Irony!... and fame

My new friend Marie, a reporter from France that Marisa met here in Rio, did an interview with me on Saturday about my opinion of Carnaval. I go on and on about how amazing it is, how happy and smiley everyone is, and how it's all just about music and dance and dressing up in crazy costumes! I'm glad she caught me before my "incident!"

You can listen to it HERE, sort of, but it's translated into French, so you have to be a French wiz to understand it. Good practice for all you ex-French studies people on hiatus. I'm the second interview, after the into. (I'm the one who yells "super fun!" haha)

I have another opportunity to be interviewed, this time about violence during Carnaval, and this time on TV... so it's a big decision for me to decide if I want to do the internview or not, and if I want to show my face. I mean, I do, in the sense that I think it's important for people to know that the rumors are true, that it IS important to be careful here and that it IS dangerous, while simultaneously not scaring them away. I think I can do that. But my face is.. well, it's in a condition I'm sort of embarassed by, and honestly my shallow side is not sure I want it on national television. Even if the nation is France.

I need to decide right away, aka tomorrow. I have finally decided to file a police report, after poo-pooing the idea all week. I just felt tired and upset, and the idea of sitting in a police station for hours re-living the whole thing, battling the likely crowds of others reporting Carnaval crimes, all for a bag I will most likely not get back and criminals I cannot even describe (luckily... I don't want to be dreaming of their faces) just seemed like too much for me. But now, days later, I can handle it, and Marie has informed me that there is actually a tourist police station I can go to. So that's the plan for tomorrow.

Now get this-- she wants to bring the entire camera crew and film me filing the police report as part of the story. Eeeek! It's actually a brilliant plan, because showing up with a camera crew will force them to be nice to me and give me faster service... buuut it's also kind of scary! Then afterward, we would do an actual interview where I can talk about the incident and my general impressions of crime at Carnaval...

...which, for the record, are:
1) Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro can be very dangerous. Be very careful, stay in groups, don't walk around in poorly lit or abandoned areas, and try not to carry bags or expensive items with you whenever possible.
2) Lots of places in the world, at all times of year, are also dangerous. You can get robbed on your suburban street in Wisconsin. Let's not forget that.
3) Don't decide not to come just because of crime! Just be smart. Smarter than me. Learn from my mistakes, and have fun!

Anyway, should I do this? I am nervously leaning toward yes. I know I'm not the spokesperson for crime in Rio or anything, but frankly these particular reporters haven't interviewed any victims yet, and I think their story needs a little dose of reality. Not, like I said, to scare people, just to inform them of real risks.

To bed.. and then to decide... too bad it'll be dubbed over in French!

"It's just stuff"

I think it's time I told my blog readers what happened to me on Sunday night.. I've been putting it off, but I think it's important to share the good and the bad! After all, you all heard about my vomiting incident in Peru (still to date, the grossest thing ever), and so now you will hear the tale of me being robbed and assaulted at Rio's Carnaval... and how I was thus, forevermore, converted into a stastistic.

I will start off by telling you I'M OKAY. I have no permanent injuries, I'm alive, and my spirits are getting better by the day! So I'm not writing this to scare anyone, just to inform you of what's going on with me, and possibly warn you if you ever come to Rio de Janeiro that this is a VERY dangerous country, and the proper precautions should be taken. I certainly learned several lessons. But don't fret, I have ever intention of returning first the Buenos Aires and then to the USA in one big fabulous piece. :-)

As the story goes... On Sunday night, my friends and I (Marisa and our housemates, plus some other friends they know from various parts of the world), about 8 people in all, went to a street party in a neighborhood of Rio called Santa Teresa. It's a grgeous neighborhood up on a hill, known for its cobblestone streets, cute restaurants and trolley cars, but unfortunately is known also to be unsafe at night. We were at a huge party and had a ton of fun dancing, having a couple beers, and enjoying the music that the DJ was playing from a souond system he'd rigged in his car. It really was a great party, actually, and we all had a great time.

Around midnight the party was basically over and Marisa and I were tired (losers, I know) and ready to go home, and the rest in our group wanted to go to a club in Lapa, which is a neighborhood just a short walk down the hill. So we decided to all walk down together, where then they would go out and M and I would get a taxi. So... in retrospect stupidly (hindsight is absolutely 20/20!!) we started down the road, where there weren't many other people around. We had a large group of us, about 10 at this point, but some people walked faster ahead and others lagged behind, and I ended up walking with 2 others, Marisa and our other housemate Simon-- not a small guy, mind you.

