Week #1 - Sau Paulo
I arrived on a Sunday after a pretty long flight (10.5 hours) and the first thing I noticed was the humidity! I guess I quickly forgot what humidity felt like. The driver was nice enough to meet me downstairs and help me with my bags. He only understood every 5th word I was saying so we basically ended up smiling a lot to each other and using sign language to communicate. The drive took about an hour to the hotel and I needed to take a shower badly. I met up with another co-worker for lunch and just laid by the pool for the rest of the afternoon.
The first week of work was pretty grueling with some long hours at the office. The people we are working with are very friendly but they don't quite have the same "urgency" in business matters. They say it just takes "Brazil time" to get the things you requested. Other than a little delay here and there, they have been wonderful to work with. Most of the management team speaks functional english but a couple of the lower level employees just seem to smile back when you ask them a question. Can't blame them because I would probably do the same thing in their shoes.
The first week is always the hardest because you're trying to get to work immediately but at the same time you're battling a little jet lag. Sao Paulo is only 3 hours ahead of EST so I didn't have that hard of an adjustment. So, with the first week in the books I was ready to take off for the weekend to Rio de Janeiro!
Weekend #1 - Rio de Janeiro
It was pouring rain when we got into Rio. I haven't seen rain come down that hard since living in the Philippines. Traffic was awful as these little cars tried to drive through huge puddles. I was so excited to see the Christ the Redeemer statue but it would have to wait. Our hotel was right about a block away from Ipanema Beach. I was traveling with 2 co-workers and they both said that Ipanema was much safer and nicer than Copacabana. After a quick bite at a local restaurant we decided to call it an early night (it was only 1am :) ) because we had a big day ahead the next day.
We started off our Saturday with a little run right on the famous Copacabana Beach. I was amazed at how many people were already at the beach at 8am. The actual beach is in a cove shape but it's pretty impressive to see in person. There were people running with their dog, playing in the water...just about everything you would expect at a beach. Our plan was to run to the very end of the beach (about 2.5 miles) then turn back to the hotel. Well, maybe we were a little too ambitious because we were exhausted after the first half! We grabbed some fresh coconut water and jumped in a cab back to the hotel.
I told my other coworkers that I only wanted to do 2 things in Rio: 1) see the Christ statue and 2) go hang gliding off the cliffs. (fyi...I told Myriam about the second one beforehand so although she wasn't thrilled about the idea, she said "have fun"! I was in the clear!) We took a 15 minute cab ride over to the beach where the hang gliders wait for customers to show up. We made arrangements through the hotel for a guy named Ronaldo to be our "pilot". Since he was a one-man show, the plan was to take me up first then my co-worker would go next. The actual experience of hang gliding was one of the most amazing experiences in my life!! You literally feel like a bird up there. The ride only lasts for about 12-15 minutes but it's so peaceful. We landed on the beach without any problems. Surprisingly, I never had that overwhelming sense of fright, even during the whole rigging phase and standing on the platform. It was just an awesome experience and one that I will never forget.
After the hang gliding trip, we wanted to unwind a bit so we hit the beach. You have to personally see the beach scene to appreciate just how many people are crammed on the beaches in Rio. Every little inch is taken and it feels more like a social gathering than a time to relax. Here in Brazil, they have these "kiosks" where you can rent an umbrella and beach chairs. The guys who run these things can also get you snacks, drinks, cigarettes....basically anything you want. They're essentially a server who gets you things while on the beach and then you just pay him when you leave. It's actually a pretty smart business model and I think the US should adopt some form of it. It takes away the need to buy beach chairs and umbrellas and then having to haul them around.
The beach pretty much wiped us out (no pun intended) but we still had so much to see! We walked back to the hotel and after a quick shower we were off to a place called Sugarloaf. It's basically a HUGE rock on the water where you take a tram up to the very top. From there, you can have a beautiful view of the city below with the Christ Statue overlooking from on high. We timed it perfectly as the sun was setting over the mountatins. We took a lot of pictures so I'll have to post them when I get back to the States.
The next day we planned on going to the Christ Statue but so did evey other tourist in Rio! Just like Sugarloaf, you have to take a train up to the top. The line took us about an hour but then once we got to the ticket booth we were told our train would leave in 2 more hours. So we decided to grab a quick bite for lunch and try to get out of the heat. When we came back to the train station, I'm pretty sure it was close to 95 degrees! The train ride goes through some jungle so we were able to get some relief but once we hit the top of the mountain we were out in the bright sun again. The view from the top is just amazing as you can see all the main parts of Rio. There were a few hundred people up there with us braving the heat but it was well worth it! The pictures turned out great
Stay tuned for Part II...
