Life Was Meant For Good Friends and Great Adventures

Despite my many nomadic adventures, I've made lifelong friends along the way. They're scattered all across the globe and, unfortunately, it's unlike that I'll ever be surrounded by all of my closest friends at a single time. But sometimes stars align and worlds collide and friends from one place that I call home are able to come visit me in another. Sarah and I met when we were both teaching in Honduras. We started out as two sobbing strangers who found themselves suddenly living together and left as two sobbing best friends who didn't know how they'd survive not living together. 

Sarah and Rachel, along with their friend, Jana, made the 10 hour trek to Rio de Janeiro last month and spent a couple of weeks soaking up all that the city has to offer. Mainly unlimited sunshine and caipirinhas.

Sarah, Rachel, and Jana were able to do a lot of things during the day while I was work, such as hiking up to the Christ Statue which is something I have never wished to do. As soon as school let out, the adventures commenced. 

In our adventures around Rio, we stumbled across this really great restaurant in Ipanema called Rayz. We all had some version of chicken, all of which were delicious, but the best part of the meal was definitely the caiprinha. It was raspberry and blackberry and strawberry with a little bit of vanilla and then a coconut popsicle to stir. Seriously-- drink of the gods.

In search of another adventure, we drove to Barra and frolicked around the Olympic Arena on our way to watch the Olympic test event of Trampoline Gymnastics. The women's team had already finished competing by the time we had arrived, so we were only able to see the men's teams, but it was still pretty awesome. The States and Canada were both there, so we were all able to cheer on our countries.

As a side note, I may have made eye contact with one of the US gymnasts while quietly chanting "USA! USA!" And then he smiled at me. And then in a matter of minutes I had planned our lives together which included me tweeting at him and saying "#RoadtoRio? More like #RoadtoRomance" or tagging him in a photo of the two of us (him on the trampoline and me in the stands) with the caption "This is where forever starts." Imagine my disappointment when I found out he has a girlfriend. I'd settle for tour guide though, so, Logan Dooley, if you need someone to show you around Rio in August, holla at ya girl.

We beached in one of the prettiest places in the world when we rented a car and drove to Arraial do Cabo. We hiked Pedra do Telégrafo and played daredevils for the afternoon. We traversed the palm tree lined walkways of Jardim Botanico and we spent an entire night playing every single category of Heads Up. And then, as all adventures usually do, they had to return back home while I stayed here.

It was a wild couple of weeks. But life was meant for good friends and great adventures. Those weeks had both. 

On a completely selfish level, seeing Rio de Janeiro through the eyes of someone who hasn't been gotten stuck in the mudane everydayness totally reminds me how freakin' lucky I am to live here. In the everyday of living in Rio de Janeiro, sometimes I forget that I live in Rio de Janeiro. I live in a place that some people only ever dream of visiting. I have a preference between Copacabana and Ipanema beach because I've actually been to both enough to have a preference. I turn up my nose at coconut water from a bottle because I know that it tastes so much better out of the coconut. I've been up to the Christ Statue more in the past four years than most people in their entire lives. But in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, sometimes I forgot how awesome it is to live in such an incredible place. Seeing Rio through the eyes of people who have never been here before, who have never seen a sunset at Arpoador or drank mate on the beach, really makes me realize what an incredible opportunity I have here.

You Can Take The Girls Out Of Ohio...

... but you can't take the Ohio out of the girls.

Let's talk about how much I love Ohio. On a scale of 1 to 10, it's a solid 10. I'm not necessarily going to recommend making a stop there on a journey across the Midwest, but my little heart does start to pitter-patter when my own semi-annual trip to Ohio is on the horizon.

I love Ohio and my hometown, and Cleveland Indians baseball games, and Mentor Headlands,  and Taco Bell. But what I really love about Ohio is all of the people who have adventured through life there with me. 

