Friday, April 10, 2009

Brazil

It has been long time since the last post but I hope you don’t mind as the purpose of the blog is not to force myself to write. Two-week journey to Brazil was even more fun as I had supposed and we really had cool time in the sun. On the plane going there we agreed that “what happens in Brazil, stays in Brazil” but I got a permission to write just vaguely about the trip.

First of all I really fell in love with Brazil. It was a huge contrast to sometimes little stressful life back home in Finland. People are friendly and relaxed, weather is great, and there’s a lot to do in a country of samba and football. We stayed first week in Rio de Janeiro and a second one few hours outside of Rio in Buzios that is a popular holiday spot for rich Brazilians and Argentinians tourists. We were a group of 28 students, out of which 20 girls, so I was rather scared of the outcome as we were going to one of the most dangerous cities in the world, at least according to an international press. However, only one camera was stolen and only minor problems were sniffles that most of us got during the trip.

Rio is so far the best city I have been. Below are top 5 things to do to my experience:

1. Beaches: Scroll around the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema, sun bath, play beach volley or other beach sports, or just relax by watching beautiful Cariocas (people from Rio) have fun. However, the best beach is less than an hour west of Rio in Barra da Tijuca.

2. Favelas: Notorious favelas are a must see but I would skip touristic tours and go to explore by oneself. We were lucky enough to meet Diego who toured us around and showed his home. I guess I have never eaten under such security as we did when the local drug lord came to eat in a same family restaurant; first came the black jeep with smoked windows, than a dozen guys with assault riffles and hand guns. I didn’t feel unsafe in a favela but I can imagine that it gets little rough occassionally.

3. Football match in Maracana: Trip to Brazil is not a real one without a game in legendary Maracana that once took inside over 200,000 spectators and will be the host of World Cup final in 2014. We saw a local derby Botafogo-Vasco da Gama in the fan area of Vasco. The atmosphere was just amazing, especially as Vasco won 4-2. I’ve been to El Clásico in Barcelona but the continuous singing and dancing of fans in Maracana beats its ambiance.

4. Christ the Redeemer and Santa Teresa: A statue of Jesus Christ is marvellous and the 360 degree view from the top on a clear day is just great. Also the trip up there by train is interesting. In a neighbourhood of Santa Teresa it is possible to sense the relaxed Rio and taste traditional feijoada (black beans and meat). Also the trip to Centro by electric tram (Bonde) is a good experience, especially if you don’t buy a ticket that means hanging onto the train outside.

5. Bike tour around Lake Rodrigo de Freitas and beaches: Rent a bike somewhere on the beach and start exercising. People-watching on the beach road and wonderful scenery by the lake makes kilometers go fast. Brazilians love to do sports which one will notice on the way. It seems that in Rio it’s sports time 24/7.

Other great things in Rio include the Sugar Loaf, Friday night party in Lapa, and a jog in Urca neighbourhood. We also visited the local business school Ibmec that was a good experience. For instance, their finance study group is doing a trip to meet Warren Buffett personally in Omaha. I could imagine studying in Ibmec but so far they don’t have study agreements with Scandinavian universities.

After hectic Rio it was time for some pool and party in Buzios. We really made a grand entrance to our hotel after the bus driver who took us there claimed that our money was counterfeited. Well, after further investigations and hotel guests approving it really seemed that around 50 percent of our 20 real bills were fake. Funny because we had collected the money from 28 different people but there appears to be a lot of fake notes circulating in Brazil.

Otherwise Buzios was good food, company, relaxing and some weekend partys. We were lucky as we popped into two Cariocas who had come from Rio to an anniversary party of a fancy club. They liked our line-up and got us tickets to that private party. We were probably not at the highest income bracket of that party but it’s always fun to party with hundreds of celebrities (and even more wannabe celebs) and models from Rio and Sao Paulo.

All in all it was a great holiday with cool people and I can’t wait to be back in Brazil!

But after the journey hit the reality. I was diagnosed with sinus and lung infection as well as taken a salmonella specimen. Than on Friday after the journey in our company meeting my left part of the body suddenly become numb. I couldn’t fully feel my foot, fingers, tongue or face. My friends took me immediately to hospital and after night’s research I was able to go home with relief. It shouldn’t be anything dangerous but neurologigal examination is still ongoing. These symptoms are probably due to a huge hit I got to my backbone in Brazil when I lost my balance and fell to a big stone.

That weekend also gave me some important things to consider. I found out that I haven’t acted my talk. I always preach about living a day. However, this winter I haven’t lived my days as they would be my last ones. I’ve worked late nights at uni and taken responsibilities of the issues that I shouldn’t really get involved. This has led me to neglect more important things like health, family and friends. That night in hospital bed couldn’t have been more distant from Ipanema beach in Rio. Those thougts at hospital should the latest calm down the pace of my life or that life won’t be lived fully for too long. I hope everyone can make this decision before it’s too late.

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