Copacabana beach
Heather and I at Copacabana
Me trying to stay awake after flying all night
Walking around downtown, notice the black and white pattern
The large cathedral we passed by
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January 5th
Our flight was all over night again, so when we finally reached our hotel in Rio we all took a nap. We were free to roam the city of Rio de Janeiro. I chose to meet up with a group of students and Professor Tait for lunch. We walked around the streets for quite some time before deciding on a restaurant. It was amazingly sunny and hot out. Rio was so different from Manaus, especially the area we were staying in. It was much cleaner and busier. We ate lunch at a cute little restaurant that was buffet style. I had some rice and beans and I guess meat (everything is in portuguese). Then I went back and got an entire plate of fresh fruit. There was an old man playing the piano next to our table and it was a beautiful scene. I felt that we blended in much better here than in Manaus. There were many more people of much lighter skin tone here in Rio. In Manaus everyone was a lot darker in comparison to our fair New Jersey winter skin. After our meal, we went to see Copacabana beach. It was much cleaner looking than I had expected considering how this area gets raw sewage dumped into the water fairly close by. There were people practically naked all up and down the beach. EVeryone was swimming and consuming alcohol. People walked up and down the beach selling anything they could: drinks, sunglasses, hats, bathing suits, towels, etc. The sun was really beating down and I could feel my skin beginning to tan. We met with the rest of the class around three o’clock to discuss our plans for the day. Our Professor wanted us to experience the subway. I had never been on a subway ever before, so I figured it could be a good experience. When we got the the subway, the machines to buy the tickets could only take small bills, and as we had all just converted American dollars to reals, we only had bigger bills. After working out who would pay back who later, we got our tickets and went to enter the subway. It was a little scary because there were a lot of people around. Our group was very big, so when we went to get on we accidentally left behind a few people. One of my classmates feet got stuck in the subway door because it closed so quickly. Luckily Tyler was able to pry the doors open to release her foot before the subway took off. Since none of our phones work in Brazil except the professors, it was a little bit of an issue that we got separated. We all got off at the next stop and waited for the next car to come. The Brazilians must have thought it was very funny that all these American college kids were lining the subway waving their arms frantically looking into the cars for our friends. Luckily, the few left behind saw us and got off. Once we were all together again we made sure that we all got on the next car together. When we reached our destination in Paraguayana, we explored the area. There were many little shops selling everything from instruments and food to briefcases and electronics. We passed by a large cathedral and we got lost a few times. Eventually we made it back to the subway and to our hotel. I learned that subways really aren’t my thing and decided to explore the hotel pool and gym before our presentation that night. The hotel pool was on the top floor, along with the gym. I could run on the treadmill and look over at the statue of Christ the redeemer. It was so cool! We ate dinner at the hotel and since we had to order off menus it was quite exciting. Luckily the wifi at the Premier hotel was much better than that of the wifi in Manaus which didn’t really work at all. Google translate became a life saver when ordering food. Now that we were further away from fresh fish, I didn’t want to accidentally order seafood (one of my classmates became very sick the next day after eating it). Andy C and Alex gave us a wonderful presentation on Brazilian biodiversity in the Amazon and we went to bed. Palm trees at Copacabana
Fruit and water always great in the hot Rio weather
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January 6th
Waking up in Rio for the second day, we really began to act like tourists and I am very proud of that. I was happy that we had time to eat breakfast at the hotel and it was very good. We set off early in the morning to go see Christ the Redeemer which was something I really wanted to see. We took a van up to Christ and walked all the stairs up to see him. There was quite an amazing view from up there and you could see all the surrounding mountains and water. Rio really is such a beautiful city. Inside Christ is a little chapel. People from all over were there to see him which was very nice. It is always nice to see that people still believe so strongly in their religion and that people from all over the world share the same faith. It was pretty crazy how crowded it got within the half hour or hour we were there for. The van ride down was one of my favorite parts of this trip. The driver was a little crazy and the turns were so steep and fast that it was like riding in a roller coaster. We would all put our hands up and say “Weeeee” all the way down. On the way to sugarloaf we stopped outside one of the numerous shanty towns, called favelas, and discussed their place in the city. There were so many of these little towns filled with poor people who do not have electric or proper plumbing. It was strange to see that people could be living like that within a twenty minute walk of huge hotels offering room service with pools. The social structure of the city was very interesting. When we got to sugarloaf, we boarded little cable cars that held about 30 people. The cars were windows on all sides, so as you were lifted up the mountain you could see the entirety of the city. I saw people rock climbing and decided that if I ever end up there again I would want to climb to the top of the mountain by myself. Once atop the first mountain there was plenty of picture taking to be done. There were little marmoset monkeys on the half mile walk to the next lift. The top of the second mountain was even more amazing. I was in the beginning of my yoga teacher training for this trip and so there are numerous pictures of me practicing poses throughout this blog. The amazing views from the top of this mountain are unforgettable. It was such a beautiful day for the trip and the water all around was so blue. There were boats in the bay and birds flying around in the air. It was really a fascinating place to be. We made our way back down the mountain and ate lunch at a restaurant right near the beach. The food was great but the bathrooms were better. I