Melissa and I lived through the awkward high school years together, which included but wasn't limited to, marching band and our spring break trip to Disney as well as theater and winters spent sledding. I have never claimed to have been cool in high school. Since becoming friends, Melissa and I have lived through TEN YEARS of awkwardness together. TEN. YEARS.  It was horrifying to tell this to my students and have them say "Oh my gosh, I wasn't even alive when you guys met!" 

And I was sharing this little tidbit of information with my students BECAUSE MELISSA CAME TO VISIT ME FOR A WEEK!

After a year and a half of life in Rio, I finally had my first visitor. Well, the first visitor who flew to Brazil with the specific intention of visiting me. (Shout out, Grams and Taylor.)

Always representing our home state. 

We packed a lot into a week. Not only did she get to experience Rio de Janeiro, but we also traveled to the state of Bahia in the Northeast of Brazil to play tourists in the little town of Salvador. 

We made three wishes and tied our bracelets onto the fence at the Igreja do Senhor do Bonfim. We ate the best ice cream in all of Salvador at Sorveteria da Ribeira and it was pretty great. We swam at sunset at the Farol da Barra and danced to Olodum on the painted streets of Pelourinho. We almost sweat to death in a town that doesn't have enough air conditioning for being so darn hot. And then at the end of a nice three day weekend, we flew back to Rio where the adventure continued. 

Salvador, Bahia, Brasil

Upon arriving in Rio, we spent Easter morning hanging out with JC at Corcovado. We brunched with the gringo fam. We sipped coconut water on the beaches of Ipanema. We watched the sunset from the top of the Sugarloaf and then wandered the streets of Copacabana in search of good eats and fancy souvenirs. We played Heads Up until way too late and ate authentic American made tacos. We wrangled 38 rambunctious 4th graders on our field trip to the science museum. We stayed up late reminiscing about the old glory days at Chardon High.

Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil

And then after 7 days of Brazilian adventures, we had to say goodbye.

Saying goodbye is always difficult and its something that I have a lot of practice in. I would love to be able to look forward to the future and know that one day I won't have to say goodbyes anymore. Unfortunately, I know that isn't the case because I've chosen to build friendships all over the world and I'll always be missing someone.

And saying goodbye to someone who knew you before the you that you are now always seems to be more difficult. They may not be living the same current experiences as you are now, but they know what you went through to become the person you are now. And it's hard to say goodbye to someone who knows you that well.

For seven short days, I felt like a cooler version of the awkward girl who joined high school marching band because all of her friends were. The tough goodbyes are always worth the feeling of being with people who know you, always worth that moment when you can hug someone from home.

Ms. Melissa, you are always welcome in Rio de Janeiro. Please come back.

Every Storm Runs Out Of Rain.

And thank goodness they do.

It's been raining for 15 days. We haven't had a day without rain in the entire month of September. I've worn all of my warm clothes at least twice within the past two weeks. This is what Noah must have felt like on the ark.

Since Kelly and I have been plagued with some serious cabin fever, we decided that on Monday (today) we were going to the beach. Rain, shine, snow, hail, whatever. We didn't care. We were going to the beach.

We did. And it was awesome. We saw maaaaaybe 10 other people there the entire time? (Including a man sitting wrapped up in his straight up winter jacket-- hood up and all.) Perfect GoPro opportunities.

Re-doing this gem on a sunny day. It's going to be the money shot.

Also the perfect time for me to practice my handstand. And fail MISERABLY. Haters gonna hate.

After 15 days of gray skies, you'd stop giving a crap with the weatherman says, too...

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny. And the day after that. And the day after that. I'm almost more excited for a 10 day forecast filled with sunshine than I am Christmas. Judge me, it's been awful.

Life Is Like Riding A Bicycle

... in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.

Kelly, my roommate, and I were feeling a little cabin fever-ish over the weekend, so we decided to get out and explore Rio in a different way-- by bike. 

So on Saturday we packed up our bike baskets with typical bike riding goodies such as water and a GoPro and headed to the nearest gas station because I needed air in both of my tires. We arrived at the gas station and were quite unsuccessful in inflating the tires. After (what felt like an eternity) of struggling, a gas station attendant came over to help us. He was also unsuccessful and sent us to the next closest gas station. 

