Brazil stole my heart since the first moment. It is a very lively country, and its people are full of sunshine. Throughout my entire stay at Rio, I kept singing, "Lemme take you to Rio Rio" song from the best animation out there, right Nonz? ;)
Once we walked out of the ship, there was a woman dressed in a Bahian traditional dress giving us cloth bracelets for free. We were supposed to make three wishes and wait for it to naturally fall off, so the wishes can come true. Of course, I cut the bracelet first day and forgot about the wishes :D :P
The first day, we went to the Pelourinho and felt the music everywhere. The Pelourinho is a UNESECO world heritage center, and is full of stuff to do, restaurants, colorful houses, shops, dancing and lovely people. We had Brazilian lunch in a local restaurant and it seemed like it was prepared by a grandma or so; it was delicious and very affordable. We had chicken, rice and beans and the quantity was more than enough.
We went back to the ship that night and found a lot of students in front of the reception desk. "Do you have your passport?" Mohamed asked me. Apparently, the immigration office in Salvador de Bahia was on strike, and only two officers were stamping our passports. That means that many passports were not yet on the ship. Okay, who cares? It would not have been a big deal if not almost the entire ship was flying to either the Amazon or Rio. OPPS! Guess we need the passports then. That's why most of the participants were very nervous whether their passports would make it on time or not.
It is 9 pm and my passport is not here yet. I am flying to Rio at 11 am tomorrow, what are the chances that my passport would be here on time? NONE :P The reception was trying to push the office as much as they could; yet, the first batch of passports would not arrive until noon the following day. Well, I guess I have to change my flight then. Luckily, Claire had Skype credit, and we called the airlines to change our flights to the latest time they had, 4 pm. Fingers crossed passports will be here on time.
The following day, I was prepared to leave at any time once my passport would arrive. It is 12 pm, "Hi, is my passport here?" The reception desk told me that my passport was not there. At that point, I panicked and had no clue what to do. I can't change my flight again, even if I do so, to what time? I stayed beside the reception desk and at 1 pm, a new batch came and FINALLY my passport was amongst them. WohoOo, I am flying to Rio baby!
Charlotte, Evilyn, Hongyu and I took the taxi and went to the airport. The way to the airport reminded me of that in Johannesburg from ALA to the airport as well. Both had vast roads and so much nature exposure on the sides. The taxi driver was insane though, he was flying like a bee! Salvador's airport reminded me of Cancun's airport and Mexico in general. It was beautifully tropical.
We arrived in Rio, and went to our hostel. The taxi driver was really fun. He offered to exchange money for a better rate, he played music and danced. He showed us where we could go on the way. We passed by a bridge like that of Miami, and it reminded me of the great time we had there during the Clinton Global Initiative. In Rio, youth sold drugs on the street at night, and it was my first time ever to see drug dealers live. There were also prostitutes' offerings which was again was my first time ever to see live. It raised an ethical dilemma about how far can people go when they really need money or feel desperate!
Despite that, Rio has definitely got me from the first moment; lovely people and good food. We took the bus which costed 3.4 Brazilian reals and was of good quality in my opinion. It is not as good as that in Spain maybe, but good enough for the cost. We went to the Corcovado Mountain, and to see Christ the Redeemer, we had to take a tram which costed 56 reals. On the way up there, there were wonderful views ranging from the trees, the tropical fruits to the city and the football stadiums which make Rio and the entire Brazil unique. Sorry Biso :D The weather was so hot and sunny but bearable. We just got from Senegal and it was super hot there, so we really shouldn't complain ;)
Unfortunately, it was very cloudy and foggy up there where Christ was, and we could not see his face except for few seconds. We could see him from the back though! Really Jesus, the only time we came to see you, the weather became foggy and we couldn't even see you! :O Anyway, we had good time. We had lunch at a community restaurant, and I had a conversation with a girl who wanted to practice her English.
She, like many other Brazilians, thought I was Brazilian and told me that I could easily pass as one. I loved it! At least not Indian :D In the afternoon, we were supposed to meet Monica and Kate for dinner in the Lapa, but it didn't work out. We went to the Escadaria Selarón steps. They are steps made of tiles from all over the world. I found tiles from Egypt, Cleveland, Greece and many other places.
On the way there, we ran into a parrots shop and then I recalled the animation "Rio" and why I fell in love with Brazil even before I visited, and it was because of the nature, beautiful birds and carnivals. Claire ran into us in that shop, and we all hanged out together afterwards. We walked around the Lapa trying to find a restaurant with live shows to watch. Apparently, the shows and music performances do not start until 11 pm! Lapa Main Street looks like La Rampla Street in Barcelona. It had the Opera House, it was very lively but not as crowded as La Rampla.
That night, Claire and I watched a football game between Brazil and Argentina with a Brazilian and an Argentinian in the hostel. You can imagine how on fire the room was. That day we bought Mangoes from the street and ate them with the match. The mangoes were AMAZING!
The following day, we went to the Maracana Stadium which is one of the most famous stadiums in the world, and to Copacabana beach by the metro afterwards. The Air conditioning in the Metro was fantastic and the metro in general seemed better than that of France or Italy. It was renovated and well maintained. We also visited Rio Cathedral, and it is a very nice building, it has a very different and unique style. It looks like a rounded/cylindrical pyramid. I am not sure how to exactly describe it, but here is a picture. There was a mass going on at that time and the singing, or I shall say the religious ceremony, was beautiful.
On our way to the cathedral, there was a live show at a restaurant, so we stopped and went to the bathroom just to see the show :D I forgot to mention that while taking the bus to the Maracana Stadium, a lady told me to take off my watch not to get attention and be robbed. How nice of her! Rio is a mixture between the slums you see in movies or animations, Paris old style buildings in downtown and modern buildings. Whatever you ask for you will find in Rio :D
We flew back to Salvador on the day before the last, and I spent the entire day with Haimeng in the Pelourinho. There was a drum march for a samba school trying to raise money. They were so good, and the crowd danced with them. Out of the sudden, tents were being set for a weekly mini festival that takes place in Salvador, and luckily we were there when it took place. There were musicians, dancing, food, shops, drinks and so much fun.
It was a memorable night! We met a couple who showed us around the festival and hanged out with us. The woman is from Brazil and the man is from Argentina, but lived in Brazil for a long time. The man is exactly the same like my Uncle " Amo Hazem." He loves food, he is so kind, protective and most importantly he is hilariously funny :D That night is definitely the highlight of my stay in Brazil.
P.S. On December 3rd,tomorrow, we will cross the Panama Canal, and you can see the ship on cameras at this link: http://www.coolpanama.com/panama-webcams.html. We will enter from the Atlantic side (Gatun locks) in the morning and leave the Canal late in the afternoon (Miraflores Locks), the ship's name is the World Odyssey :D
Don't forget to try Brazil's national drink, Guarana Antarctica, you will find them as soda and juice. Also don't forget to buy slippers and sandals, you will literally find them everywhere even in pharmacies.
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