On January 8th, my parents took me up to the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. After a smooth check-in process and saying our goodbyes, I passed through security and found my gate. During the wait, I met a guy who was flying to San Antonio to conduct basic training for the Special Forces of the Air Force. I have contemplated entering the military, after seeing some friends serve and learning about all the different benefits service men and women receive. For one, it would be an honor, plus there would be opportunities to travel. So that is still a possibility in the future.
Mom + Me + Paps
Reunited @ Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
Before boarding the plane heading for Dallas, I updated my Facebook status and received a message from a good bud I had not seen in years, who was also flying in to Dallas the same day. Thanks to social media, I was able to meet up with Tom at the Dallas Fort-Worth Airport and catch-up. He has been busy since last we saw each other: marriage, a baby girl, and a higher-up position within FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students). He was heading south to Mexico on FOCUS business. It was great seeing him again and what a cool coincidence that we would be passing through the same airport at the same time, heading to different international destinations.
I boarded the second plane in Dallas later that evening and then embarked on the 9-hour, overnight flight to Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo, Brazil. Around 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, a little boy started crying some rows up in front of me. I felt bad for him because he was saying how tired he was, but he couldn't sleep [pobrecito]. Despite this, it was a really nice flight.
Boss-Man
When we landed, I proceeded in to the airport and immediately felt the warmth from outside. Now in the southern hemisphere, I had left winter back home and entered summer in Brazil. After collecting my bag, I exchanged some money and then being inexactly sure where to go, I proceeded in to a shop (which I think was tax/duty-free). After meandering in there for five or so minutes, I exited and then found where I was supposed to go. After passing through the hall-way around the corner, I entered in to an open room where there were many people gathered around the exit. They were searching for their friends or family members that had just arrived and some were holding signs with names. Upfront, I saw my name "ANTON HUGHES," in big letters. The man holding that piece of paper was my boss, Célio!
We promptly exited the airport and headed back towards his home, where he was allowing me to stay my first two nights. We had a good conversation on the way there, and stopped in the city of São Jose dos Campos to eat lunch. The scenery around us along the drive was surreal for me. I had not expected for the region to be so mountainous and scenic. The mountains were lush and green, not hard and rocky like the ones back home. Then I learned quickly that the state of Minas Gerais, where I was to be based during my stay, means "General Mines." When the Portuguese settlers were exploring the area, they discovered gold and other precious minerals and resources that they extracted from the mountains to ship back home to Portugal. Cattle, horses, and goats scattered the hill sides as we passed by. The winding roads, altitude, and jet-lag all contributed to the motion-sickness I experienced during the trip.
Célio showed me to my room and took a nap before dinner. He was extremely helpful and kind to me during my stay. From the start I knew he was going to be a great boss to work for! One that would look after his employees or in my case, the intern. For dinner that night, we ordered pizza.
Yes, pizza is normally eaten w/
knife and fork
My first opportunity to compare a food here that we also have back in the States. I met Célio's wife, Carmo, and learned that they too had been to Segovia, Spain and seen the Aqueduct. In fact, they have traveled around a good bit to a number of places.
Souvenir plates from the places Célio and Carmo have visited
Woke up early to make it to the rodoviaria (bus station) on time. On the way there, I was able to snap some shots of graffiti found throughout the city. We also passed by Maracana, the famous soccer stadium that will be hosting the final of this year's FIFA World Cup!
We arrived early, with lots of time to spare before my bus left for Itajubá. I perused some of the shops there and bought a juice and some peanuts for the road. When I found the correct bus, I recognized the driver as being the same guy that drove me out to Rio a week prior. I placed my duffel bag in the storage area below, boarded the bus, found my seat, turned on my mp3 player, leaned back, and relaxed for the next few hours.
