Jetlagged in Copa, Copacabanaaaaa

Nov 25th

Jetlagged and groggy I made it through customs with no problem. I was very lucky because I had forgotten my “yellow card” at home indicating that I have had a yellow fever shot and wouldn’t be spreading it throughout the country. On Semester at Sea they wouldn’t even let us on the boat without this card, so when I realized that I didn’t have it with me I was a little nervous.

My backpack was the last one to come through on the baggage terminal, and almost everyone had cleared out of the terminal at that point. I followed the signs to the exits to get a taxi. I quickly spotted the area where representatives from all of the taxi companies had desks set up. All of them jumped up and down says “come here miss” to me. I looked around at the prices, $80 Real ($46USD), all of the companies were the same. I tried to negotiate with them since they all wanted my business but no one would budge in price. Annoyed at the cost I ventured closer to the exit to see if I could find a different taxi stand or a bus terminal. I was a little hesitant to take the bus since lots of crime happens on Rio’s busses, so I decided I should go back to the taxi stand a pay the $80 real.

The ride to the hostel was 45 minutes. I loved seeing the favelas and got my first glimpse of Christ the Reedemer on this visit, no matter how many time I see it, it still amazes me. It was about noon when I checked into the hostel, Cabanacopa. The place is nice, it is located three blocks from Copacabana beach on the northern most point of the beach. It is located on a huge hill in an area that looks decent. The building is very secure, there is a tall fence surrounding the building and to get in you had to push a button and wait for the hostel staff to unlock the door.

The hostel staff was very nice and friendly. They showed me around the downstairs that had a small kitchen, a bar, and a hangout room with a couch and pool table. Next they took me upstairs to our room. We had reserved a 5 person room with a bathroom. The first thing that I noticed was the lack of AC and a bathroom. It was easily 95 degrees outside and I was pouring with sweat. I wanted nothing more than to relax in a nice cool room after traveling for so long, but it was clear that wasn’t going to happen. I was the only one in the room and decided to choose the top bunk closest to the fan (as recommended by the hostel staff). Then I decided to unpack a bit and organize myself. I took a shower and brushed my teeth and enjoyed being out of travel mode. It was 2:30pm at this point and I was starving after having a light breakfast on the plane and traveling for so long so I decided to venture out.

Everyone had told me how unsafe Brazil is so I was on my guard, always looking around. Last time I was in Brazil was during Carnival and several of my classmates had bad experiences and were mugged and robbed. I was a bit nervous to go out alone, but I didn’t want to stay in the room by myself all day so off I went. The first thing that I had to do was find an ATM since I didn’t have a single Brazilian dollar. After walking around for about 20 minutes I finally found a bank and attempted to take out money. I got an error message. I tried again and again and had the same problem. I finally attempted to ask the security guard in broken Spanish why the machine wasn’t working. From what I could gather from our conversation the machine only accepts money and checks and does not dispense money. I was out of luck. I walked around for another 20 minutes and found a another branch of the same bank and had the same problem all over again. I asked the security guard at this location for another ATM and he pointed me down the road.  I walked for a bit more (starving and so dehydrated I felt like I was going to pass out) and finally came to a subway stop. I’m not sure why, but I decided to venture in and see if there happened to be an ATM. To my surprise there was an ATM! I attempted to take out $200USD, but got an error message. At this point I didn’t know what to do. I had no money and was in desperate need of cash to get food and water. I played around with the machine for 15 minutes before realizing that I could only take out $1000Real ($571USD). Having really no other option I took out the money and was on my way. I really walked around terrified that I was going to get jumped and someone would be making out with a lot of money.

I had been carrying my dirty laundry around with me all of this time so my first stop was at the laundry mat to get rid of my clothes. Next I went to a Brazilian restaurant where they had lots of traditional dishes out and you fill your plate with whatever you want and pay by the kilogram. I got lots of fresh fruits and veggies. After I walked to Copacabana beach and decided to put my feet in the water and sat for a while enjoying my time at the beach. Its funny to me that this time of year I’m usually bundled up with heavy jackets, scarves and boots, and here I am sweating at the beach.

It was starting to get dark so I walked back to the hostel. I saw a stand selling Acai-berry smoothies and decided to try it since it was recommended in one of my travel books. It was delicious, I thought it tasted a lot like blueberry. I got back to the hostel and decided to relax. I had about 3 hours to kill before my aunt and her friends arrived so I thought I would make some phone calls and do some things online. It was good timing because as soon as I got in the door it started down pouring and didn’t stop. After about an hour online I was exhausted and decided to take a quick nap.

A quick nap ended up being several hours. I woke up just before midnight as my aunt, Edie and her friends entered the room. Edie moved to Brasilia about 4 months ago to teach math at an English speaking school. Many of her students are very wealthy and their parents have high powered jobs such as owning airline companies and some are ambassadors from all over the world. Edie has became good friends with Laura and Stephanie, both are also first year teachers and were able to join us on this trip. Stephanie brought her 7 year old daughter Isabelle along as well. We chatted for a bit and got settled in. At this point I was hungry since I hadn’t had dinner. Laura was also hungry so the two of us decided to venture out and see what it was like at night.

Laura is great! She likes living in Brasilia and has been a great friend to Edie. Laura did the peace corps in Nicaragua after college which is where she met her husband, Richard. Richard is from Nicaragua and moved to the Miami to be with Laura. I learned that he was flying into Rio and meeting us the following morning, I was excited to meet him. Laura and I chatted and walked for about 30 minutes. It was clear that we were the only tourists around and we got quite a few strange looks although no one did anything threatening to us. There was practically no where open. We settled for a little shop that was closing down, but we asked them to just grab something quick. We both had a small pizza like thing and we walked back to the hostel.

The others had all gone to bed so Laura and I decided that we should follow suit.

Bye for now.
Love,
Katie