Sup rio

Hey, I'm here. I've been here for more than a week and it's great. I got robbed tonight though, which was more startling than devastating. It made me think about stealing and why/how people turn to such desperate measures.

Things that surprise me so far:
1. it's not really easy to get to places
2. Rio is swaaaanky and my money doesn't go very far
3. never have I seen so many in shape/attractive people
4. a lot of people speak English, and well
5. everyone rides bikes! I wish I brought mine...

This doesn't surprise me, but it's HOT. The humidity is stifling but I enjoy the change from cold Santa Cruz nights. Today it rained and I saw a movie 'Lula' with some friends and then bought a dress for $R38 ($US21) before getting robbed. I was pretty shook up and stayed in tonight with my host-mom, Lydia, age 72. Lydia takes care of me like a family member and has helped me so much my first week here. The other day we rode the bus together and left lipstick on my face when we kissed good-bye, ha.

My heart is torn that I'll be moving out at the end of the month but my new place is so great and now I have another reason to leave Copacabana (other than the fact that it's far from school) now that I've been robbed. In February I'm moving in with a girl from Chicago and a Brazilian I met on couchsurfing who goes to PUC (the school I'm going to). Caio is from another state called Mato Grosso which touches Bolivia and has a huge jungle called Pantanal which is supposedly more impressive than the Amazon. Krystal and I met Caio's parents and they invited us to their house in Cuiabá, the capital. We already have plans to go after Carnaval on feb 16!

Still cruelty-free, which is hard but worth it. The food here is all fried and covered in cheese, but I've been fully taking advantage of the plentiful fruit options and rice and beans. I try to eat almonds, which I normally hate doing, to get some protein during the day. Last week I went out to Lapa which is the most ridiculous party zone I've ever seen. You can drink in the street and there were thousands of people there buying sticks of meat, caipirinhas and tequila shots from passing street vendors. At one point during the night I saw a food stand that sold top ramen, fried and tossed in soy sauce. Also on my way through a market the other day I saw someone unloading a volkswagon van filled entirely with ramen noodles.

My goal for this weekend is finding a Capoeira group and getting some sun. I'm so pale it's almost irreversible. Here is a picture of the view outside my window from the 7th floor of my building on Rua Sá Ferreira, Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, RJ