Before I knew it, I felt someone tugging really hard on my bag trying to rip it off me. My first instinct was to tug back, because I had no idea what was going on. That's when the guy started dragging me by my bag and ran in front of me, and I saw he had a broken glass bottle in his hand and was waving it at me. Suddenly it hit me that I was being robbed, and all the advice I've ever heard ("Just give them what they want!") flashed into my head, and I took of my bag and handed it to him. You'd think that was good enough, but it wasn't. He hit me really hard and I crash down onto the pavement directly onto my head and hit it super hard. I tried scrambling up, and as I stood, a second guy came from behind me a smashed another glass bottle onto me, and then they both ran off. Actually that bottle didn't really hurt, but my head was killing me. We theorize that they just hit me to try to distract me so we wouldn't chase them.

I just kind of stood there for a couple minutes until it hit me, and then I realized I was bleeding from my head and had a huge lump. Marisa was there right away to comfort me, which was amazing. I don't honestly know what I would have done without her. I still was in shock and hadn't digested anything. Our friends caught up to us from behind and hadn't seen anything, and were surprised when they saw the scene. That's when I think it started to hit me and I burst into tears. Of course, after shock, I was just angry. In my bag, I'd had my camera, my cell phone, and my wallet, with credit card, some money, and an ID. I'd also had some sentimental items like the bag from Colombia, a couple trinkets from Peru, and a journal I carry with me. Obviously it sucks really bad that I lost all of those things... but as Marisa keeps reminding me, and she's so right, it's JUST STUFF. And I'm okay. I didn't get killed or even stabbed or slashed with the glass. I am lucky to be alive and okay.

I decided not to go to the hospital (much to the dismay of everyone around me) because I could tell I didn't have a concussion, and I don't have insurance to cover a hospital visit. So Marisa and I just headed home, and the others went out to a club... where, by the way, they witnessed another robbery, were threatened a second time with a glass bottle, and were nearly pickpocketed. Basically, it was a dangerouos night to be out in Lapa!

That first night, I had a scratched forehead, and a rapidly growing lump that was looking creepier by the second. It looked like this:



The swelling just grew and grew, but we didn't have any ice in the house, so I just sat with some jelly on my head while I canceled my credit cards, and tried to collect my brain.



I was incredibly shaken up, and I still am. At first, I couldn't stop feeling angry about losing all my things. My camera! My ID! And the credit card companies never make things easy, especially when you are abroad. But the good news is, I am feeling much better about the stuff (after all, "it's just stuff") and am trying to focus on the positives, like that I'm okay. I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay. A little beat up, a little traumatized, but it will all heal in time.

However, apparently I hit my head REALLY HARD because each day it just gets a bit worse. So while I started off mostly upset about losing things, I've now recovered from the losses, and am focusing on the bruises, which are multiplying by the second. The second day, I started developing some bruises around my eyes...



And today, I woke up, looked in the mirror, and cried. My eyes are swollen and surrounded by thick purple bruises. I'm not totally sure why they are bruising, but I think it's just blood kind of draining from my head injury..? I don't really know.



In any case, the good news is, the swelling on my forehead is going down a bit, and it doesn't hurt anymore. So I'd say I'm on the road to recovery.

Hindsight is 20/20, as they say. I shouldn't have been walking down that road, shouldn't have had valuable possessions on me, shouldn't have tugged back when they guy tried to rob me. It's amazing how clear everything seems AFTERWARD. But this happened, it was horrible, and I've learned some valuable lessons the hard way. The way I see it, I've been traveling in Latin America for many years, and this was my first violent attack and real street robbery (other than that time I got my camera jacked-- and then jacked it back!-- in Buenos Aires!), and in a sort of ironic way, it may have just been statistically "my turn." I will be more cautious, and... I also have almost nothing left to steal! So in a funny way, that's also good. Or something.

So yes, I've gone from looking like E.T. (first night) to looking like a zombie (today), and I will not be landing any hot Brasilian men with this face... grrr... but maybe that's a good thing? Brasilian men, especially in Carnaval-mode, have not exactly impressed me with their personalities. Just their looks. :-)

Though I'm taking it easy now, I've agreed to go out this weekend to celebrate my last weekend in Rio-- I leave Sunday for Salvador, alone. (Mildly nervous, but not going to let this take away my confidence.) I'm going to have Marisa and her friend Marie do my hair and makeup and will not let this stop me from enjoying Brasil! Besides, even if I look like a freak from the eyes up, I see no reason why I shouldn't be fabulous from the nose down.

Sambodromo and Samba!

