I recently had the opportunity to travel to my most anticipated destination of the semester: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Armed with Google Translate and basic phrases like, “Thank you” and “Do you speak English?” in Portuguese, I was ready to explore. Brazil had been on my list to visit for quite some time. Even though I had technically been to Brazil during my trip to Iguazú Falls, I didn’t feel like that really counted. I certainly didn’t get to experience traditional Brazilian culture during that time, so I couldn’t wait to get to Rio.
The first day, we took a guided tour of the city. Our tour guide was named Bruna, and she was fantastic. She was very open, funny, and eager to share her home city with us. We also met a Canadian college student on our tour that we ended up hanging out with for the next couple of days. It was the most camaraderie I’d ever felt on a walking tour. Sites on the tour included Sugarloaf Mountain, Christ the Redeemer, Escadaria Selaron (a staircase with tiles from around the world), and Lapa, a popular entertainment district. Rio is pretty spread out, so this was definitely a longer tour. It was scheduled to be four hours but lasted closer to 6. Not that I minded, of course— I loved getting to see each new site. I initially thought the view of Rio from Sugarloaf Mountain would be the best, but the view from Christ the Redeemer blew it away. We could see favelas, an airport, Copacabana, Ipanema, mountains, and the ocean, and the view was 360 degrees. Christ the Redeemer is on what I can only describe as a platform on a mountain, so you can see Rio from all angles. The only downside to that is that the train to get up there takes a little while, and the platform is extremely crowded. Getting photos was a task because people would randomly run into us or crowd in front of the phone. We tried to just take pictures as quickly as possible to alleviate that.
Along the way, Bruna introduced us to two staples of Brazilian cuisine: acaí and caipirinha. Acaí is a berry that is mixed into a frozen concoction that is very similar to ice cream or a smoothie. It is common in the US too, but the original Brazilian version was extra flavorful. I think we ate acaí at least once or twice a day on the trip. It was delicious. Caipirinha is a cocktail with cachaça, sugar, and lime. It’s typically very strong, so Bruna warned us not to drink ours too fast. I got a passion fruit version, and I am definitely a fan.
After our tour, we watched the sun set on Copacabana Beach before dinner, where we ate some of the most delicious food. There’s a reason Brazilian steakhouses are so popular: their meat is absolutely delicious. Between the shredded beef, red beans, rice, yucca, cuts of steak, and seasoning, I was very spoiled food-wise. I often found myself ordering multiple dishes and stuffing myself to the brim because it was that good. In terms of cuisine of countries I’ve traveled to, Brazil is high on the list for sure.
Unfortunately, dinner was the highlight of that evening. Afterwards, we found a sports bar to watch the Stanley Cup finals. I was so relieved to see the flags outside, since I was worried I would not be able to see the game in Rio (I had enough trouble finding a sports bar with American ice hockey in Buenos Aires). They did have the right channel to watch it, but the commentary was all in Portuguese, so I provided my own commentary instead. The game was horrible, and we lost by a significant margin, so the commentary was less than positive, to say the least. My friend Sawa, who is from Japan, certainly had an interesting introduction to hockey watching me slowly lose my mind throughout the game.
The next day, we embarked on our craziest adventure yet: hang gliding. I had rewatched the movie Rio for the first time in many years in preparation for this trip. One scene of that movie features hang gliding, so I was inspired. I am glad Sawa is as much of a thrill-seeker as me and was totally game. That’s how we found ourselves in a van on the way up a mountain about to throw ourselves off a cliff. I am not exaggerating that at all, by the way. The guide told us that in order to take off, you have to run as fast as you can off the platform, which is over a cliff. We were told to keep our eyes on the mountain in the distance and not look at the platform at all. This is because people stop running when they get to the end or try to jump, which does not work. I’m not afraid of heights at all; in fact, I enjoy heights. I am, however, afraid of falling, so the takeoff was really the only part that made me nervous. The guide who drove us up reassured me this was normal. In fact, his exact words were, “There are two kinds of people their first time hang gliding: people who are nervous and people who are lying.”
The launch was remarkably fast. I was in my gear strapped to the glider (and my instructor) before I knew it, and after a couple practice runs, it was time to take off for real. Me being me, I lost my footing on the last step or two, but I didn’t stop running. The experience was absolutely incredible. I think it’s the closest humans can get to being birds. We just glided around, enjoying the views of the ocean, mountains, skyline, and even Christ the Redeemer. At one point, the instructor let me steer (kind of— his hands were still on the bar). He didn’t speak much English, and I spoke no Portuguese, but his passion for what he was doing was clear. I would absolutely recommend hang gliding if you ever get the chance.
