The South American Adventure, Part I

We didn't have any real extended time in Rio to use the internet, so I wrote a number of mini-updates which I am posting now:

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

It took 22 hours and the combination of the PATH, NJ Transit, American Airlines, and the "Green" radio taxi, but I finally arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday morning. The cab ride from the airport was interesting; it passed by one or more of Rio's favelas (shanty towns), where a gun battle actuallyshut the airport down earlier this summer. As it turns out, the only real danger came from the cab drivers loose interpretation of any sort of traffic rules and regulations.

Touring

We've done a lot of organized touring here in Rio. R went on two tours that she thought were excellent: a 16 hour long tour to Ihla Grande (normally a 2-3 day trek, but R is crazy like that) and a walking tour of the downtown and Santa Theresa areas. On Sunday morning we went on a jeep tour of Tijuca forest and Cristo Redentor (The big statue of Jesus). Cristo Redentor was impressive and provided the opportunity for some corny pictures. Tijuca forest was a bit of a let down though as we went only on one short hike with the tour group.

Gunshots Rang Out Like a Bell...

The touring got more interesting Sunday night as we went to the Maracana to see a Flamengo vs. Vasco football match. The stadium is set up to handle the intense rivalries between Rio clubs -- there are separate entrances on opposite sides of the stadium for opposing fans and 12 foot high plexiglass barriers separating the partisan sections from the neutral seats (and from each other). On the way into the stadium, fans supporting opposing clubs shouldn't be mingling with each other. On Sunday night they did, and as we approached the stadium, the Brazilian military police were firing their weapons in the air while the nearby crowds scattered.

We finished up the touring this morning with a Favela tour, which have become very popular in the recent years. The concept struck me as exploitive at first, but if the money from the tour is helping the school that we saw, then that could be a very good thing. That being said, the cynic in me would not be surprised if a good chunk of the money went toward bribing the favelas infamous drug cartels.

The Power Blows...

The tour wrapped up around noon giving us a solid three hours to do some laundry and pack before leaving to catch our flight to Foz do Igauçu... or so we thought. About 10 minutes before the washing machine finished up the main circuit breaker in the laundromat blew. The staff could not figure out how to reset it, and we had a plane to catch. This left us running through the streets of Ipanema looking for another laundromat with our wet, heavy basket of laundry and our extremely limited command of Portuguese. We eventually found another place, and with very little time to spare we caught our cab to the airport.