Pedra da Gavea!

Here is, as promised, my post about Pedra da Gavea. Pedra da Gavea is one of the several iconic monoliths that make Rio's skyline famous. At 842 meters above sea level (thanks Wikipedia!) it is a challenging hike that my pictures really don't do justice, but let's just say it was the most exhilarating hike I've ever done and the feeling of accomplishment when I got to the top, plopping down to eat a banana on a rock above the clouds, was unlike anything I've ever felt before.

Having a moment with nature above the clouds at the top of Pedra da Gavea 

When my friend Alodie called me at 9 am that Saturday morning to invite me to go hiking with her I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Turns out the level of difficulty for the Pedra da Gavea is high, and I was finally able to gauge that as I made my way up with my dinky little converse and pristine (not for long) white canvas bag and everyone coming down seemed to be an extremely fit, male MMA fighter, carrying carabiners and ropes and covered in mud. Some of the people making their way down were also covered in cuts and blood, and we even passed a pile of vomit, probably the result of someone getting a little too much heat and feeling dehydrated as a result.

Before it got steep (and before we got all muddy!)

There were several portions of the hike that were so steep that no dirt trail could be built so we were literally scaling rocks that were practically vertical with our bare hands and no equipment. Sometimes there were sketchy metal wires coming out of the rock that we could cling onto, but most of the time we had to find grooves in the rock or rely on the good ole' tree-root/branch grabbing technique (and hope they don't snap haha). There was one stretch in particular near the top of the mountain where there was a huge bottleneck because you literally could not climb the rock without some sort of mountain climbing gear that I, of course, did not have.

The steepness begins! The hike felt like one long obstacle course---so fun!

At this point many of the more nervous hikers (aka women) dropped out. A friendly Brazilian guide lent me and Alodie a rope so we could make it up this steepest part of the climb. Once we made it past, we were truly at the point of no return. Tired and hungry (the hike takes at least 2 hours each way), we pushed forward and perhaps 400 meters later we ended up in a grassy clearing at the top of the mountain right as the sun began to come out. Our timing could not have been better. We avoided the heat during the excruciating climb up (and still managed to arrive completely dripping in sweat) and were greeted by an amazing view of Rio only just  beginning to unveil itself as we sat down for a mid-day snack. It was so relaxing to just gaze out into the lush abyss below me of the Tijuca forest. Also I had fun watching several hang-gliders soaring around me, as Pedra da Gavea is the typical launching spot in Rio for that activity. Although I think that in terms of view, Dois Irmaos is more picture-perfect because you can see the entire Zona Sul close-up, Pedra da Gavea is a more rewarding hike overall because it is so much higher. It also has a view of Barra da Tijuca, the newest part of Rio that is often compared to Miami for its luxury high-rises and huge, American-style streets.

Made it just in time for the clouds to lift aka time for some tanning! #winning

We tried to spend as much time at the top as possible, knowing that the descent would be just as hard (and slippery, woohoo!) as going up. After saying a farewell for now to the total calm at the top of Pedra da Gavea, we tried to make our way down as quickly as possible before the sun went down. However, our trusts Brazilian friend with the rope was nowhere to be found when we go to the steepest portion, and there was a huge back-up as one woman was having a nervous breakdown on her way down, virtually paralyzed mid-descent. At this point, it was time to get creative. What did I do? I decided to wedge in between two of the huge rock facades and then when I got to the five foot drop to get back on the trail I used a Brazilian man's shoulder as a stepping stone! Now that's what I call jeitinho brasileiro! Haha! For those who don't know, the jeitinho is the expression for Brazilians' particular knack for finding a creative solution to whatever problem they may have.

I pretty much slid down the rest of the mountain (OK so not really, but kinda....mud+extremely flat shoes=moments of sheer terror/awesomeness due to spontaneous "skiing" down steep rocks) and let me tell you my thighs were FEELING it the next day!