The trip was scenic, and it also had some interesting moments. After a few hours on the road, I needed the bathroom. When I walked to the back of the bus, I found it difficult to open the door. After pushing and working the handle, the door finally opened and I heard a 'cling' on the other side as the handle fell to the floor. A minute later, I attempted to open the door from the inside, and it wouldn't budge. I was locked in the bathroom of the bus [ohhh buddy]. Thankfully after pounding on the door a few times and saying "Ajuda, Ajuda!" ("Help, Help!")- a guy near the back helped me open the door. Whew, that would have not been a fun ride back to Itajubá. Later on during the trip, we stopped at a nice rest area that was part snack store, part restaurant, and had bathrooms. It was around lunch time, so I decided to eat there. During the 20-minute break, a few more buses pulled-up and more passengers desembarked to stretch their legs. After finishing my meal and paying, I walked out, and looked for my bus. The bus driver I was riding with signaled to me, and then I realized that he was waiting on me- I was the last passenger to board! Oops. Another kind of close-call. I had known that it was nearly time to return to the bus, but I didn't know everyone else had already done so!
Once back in Itajubá, I walked straight from the rodoviaria (bus station) to the school where I am working for my internship. It was a tiring day to say the least, but what an experience I had in Rio!
Obrigado, Ida!
*This post concludes my trip to Rio de Janeiro during Carnaval!
My final, full day in Rio de Janeiro began with a brief run along the canal and a work-out in the exercise room of the apartment complex. For breakfast, I tried a flavor of yogurt new to me: orange, honey, and carrot. It may sound like a strange combination, but it worked! It was pretty tasty. On Wednesday's agenda was a trip to Copacabana beach and Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain).
Copacabana Beach
Ida and I took an ônibus to Copacabana. Along the way, one of the biggest coincidences occured. As we neared the beach, a familiar-looking passenger boarded the bus. Ida and I realized that the girl was the same girl who had been sitting in front of us during Monday night's Samba parade! Out of all the people in Rio, what were the chances that we would meet again? Let alone on a bus!? Probably one out of several million- is my guess. So that was cool seeing her again. Ida said hey and I believe she recognized us to. Ida explained that it was her behind that mask she wore during the parade, haha.
Shortly after our chance meeting, we arrived at our destination. The beach was fairly crowded, and I noticed that this beach had shells- unlike the beach closer to Ida's place. Ida rented two beach chairs, and then we found a place to sit. To our right, I saw a several people out on the water standing-up on boards and using a paddle. I asked Ida about this, and she pointed me in the direction of people along the beach that had brightly colored shirts.
"Like this?"
They were instructors and personnel of different stand-up paddle companies whom were providing instruction and renting-out boards. I was interested in trying it out, and asked one of the groups there how much it would cost for half-an-hour out on the water. When the lady responded 30 reais, it was a done deal! I signed up and was assinged an instructor quickly. On the beach there, he showed me the basics and how to start-off and then stand-up on the board. It seemed easy enough. So we carried the board out on to the water, I hopped on, and I began to paddle out towards the sea.
Stand-up paddling was a neat experience. I had never done it before, and am glad I got to try it out.
Afterwards, we headed to a point of the cove where there was a museum. Ida had planned for us to eat lunch there, but unfortunately it was closed. So then we needed to find a plan B. There were numerous restaurants and stands across the street from the beach, so we did not lack in options of places to go. We stopped at one of the first restaurants we came to. The Brazilian Men's National Soccer Team was playing a friendly versus South Africa, and the restaurant had a patio section outside with a television for its customers to watch. We found a table with a good view of the match and ordered our beverages.
I had read previously in my Brazil Travel Guide and other travel sites about a cocktail that people like to have on the beach. The drink is called caipirinha, and I wanted to give it a try. Boy was it too strong for me.Ida ordered salmon and I ordered a different type of fish from the menu [Ash Wednesday], along with mashed potatoes, a shrimp sauce, and rice with broccoli. My fish arrived wet and undercooked, so I opted for a filet of salmon like Ida had. It was good!
After lunch and Brazil's thumping of South Africa, we found a taxi to take us to Sugarloaf Mountain. Walking up to purchase our tickets, I had to take a picture of the cool mural painted on the wall there. Ida was too nice and paid for my ticket too. At least I had my student ID with me so that I received a discount. Our trip up to Sugarloaf Mountain consisted of a total of four cable-car trips, two up and two down. The first car took us to Morro da Urca (the smaller of the two mounds).
