This part includes some of the things we’ve seen and done during our stay in the most alive city on the planet.
Ipanema Beach
The second day started by going to the beach. We met with the ‘security’ on our way out of the pousada and I saw his gun on the chair next to him. I said ‘Bom Dia’ (Hello) and he saluted and then after a few seconds, he was like “Hey” – that moment I froze imagining that when I turn around he’ll have the gun pointed at us :)). But instead, he told me that my henna tattoo was awesome! Thanks, security guy, I got it made before I left. Glad people noticed it.
It’s funny how we subconsciously judge people so easily, and always on the negative side. So from then on, this guy became my favorite ‘security’ guard. – Rio de Janeiro stories
I loved how clean the beach was and how each umbrella had a trash bin next to it. No plastic or cigarette buts were spotted. Because the sun was burning really bad, we got a large umbrella and I only left my henna tattoo in the sun as I really wanted to get an inverted tattoo – but more on that later. The water was freezing but I really wanted to have a swim so I managed to get in – for about 3 minutes, which was a total success.
Christ the Redeemer
On the third day in Rio de Janeiro, we decided to visit Christ the Redeemer statue, one of the new seven wonders of the world and one of the most known landmarks of Brazil. It was a torrid day but it was totally worth it. The views were spectacular! It was very very crowded but totally worth it! If you are interested to know more about the landmark and how we got there, visit our dedicated article.
We got a new laptop in Rio de Janeiro
After this trip, Cristi found a laptop on the Facebook marketplace of Rio de Janeiro and negotiated to buy it for $300. I never thought we would make combinações (business) in Brazil. I was quite scared, this guy could have taken our money and killed us for what I know – but again, I let myself judge people just because of what we heard of them. So the seller drove to our favela and we met with him, stayed in his car where Chris checked the laptop and we bought it. It took him the rest of the day to make all the configurations needed to work.
On day 4 we decided to stay in and do some work before the big night, where I was expected to be part of the Carnival. Apparently the new laptop doesn’t work that well – sometimes it connects to Wi-Fi, sometimes it doesn’t, it has a strong personality. So Chris lost about two hours to figure this out. I had two business calls and some work to do but the main concern was that Cristi was on a deadline and he couldn’t start working.
The first night of Carnival
In the evening we went to the Carnival Day 1. There I was part of the desfile of the school Renascer de Jacarepagua. We got to the Sambadrome (the place where the carnival takes place) at around 23:00.
Chris went to sector 12 in the Stadium and myself and Mr. Franz went to find our school. I was like a kid in Disneyland, all the colors, costumes, and energy was absolutely incredible!
I just couldn’t stop smiling. So many beautiful people from all over the world were there – and the coolest thing was that I was part of them too!
Even though I didn’t particularly like my costume 💀 and wished I had a choice, I was truly grateful for the opportunity I was offered. I even learned the lyrics of the song.
You can read more on how the Carnival works or some of our adventures in Rio here.
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