To unwind after, Sawa and I headed to Ipanema Beach, which was only a five minute walk from our apartment. We had been warned about how common theft is on the beach, so we brought only the essentials: towels, coverups, and flip flops. This caused us to lose track of time, but I didn’t mind. It was actually really peaceful to disconnect for a while and enjoy the ocean. We did briefly take a dip, but it was surprisingly cold, so we mostly waded and walked up and down the beach. Later on, we met our Canadian friend in Lapa to have dinner and say goodbye, since he was leaving the next day. We also saw a live band playing samba music there, which was a lot of fun, even though my leftovers from dinner were confiscated by the bouncers.
Our final day was a shorter one, since we had a midafternoon flight back. We decided to take another guided tour, this time of Rocinha. Rocinha is a favela, which are lower-income areas typically on Rio’s mountainsides. They have reputations for being dangerous, which are usually not unfounded. However, there are three that are safe for tourists, and Rocinha is one of them. It is also the largest favela in Rio, with some 300,000 inhabitants. In my Imagining the Modern Cities in the Americas class, we learned a lot about Rio and, by extension, the favelas and their impact on the local culture. I definitely wanted to get to know that part of the city personally, and my professor recommended a tour as well. However, it was important to me to do it ethically. Some tours are basically jeeps led by guides who are not from the favelas that drive through to gawk at the residents. I am was not (and am not) comfortable with that; I wanted to get to know the area and its people on a personal level, not stare at them like I would a museum exhibit. That’s why we took a tour let by a guide named Pedro who was born and raised in Rochina and still lives there. He told us that he hopes his tours dispel some of the myths about favelas and highlight the good in those communities.
Favela buildings are very close together— that is what gives them their iconic look on the hillside. In Rocinha, there is one main street, and the rest is a maze of stairwells, pathways, and alleys. I was glad to have Pedro, as I would have gotten lost in seconds. Pedro told us that police usually don’t want to get involved in the favelas, so they are largely self-policing. That can lead to high crime in favelas where cartels are jockeying for power or are inclined toward violence, but it isn’t the case in Rocinha. The cartel that runs Rocinha is, perhaps ironically, very anti-crime. Rocinha has three main rules: everyone is welcome, absolutely no discrimination of any kind is allowed, and there is zero tolerance for crime (except for drug dealing). Even something like shoplifting would cause the offender to face the cartel’s version of justice, which can range from a warning to a beating to a full-on execution depending on the crime and its severity. While it’s certainly a draconian method of policing, it does work. We saw little kids running all around Rocinha unsupervised, because the residents know that nobody would dare harm anyone— especially women and children.
The most important thing we learned about Rochinha is that there’s a culture of acceptance. We saw a mural with the name of Rocinha in sign language and even heard stories of foreign expats making a home in Rocinha. My hang gliding instructor pointed out Rocinha in the distance during our flight and told me he lives there. His pride in where he comes from was obvious. It’s not exactly luxury living, but the community in the favela is strong. They are meccas of Afro-Brazilian culture, music, and street art. Not every favela is like Rocinha, of course, and many (especially in the North Zone) are places non-residents would never dare to set foot in. However, for all the negative attention the favelas garner, the positives are so often overlooked, which I hope will change someday.
The most common reaction I got when I told people I was going to Rio was, “Isn’t Rio dangerous?” The honest answer is that it can be. I definitely was on my guard more than I was in any other place I visited this semester. We were warned by multiple Brazilians never to have our phones out, as snatch and grabs are very common. I used a money belt for my debit card, credit card, and phone and kept non-valuables in my belt bag in case anyone tried to hold me up (Bruna told us that even Rio natives usually have a story or two of being robbed, and many carry old cell phones that they don’t usually use in case of theft). I was fortunate in that nobody gave me a hard time, and I was perfectly fine, but I can definitely see how things could go badly if I hadn’t been cautious about what I did and where I went. I definitely advise anyone going to Rio to do their research and take precautions. It’s a wonderful city, and I loved it, but you do need to be careful. That being said, I would return in a heartbeat. It has that special something to it like New York does. It really is a magical city.
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