View from one side of Morro da Urca. Pão de Açúcar is to the right --->
There was a helicopter pad there and tourists could pay for a ride. After some photos, we proceeded to the next cable car station to ascend to Sugarloaf Mountain.
The views from the various look-out spots were really nice and provided for some good angles of the city. Just outside of the gift shop on top of the highest part of Sugarloaf Mountain, there were some monkeys!
Also, there were a number of trails that slightly descended one side of the mount, with tables for relaxing or having a picnic. We purposefully arrived during late afternoon for a chance to view the city at night when the city would be lit-up. As the sun set, the lights along the beach began to appear and in the distance, up high, the Christ the Redeemer statue was illuminated. This made for some great pictures and cool views of Rio de Janeiro.
It was an adventure in itself finding our way back to Ida's apartment, but we finally managed to find the right type of taxi. We were on the other side of the city, in Botafogo I think, and apparently taxi drivers have jurisdictions. Haha. I didn't realize that until one driver stopped, asked where we were going, and then continued without us. After waiting for a long time, we eventually made it back. What a day!
--Bom Dia (Good Morning)
The samba parade lasted throughout the wee hours of the morning. Each school had a maximum of 82 minutes, so basically an hour and-a-half, to completely pass through the avenue and finish their show. Multiply that by six, and add in 15 minutes breaks between each school, and that makes for a loooooooong night! Thankfully I had rested-up Monday before going, so I didn't get too tired. Plus, the atmosphere there was so energetic, it would have been pretty difficult to go to sleep- [although I did see some people catching some zzz's.]
Once the last school, Tijuca, had passed by, we headed for the exit. The vans that had brought us there were not picking us up, that was just a one-way trip. We walked to the metro. The nearby station was packed with samba fans, but we made it through ok without too much of a delay. Once we boarded, I stood next to some folks who had participated in the parade competition. This was evident because they were carrying parts of their costumes they had worn as they danced down the avenue of Sapucaí.
The metro does not yet have a station close to where Ida lives (they are actually in the process of constructing one), so after the metro we had to find a bus or taxi. I believe it was already 6am when we started our feeble attempts at hailing a taxi, of which none stopped for us. Thankfully after waiting a good while, one of "our" buses headed our way. Ida's husband José Carlos picked us up from the bus stop once we had reached their side of town. We finally arrived back at the apartment some 13-and-a-half hours after we had departed the previous night!
Needless to say, I did not do very much Tuesday. Aftr resting through the afternoon, I got up and mozied-around. We ordered pizza for dinner. I also had a good conversation [in Portuguese ofcourse ;-)] with Carina's boyfriend who was at the apartment, Freddy. I told him that I would like to do some more traveling while I am here in South America before returning home, and he recommended a travel website that has many reviews posted by travelers, of different places both in and outside of Brazil: Mochilieros. It's basically a website for travelrs, by travelers. I plan on reading some different reviews and learn some insider information on the places I intend to visit.
When Ida and I were making plans for my trip to Rio, I mentioned a few different places I hoped to visit druing my stay. One of the things that most interested me about being there in the city during Carnaval, was the world-reknown parade that occurs each year. The "parade" as I call it, is something else altogether. It is an explosion of music, dance, color, creative costumes, and elaborate floats. The 12 Samba Schools of the Special Group in Rio, perform in a stadium-like environment on a strip of avenue (Avenida Marquês de Sapucaí) called the Sambódromo. I recommend watching this National Geographic documentary on the 2007 Carnaval in order to gain a better understanding of just what a massive event and production it is!
I accompanied José Carlos, Ida's husband, to the padaria (bakery) this morning to buy some bread. Each day someone would go retrieve fresh french bread from the local bakery. It was ideal for breakfast and making small sandwiches. He works for PetroBras, a huge petroleum/oil/gas company here in Brazil. I think José enjoyed having me stay the week with his family because he constantly practiced his English with me. It made for an interesting conversation, because I would reply to him in Portuguese.
