Brazil -- Day 2

Let me first say, that in Brazil, days tend to run into each other. Day 1 finished with us walking across the street from the restaurant where we had dinner to a Samba place. We were in Lapa--the Bohemian part of Rio de Janeiro. I can't remember the name of the restaurant (remember, I had just arrived to Brazil that morning), but the Samba place was Carioca da Gema. The place was OK. But that night the music wasn't that great. While my husband was standing in line to pay to get out, a man grabbed me and whisked me to the dance floor. He kept grabbing my head and pushing it against his chest. He was about a foot taller than me and it was very awkward. Oh well, welcome to Rio! Finally, my husband paid and we escaped. Which brings us into day 2.

On Wednesday, Matt had set up a Favela tour with Anderson Sa. People do not go through favelas on their own.

The favelas have federal gaurds placed at the openings to keep the people of the favelas in and to keep others out. I was a little uneasy standing there. And why were we touring a favela? A few years ago (maybe 4), Matt made a movie called Favela Rising. It is about Anderson Sa (AfroReggae) and what he did after a horrible incident in his favela. So, with that, Matt wanted us to see a favela and what a group is doing to try to make positive changes within the favela. Some us left after the first favela while the rest of the group continued with the tour.


I was in the group that went back to Ipanema. I had lunch with Ben (Pete's old friend from high school) and his wife, Emmy (and their 4 month old baby). After that, I pottered around the streets of Ipanema and then donned my Brazilian bikini and went to the beach. Soon after I arrived, Pete showed up. It was close to 6 pm.

OK, it's obvious that I am a gringa with that white skin. Yikes. But, what the heck, we were having fun.

After the beach, Pete and I met his old high school friends for dinner and another couple went with us. By the time we sat down, it was 10:30 pm. Hello! I am usually asleep by that time. It was fun, though. And needless to say, we didn't get back to our hotel until Day 3. Ha.