Look for a woman with a blue shirt, then a bookstore called Saliva.

Directions. They are never quite what you expect in this country. If a Brazilian tells you it is near it may be far. And everyone has a different idea of how you should go. No one really tells you the names of the streets and usually not the business so you just know you are looking for some kind of place that sells this maybe in this nearby area? So much for clear communication.

Well it makes for a good adventure usually.

Yesterday, Krista and I decided to be spontaneous. We woke up really early, packed swimsuits and sunscreen and flagged a bus near our house to take us to a bus station up north where we haven't been yet. After winding through some favelas(?!) we arrived at the Rodoviário Rio Novo and purchased tickets for another bus to Búzios. It is a beach town about 3 hours away from the city where all the rich and famous that live in Ipanema go on the weekends to escape to their amazing oceanfront mansions. Once we arrived we were bombarded with English speakers trying to pull us onto their boat tours. Eventually we were persuaded. Our boat was really cheap and it took us around to all the beaches and anchored so we could jump off and swim. We met a lot of nice people on the boat, especially this couple from Argentina. The views there are lovely, the weather was perfect and I am declaring it as my favorite day in Brazil so far. It was just so fun to try to navegate our way through all the bus stations, etc. only speaking in our broken Portuguese. Did I mention we almost missed our bus because we didn't know about the time change -- wish I had a video of us running through that bus station when we realized our bus was leaving in 5 minutes. Good times.

Friday was Children's day. No one had school and businesses were closed. What does Children's day sound like, you wonder? Like screaming children and a hundred squeaky toys all going off constantly from all angles while you try to lay on the beach. Ha. But it was better for me later when a friend of mine threw a housewarming/children's day party at her new apartment. This one girl kept telling me in portuguese, this party is soooo cosmopolitan, there are people speaking english and spanish and portuguese here, from all over the world. Whoa. Today is also a holiday. I'm not really sure for what, I just know we don't have school. Oh, Brazil.

A Seafood Affair

Outra vez estou aqui! Hello hello. I have been a little bit vacant. Only because I am keeping myself busy with school and new Brazilian friends. This week I have been working on my magazine design and interactive projects.

Rio was hosting an international film festival, so on Wednesday we went to this movie Paisagem Industrialabout a Canadian photographer Ed Burtynsky. I have seen some of his pictures before, but this documentary followed his journeys around the world as he takes these amazing photographs of industrial landscapes. The film was good, but the whole event was just so Brazilian. We went with a guy from school named Alex. The movie was in the Caixa center, which is bank and movie theater, etc. Well, there were people protesting in front of the center, because there is a bank strike going on and Caixa is the government's bank. Anway, the film starts an hour late and halfway through it stops because the portuguese subtitles stopped working. Everyone in the theater started yelling and people stormed out. After about 20 minutes, they worked out the issue and we finished the film. You really never know what to expect in South America.

What else? Oh I have discovered my new favorite place in Rio, it's called Koni, and it's in Ipanema. A fast-food Japanese restaurant that serves sushi in cones. I may or may not be addicted. Basically I can't eat enough seafood here. So fresh and delicious! I'm considering opening one in Columbus when I get back. Also in Ipanema with Koni is a bookstore that we tracked down, Livraria Traveissa. Definitely the best Krista and I have found so far. We love browsing all the books and listening to all the Brazilian music.

I'm really feeling happy and comfortable here. Our neighborhood in Flamengo feels like home and the business owners say hello and our porters always chat and laugh at us doing stupid things all the time. I have a good sense of direction, so I don't feel lost 100% of the time. And while Portuguese is still difficult we always manage to communicate. Sigh of relief.

Right now I am so excited because I have the internet on my laptop. I finally worked up the nerve to take it out of the apartment and around the corner to the internet cafe. I'm a little paranoid about it. This is life in Rio.

Where does the time go?

Oh my, the time is flying by. Already I am a third of the way into my trip! It makes me realize that I still have a lot that I want to do. Still planning trips to Sao Paolo, Iguacu, Ilha Grande, Parati, Buzios, and Buenos Aires (aper-let me know). Thanks also for the birthday cards, it´s good to know you people back home haven´t forgotten me.

Surprisingly, the weather here these last few days has been less than sublime. All chilly and rainy. Supposedly normal, so say the Brazilians. The forecast for the next week doesn´t look that great either. HEY RIO, I ONLY PACKED ONE SWEATSHIRT! What am I supposed to do with all these spaghetti-strap tank tops I meticulously chose to fit in my suitcase. ARRRGH.