In the afternoon, Carina, Ida, and I played cards. They tought me a new game called mush-mush (I think it was). The point of the game was to be the first player to get rid of the cards in your hand. Each player began with seven or so cards and each player got rid of their cards by pairing them up in threes, with consecutive cards of the same suite, or by having the same card spread across three different suites. For example, I could play a 2, 3, and 4 of spades. I could also put down a 3 of hearts, a 3 of diamonds, and a 3 of spades. Once the sets of three cards are laid down on the table, other players can then begin playing off of your sets and making different combinations- but their first move each turn must be to form a new set of three cards. This is where the strategic part comes in. It was a fun game. Later, I showed Carina how to play "speed." I'm glad I had a game to teach them [good thing I played shortly before leaving home, thank you B. Mixon].
Later that evening we dressed and gathered our bags for the trip downtown to see the samba parades. Earlier in the day, I made some sandwiches (with that french bread) for us to take with us and Ida had already bought water bottles and soda. Thus, we had two koolers packed with sustanance for our night out. José Carlos dropped us off near the ticketing office where Ida had purchased our tickets. There we had a short wait before boarding the vans that carried us to the Sambódromo. While stopped at a red light during our transit, we watched this guy dressed in a tu-tu standing in front of the vehicles in the lane to our right. I guess he thought that he should provide some entertainment during their wait, because he put on a little show in front of the cars. Haha. I'd say he was probably a little under the influence too. Traffic was pretty thick, but we arrived in decent time- about an hour and a-half before show time! Upon entering the venue, we were handed several different magazines and pamphlets with information about the competing samba schools: their histories, show themes, all-time ranking since they began judging the event in 1984, and lyrics to their samba music. This year's parade marked the 30th anniversary of Samba in the Sambódromo!
"The Temple of Samba"
We climbed the stairs, passed the concessions, and met up with Ida's sister in the stands. She arrived before us, and saved us some good seats close to the front. The highly anticipated event began with Brazil's national anthem, followed by the offical song of Rio de Janeiro, "Cidade Maravilhosa." <--[a nice rendition of Rio's anthem.] After a few more announcements, things kicked-off with fireworks down at the other end of the Sambódromo, where the parade began.
See, we were seated in section 10 which was closer to the end of the avenue. I liked our seats because we could see more of the action below, and because we were situated across from the area where the bateria (the drum core from each school) would march in and continue playing as the remainder of their school's participants passed by. <--If that sounds confusing, the video should better explain.
As Escolas de Samba do Grupo Especial (The Samba Schools of the Special Group)
The parade occurs over a period of two days (three, if you count the champions parade the following weekend where the top six schools have an encore). Six schools perform Sunday and the remaining six on Monday. What made this event extra special for me, was that another one of Ida's sisters was actually taking part in the parade. She performed for the Samba School named Portela. Their mascot is an eagle... which means it was meant to be. Haha. The eagle is my favorite animals and it holds significant meaning for me [Eagle Scout, mascot of Georgia Southern, symbol of freedom, ...]. Ida, Igor, and I received Portela t-shirts from her to wear and represent. So we arrived to the Sambódromo dressed the part.
Here is a list of the six schools I saw Monday night, in the order they performed, with their theme, and a video clip:
1. Mocidade, Outer-space
2. União da Ilha, Childhood Toys & Games
3.Villa Isabel, Portrait of Brazil.
4. Imperatriz, Soccer.
5. Portela, History of Rio de Janeiro.
6. Unidos da Tijuca, Hommage to Ayrton Senna.
And the winner was..................Unidos da Tijuca! The final school to perform turned out to be this year's champion. Salgueiro (Ida's favorite school) finished runner-up and Portela came in 3rd. It was a spectacular event and I am very fortunate to have been able to attend. Here is a link to view some great photos: Rio De Janeiro Carnival's Samba Finale Provides Spectacular Close To 2014 Fiesta
Praia Barra. Left to Right: Ida's cousin, her husband (a surfer), Ida, Me
Around late morning we headed to the beach. I got a good run in, worked on my tan, and ate a pineapple popsicle---> that had actual bits of pineapple in it! For those relaxing on the beach, there were different types of vendors walking by all the time. Some were selling hats, others had jewelry, but most carried some type of refreshment or snack in a bag or cooler. As we relaxed there, I saw a few guys walk by carrying some type of metallic container. Later I realized that it was some type of mini oven or warmer for the food they were selling. Ida's daughter, Carina, joined us a later in the afternoon.
