There were two favelas close to where we were staying, they were on either sides of a mountain. we visited the biggest one, Rocinha. In fact it’s the biggest one in Brazil!  Our tour guide started a program in the favela that teaches English to adults. His school is in a church and it’s the oldest building in the favela. It seemed like he knew everyone in Rocinha, and was good friends with all of them. He also took us to a DJ school and we met the guy who ran it. He was obsessed with Rocinha. He asked peopleif they loved Rocinha, and if they said yes, they got a bracelet saying they did. He had the map of Rocinha tattooed on his legs. And there was another guy who refused to wear a shirt unless he was going to a party or to church. He also had a tattoo of Rocinha on his stomach. It was very fun to meet all of these interesting people.  Everything was cheap there and the food was great. I know I love Rocinha, the bracelet doesn’t lie.

The second I felt the sand I thought, “Dang! That’s H-O-T !!!” but the next second I decided that I was going to have a house on that beach just because of the unrealistically soft sand. The water wasn’t too cold, it was perfect for ocean water. The beach was the best beach I’ve ever seen. The waves were HUGE! They looked like the could crush a giganotosaurus (The biggest dinosaur ever found). But my family dragged me out anyway. I got crushed an unhealthy amount of times, but it was fun. And while I was out there, I learned to body surf. Not an easy thing to do, you really have to get lucky. The beach was amazing! There were vendors everywhere. If you want shrimp, done! Ice cream? Done! Even cotton candy and grilled cheese (without the bread part)! The only thing you have to worry about is stealing, and from what we could tell, it wasn’t that bad.

One of my other favorite activities that we did would have to be the fair. It was one of the activities that wasn’t supposed to be the highlight of the day, but it was for me. Walking around and seeing all of their culture put a smile on my face. There were sections of the pathways devoted to music and dance, the elderly people dancing like 13 year olds made me smile and red faced, from trying not to laugh. The food was very different from the United States, it was also very delicious. It’s so different! It’s like Mexican food, but has a small distinction that I can’t identify. And I loved the place where I got my hair done. She had so many different styles of thread weaving. If I tried to do anything like what she did, it would look like a 198 year old elephant got hold of string and somehow tangled it in someone’s hair. And finally, the prices for everything were very cheap. I could tell it was purely for the enjoyment of people and not to make money to buy a yacht. I loved the fair and I would like to visit something like that again somewhere else.

Rio de Janeiro was a great place to stay 10 days at. Almost as good as what I think Australia will be like (don’t tell my parents)! I love Rio and it’s the perfect place to hold the 2016 Olympics and I can see why the 2014 World Cup was held there. I’m almost sad I won’t be here for Carnival, but it’s good to explore new places! (also we have to take off from Sao Paulo to go to Namibia)

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