My Brazilian friend Thiago told me that every year people get seriously injured climbing Pedra da Gavea and sometimes there are even deaths. The very next day after I climbed it, I was watching the news and saw that a group of bandits mugged 40  hikers at the top of the mountain. They stole money, cameras, iPhones, and even tennis shoes....yikes!! Pedra da Gavea is hard enough as it is! Talk about bad luck...and dedicated muggers... I definitely feel very lucky I didn't hike a day later, and the incident was a wake-up call reminding me that it may be extremely beautiful, but it's still Rio and I need to be careful EVERYWHERE in this city!!

Thanks for reading!!
Beijos,
Marie

Hikes in Rio and more

Hi everyone!

So I am sad to say that my trusty HP laptop that I've had since freshman year at UCSB has finally decided to call it quits...which has made updating my blog even harder than it already is considering I always forget or feel too lazy to update it. Honestly I believe it is just a matter of replacing the battery, but the problem is finding the battery I need in Rio. I have e-mailed various computer stores in the city and they have all told me to go to the HP store to solve my problem. The only thing is that the only HP store in the city is all the way in Barra, the newest part of the city that is an hour and a half by bus from where I live, and also happens to be the location of Brazil's biggest music festival, Rock in Rio, that started Friday night. All of this is to say that my computer will be out of commission for a little while longer at the least, because there is no way I am going anywhere near the Rock in Rio festivities and the inevitable traffic and crowds they generate. As I am typing this, my housemate Blair is at Rock in Rio to see Kimbra, Alicia Keys and Justin Timberlake. I am EXTREMELY jealous, but at the same time, the crowds there are insanely big (which I am not a fan of), and I am getting over a cold so I really should just stay home and blog....on his laptop haha!

How I spent my saturday :) I still can't believe I get to live here...

So laptop and sickness issues aside, I have been dealing with other highs and lows of study abroad. But, I must say, that at the end of the day I do love it here in Rio and I feel extremely grateful to study in this amazing city.  One of my favorite things about Rio is the abundance of hiking there is to do within the city itself. Since school has started I have done two hikes in Rio: Pedra da Gavea and Dois Irmaos. Yesterday was a perfect day in Rio, and I think I truly fell in love with the city as I gazed out from the peak of Dois Irmaos, the iconic mountains on the western edge of Ipanema and Leblon beaches. I hiked Dois Irmaos with three friends: Louie, also a fifth-year Cal student, Andrea, a UCSC student, and Diana from Bogota, Colombia. 

To get up to Dois Irmaos is quite the adventure. First you have to go to Vidigal, a pacified favela sandwiched in between the very chic neighborhoods of Leblon and Sao Conrado. The favela is actually getting quite gentrified and I know various exchange students who have even moved there. From the entrance of Vidigal you have to take a mototaxi up to the tippy top of the favela. From there, you are dropped off to a small staircase that looks like it leads up to someone's backyard and then you have to walk along the yard on a sketchy cement wall up to a small trail (with no sign) and then from there you just follow the trail (and hope you're going the right way when there's a fork in the road haha!!). The first lookout from there is a view of Pedra da Gavea, Sao Conrado, and Rocinha, one of the largest slums in Latin America. 

If you feel like you're trespassing, that means you're going the right way! We had to climb onto this wall and continue walking up it until we reached the unmarked trailhead.