walked into the bathroom expecting it to be normal but instead there was a lifesize portrait of Marilyn Monroe staring me down. I thought it was hilarious that instead of labeling the doors male and female (which is actually quite unclear in Portuguese) the restaurant had used a door with Marilyn and a door with another 1920s American man on the men's room door. After lunch we got in the can and did a quick tour of the city. We stopped at the site of the 2016 summer Olympics and bought knock off jerseys from some random guy standing around. Another guy there had a soccer ball and we ran around kicking it for some time. With a bunch of us all together, it looked like we could have been a co-ed American soccer team. Our next stop was the street where Carnival occurs every year. There were a bunch of people in costumes with feathers and beads so we stopped and took a picture with them. Our next stop was at the big cathedral we walked by the day before. When we went inside, it was absolutely breathtaking. There were pews all facing the center and huge stained glass windows reaching toward the center of the ceiling. The church and a great feeling to it and it was lovely to be in such an old place of worship where so many weddings, funerals, and sermons had taken place. Our last stop was at a set of stairs in the downtown area. The stairs were mosaic red and there were more mosaic pieces on the sides of the street. People were everywhere taking pictures on the stairs and in the street. We drank out of coconuts Tait treated us with from a vendor nearby. We went to an area near a beach and one of our classmates was feeling very sick. It was getting late so Tait decided he should take her to the hospital, so we headed back to the hotel. I ate dinner at the hotel restaurant again and then our class slowly ended up all in the pool on the roof. It was such an amazing night with a wonderful view of Christ up on his mountain across from us. We all swam and I got everyone to swim in a circle and create a whirlpool with me. I love doing that in the summer and creating a whirlpool in Rio with all my new friends was such a fun time. We all laughed at Andy’s purchase of Brazilian swimwear and had a great time. Our class near the beach at the base of sugar loaf
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Our class at Christ the Redeemer
Me posing with Christ
Me practicing my split on top of sugar loaf mountain
This is one of the marmosets from sugar loaf, doesn't he look evil?
Part of the American Olympic Women's soccer team
The stained glass of the cathedral
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Walking across a bridge laughing with the tour guide's map that he still hasn't noticed is missing
Casually traversing the Atlantic Forest
Saving my class from getting squished by this geological masterpiece
Tait telling Anna and I to slow down in the background
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January 7th
This was my favorite day in Rio. I was very excited to go to Brazil for the awesome hiking that would be there and this was finally our first real hike in the country. We got up and ate breakfast in the hotel and then left for Tijuca National Park. The ride up to the park was like a roller coaster again, getting us all excited for the hike. We stopped at an outlook and took a look around the city. It was already so warm and sunny out I was so happy. It was nice to escape the buzzing of the city and spend some time in the trees. Our tour guide was quite interesting and created many moments that I found to be hilarious. While hiking, he dropped his map and I picked it up. He never once looked for it or even noticed he dropped it. I kept laughing the whole time because he had no idea where we were. It’s a good thing Tait knows his way around the woods. The hike was really fun and we got to climb up areas that were very steep. The clay cover of the forest makes it slippery in most areas, especially with the rain that had recently occurred. Tijuca Park is in the Atlantic forest which is actually more threatened than the Amazon. The Atlantic Forest stretches along the Eastern coast of Brazil and has been greatly diminished due to human population growth and urban expansion. Walking around in the forest was such an unbelievable experience. I spend a lot of time walking around the woods of New Jersey and I am so used to the ecosystems and species there that the drastic change in scenery was very refreshing. Everything was so different, trees and vines I had never seen before towered over my head. The closest place I could compare it to would be the Hawaiian islands. I had not been on a hike as biodiverse as Tijuca since I left Hawaii. I could have walked on in that forest forever. It was truly breathtaking. After our hike we went back to the hotel and then split up. One group left on the subway to visit Ipanema beach while the others stayed and revisited Copacabana. I wasn’t thrilled by the idea of getting on the subway again so I decided to walk to Copacabana again and soak up some sun. We went for a walk and stopped to get food on the way. The language barrier was getting to be fun. Ordering food and purchasing items at stores is very difficult in a country where you don’t know the language. When we got to the beach we laid out and felt the sun warm on our skin. Some of the girls went and swam in the water but I was a little uneasy about getting water in my mouth and nose so I only put my feet in. I was feeling so peaceful for a while but then a storm cloud started coming overhead so we walked back to the hotel. When we got back to the hotel and our phones worked again, Georgie and I were shocked. Tait had put in the groupchat an hour ago that Heather had gotten into an incident with a hammerhead shark. With no contact to them, we had to sit and wait for her to get back to here the details and if she was okay or not. I don’t know how people dealt with these type of situations before cell phones, the stress and concern for our friend was overwhelming. Eventually they made it back and her leg was pretty bloody. Tait bandaged her up and they told us all the details of how she had tried to climb up a rock and fell and scraped her body on barnacles. Not a shark, so that was a relief. We didn’t tell the rest of the group that until after the trip though which was pretty funny when we got back to Stockton and the rumor went all around campus. Students would point and whisper about the girl who got bit by a shark in Brazil, it was a great time. Anne and Andy gave their presentation on Energy Issues in Brazil and by then it was late so we ordered pizza and went to bed. Laughing because I'm usually the one teasing other people for being pale
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