Family dinner with the roomies was last night, Jens Um (the German) made us all goulash with these dough ball things that I forget the name of. Delicious! Some of you that know me best may not believe this, but I have become hooked on soymilk. I know, I know, normally I am a die-hard 2%er. But under these conditions of cardboard box flash-pasteurized pseudo milk, I had to find another way. And it was soy.

Rio Rio Rio -- the good the bad the ugly

Okay, Mom, you may not want to read this post. The other evening while on a walk back from the park near our house, Parque do Flamengo, Krista and I happened upon a crowd in the middle of the street. Very eerie because no one was talking, especially in Rio because the noise is insane here always. Being the curious little gringas we are, we walk up to the middle to see what everyone is peering at. Three dead bodies, wrapped in body bags, laying in respective pools of blood. On the street. There was one police officer there, and a newspaper crew. I never figured out whether it was gang related or just an armed robbery or what. I didnt want to be the loud obnoxious American in that moment. I know murders happen every day in every country, just usually not right near the grocery store I walk to everyday right by my apartment. Anyway, it´s a good reminder that I need to be more aware of myself and my surroundings. I thought it was important to talk about and also to remind everyone that this is the exception, all the brazilians i talked to about it have never seen anything like that.

On a lighter note, I have a hammock in my room now. Woo hoo I have always wanted one. I´m jazzed. This weekend we have plans to go to Ilha Grande, a natural bioreserve island not too far away, for my birthday. 22 years old. Feels weird. Also, Krista and I are joining this gym called UPPER near our house, it´s very elegant and you get in by scanning your fingerprint. Very fun and James Bondish. I´m loving the exchange rate right now.

The Culture of the Dirty Foot

Hello again. It's been a busy weekend again. Friday the gang went to Lapa with some of the kids from school and saw Nouvelle Vague at this cool venue called the CircoPoador. Very fun. During one of the songs some guy climbed onstage and started samba-ing with the girls. Nice. Saturday was back to Lapa again, this time we started out at one of the little street bars. Here is where the dirty foot comes into play. Apparently, so my Brazilian friend tells me, this kind of bar, where the beer is cheap and the tables and chairs are of the stackable kind so as to fill the streets at night, these kind of places are called pesujo bars, meaning little dive bars or whole-in-the-wall places. But pesujo literally translates as dirty foot, pe-sujo. Very fitting, judging by the blackened condition of my foot by the end of the night. Muaha.

Let's see, what else have I been up to. Krista and I bought a Brazilian cell phone. Woo hoo! Finally coerced after we had our social life explode in our faces. Very exciting, it's prepay but you can buy the cards at any magazine stand, which are literally every 15 feet on the sidewalk anywhere in the city.

Hmmm. My roommates and I are starting a Tuesday night family dinner. Krista and I are cooking. Ha. We considered just getting some Big Macs and Fries and setting them on plates just to make our haute couture cuisine-ily inclined euro roommates mad. Nah we'll spare them.

Krista and I are noticing a lot more prejudice towards the foreigners. We've encountered a few instances where store owners were unwilling to serve us or speak to us because we are from os estados unidos. While rare, it is something to think about, being on the other side of the divide. On the whole, everyone is really excited to speak to us and hear all about our exciting lives in this great exotic land of Oooohhioooo. Most people ask if it's like California. Ha. Sometimes I let them live the lie.

One other thing that is crazy here is the amount of impoverished kids running about. They range from about 5 years old to 16, and they roam in terrifying packs trying to wrangle change where they can, in exchange for some gum or mints. They are very aggressive, a lot of them look like they are high, and they seem to be the biggest threat on the beaches. They sleep on the streets, even near my apartment. I used to like watching the Genie the Wild Child specials on the Discovery Channel, it's kind of like that. Rio has its own breed of urban feral children. Like an LOTF adaptation in NYC on heroin with Portuguese subtitles. Something along those lines.

Post-pigeon Cleanup

Boa tarde. Today is a new day without pigeon poop on my head. Hooray.

We spent the day at the Federal Police to get our visas approved for our stay in Brasil. It was a morning and afternoon of confusion and waiting in lines. All taken care of now, though. Whew!

The bus from the airport (where the Federal Police are) dropped us off near our school so Krista and I came back to check our email and I met with my group that I am doing a project with this semester in my editorial design class.

Finally here are some photos of my school ESDI, escola superior de desenho industrial.

Pombos

I got pooped on today by a pigeon on my way to classes. Pooped on. Direct hit: hair, shirt, pants, bag. Really loving Rio right now.