Me and Louie at the first clearing with Pedra da Gavea behind us and Rocinha on our right

Rocinha is a sight to behold. It extends much further than what you can see in the above picture and although I have yet to go there myself, I have heard it is a city in itself (due to its sheer size) complete with banks, grocery stores and even sushi restaurants with flat screen TVs! The favela was in the news quite a bit when I first arrived to Rio as one of its inhabitants, a man named Amarildo, disappeared in July and the pacifying police units' cameras that monitor the entrances to the favela were mysteriously broken the day he went missing. Riots ensued for several days in front of the entrance as residents demanded information from corrupt authorities about where he was. Many groups from around the country also protested in front of their local governments in solidarity. I remember seeing banners that said "Onde está o Amarildo?" (Where is Amarildo?) even in Salvador during my trip there. Yet as of yesterday, his wife is still searching for answers. See the article below (in Portuguese) for more on the Amarildo case

http://www.bbc.co.uk/portuguese/noticias/2013/09/130914_amarildo_2meses_jd_dg.shtml 

Rocinha. Just to the right of this is the neighborhood of Gavea and PUC (my school)

After looking out at the vastness of Rocinha, we continued up to the top of Dois Irmaos, where we were greeted with one of the best views I have ever seen (see the first picture in this post)! I could see the entire Zona Sul of Rio with Christ the Redeemer and Botafogo on my left, the Lagoa and Gavea Jockey Club in the middle, and Leblon, Ipanema, and Copacabana and their respective beaches on the right. We hung out there in the relative peace above the city for a good hour before hiking back down for some well-deserved açaí from a small store right next to the trailhead which was highly recommended to me by two friends for being the best in Rio. I don't know if it was because I was so hot from hiking but it was definitely the most refreshing açaí I've had and the best part was how cheap it was (less than two dollars for 400 mL and toppings!). When I told the woman at the store that i had heard her açaí was the best in Rio she blushed and giggled that everyone told her that! After the açaí break we took a kombi down to the lower portion of Vidigal where I stopped by my friends' new apartment. Vidigal is known to have some of the best views in Rio and my friend Chloe's apartment was no exception! The only catch was that on the rooftop balcony area her neighbors' dogs, who were clearly being raised to fight (a chewed up mannequin on the ground was one of their "toys"), were barking up a storm and killing the mood!

The legend Dona Ana herself serving up some delicious and filling açaí. I had mine with granola and paçoca (powdered peanuts) on top. Yum!

The view from Chloe's roof! Totally charming minus the extremely aggressive and barking rottweilers kept away by a flimsy-looking fence :/

So I still want to talk about my previous hike up Pedra da Gavea which was much more intense than the Dois Irmaos hike but this blogpost has already been so long and I don't want to bore you all to tears! I will save my Pedra da Gavea post for later =) In the meantime I wish you all a wonderful week and as always thank you for reading!

Beijos

Marie

Salvador days 3 and 4

Hello fans!

I've been MIA recently because honestly I've had no energy or motivation to blog :( Between starting classes (with a packed schedule from 7 am to 5 pm Mondays and Wednesdays), figuring out how to actually register for them, registering with the federal police, applying/interviewing for various internships in Portuguese, and housing stresses involving a wacky landlady and a last-minute hurried move on the first day of school, I have been quite stressed! I'm looking forward to settling into a new routine.

Anyway, a few days ago I ran north along Copacabana beach about 3 km  all the way to the giant Clock across from the Windsor Atlantica Hotel that is counting down the days until the World Cup (which, for the record is 293 days). That reminded me that I needed to update my blog, because I still haven't talked about my third day in Salvador when I walked by the World Cup stadium there! We decided to walk to the stadium from our hostel because it did not look too far on the map, but it ended up taking a while, especially since it was raining. On the way was the Dique do Tororó, a natural lagoon right in the middle of the city that has man-made geysers and giant statues of orixás (Yoruba gods from the syncretic candomblé religion of northeast Brazil).

Hanging out with a giant Orixa

The soccer stadium itself is beautiful, but it sits right in the middle of very rundown looking neighborhoods. I don't want to use the word "favela" (that has violent connotations not necessarily be appropriate here), but behind the stadium we walked through the kind of squatter neighborhoods with tiny one-room houses, the stink of sewage, and narrow staircases/steep alleyways in lieu of real streets that scare tourists away. Quite frankly, to me Salvador did not seem ready to host the World Cup...the metro stations were boarded up (I assume they were being renovated?), the buses were infrequent and confusing to navigate, and the stadium was in a location difficult to get to and as I mentioned before, dilapidated at best. However, Salvador already hosted the Confederations Cup in June and pulled it off, so who says they can't do it again for another FIFA tournament come June 2014?

