Luan and Raffa

This is an excerpt from a thread on our group's FB page yesterday:

[grad school BFF] Hey! So Luan (the guy that Katie met on the plane) and his wife want to take us out tomorrow either to an exclusive beach or out on his wife's family boat. Is anyone up for that? They are SO cool!

[me] um, no thanks. that does not sound awesome at all. I have much better things to do than go to an exclusive beach or a family boat with locals to interview for my research.

Suffice to say, it did not suck. We didn't get a chance to get on the boat, but the couple insisted that we see them again before we leave. So next time, perhaps. I received a very sweet email from them this evening going on and on about how much they enjoyed us and how they want to show us more of Rio and help however they can with our research. And I was asked the most amazing question ever asked at the end of it:

"PS: Are you studying the monkeys or am I making confusion?"

so here's the thing...

...about study abroad, Rio-style 2013: things aren't ideal. Political unrest can be truly somber, and it can royally fuck up your plans. Personalities can collide; being with people 24/7 of your choice is hard enough. Home sickness is a real disease. Not having access to food that you find appetizing and satisfying sucks. Hardcore. No matter how much you shower, you're never really clean, and you realize that "clean" is relative. Maybe you're not always in the mood for a late-night sing along. Especially when the Titanic theme song is the recurring theme*. Personal space becomes less personal, more communal. Insomnia in a place where TBS, TNT, and A&E are nonexistent is a nightmare. Literally, a sleepless nightmare.

BUT THEN:

you go to Sugar Loaf Mountain, probably THE most beautiful place on earth and you are able to stfu about all the other stuff. I hate to be cliche, but it must be said that pictures don't even come close to doing this place justice, no matter how good the photography. It is an actual fact that the beauty of Sugar Loaf is incomprehensible if you haven't seen it in person. Sorry to be the asshole who speaks the truth about this. I sincerely hope that everyone's eyeballs have the opportunity to soak this shit up. It is unreal.

AND:

MONKEYS!!!!
These cute little bastards were all over the place, mostly when people gave them food. It's against the law and not the best thing for them, but we enjoyed the results. OMG, they were so cute!!! JST5 is doing her MA research on primates and tourism, so hopefully there will be a lot more monkeys in my near future :)

*[eds. note: Omg, is this like me and my friends singing "Livin' on a Prayer", "With or Without You", or "I Want Your Sex" at karaoke??? That makes me sad. ~sigh~]

Politics aside

It is hard to believe I have only been here a week. I have seen and done so much. Obviously, I haven't been fastidious about posting, and I am going to try to change that. Last night a few of us went to the Northeastern Fair. It was oddly like being on Buford Highway.

I got a tiny hat.

This is Zalton. He is the ONLY boy in our group. At first everyone felt bad for him, but that ended real quick. He's 6'4" and all the locals think he's Brazilian. As we walked through one of the favelas on Friday a bunch of boys kept shouting, "Michael Jordan! Michael Jordan!" Plus, all us girls are all, "Zalton, will you carry/lift/hold/hand me/reach for (xyz)?!?!" I think he likes it. I made him put on a tiny hat.

The girl on the right is JST5, the third member of the three musketeers (me, my grad school BFF, and JST5). She was absolutely horrified by my interest in a tiny hat. I told her that the more shit she gave me for buying one the more I was going to wear it around her. She created such a fuss that I will, in fact, be wearing my tiny hat every single day that we have class together in the Fall. GSU sees much worse with all the high-waisted-too-short short-shorts/ugly leg tattoo combos. I made her put on this vagina/canoe hat.

No one was near the "Videoke", but I was intrigued. Had I been with my typical crew and (therefore) had a few more caipirinhas in me, surely I would've investigated.

My friend Velasco (from HBO's "Preamar") commented once, "Why is it that the poorest people have the most beautiful views here in Rio?" Well said, Velasco. These were taken in Cantagalo, one of the poorest favelas in the city. They have a daycare facility at the top that we visited:

I should've gotten better pictures of the facility, it was really cool. But I was preoccupied with the children and practicing my horrible Portuguese. I'll try to get copies to post better ones later.

And finally, tattoos don't lie. Here is proof that my ass was on the beach in a pink bikini. Many believed it was not possible. In Brazil, anything's possible.

Politics aside, those were my last couple days in a nutshell.

And

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/18/world/americas/thousands-gather-for-protests-in-brazils-largest-cities.html?_r=0

But seriously, people

Great example of why I'm here. Check this out:

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/rio-police-use-tear-gas-on-3000-protesters/story-e6frea7u-1226664843197

At the request of my adviser I stayed far from this protest. The problem here is that the government got rid of all the informal (not government run) and inexpensive public transportation, and now they are raising the prices of the regular (government run) public transportation. So the lower classes (who need said transportation the most) are screwed, yet again. The quote about wanting basic needs met over the interest of up-coming mega events points to why my research here is important.

But what is on the front page of Yahoo today here in Rio?

I guess I'm relieved it's not just the US that has f*@*ed up priorities? Oh, wait, no I'm not.

Dinner, Lapa, crazy night!

We started with some caipirinhas. In hindsight, not always the best plan for everyone. Some tears were shed, some mascara was run...and next stop was a...

Brazilian steakhouse?!? YES, if these are my options! I'm not gonna lie, I hated the strawberry sushi, but loved that they had it.

Adorable Daphne usually steals the show.

We picked up some white snob paper towels for the kitchen...

And it was time for Lapa!

Lapa (a neighborhood here in Rio) is basically a big block party. Everyone drinks, talks, and makes generally merriment while listening to live music and doing the Samba. Seriously. It was quite the adventure!

We went shopping :)

Eu sou um vegetariano feliz!

NBD, just an afternoon stroll...

I doubt any Americans (other than me or those who I force) watch Preamar. It is a show on Brazil's HBO. Well this is str8 up where they film it.

And also I saw a lot of really tan dudes wearing REALLY small bathing suits. I'll try to get a picture of that, too, at some point. It's especially awesome when they are super old.