2009 is here!!!!

My Christmas Family, Rory, Bev and Jess/Magia

2009 is here! Happy New Year!!!

So, after the last post, what happened? The day after my treck all over Rio I took it easy and stayed in by the pool side most of the day just trying to recover from the previous lack of sleep. I was lucky though because the weather was relatively nice. In the late afternoon Magia and I went on a small mission in order for her to sort out some last minute stuff before she left for New York the next day. So we got on the bonde and rode it again all the way down. It's so much fun riding the bonde, hanging on (or off) the sides of it, dodging close cars and lamposts and looking at the view as you go down or up. I think riding the bonde most definitely tops riding the bus as the ultimate public transport experience! :-) It is amazing. I haven't yet been over the arches but I plan to do this before I leave. We then went to a friend of Magia's in Lapa and from her appartment there was the most amazing view over the bay and the Sugar Loaf mountain. On the way back from hers we went for a walk in Lapa where we went to look for the really famous Santa Teresa mosaic stairs. They are really beautiful, and were definitely worth a visit. The man who made them, or rather the artist who works on them was such an odd figure. A little old man in a tiny room surrounded by paintings, trying to sell his work to you the second you stepped through the door. He was going on about how famous he was and how his fame was different to that of Picasso's because he was famous via the internet and TV and worldwide media. Then he started pulling out all these photos of famous people who had been there like Edward Norton, or Snoop Dog, or how it had featured in fashion photoshoots. He was very eccentric and funny. Once we had done that we walked back up to Santa Teresa to join Rory and Bev for a fancy dinner for our last night in Rio. Rory had found this amazing restaurant which had a fantastic view over Rio from the heights of Santa Teresa and one could see all the lights twinkling in the distance. The food was fantastic as was the location. We sat and played the game "top 3" as suggested by Bev, which I thought was a really good end of the year game to play. The idea is to list top 3 things of the year so for example: top 3 meals, top 3 people you have met, top 3 places you've been...It was a fun game and a good one because it makes you think about the past year and what you have done and enjoyed the most. After that very dignified dinner, we all went home and ended up swimming the pool late a night. Such a hilarious experience! And so, on New Year's eve I left my lovely Christmas family behind and headed onwards to my new destination: Veronica's aunt's. Magia was flying to New York, and Rory and Bev were flying back to Portugual, so all of them spent New Year's eve in a plane. Still, I would like to say how lovely it was to spend Christmas with them and what a great time I had, and that I really do consider them as my Christmas family.

New Year's eve I went to meet Veronica's aunt in the morning and we all went to the airport to pick her up. It was really cool to meet Veronica and see her here in Rio, which in a sense is quite surreal. But it is nice to think that now is the start of our journey together in Brazil. After a quick nap and a catch up we started getting ready for the New Year's eve party down on Copacabana beach as we had to catch the last metro at 6pm. After that, the metro closes down and only opens to people who have bought special New Year's eve metro tickets. These had all ran out by the time we got there so our only option was to get the metro before 6. We were lucky as we literally made it JUST in time, and arrived on Copacabana beach early. We walked down to Ipanema to meet some family friends of mine, the Luraschis, to say hello an Happy New Year. We ended up being so lucky as to find a place to eat for all of us in the Garota de Ipanema. I had really not expected to find anywhere to eat on such a busy night so that was a good surprise. After that we left the parents to stay in Ipanema and the four of us girls walked back to Copacabana. As we were walking back it started to rain, just a drizzle at first, but when we reached Copacabana beach it actually started pouring! At first I made a vague attempt at trying to protect myself but then I just gave up and stood there in the rain getting wet along with everybody else. Then it just felt like it was part of the New Year's eve experience to get wet in our white clothes. It was kind of refreshing too since it was so hot. Shortly after that the countdown started and then the fireworks went off and it was just incredible. It was such an amazing feeling to think that I had just counted down and seen in the New Year in Copacabana beach in Rio in Brazil. Unbelievable!!! I was just so excited to be there on the beach, with so many other people, and in particular to be there with Veronica Stefi and Bea. It was awesome!

After that we went and sat on the beach and watched people go by, then went to listen to the band that was playing and had a walk around. Just as we were about to go home, Bea's friend Joao found a party for them to go to, and miracles of miracles I managed to find the Aussies!! Or should I say, they found me. We had planned to meet up by medical point number 2 earlier on in the evening but just never found each other, and then, incredibly, we did manage to find each other. How cool!! So the Aussies, Veronica and I all went off in search of a beach party. We somehow ended up in the gay part of the beach, though as they say, they gays know how to party and theirs was the only party still on. There was a tranny there that was totally out of control and dancing around to the music in a very dramatic way, clearing a circle for him/herself and had a whole crowd watching her. It was mad! Eventually though we decided we had had enough and went to find some chairs to sit on the beach. There we sat and watched the people go by, mainly drunken people and LOADS of men pissing in the sea. Disgusting, I know. The state of the beach was just awful. So many bottles, and cans, and trash, all getting occasionally washed into the waves by the tide...so sad! But they just hadn't provided any bins anywhere, so it was normal that people were just dropping their trash. We sat and watched the sun rise, sadly unspectacular, and then finally decided to head home. Really, the reason we were waiting was so as to not have to take a cab, so we went to the metro and go the first metro home. So cool! I have done that only a few times in my life. All in all it was a very successful night, spending New Year's eve on Copacabana was just an incredible experience, and I would say probably the best New Year's eve ever!

I keep thinking how lucky I am to be able to be here, and what an amazing experience this is. I am seeing places that people all over the world have heard of, that are famous and beautiful, and some people will never get to see these places, will never even get to leave their own country. And I can't help but think how unbelievable it is to be here and how lucky I am. Since I have now been here for a month, I think I would like to share some thoughts I have about the whole experience, thought I might save those for another post. I would like to say though, that throughout my whole time here I have felt completely safe. I find it hard to explain exactly why it is I feel safe and comfortable here, but I feel that the whole dangerous thing is completely overrated. Of course you have to be wise and exercise normal precautions, you can't go around advertising the fact that you are a tourist. But I also think that if you use a minimum amount of common sense you can get around fine without having to worry all the time about your safety. I just feel comfortable here, and I think that it helps to feel as if you are at home rather than in a big dangerous city. I don't like the way we are made to be afraid and feel that instead we should go with precaution, of course, and common sense. Anyway enough for today's entry I think.

Happy New Year, and all the best for 2009. I hope this year goes well for everyone