Above is the Arena Fonte Nova Stadium complete with a huge soccer ball/berimbau (traditional instrument used in capoeira) clock. Right across from the stadium is the Dique de Tororo lagoon that is in the bottom picture. 

And now, saving the best for last....On my last day in Salvador I went to Praia do Forte, 40 km north of Salvador. We took a bus to the main bus terminal in Salvador then from there took a local bus that stopped at every town hugging the coast just north of Salvador. Door to door from our hostel to the beach at Praia do Forte probably took about three hours, but it was 100% worth it. We got to see a glimpse of the Bahian countryside and of its famous "coqueiro" (coconut tree) coastline. When we first got off the bus, we were all antsy to see the beach yet found ourselves in a kitschy touristy town of fancy restaurants and bikini stores. However, about 800 meters later, we finally found Praia do Forte shining before us like a dream that was too good to be true! Sorry for the corniness but seriously guys there is just no way to describe how perfect this beach was. You know those "Find your beach" Corona ads with the idyllic sand and perfectly slanted palm trees? Well, I found my beach at Praia do Forte!!

After a long bus ride and a walk through a tacky tourist-trappy beach town, finally arrived at Praia do Forte!

Found my beach!

Found a perfectly preserved crab shell in the sand!

We walked down the already very sparsely crowded beach to our own private little spot next to a beach vendor who became our own personal and super enthusiastic flowery-tropical-drink-maker and stuff-guarder when we were swimming. He called himself "Meow" and he was quite the character. Apparently when he was little his dad, a fisherman, used to feed the stray cats some of the leftover fish from his daily catch. So his dad was nicknamed Meow and our friend was nicknamed Meow Jr., although today he just goes by Meow. He chatted up a storm about all of his past loves with my friend Sarah, and, completely smitten with her, offered our group a place to stay (his place, where else?) whenever we decided to come back. Of course we just laughed it off but needless to say "Meow" provided quite the entertainment to us that day.

Sarah and our instant friend "Meow"

The cherry on top to a perfect last day in Bahia was when we walked back to the town from the beach in Praia do Forte and it was high tide, so the way we originally came from was underwater. A friendly janitor  let us cut across the turtle sanctuary that Praia do Forte is known for, and that usually demands an entrance fee but that we got to see for free! We got to see huge adult turtles and the cutest tiny baby turtles!

Walking back at high tide

I am still dreaming about that trip to Praia do Forte, it was definitely one of the main highlights of my time in Brazil so far.

An instagram picture I took on my iPhone at Praia do Forte. Tough life huh...

Beijos to you all and thank you for reading :-)
Tchau for now,
Marie

Trip to Salvador! Day 2

Oi again!

After a wonderful lazy beach day during our first full day in Salvador, my friends and I had a busy touristy day where we hit all of the main attractions the city had to offer. First on the list was the Igreja de Bonfim, about a twenty minute bus ride north from historic downtown Salvador. The church is one of the most famous in Brazil, known for the ubiquitious colored prayer bracelets that pilgrims and visitors fasten to either their own wrists or to some part of the church with three knots (each knot allows you one wish or prayer). Bahians have an intense devotion to the church. According to the church's security guard, the story goes that a Portuguese captain prayed to Jesus for a safe journey to Brazil, and after a very tumultuous journey in which he barely survived, he built the church to thank Jesus, making the Senhor de Bonfim ("Good-ending") Jesus himself.

Since the church was practically empty when we were visiting, the friendly church guard named Elton ("like the singer!") gave us a private tour of the church and we even got to chat with the pastor. He invited us to return for mass but sadly we had to turn the offer down....the church was quite far from where we were staying and we had little time in Salvador....

