5 January, 2017 After a redeye flight, we arrived in Rio de Janeiro. The rush of the city was apparent upon our first van ride. The roads were fast and crazy with people swerving and stopping shamelessly. The views were contrasting: seeing the mountains, city, and favelas were an interesting sight. The first thing we did was skip out on the sleep we probably all needed by going to the famous Copacabana beach. The place was flooded with all kinds of people. To no surprise, there was also lots of trash. I could not help but to be cynical about it. After all of my research, I understood what kind of threats lived within the water. Between the scorching weather and the beautiful blue, it was a tough decision not to swim, although I did dip my feet in. The group finally met in the lobby to continue to lunch. The plan was to experience the subway, which we did with success after our second attempt. Unbeknownst to us, the subway doors were swiftly operated, even with the huge amount of people trying to enter/exit. Needless to say, our group got split up in the rush. Rio was a completely different scene from what we had been used to for the past few days. The city was fast, loud, and crowded which was alarming to some students. However, we shortly joined back together, continuing on our way to lunch. We walked around the city for a bit, going through a pedestrian mall. We got lost and did a few laps, but enjoyed the scenes. A man was sitting on the side of the road playing a Jason Mraz song on the guitar. It was a beautiful thing. Although I am not much of city goer, I am always excited to experience new places.
6 January, 2017 Although today was an adventure, it was also the worst day of the entire two weeks for me. The day was very hot, unlike what we experienced in Brazil before. We took a winding road up near the famous Cristo statue (featured as the background photo). After many flights of steps, we reached the world famous statue. It was huge, but the view from far away made it much more grand, especially since it can be seen from almost anywhere in the city. Being on top of this mountain was a treat to the eyes. We could see the layout of part of the city and the beautiful coast from above. As the famous statue became exponentially more crowded, we made our way back down, ready for Sugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar).Being in the mouth of the Guanabara Bay, the views it had to offer were priceless. While waiting for our tour guide to get our tickets, I started to feel a bit weird, and assumed that I just needed to use the bathroom. After doing so I felt much better, but the diarrhea unfortunately set in very quickly, worsening as we elevated toward Sugar loaf. I tried to let the 360 degree views from the cable cars distract me, but I was feeling strange, especially in combination with the heat. After spending the day on numerous, sketchy toilets, it came to a sudden end by lunch. However, my body was exhausted to the point where I felt I could not even leave the bus to participate during the rest of the day. It was torturous. Luckily for me, I did not miss out on any hikes, which are my favorite, but it was a bit disappointing that I felt so sick. Regardless, the views from Sugarloaf were amazing, and I was still smiling! Luckily enough, the group I was with was so helpful. They are such a great group (THANK YOU GUYS FOR BEING AWESOME!). Needless to say, sickness during travel tends to be imminent. Good luck.
At the day’s end I probably should have just slept, but Tait escorted me to the doctor across the street, just in case it was a lasting issue. After a four-hour wait, I felt nothing more than hunger and exhaustion. Tait got us amazing fruit smoothies, which were much needed sustenance. Although American hospitals are not exactly comfortable, this was not up for comparison. One other student originally came along for an ankle issue, but felt better after waiting for about five minutes. The floor was dirty cement, the chairs were uncomfortable on my skin, and everyone around was coughing. There was an irritating automated speaker that announced many Brazilian names before mine. Finally, I got a two-minute meet with the doctor: she told me I was fine. Surprisingly enough, she spoke pretty good English, and was the only one in the hospital that I had encountered. For being a country so welcoming to tourists, I am surprised that they do not generally speak more English. Although the four hours and two minutes were worth nothing for us physically, it was interesting to encounter a hospital in another country and “class”. It seemed like being there would get me sick more than anything in Brazil. However, Tait and I were discussing the incompetence of some healthcare workers in America. I came to the conclusion that no matter where you are, or how something looks, people are people and mistakes are right around the corner. Just because our hospitals may look a certain way, it does not mean that people don’t lose their lives or get sick because of them. What an interesting day it was. Sleep…….
7 January, 2017 Thankfully, I was cured. Clearly, my body just needed to expel something. We visited Parque National da Tijuca which aims to educate, preserve, and repair. Tijuca National Forest is part of the Atlantic Forest biome. It gets so much rain that part of it is qualified as rainforest. Due to failing and destructive coffee and sugar plantations of the past, the forest became devastated. Thankfully, by 1817, the government was already intervening by proposing norms to protect the forest. In 1861 Emperor Dom Pedro II appointed Major Manuel Gomes Archer to be in charge of replanting in the Tijuca Forest. He managed to replant 100,000 native species in thirteen years. In 1874 major work on the forest continued, allowing its secondary succession today.We were privileged to be able to hike through a part of this forest, as it was only protected as a national park since 1961. It was beautiful, and noticeably different than the Amazon Rainforest. After a few hours of hiking, a few of us took the subway to Ipanema. We had dinner at Banana Jacks, which I quickly realized was a chain restaurant. We probably should have eaten at the authentic restaurant next door. We walked to the beach and up rocks where many people hung out to view the scene. We walked out far enough that the rocks were looking in toward the shore. There was a long slack line that was so tempting. I did not have a bathing suit, but thinking back now, I should have jumped in anyway. One of the students got “bit by a shark” so we moved along from the relaxing scene. We decided to walk back, enjoying the night life along the beach. People were enjoying the weather and live music all over. There were many artists and shops offering much to indulge on It was a slow day, so we got to hang out for a while before having a group meeting. A few students and I went down the block to get delicious acai bowls. The service was so fun; they sang with every tip they were given. After reflections, everyone went to view the city from the rooftop pool. Although I was tempted to join, my exhaustion from the day before needed to come to an end, so I went to bed. Rio de Janeiro was a beautiful place, but entailed plenty of issues. The water pollution is so out of hand, that a student got an eye infection, probably from swimming at Copacabana. The issue is deep rooted and full of economic corruption. It becomes much more complex since the favelas (slums) are crowded labyrinths, making sewage implementation nearly impossible and trash operations seriously demanding. It is an issue that is hard to see as you plan your vacation to the beautiful city or Rio de Janeiro, but is easy to feel once you are actually there.