The Best Part: Visiting My Friend Jen!

Some of you may know Jen as that girl who challenges me to do random stuff every month… I know her as my best good friend. While chatting on Skype some time ago we brainstormed the idea of me finally taking a vacation from work and going to Rio de Janeiro to visit her and celebrate Carnival! After twisting my arm, I spontaneously bought myself a ticket and made it official : )

Favorite Part: Liberal Culture

Coming from Cusco, Peru, I had been used to living in a conservative culture due largely to strong Christian influences, and maybe the cold weather, haha. However, Rio was hot, humid and as liberal and carefree and you might imagine it to be.

I’m pretty sure I saw more skin than clothes throughout the trip, and not just at the beach. People would walk around without a shirt just because it was so hot. And then there is the beach… there were people of ALL shapes, sizes, colors and the only thing they had in common was the lack of clothes they didn’t wear. The best part, and what struck me the most, is that it really didn’t matter what you looked like or if you were “beautiful”… everyone was just themselves and seemed happy in their own skin.

Language

I speak Spanish pretty well, and that definitely helped out when trying to communicate to Portuguese speakers. It wasn’t always perfect, and I definitely relied on my Portuguese speaking friends for help, but when left to my own devices I found I could understand it well enough and was generally able to get my point across. I’m told that it is easy enough to get pretty comfortable with it if you have a base in Spanish, and it’s a language I would love to learn more about in the future.

Food

The food in Brazil was delicious! My favorites include:

• All that meat – A churrascaría is a restaurant where waiters come around with loads of different types of meat and they keep topping you up until you’ve had your fill. At one point I had seven different types of meat on my plate at once, one of which was chicken heart!!!
• Pão de Queijo – A cheese bread which is located everywhere and is super yummy
• Açaí – a cold, purple fruit drink which really hits the spot on those hot, humid afternoons
• Água de Coco – take a coconut, drill a hole in it, and drink its delicious coconut water. It’s even better when cold!
• Cheese on a stick – It’s almost like a popsicle, except the total opposite! A grilled block of cheese on a stick with some herbs… sign me up!
• Feijoada – lots of meat cooked in a black bean sauce, served with more beans, rice, fried yuca, and more… awesome!
• Konde fruit – a pulpy fruit with lots of seeds… yummy!
• Tapioca – ground up yuca, fried with lots of different toppings… salty or sweet!

The Parade

The highlight of Carnival would have to be the samba dancing competition held at the Sambódromo. Ten local samba schools spend ghastly amounts of money preparing amazing floats, costumes, and choreograph for the honor of being declared the best act of the year. I went on Sunday night with Jen and a big group of friends and fellow travelers. It was pretty wild. According to my new friend, Brian, watching the results is meant to be as big of a deal and as much fun and being at the parade itself. This year there was a big of controversy because the school that won, Beija-Flor, supposedly got $5,000,000.00 from the president of Equatorial Guinea.

Bloccos

Everywhere around Rio you can find street parties called “blocos”. Sometimes they are stationary, like the “Sergeant Pepper” bloco which was held in Flamingo Park and had an all Beatles cover band playing! Sometimes they move, like the following day’s bloco in the same park which had a brass band slowly striding its way around the place. Sometimes they are themed, like the Super Mario bloco near Santa Teresa. All are super fun. People dress up in all types of costumes and the randomness things can happen at any given moment.

Music and Dancing

Whereas in Cusco I am learning lots of salsa and bachata, in Rio it’s all about samba! For the life of me I am still dumbfounded at how fast people are able to move their legs and hips in this dance. When done well it looks pretty amazing, and it was on full display in many areas.

What Else?!?

I did quite a bit during my 10 day trip… more posts will be coming soon along with pictures as soon as I am able to organize, edit and upload them.

Visas?!

It is difficult for Americans to get a visa to enter Brazil. Brazil was let off of the USA’s Visa Waver Program (VWP), which allow countries to enter the USA for 90 days without needing to apply for a visa previously. As a result, Brazil returns the favor is a case of reciprococity, meaning getting a visa is a difficult affair. For other countries it is much easier to enter… make sure you check your status before trying to enter the country.