Day 2/3: DC to Rio

Finally made it to Rio safely, and what a trip it was! Left Dulles airport in DC Saturday night at about 10 pm. Got about a Boeing 777 for the better part of 11 hours en route to Sao Paolo Brazil. I've never flown over the ocean before and I have to admit that I was slightly nervous. In the middle of the "night" (if you can call it that) since my internal clock is 5 hours behind and I'm not really sure what time it is, we hit some severe turbulence over the Jamaica/Haiti area. I was in the restroom when the plane started shaking like crazy. I kinda got pinned against the wall and had to work the door open and drag myself out, cans and cups were flying everywhere and I'll admit, I was really scared. I made it to my seat and prayed with the guy next to me until it finally settled down. That kinda ruined my sleeping plans for the night. Along with the fact that my 6'4" frame wasn't really designed to fit in the space they call a "seat". That being said, we made to Sao Paolo safely, waited for a few hours, then continued on to Rio.

The weather in Rio so far is fairly nice, 23-25 degrees Celsius, (i think about 65-70 F) and fairly humid. We cleared customs and were greeted at the airport by a group of official looking Brazilian ladies with official World Skills uniforms on. They were all super kind and got us in our shuttle van to the hotel which is in the middle of downtown, about half an hour's drive from the airport.

Riding to the hotel was my first chance to see real third world poverty. It makes Mexico seem fairly nice if you can believe that. The main road into downtown goes past the "favelas" which our Brazilian liaison just called "slums". Hodgepodge structures stacked on top of each other every which way covered in garbage and sewage flowing in the streets, walls that are more like holes in the bricks covered with tarps, kids wandering aimlessly... can't really describe it you just have to see it. It was a reminder of the fact that there is no middle class in Brazil. There are the wealthy, and the very, very poor.

Our hotel is the Windsor Asuturias Hoteis which is fancy.. white coated servers wait on us for every meal, and since they don't know any english, the respond to you by nodding, smiling, and saying "abrigado" which is Portuguese for Thank you. The food is quite good, the staples are rice, black beans which are quite deliciously cooked, and some sort of flank steak. Then there is fresh grilled fish with lemon and lime, deep fried flour with egg and bacon, and tarot root i believe? The deserts are scrumptious, flan, chocolate fudge cake, key lime pie, and an assortment of fruits we could not recognize. Guarana is the beverage of choice, its kinda like a mixture of ginger ale and fruit juice. Tasty.

We were very fortunate to have one of our English speaking Brazilian guide girls offer to show us around a little bit in the afternoon, so we hailed two cabs and headed toward the world's most famous beach, the Copacabana. Now, let me try and describe to you the experience of riding in a Brazilian cab... here are a few guidelines I picked up on that must be what they teach you in Brazilian cab driving school: Drive as fast as you possibly can, always. Zig zagging back and forth across 5 lanes of traffic is the most effective way to pass people. If someone is in your way, try and hit them, they will move, if they don't, you hit them.. oh well. You're driving a Peugeot so who cares. If you want to turn right, signal to the left, go left, and then at the last possible second, swerve to the right. That way no one will know where you are going and you will almost always nearly hit someone. Finally, if you see pedestrians in the road or on the sidewalk, try and get as close as you possibly can to them even if it means going out of your way. Why? Because its fun. Its like a giant game of bumper cars with bikes and motorcycles mixed in for fun.

The beach is basically what you would expect, and expanse of white sand and palm trees sprawled with overweight, viciously tan folks. It seems the rule of thumb is, the more overweight and hairy you are, the less bathing suit you should wear. Needless to say, we stayed on the walkway away from the sand to avoid such gruesome sights. Camilla, our Brazilian hostess was a fantastic guide, and a trooper, walking the entire 3.5 miles in heels and a business suit! It was really nice to have her with us to explain things and teach us a lot about the history of the city. And she did it all on her own free time! That was refreshing considering the fact that most Brazilian people hate us. I didn't expect this, but at the airport, we received many a cold stare and dirty look. The people at the currency exchange closed shop when we walked up to their window. Our guide confirmed that this is the case. It is interesting. Thankfully, she was very sweet!

Finally, after another nail biting cab ride, we made it back to the hotel and enjoyed a nice dinner, pretty much the same fare with a few variables thrown in, some veggies i'd never seen before. Then it was off to the 22nd floor the the rooftop pool, sauna, and lounge with a view of the city that is spectacular (photos to come). There we met up with the two competitors from the Netherlands who are the only other white folks at the contest. A quick swim, quick chat, and its back to the room. Its 10 pm here, but my brain thinks its 5pm... oh well. Have to get up at 6:30 am which will feel like.... uh... yeah 1:30. Niice. I should be getting to bed. More pictures from today to come, the internet here can't seem to handle loading them all at once. Good night!