A couple hours of sun and our group retreated to the apartment. Igor and I went to the pool before we had a late lunch. Then came the siesta. Ha.
That evening, Ida and I attended Mass in a nearby church. I enjoy visiting different churches and lucky for me, their are a lot of Catholic churches here in Brazil. What impressed me about this parish was the large mural fixed behind the altar.
The artist's rendition of the crucifixion of Jesus and the two thieves, (Luke 23:32-43). A powerful painting.
Following Mass, Ida took Igor and me to CineMark Cinemas! I always enjoy going to the movies in different countries:
beacuase the tickets are much more reasonable than back home
beacuase it's a good way to improve my language skills
because you can get the sweet-caramel corn and salty-butter corn mixed together!
As we stood in the ticket queue, Igor noticed that the movie he had found for us earlier was actually starting an hour later than we thought. So we had to change our movie, and decided on seeing Sem Escalas ("Nonstop"), the new Liam Neeson movie. This theater, like others I have been to before, assigned a seat number to your ticket. So unlike back home where it's first-come, first-served seating, customers have to select where they would like to sit before entering the theater. There is digital map on the screen that shows which seats are still available and which are already occupied. All of this occurs before purchasing your ticket. Unlucky for us, the show was starting in just 20 minutes from when we made it to the front of the line...which means our seating options were slim to none. Second row! Oh yeah. Nice and close. Not worrying about the neck cramps. Haha. The movie was in English with Portuguese subtitles. However, the movie had several scenes that displayed text messages that Liam Neeson's character read from his phone. These messages were shown on the screen in Portuguese. I assume that the producers of the movie also edited these parts for other languages: Spanish, French, German, etc.
Just to reiterate again why foreign cinemas are so much better for your wallet/pocketbook, you know how concessions are ridiculous back in Georgia- like $3.00 for a bottle of water, or $20.00 for a combo!? I paid R$ 20,00 = ~$8.49 USD for a large popcorn and drink. Boo-yah!
Ida and I had an early start Saturday morning because we had booked tickets the day before to visit Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer). Our tickets were for 8:40am. We took a taxi from her apartment complex to Mount Corcovado, where we were dropped off near the entrance. I presented my ticket voucher to the lady there and she handed us our two train tickets- that's right, we were taking a train to the top! It was only 8:05 or so when we arrived, so we passed the time by viewing the displays that were set up inside the small station.
After about 10 minutes of waiting there, I glanced at my ticket and noticed that the departure time was for 8:20 instead of our orginally scheduled time of 8:40. I pointed this out to Ida and we quickly hopped in line and boarded before the train left. Whew! That was a close-call.
The train ride was nice, scenic, and fairly steep at times. After arriving at the other station, there remained some steps to ascend, or the escalator, before reaching the statue of Christ. I chose the stairs, so Ida and I had a good leg workout. Haha. At the top stood the impressive statue, overlooking the city below. It was very cool seeing the monument in person after having seen it in so many different media outlets: movies, magazines, internet sites, and other sources that pertain to Brazil. The only blemish was the scaffolding there beside the statue. Lightning struck one of the hands recently during an electric storm: Rio's Christ the Redeemer statue damaged by lightning strike. Also when we arrived at the look-out point, one entire side was obscured by clouds, so we did not have a complete view of the city below. Many tourists were there, taking pictures with their arms spread open like the statue behind them. At first I was apprehensive to do this and imitate Christ like that. I didn't want to be disrespectful, offensive, sacrilegious, or something like that. However, after thinking it over and chatting with Jesus, I was pretty confident that He wouldn't mind it. I had no bad intentions in taking the picture, so I played the tourist role and followed suite. After an hour or so, we went down a set of stairs to visit the souvenir shop. We made our purchases and upon exiting the store, we discovered that the morning fog had finally lifted! We hurried back to the top and now had a panoramic view of Rio. Here's a short video clip I took: Cristo Redentor
Little known fact (or at least I didn't know before visiting) is that there is a small chapel under Christ the Redeemer. The entrance is located on the backside, but unfortunately it was closed during our visit.
