18 Million People Have it Wrong

Well referring to my last entry, the “somewhere” where I was headed turned out to be two beaches. The first was a beach town on the northern coast of São Paulo state called Ubatuba (sounds funny, I know). The second a small little place called Rio de Janeiro. Yeah, I couldn’t help it. I’m quasi-addicted to the place so I headed back for a second serving.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Brasil. Over the past few weeks most of the main stores have whipped out their decorations and Christmas lights glitter Paulista Avenue, one of the main commercial streets in São Paulo. Thanksgiving obviously isn’t celebrated here so with an eye on the calendar it’s been weird to see Christmas décor so early in the season. Adding to the out of place effect is the warming weather heading closer to the end of the year. I haven’t spent Christmas in the Philippines since forever so this is my first time in recent memory to be living through the opposite season effect. So summertime is picking up here and with that comes rain, Brasil being no exception. There’s some form of rain in these parts of Brasil everyday, be it a torrential downpour or a passing shower. I was hesitant to go to the beach over this past long-weekend in the event that I’d catch the rain. But waiting for a rainless day this time of year won’t get you anywhere so you just gotta make the moves and keep your fingers crossed that you don’t get rained on. By and large, we lucked out. Ubatuba is about 4 hours away from São Paulo city and contains something in the range of 50+ beaches spread over 90 kilometers of coastline. I am convinced that in order to have a real beautiful beach you need to (1) not have to pay (applicable in most of the world except my great home state of New Jersey) and (2) a mountain setting somewhere in the background. The mountains add a great contrast to the water and with islands scattered in the distance, as is the case with Ubatuba and Rio, it feels like you’re in your own little swimming pool of an ocean.

I had a sliiiiiiight miscommunication with a friend of mine about where to meet (i.e. she went straight to Rio and I went to Ubatuba) so we only stayed one day in Ubatuba and then caught a red-eye bus Thursday night to Rio. It’s a shame because there are tons of great beaches to lounge out on in Ubatuba but I only caught one. Reason to return I guess. So by Friday morning I was back in Rio for another weekend swing in the Marvelous City. No matter how many times you go you will never be immune to the charm of the city. I stayed again in Ipanema and spent all day Friday on the sun-soaked beach under clear blue skies. As you arrive at the beach at Copacabana and Ipanema (the two trendier beaches where travelers typically flock to) you’re greeted on either side by obnoxiously beautiful mountains that crash down into the ocean – real breathtaking scenes that serve as reminders to anyone potentially getting complacent with Rio about just how scenic a place it is. Going from the concrete jungle of São Paulo to the beaches and mountains of Rio, my immediate reaction is that the 18 million people living in São Paulo just have it straight wrong!! Why they choose SP over Rio I am still trying to understand.

Ipanema

Nope, nothing going on here.

We headed again to the Lapa street party samba-fest on Friday night. The new cool travelers I met this time around were a trio of Swedish surfers, a Texan guy taking an extended leave from school, and Natalia – a Colombian woman going to grad school at Berkeley but currently on a year long fellowship to travel the world and research urbanization trends in China, Spain, Thailand, Brazil, and Colombia. Not a bad deal.

The arches of Lapa

On Saturday night we stuck with the samba theme but added a different twist to it. We went with a group, organized by our hostel, to a the Mangueira samba school located in one of Rio’s favelas (shantytowns/poor neighborhoods). By samba school I’m referring to the group of singers and dancers from the Mangueira favela who perform during Rio’s (in)famous Carnaval festival. As we approach Carnaval the schools start rehearsing their numbers at their schools for the benefit of anyone who shows up willing to party with them. And again by “school” I’m not talking an extracurricular dance camp that children go to after they finish their weeknight homework. It’s the favela folks; the poor community of Rio; the folks living on less than minimum wage in the hills overlooking the posh high rises where tourists like me stay and where Rio’s bold and beautiful live, who, despite their poverty, always have an energetic flare that bounces to the beat of their vivacious samba music. It’s a great scene and a lively atmosphere.

Samba band up top, dancers below