Rio!

The first thing I ever learned about Brazil, I learned from playing Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego with my Dad. We used to play the original version, where you had three clues for each destination and instead of countries, you went to cities. In the game, if you went to Brazil, you went to Rio. And when you arrived, up would pop a little pixelated picture of a steep hill with a statue perched on top, the city spread our beyond his open arms. I remember always thinking that it looked like such a cool place and I was pleased when our crook decided to escape to that exotic local.

A wonderous sight

This weekend, I was there, and saw it for myself. Rita and I, after some worry, bought our tickets for the night bus to Rio, where we went to the Trainee Reception Weekend, hosted by AIESEC Rio. Marcelo, one of the @ers, was kind enough to arrange for us to be picked up. As soon as we left the bus station you could see that magnificent statue, Christ the Redeemer, looking out over the city. Driving to our meeting place was fantastic, the sun was shining and the water sparkled and city had a vibrant energy to it. We met up with the other trainees at an English school in Ipanema, near one of the most famous beaches in the world.

Welcome to Rio

After our welcome chat we headed to the beach. We were quite the group: four Canadians (a fifth arrived later), a Slovakian, a Dutchman, two Columbians, two Poles, an Australian, a Serbian, an Egyptian, two Nigerians, a Frenchman and a Swiss girl. The beach was exactly as one would imagine a Brazilian beach. Sunshine, huge waves, soft sand and many bikinis. It was very hot, and I made sure I put on a heavy dose of sunscreen. After some soaking up the sun, we gathered everyone together and headed towards that tallest of peaks in Rio.

Could this be any more stereotypical?

As great as the city was, unfortunately the event itself was not so well organized. The bus took us up towards the Cristo [Christ] but we discovered that tour buses could not go to the top. So we had to walk the rest of the way. Twenty minutes, we were told. Try an hour. We walked and walked and walked, and by the time we reached the top, it was dark. The Cristo is lit, so it was still very impressive, but the view of the city was just a sea of lights. Taking pictures was tricky and sadly most of my photos are blurry. The statue itself was amazing, though I think the perch from the top of the hill is too close. From that perspective you can see either the Cristo or the city, but not the two together. The connection between the two is divided. I preferred to observe the statue from a distance. I was also a little disappointed that there was very little information about the statue itself, save for a small unlit plaque near the back.

The Man Himself

That evening we went for dinner at a restaurant across from Copacabana beach, probably the most famous beach in the world. It was night, so we couldn’t see much, but without all the people the beach looked very peaceful.

All of the trainees were divided amongst the Rio AIESECers for accommodation. Pei-tien and I were put together at Gustavo’s apartment, which was in Ipanema and very nice. The next day we were to be picked up in the late morning, but the bus had to go to each house individually and this took much longer than anticipated. As a result, we got a very late start to the day. At one point we stopped at a gas station for some snacks and the bus actually drove away!! We had to wait for it to come back. I never did quite figure out where it went to. Once we were finally all together we headed to a interesting little neighbourhood up in the hills for lunch. We took a street car up to the site and we could see the whole city stretching beyond the old style buildings. While we were at the restaurant they had the Holland world cup game on the TV, so Leonard (the dutch guy) was watching intently.

Cheering (or praying) for Holland

Then we were off to the Pao de Açucar, the Sugar Loaf. It’s an oddly shaped hill that looks out over the whole city. After a long bus ride we arrive at the tram which took us to the top in two stages. Unfortunately, by the time we reached the top, it was once again dark. But I did manage to get a few good pictures of the sunset while we were half way up. At the top we ran into a family of Canadians and looked out over the city. And then it started to rain, just our luck. During a clear day the view would be fabulous, but ours was not so ideal. I was still nice to see though.

The Sugar Loaf

A gorgeous sunset in Rio

Despite not getting to see and do as much as we had hoped due to logistical issues, most of the trainees were still having a good time because of the people. Having such a diverse group led to some very interesting conversations. I tried to talk to everyone over the course of the whole weekend. I had a really good talk with Younes about Egypt and learned a lot about the different countries represented. It was very interesting to talk to the Serbian, who found out after CONADE that his country had split! So he was a citizen of the newest country in the world and we asked him what he though of what had happened. Just don’t ask him about his soccer team ;) I also talked a lot with Carlos, who told me about his experiences with the violence in Columbia. Sadly, he found on the third day that the brother of one of his friends had been accidentally shot during an incident, which was a huge blow.

The Canadians

After the Sugar Loaf we went to a fair which featured food, music and good from the northeast of Brazil. It was really interesting, though I didn’t buy anything. I did try some Caipirihna Maracuja [Passion fruit Caipirihna] and Carlos and Koge talked me into trying some new foods. The first was marrow soup, which was ok but not outstanding. Then then got me to try a small piece of mystery meat, which after I ate they told me was chicken heart. It was kinda chewy. But hey! I tried it!

The third day was Global Village. We arrived quite early and found that very few of the trainees were there. This was the most disorganized of days. We were there but the people who had our stuff weren’t, and we didn’t know where they were. Everything was late and there were few supplies to be had. I was getting a little frustrated that we were wasting so much of our limited time in Rio. I would have liked to walk around the city or something. Eventually the others arrived and we did talk to some people about Canada. Then each country did a presentation. I was nominated to represent Canada. I really enjoyed watching the other ones as well.

Sunday wasn’t what it could have been. Again, we started very late. We were going to a bar to watch the Brazil World Cup match, but when we got there the place was already full. So we walked and found another place which was actually nicer. So we watched the game and had some snacks. They won 2-0 against the Aussies, but they didn’t actually play all that well. But it was fun to be in the world cup atmosphere, and when they scored the cheering went on for quite some time. After the game we piled everyone into the bus and headed for the bus station. I would have liked to make another trip to the beach, or a few more sites, but we didn’t have time. Rita and bought our bus tickets, grabbed some snacks and headed onto the bus. We got back to Sao Paulo around midnight.

Rio is a beautiful city. The atmosphere is very light and the landscape is stunning. I wish we could have seen more of the city itself – walk around downtown, go to the beach, see the sites – but it was still a good trip. I think the fact that we had such a great group of people helped to make up for some of the poor planning.

An amazing group