The Carnaval parade at the Sambodromo last night was nothing short of spectacular! We really had the best time. We had a group of 7 of us (Marisa and I, one of her friends from Portuguese class, and 3 of her visitors from England who are living with us) all went, thanks to Marisa's skills at getting us cheap tickets! I guess supposedly Sunday and Monday are the best nights, and so Saturday is cheaper.. however, for a group of gringos that don't know the difference between the dance schools, it honestly is fun no matter what day you go! And the price difference was... several hundred dollars.



Basically, the Sambodromo is a huge, long stadium with seating on both sides, and elaborate Carnaval parades, put on my different dance schools, march down them with their elaborate floats, dance moves, and costumes. Each school has a queen, who is always a fabulous curvacious woman with a big booty and amazing samba moves, and huge drag queen-esque feathers and sparkles and everything else you can imagine. Yes, I believe the best word for the entire event is simply fabulous.



Probably the highlight of my night was the gorgeous, bootylicious black woman dancing behind me, who adopted me and was teaching me some of her dance moves! I had so much fun dancing with her and the man behind us. I don't think what I was doing technically classifies as samba, probably more just fast leg movements and general gyrating, but it was a great time anyway, and we made quite a spectacle of ourselves.. which you know I love to do!



There also were no sneak beijo attacks at the Sambodromo, which was a welcome change. It was a very positive, happy atmosphere, with people dancing and cheering from their seats, many of the fans in costumes, and I felt pretty safe. As a result, I had one of my best nights so far... I know that going to the Sambodromo is the "touristy" thing to do at Carnaval, but honestly, Carnaval lasts 4 days, and I see no reason not to spend one of them there. It's totally worth it, so I say whatever to the haters!

(Just a note-- don't spend hundreds of dollars on your tickets. I met a guy who paid something crazy like $300 for the same seats we had-- don't get ripped off. Go directly to the ticket window, and avoid going through a travel agent if at all possible.)

I am sort of embarassed to say that we only stayed to watch 3 schools perform.. each one performs for over an hour and is MASSIVE, I mean thousands and thousands of people, and we were all exhausted from dancing and cheering and drinking. I have no voice left! We ended up leaving and taking the Metro home... and were totally amused to be riding the Metro with people in their parade costumes. It's hilarious to see people dressed as enormous fish or covered in fuscia feathers on the subway-- love it!

In fact, that's probably my favorite part of Carnaval-- the costumes. Well, and the dancing. Samba is a crazy dance-- how do their legs move so fast?? And people are so in the spirit of things! Men often dress as women-- really good looking ones!-- and many people wear wigs, head dresses, masks, and day glo clothing. I have never seen so many hot pink tube tops in my entire life, and frankly, I think I need one. It would suit me, right?

Today has been mellow, because I've been feeling sick (too many caiparinhas?? perhaps). Alina and I still motivated over to the Sunday artisan market in Ipanema to check out the wares. I was feeling really crampy and nauseous, so she went and walked around while I sat on a bench with a group of 3 little old ladies. They chatted me up in their Portuguese, and I tried desperately to keep up in my very poor "portunol," as they call it (Espanol + Portuguese). I realized they were asking me if I was married or not, and I said no. They insisted that I find myself a Brasilian man and marry him, and I did my best to explain that maybe Carnaval, with its many beijo contests, might not be the best environment to begin a long-term relationship. They laughed, but I still think they wanted to set me up with their various grandsons.

Anyway, Alina finally came running up laughing and pointed to one of the street urinals for MEN ONLY, which is so annoying! I mean, where are women supposed to pee? They are these stand-up urinal things that men can use, but I see no female equivalent. How machista!! Anyway, she was laughing because there was a girl attempting to use the man's urinal. She had her friend holding the little door shut, but we and everyone could see her head and her legs and feet. We could all see that she was peeing all down her leg!! And her friend was laughing so hard he could barely stand up and hold the door, so it kept falling open! It was so, so funny! She finally finished and a bunch of people rushed up to her and poured beer all over her feet to clean them. Then she straighted herself up and kept on partying. CARNAVAL!!!

I didn't have my camera on me so this isn't my picture, but this is basically the idea of those men's urinals:


Right now I'm back at the house, trying desperately to think straight with the sound of Carnaval music (very particular-- I'll try to post a link so you can listen) blasting outside our window.. we have our very own bloco party right outside!!! I'm still not feeling great with this stomach thing, but I'm sure I can at least motivate myself downstairs to take part in our local bloco.

