Observations from a New Perch: Seis Garotas em Ipanema: Dia dois

Sasha and I woke early and transferred our stuff to the hostel where everyone else was staying, now that there was free space for us. We grabbed some hostel breakfast and coffee then all headed to the fruit market down the street. We swam through a sea of vibrantly colored fruits, vegetables and fish, some recognized, some alien to our previous food knowledge. Brazilian men shoved the sweetest of strawberries into our mouths, wiping off our faces with napkins afterwards. Walking down the fruit market street was definitely “café da manhã, parte dois” (breakfast part two), because we were forcibly (and enjoyably) stuffed to the brim with more and more fruit samples.
One fruit merchant greeted me, Sasha and Liz by saying “bom dia,” “bonjour,” “good morning,” (respectively) as we walked by his fruit stand together. I’m still proud of this. A man who called himself “Big Ricardo” (he was actually smaller than me) sold us cherimoyas (known in Brazil as pinhas) and avocados the size of my head. He also insisted that Liz take a picture of the two of us together (see below…) and that I tell everyone in sight that he was my Brazilian boyfriend. He was relentless. This got old really fast so we turned our backs and moved on.
Soon we headed to the famous and magnificent Ipanema beach. We frolicked in the waves, bought sarongs from a beach vendor (classic tourists), admired expressive street art murals, sipped juice from young coconuts, gazed at the Dois Irmãos mountains, people watched… It was carefree and glorious. We ended up walking all the way to neighboring Copacabana beach, where we sat on some rocks and ate our lunch (mainly consisting of the fruit we bought that morning). Every piece of fruit was exquisitely delicious and juicy.
We walked into town toward our intended destination, the Rio +20 Humanidade exhibit at the Copacabana Forte. We discovered the line to be several blocks long, but decided to wait anyway. After about an hour, silliness ensued. Said silliness consisted of beatboxing, boom-chicka-boom, funny noises and voices, unique sarong styles… We finally made it into the exhibit, which was awesome and totally worth it.
The whole exhibit was built in about ten floors of scaffolding, connecting thirteen different rooms with ramps. The ground level consisted of a garden of many plant species from different Brazilian Biomes, as well as thought provoking quotes and facts about the rainforests and biodiversity of Brazil. All of the rooms were incredibly innovative and artistic, all with different sustainability related themes. One shared interpretations of development throughout the ages, another embraced Brazilian human diversity, and another was dedicated to the topic of biodiversity and sustainability. The “Rio de Janeiro” room was completely 3-D (we were given glasses when we walked in) and communicated many different dimensions of progress. If you want to learn more about the exhibit or read more about the different rooms, visit this website: http://www.humanidade2012.net/en/o-evento/exposicao/ . I’ll also post a few (shitty) pictures below.
After the exhibit, our jelly-legs managed to carry us to a quick, filling supper and back to the hostel. Liz, Sasha and I decided to grab a low-key drink, so we headed to a nearby bar. Low and behold, we walked in and ran into our friend who had visited Iracambi the previous week for her organization, which works with Iracambi. We ended up having drinks with her, her coworkers and some other people who were in town for the conference. We got to hear more about the actual happenings of/surrounding the conference (which they were all in town for). Ended up doing a fair amount of enjoyable networking (who knew!), which was pretty chill and the last thing I expected from our Rio adventure. Thanks in advance, Rio +20, for possibly helping me to find post-college employment.
More importantly, I had my first Caipirinha (a day in history). A Caipirinha is Brazil’s national cocktail. It is made of Cachaça (sugar cane rum), lime, and sugar. It reminds me a lot of a Pisco Sour, which means it is absolutely DELICIOUS. If any of you faithful blog readers ever get the chance, please order a Caipirinha!
After our little bar excursion (which proved to us that Rio is actually a tiny city, despite its population of 6 million people), our satisfied taste buds (accompanied by the rest of our bodies, luckily!) wandered back to the hostel and into our top bunks.