Liz and I rose bright and early to start the day with bursts
of energy. After reciting, “Today is going to be a GREAT day and I feel
terrrrrrrrific!” Liz was ready to join me for a run and some yoga on Ipanema
beach under the morning light. We pranced through the sand toward Dois Hermois,
waves lapping at our bare feet, ocean breezes cooling our bronzed, muscular physiques.
It was funny to observe the wide array of people who were on the beach at that
hour. A team of little Brazilian boys practiced soccer. Women danced about the
waves in their Brazilian bikinis. Old men speed walked in their skimpy swim
trunks. Young adults got their morning
workout from soccer volleyball. A less fortunate man, burrowed in the sand,
hadn’t yet awoken from his night’s sleep.
We finished our run, sweaty and exhilarated, and then
attempted to do yoga on the beach. I thought of the Rodney Yee yoga videos that
my dear mother used to watch. Turns out sand (especially when sloped) is quite
difficult to balance on. I guess Rodney’s balance is even more impressive than
I thought. Regardless, we still had a relaxing and invigorating yoga session.
We quenched our thirst with a delicious, revitalizing coconut juice.
I watched longingly as a group of Brazilians played soccer
volleyball, and I was determined to join in. I rehearsed with Liz multiple
times, “posso jogar futbol tambem?” Finally, I worked up the courage to ask
them. Rejection. Turns out they worked for a gym and were doing a private clinic.
They told me I could play with them in an hour when the clinic was over, but
unfortunately we had to leave to make it back for breakfast at the hostel.
The aimless, wandering escapades of Liz and Laura, pt. 1:
Liz and I both tend to get distracted sometimes. We had some
really great conversations as we walked back to our hostel, located just a
couple blocks away. There was also a tense moment when Liz thought she left her
shoes at the beach, only to look down and find them on her feet. After learning
a great deal about each other’s lives and observing many interesting aspects of
the city, we realized we might have missed our turn. We turned around, asked a
few pedestrians for directions and headed back toward the hostel. Turns out we
had gone (more or less) a mile too far. Oops! When we finally got back, we had
missed breakfast, but greatly enjoyed ourselves in the process (we decided that
getting lost would definitely be worth doing again sometime)...
The six of us hopped on a metro bus across town toward Corcovado,
with grand plans to conquer the mountain and chill with Cristo Redentor (Christ
the Redeemer) at the top. We arrived at a station where a tram swooped us and scooted
us up the rainforest covered mountain (located in the Tujuca Forest national
park, in the middle of the city). Midway through the steep ride, the tram stopped
and a Brazilian Samba band stepped on to serenade us tourists. Before we knew
it, Sasha and I had been pulled up by the tambourine player to stand with the
band while they sang The Girl from
Ipanema. We stood there awkwardly cracking up to each other as 30 tourist
cameras continually flashed at us. Finally we stepped off the tram to enter an
even bigger sea of tourists at the top of Corcovado. We ascended the last sets
of steps, passing all sorts of souvenir shops selling Cristo shot glasses,
Cristo tanks… you name it. Finally, we stood before stunning panoramic views of
Rio and Cristo Redentor himself (he was a little grey and bloated from 2000
years of decay, but he looked great). The iconic statue, sculpted from concrete
and soapstone, towers thirteen stories over its human visitors. When dragons
visit, they usually find themselves face to face with Cristo. I found it quite
entertaining to watch tourists of all ages, shapes, sizes and nationalities
take the exact same picture in front of the statue – mimicking Christ’s
arms-spread-wide position. Liz and I took it a step further and incorporated
Cristo’s facial hair (using grass) into our photo replication. As we waited for
the tram to take us down, a monkey (macaco) decided to entertain us. We were
far more amused than the other people, especially when the monkey shamelessly
peed off the tram station.
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