One other piece of news-- today I splurged and bought myself a plane ticket to Salvador! I am so excited. Salvador is supposed to be an incredible place, very different culturally and very well worth the visit. It's known for its music, food, a Carnaval that rivals (and some say is better) Rio's, and a heavily Afro-Brazilian culture. I didn't think I'd make it that far north, and I wouldn't do it by bus with my time limitations, but I found a good price on a place ticket and decided to go for it. I can't wait to check out the city, the surrounding beaches, and also Morro de São Paulo. I'll be in that area for 5 days, and then will be flying back to São Paulo to visit my dear friend Paul (whose family I stayed with when I was there last week, but he wasn't there). Then, I plan to head to Florinopolis to see some fabulous beaches, and then to Iguazu Falls, where I will then re-enter Argentina, and begin my descent back to Buenos Aires. I'm looking forward to each and every part, and think it's going to be an awesome trip!

PS. Happy Valentines... happpy they don't seem to celebrate it here, honestly!

Beijos??

Carnaval officially starts today, but we kicked things off yesterday by going to a pre-Carnaval bloco de carnaval, a moving street dance party playing carnaval music from big slow-moving trucks, and dancing, drinking beers, and enjoying our first taste of this epic festa. At night, we headed out to the Lapa neighborhood of Rio, where we had intended to go to a Carnaval Ball, but got so distracted by the streets parties that we never made it!! We had a blast meeting a million people in the street and dancing outside, went into a couple clubs briefly, and drinking caiparinhas... which, by the way, are extremely dangerouos!

So far I'm having an AMAZING time, and I have only one gripe... Yes, the Brasilian men (and women, obviously) have extremely good genes and are more than easy on the eyes. However, I now realize that the primary activity at Rio's Carnaval (as warned, but somehow it's far more intense than I could have ever imagined) is for drunk boys in packs to randomly assault-- I mean KISS (biejo) girls on the street while they take part in the festivities. I personally was attacked no fewer than 10 times by men of varying degrees of appealingness-- but although it seemed harmless at first, it rapidly deteriorated into me screaming NO at the top of my lungs, wrestling out of their grip, and running away.

Apparently, there is a numbers game the men play, where they have competitions between each other to see how many women each one can count. Fun for them, but for us??

So yeah... looking forward to going to the Sambodromo tonight with our posse and enjoying the parades, costumes, and general insanity! I think there won't be as many sneak-attacks in that sort of environment, and I am positive it's going to be a memorable experience. Someone teach me to samba!!

Yay. :-)

This morning, I woke up to the view of Copacabana beach from our apartment...



Enjoyed a yummy acai berry frozen drink, and the spent the whole day on the beach in Ipanema...



Enjoyed the view...!





Hung with Marisa on the rocks, met some crazy strangers, enjoyed a cold beer, and watched the sunset...



Fresh fruit and ice cold yogurt? Yes, please!



...tomorrow we are heading to our first (of many) bloco de carnaval... then on Saturday, Carnaval officially starts! ...carnaval... Carnaval... CARNAVAL IS COMING!!! :-)

LIVING THE DREAM!

I am finally in Rio de Janeiro!! Fulfilling the dream I have had forever of one day being here for Carnaval! I cannot tell you how happy I am to be here. I arrived this afternoon by bus (6 hours from Sao Paulo) and came immediately to the apartment I am sharing with Marisa ON THE BEACH IN COPACABANA! Yes, we can see the ocean from our window. We have a fabuous, comfortable one bedroom place, and it's perfect. Three more of her friends arrive tomorrow, and will be here through Carnaval next Tuesday and then we'll have the place too ourselves again.. I plan to stay through next weekend, to get a feel for both Carnaval (officially celebrated the 13th through the 16th this year) and the post-Carnaval. I cannot wait. It is beautiful here, and I love it already. I know I am going to have an incredible time, and am so happy to be reunited with Marisa! Just wish the rest of our Buenos Aires lady crew could be here with us.

Tonight we're headed out for a bite to eat, and my first taste of Rio nightlife.. we'll see how it stands up to Sao Paulo's. (Lesson learned in Sao Paulo: no more than 2 caiparinhas in one night. Those things are deadly.)

Tomorrow we plan to explore Ipanema, where all the beautiful people are... ahhhh, life is good. :-)

Carnaval de Negros y Blancos

Was absolutely insane! I have never been so dirty in my life.



All day for 3 days people throw talcum powder and paint and carioca (foamy white stuff) all over you, and it gets pretty rowdy. I had a great time on the road trip to Cali, then to Chachagui to stay on Chris's family's finca for a couple days, and then a couple days in Pasto for the Carnaval. I'm beat, as we drove 12 hours back to Manizales yesterday and then went out and partied for the Feria de Manizales, which goes until this Sunday. I have so much more to say, but I lack motivation for blogging, sorry more later...