On the way down the mountain, we were accompanied by a few superheroes and a guy in a Brazilian soccer jersey. Who knew that the Hulk, Ironman, and Captain America had a side gig as samba musicians? Ha. They each played an instrument and sang as we descended. It made for a lively return trip, and it was neat to see Ida singing the songs familiar to her. The group of guys were wearing costumes because of Carnaval. It is normal to see people dressed-up during this time of year, and I mean in all kinds of outfits! [You will see what I mean later ;-)] Samba Super Heroes
We arrived at the bottom and exited the entrance. We briefly visited a church across the street before catching the bus downtown.
Ida had planned for us to go see the Cordão de Bola Preta, a bloco (a type of informal parade and gathering in the streets where many people come out to celebrate, drink, spend time with friends, dress-up, etc.) There are many different blocos throughout Rio and other cities in Brazil around the time of Carnaval, however the one we were going to see was one of the oldest of the city.
Yes, that guy is wearing a diaper.
It was pretty wild walking through the crowd gathered in the city center. Brushing up against all those hot, sweaty people- of whom a good number were drinking- was something I wouldn't really care to do again. One time was sufficient for me. Haha. But there was definitely a festive atmosphere with the different street vendors, big trucks with speakers playing music, people on top of them calling out chants, and all the people singing and dancing out in the street. Bola Preto
As we were heading away from the epicenter of what some of my Brazilian friends refer to as a bagunça (disorder or confusion, basically a "big mess"), a man dressed as a woman passed by me and blew me a kiss. Uhhh- not quite sure how I was supposed to react to that, so I continued forward- at a quicker pace. Ha.
Due to the feriados (holidays), many places were closed for business. Ida and I were looking to grab lunch somewhere, and we found a place. So what restaurant would be open at this time, and most likely is always open, regardless of which day of the year it is? Can you guess? I'll give you a hint: it's a fast-food chain...that's right, we found those internationally recognized golden arches of Mickey D's. Haha.
I usually avoid McDonald's in the States, unless I'm craving their fruit & walnut salad or it's breakfast time and oatmeal is on the menu. It's a much different experience visiting familiar restaurant chains in other countries though, because of how their menus vary by local cuisine and tastes. For example, this Brazilian McDonald's had the option of different sucos (juices) served with their combos: uva, maricuja, and laranja (grape, passion fruit, and orange). For probably just the second time in my life I ate a Big Mac, and it was delicious. I had the grape juice and it was great.
Lapa
Teatro Municipal
Located near the restaurant were the Teatro Municipal (Municipial Theater) and Biblioteca Nacional (National Library), but they were both closed. After lunch we continued to the arcos da Lapa- what used to be a operating train track and reminded me a little of the Aquaduct I saw in Segovia, Spain this past summer. Ida and I continued to the Catedral de São Sebastião where we entered and rested a few minutes. The cathedral is constructed in the design of a big pyramid and had a neat interior with the stain-glass windows. I liked how the pews were situated to circle around the altar in the middle.
I took a few pictures and then we had to find a bus that traveled to the area of the city where Ida lived. This took some time, maybe half an hour or longer. As the buses rounded the corner, we would read their number and compare it with a list of bus numbers Ida had written down- these buses ran the route we were looking for. Just when we were about to try another means of transportation, I recognized the number of one of the approaching buses and signaled to the driver to stop. Yes! I waved down my first bus- I'll be a Brazilian before long. Haha. When we arrived back home, we were good and tired from our busy, sight-seeing day.