Slow tourist day at the Igreja de Bonfim

So. Many. Bracelets!!!

The ex-voto room at the Igreja de Bonfim. People leave wax representations of body parts they need to be healed and photos of people they need blessed.

After taking a few group pictures with Elton who was sad to see us go, we hopped on the bus back to downtown Salvador where we stopped at the Mercado Modelo for some shopping and lunch. We scanned the handicraft booths at Salvador's famous three story market and found tons of treasures, but none of us ended up buying anything because we were too hungry for lunch! We went to tiny hole in the wall on the first floor of the market for a typical Bahian lunch and split two moquecas: one was fish and the other stingray. I don't think I had ever eaten stingray before but I actually ended up liking it more than the fish!

After lunch we took the famous Lacerda elevator up to Pelourinho, the historic downtown of Salvador that is also a UNESCO world heritage site. The elevator cost only 15 centavos because regular Salvadorans use it all the time to get to work. I was a little apprehensive about visiting Pelourinho because so many people in Rio had warned me about the area saying it was very unsafe. I guess there are a lot of crack addicts there so it can get unsafe especially at night, but I had a great experience there: the area was beautiful, clean, and tourist police were everywhere so I felt secure too! Salvador was actually the original capital of Brasil, and Pelourinho is the historic downtown. Walking along the narrow cobblestone streets surrounded by colonial architecture and countless churches I felt like I was in Portugal again! I was also impressed by how well-maintained the paint on the buildings was, and in such cute pastel colors! I really felt like I was in the historical core of Brazil, a world away from the glamorous beaches of Rio.

In front of Mercado Modelo (I was facing it so you can't see it) with the Lacerda elevator behind me

Beautiful view at the top of the elevator

Flashbacks of Portugal....

A typical street in Pelourinho. The woman on the right is wearing a traditional Bahian dress and headwrap.

In the main square of Pelourinho. The square was still decorated for the Festas de Sao Joao, huge festivities held every june in the Northeast.  Theywere especially significant this year since they coincided with the Confederations Cup, which is why the decorations in the back include a huge soccer ball.

Here's a fun fact: Michael Jackson actually filmed a music video in the main square of Pelourinho. I got ice cream from an ice cream store right below the balcony where he stood in the video. Check it out below! Part of it was also shot in Rio, and the scenes in Salvador feature the "Olodum" percussion and afro-brazilian culture group whose headquarters are also in Pelourinho.

OK so by now you are all wondering when this post will end so I'll wrap this up! After sufficiently wandering the streets of Pelourinho we walked back to our hostel which was about 5km away. It took about an hour but we wanted to walk because the day was so beautiful and we were able to catch a great sunset by the water along the way. That night we went out for caipirinhas and acarajé in the pleasant Rio Vermelho neighborhood of Salvador with Felipe, a Bahian guy who worked at our hostel, and Sebastian, a Columbian veterinary student we also met at the hostel. Acarajé is Bahian street food that consists of a deep-fried ball made from bean paste that is split in two then stuffed with vatapá and caruru, pastes made from shrimp, ground nuts, red palm oil and spices (thanks wikipedia!). Then to top it all off they pile on a pico de gallo type vegetable salad, hot sauce, and salted crispy shrimp. It was SOOOOO good. Sadly I don't have any pictures but you should google it and see what I mean :-) And the whole meal was less than 3 US dollars! I love street food...

Amazing sunset in Salvador, Bahia

 As always, thank you for reading!

xoxo

Marie

 

Trip to Salvador! Day 1

Oi everybody!

