(July 6, 2010)

So... here we are, sitting in a classy 1920´s-esque café in Rio de Janeiro (the city).  I´ll explain how we got here...

Where did we last leave off?  Climbed the mountain and about to head to Teresopolis I believe.  Well, we made it to Teresópolis last Tuesday afternoon and stayed there until Saturday.  We had wonderful free housing at my cousin´s (Diogo) apartment.  A very famous sight there is known as the "Finger of God" (Dedo de Deus)... and we didn´t bother going up.  No way José!  It was R$30 (about 17 dollars) for each of us to ascend, and yet another difficult mountain to hike.  So what did we do?  I don´t know... walked a lot.  We did get to know the city very well and had an opportunity to see the whole thing from this tower on a hill at the center of the city - a sight to see.  We visited CBF, which is the stadium in which the Brazilian national soccer team practices.  To bad they don´t practice hard enough.  Losers!  I also got an opportunity to play soccer myself with my cousin, some friends or his, and other locals around our age.  It was difficult, tiring, and I got schooled.  But it was quite fun none-the-less.

Overlooking Terésopolis

In Terésopolis

CBF in Terésopolis: Where the Brasil National team is picked and practices

view of Corcovado from bus

Moving on to Rio de Janeiro.  We´ve been here for three nights now and will be staying one more as far as we know.  The first two nights were spent at a damp, dark, piss-smelling, uncomfortable, and not as cheap as we would have liked, hostel.  But, it was right at copacabana beach!  Of course, Lena is singing now, "Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl, with yellow feathers in her hair, and a dress cut down to there...".  She´s been singing that for days.  God help me.  The weather is perfect; not too hot, not too cold.  During our stay we´ve done a lot of traveling on the public transit system and on foot and I do believe we´ve mastered the city layout.  We even jumped onto a moving bus today!  We´ve visted the Modern Art museum, the Planetarium, Pão de Açucar (Sugar Loaf mountain), Parque de Flamengo (a beautiful park with awesome huggable trees in Flamengo, a neighborhood in Rio, like copacabana), Earth Science Museum (which, had dinosaur bones and lots of ancient, sparkly rocks!), and we continued our cumulative game of soccer on the beach (Lena is winning 15 to 13).

Flamengo metro station

wonderful, huggable trees

Parque de Flamengo

At the planetarium...

The Carioca Aquaduct in Lapa

futebol on the beach..

awesome street art in Rio

"Selerón stairs" with the artist himself

Pão de Açucar (Sugarloaf Mountain)

Let me explain Pão de Açucar a little better for those who don´t know of this.  The mountain is shaped like a bullet standing upright and the only way to ascend (as far as I know) is by cable car, which is suspended in midair by a few wires (I personally find this terrifying).  We went late in the evening and because of this we missed all of the tourists and had the mountain to ourselves (along with a few creepy security gaurds and bar tenders).  From here you can see the whole view of Rio de Janeiro and beyond!

Upon arriving at the hostel, we "checked in" and they didn´t take our information or payment up front.  After staying at the hostel for the two days, we simply walked on out and got 2 nighs at copacabana for free!  Sure, we´re slimeballs, but don´t judge; if you were as broke as us and stayed in a place that reeked off pee, you would´ve done it (or at least wanted to) yourself.  My parents graciously provided us funding for decent accomodations, and we stayed at a real hotel in Flamengo last night and will be doing so again tonight.  Mom and dad, thank you again!

Back to how I started.  We are at this place called "Esch Café", which is a cigar shop/restaurant/bar.  We smoked a real cuban and hung out with about 30 old men, all of whom are at least 20 years older than us, who all speak only portuguese.  For the first time in our lives, we fit right in!  So, that just about explain that, right?

We´re still in the café and they have free internet, which is how I am writing to you now.  In using the computer, we received a few emails from WWOOF hosts (World Wide Opportunity on Organic Farms).  This is an organization that we signed up for prior to our leaving.  We would work on one of these many farms for 6 hour days and be paid in a non-conventional form; free housing and food!  Yay!  We responded to a farm in Resende, Rio de Janeiro (the state) that has accepted and invited us to work with them.  Hopefully, we will be receiving a response as to when we can arrive soon, as Rio is far too expensive and we´ve seen and done what we´ve wanted to see and do.  Wish us luck, be safe, don´t do anything I wouldn´t do.

With love,

Tiago and Lena