The Last of South America, But Not For The Last Time

Headed down south
Firewater steps, firewater feet
The South was such a blast
With firewater mind, firewater soul
Where am I?
Well this won't be the last time

As with the rest of Brazil, Rio far exceeded my expectations and became, perhaps, my favorite city I have visited thus far. I will not claim that Rio is any sort of perfect city, far from it in fact, with major pollution problems, crime problems, and sub-standard housing problems. That said, it is still a city that charmed and excited me and made me want to do something about the problems, rather than abandon the city because of them. It gives Seattle a run for its money when it comes to being a perfect city for the outdoor enthusiast, with rock climbing, hiking and surfing right in the city and scuba diving nearby. I took advantage of the climbing and climbed the well known Sugar Loaf overlooking the city and the ocean. I stayed in the best hostel I have stayed in, made a suprising number of new friends and went out to just enjoy myself a bit more, all of which probably added to my love of Rio.

A small group of us went on a tour of one of the flavelas, guided by Bernardo, who works at the hostel. Bernardo explained that the hostel had decided not to use the usual guided tours because the people who worked at the hostel did not feel that life in flavelas was accurately portrayed through these tours. Instead of pointing out the lack of infrastructure and support from the city, the tours tend to highlight that utilities are not paid for and police do not interfere with the drug trade. They tend to glamorize life in flavelas, rather than point out the huge number of challenges people face when dealing with substandard housing. While outside (U.S.) perceptions of flavelas usually revolves around drug dealing, in reality, life goes on in many more or less normal ways: children play and go to school, women run small food stalls, old men sit and chat around beers. Obvious problems arise when children begin working for drug dealers, wanting money so that they can acquire the material possessions they see while attending public schools in wealthier neighborhoods. It was a very eye opening experience; though I cannot expect to have a full appreciation of complicated relationships and inner workings of the flavelas, I certainly have a better, more informed picture of them now.

I left Rio earlier than I would have liked, though it was probably not a bad thing, as I could see myself getting stuck there for quite some time. I also ran out of time to visit any other towns in the south, with the exception of Foz de Igacu. The falls were beautiful, as expect. While there, I stayed at a large hostel outside of town, where I met the craziest traveler I have meet so far. And I have met some pretty crazy people on this trip. I was eating dinner with my extremely friendly and talkative French roommate and she invited a British kid to sit with us. At first he seemed normal enough, though a bit difficult to understand – I couldn’t exactly figure out whether this was due solely to his accent, or perhaps a slight speech impediment. As talk among travelers in Brazil often does, our conversation turned to crime in Brazil. This is were things got weird. Really weird and really uncomfortable. The British guy pretty much totally lost it and started ranting the Brazil is a horrible country and he thinks everyone in Brazil is worthless and should be imprisoned, if not killed. He eventually dropped the bomb of claiming that, in some ways, he thought that Hitler was right -- I saw that comment coming from a mile away, but nonetheless, could not brace myself for it. Seeing as I was talking to a raving lunatic, I didn't attempt to argue with him much, but instead excused myself as soon as possible. The poor French woman was trying to maintain her cheerful demeanor through the whole thing. When I ran into the the guy the next morning, he could see the look of fear and extreme dislike I gave him. He asked me if I was ok. I mumbled something unintelligible and hurried out the door. What I really wanted to ask him was why the hell he is in Brazil if he thinks it is such a horrible place? I doubt I would have received any sort of satisfying answer.

I made it to Buenos Aires on schedule, though I had canceled seeing more of Argentina in favor of seeing more of the countries I had not been to before. I had studied in Argentina a year and a half earlier and had been able to visit several places. B.A. was the first (and only) place I visited that I have some familiarity with and I felt a sense of relief to be coming into a city where I had some previous knowledge of how to navigate the city. As I walked out into the bus station, I saw all the quintessential portenos -- the boys with their scenester haircuts and fashionable scarves and the ridiculously thin girls. Somehow I felt slightly at home, through recognition, rather than actually looking like I belonged in B.A.

I wish I could tell you about all the cool things I saw and did, but mostly I just enjoyed a break with old and new friends. I drank too much and ate to much, but enjoyed it fully. Thanks to Nicolas, his roommates, Christina and Matias for the much needed break!