So my Brazilian cellphone got lost/stolen :-( and my camera is not working because I think I got too much sand in it... but other than that I had a lovely time on my trip to Salvador! Oh, and I was still able to extract the pictures that I took on my camera before it stopped working so I apologize in advance for the deluge of photos coming up...hehe

 I got back on Thursday night from a 5-day trip to Salvador, Bahia in the Northeast of Brazil. We had a one week break between the language intensive and before the semester officially starts tomorrow (my first class is at 7 am woohoo!) so I jumped on the opportunity to visit somewhere outside of Rio and I thought why not visit Salvador? Along with Rio it is one of Brazil's most popular tourist destinations so I knew I wanted to go there eventually, and I thought I would go this week to take advantage of the fact that my friend and old Mar e Floresta co-worker Kyla was there so we could reunite after two years of not seeing each other! I had a great time seeing a completely different side of Brazil and exploring a new city.

Planning the trip was a bit last-minute and not as easy as I would have liked...after being on the internet and phone for more than two hours calling Brazilian airlines and my American bank I was able to buy a ticket from Saturday to Thursday from Rio to Salvador with layovers in Sao Paulo. I learned the hard way that many websites only accept Brazilian credit cards and when I finally found one that accepted American cards my bank blocked my card. Anyway, with my ticket purchased just two days before leaving, I convinced three PUC friends to come with me and they all bought tickets the next day! I made hostel reservations the day before we left and thank goodness there was still space! We ended up having a lot of luck because it is currently the low season for tourism in Brazil and so prices for the hostel were reduced and even though we booked 4 beds in an 8-bed female dorm we had the room to ourselves as the hostel was pretty empty.

Our bright yellow hostel

Not a bad set-up for some R&R...

The first day we went to the beach right next to our hostel called Praia da Barra, where I had planned to meet Kyla. She had no cellphone though so I basically just had to scan the beach to find her. It ended up taking only about 5 minutes of looking around the beach until I found her: the beach was pretty small and although it was crowded, Kyla stuck out like a sore thumb with her super light blonde hair and blue eyes, rare features in Brazil and especially rare in the northeast where most people are of African descent.

We ended up just chatting on the beach the whole day, catching up one each others lives (Kyla was in town visiting her Bahian boyfriend!), swimming, and sipping on coconut water in the hot sun. In Portuguese there is an expression matar as saudades which means literally "killing the saudades (longing/missing feeling)." Meeting up with Kyla, reminiscing on our camp counselor days and discussing dreams and hopes for the future, was a perfect example of this :-)

Reunited in Brazil! A day at the beach at Praia do Porto da Barra Beach with Kyla to matar as saudades, 2 years after working together at the Portuguese language camp Mar e Floresta :-)

I don't think he has enough cans....

Beautiful day for a walk

Walking past the lighthouse! I almost felt like I was in New England haha!

Sharing a bowl of yummy yummy açaí

We finished the day with a walk to the beautiful Farol da Barra (an old lighthouse on the southern tip of Salvador) and with a typical post-beach Brazilian snack of açaí, an vitamin-packed berry that only grows in the Amazon and that is served frozen and blended guaraná syrup to counter its natural sourness. Topped with banana and granola, there is nothing more filling and delicious!

After walking back to the hostel at sunset me and my friend Sarah, from New York and who was also hanging out with me and Kyla all day, regrouped with our two Columbian friends and travel buddies Andrea and Diana for dinner. We opted for a traditional Bahian meal of moquecas (a seafood stew made with red palm oil, spices, and vegetables) to get a taste of the famous Bahian cuisine, known for being infused with African flavors and influences, and it was delicious! I am not used to eating seafood so it was a huge treat for me. Me and Sarah split the siri catado moqueca which was made from crab. They also brought rice, a typical side dish made from mixing flour with the moqueca juices whose name I forgot, and some very hot pepper sauce. It was so nice to finally have some spicy food after weeks without it (it is extremely rare to find spicy food in Rio) and overall it was a wonderful way to wrap up our first day in Salvador.

Our Salvador travel crew! From Left to Right: Diana, Sarah, me and Andrea. And that was the last time I saw my phone :-(