Do you realize how hard it is to ride a bike with two flat tires? Rather difficult. Do you know how hard it is to ask the gas station attendant for help inflating your bike tires in Portuguese? Rather difficult and involving a lot of charades. 

So, phew. We're finally all set to go and continue to ride around the Lagoa. All 10.8 kilometers. It was awesome.

On Sundays, one lane of the road is closed along the beach in Leblon/ Ipanema/ Copacabana for people to walk and bike ride and long board and roller skate. For whatever reason, bike riding along Avenida Atlantica has been on my bucket list for forever.

Since we had bicycles, we decided to carpe diem and go on a long bike ride on Sunday. All 13.3 kilometers. It was also awesome, but slightly more painful than Saturday's bike ride.

We also had to ride in the street as opposed to the bike lane a couple of times because Kelly and I can't follow directions. Traffic in Rio is a little... wild and my bike control isn't the best. I may or may not have given myself blisters on my hands from gripping the handlebars so tightly in fear of riding right into a bus. A fear that never came to fruition, thank goodness, but the fear was real.

So Rio, so Carioca. So sore, so fun. 

Beach Body Ready.

There are many unwritten rules that one needs to be aware of when living in Rio de Janeiro. Including, but not limited to:

-- one Chopp is never enough

-- always wear your bathing suit under your clothes (or have one with you) because you never know when you'll end up at the beach

-- be wary of eating the shrimp on the beach

-- never pass a churro stand without stopping (this may be my own personal rule)

Perhaps the biggest rule, though, would be how to have a beach body.

Two simple steps. That's all. 

Please let this phenomenon catch on around the world.

Party Like a Brazilian.

"Come with happiness in your hearts and samba in your feet." -- John

This commercial for the Norwegian cruise line was on all the time before I left the States and headed for sunny Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Now that I am here, I am fully able to understand the phrase "party like a Brazilian". Brazilians sure do know how to have a good time-- usually until at least 2 or 3am. Which I am not cut out for, I'm more at the speed of "nap like a college student."

John is one of the high school teachers at OLM and him and his wife, Vania, invited us over to their house for a couple of days during Carnaval. Vania and a few of her friends came over to our house and then took us over to a bloco at Ipanema. Let me explain these blocos for a second. They are not just a couple of friends hanging out in their front lawns. These are HUGE street carnivals, which usually cover a whole block. Hence bloco. There are people in costume, bands, noise makers, drinks, and huge crowds. These blocos have been going on each weekend since we've arrived on various streets throughout Rio and then became an everyday occurance starting two weeks ago.

We'd attended a couple different blocos, but they had always been in the middle of the day which was always miserably hot and filled with people who are talking and singing in Portuguese. Don't get me wrong, they were fun, but they weren't great. And then we met Vania.

The bloco in Ipanema was at night time, so it was cooler and we were with a couple of people who spoke English and Portuguese, so they could let us know what was going on. We learned how to samba... kind of,  bought some Carnaval memorabilia, and lived life like the Brazilians. It was a late night filled with lots of energy, but also so many memories and laughs.

"I Don't Eat Ugly Food"

I cannot believe that I have been living in Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL for a whole week already! It's already been full of ups and downs, but overall, it's been incredible. Before coming down here, I was bummed about all the things at Ashland that I would miss while I was here in Brazil, but after being here for awhile, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.

Our Internet was down this weekend, which was a bummer, but forced us to get out and do things and become more immersed in the culture. Don't get me wrong, we don't spend all our time on the computers, but it is nice to be disconnected for awhile. Although it's a little disgusting to see how dependent we are on our phones.

Friday afternoon, we went to the mall in Botafogo with one of Brittany's teachers named Viviane. Apparently it's one of the smaller malls in Rio, but had eight stories and the top two were strictly food. My kind of mall! The view from the top was incredible! We could see the bay and the Sugarloaf-- it was amazing. I really cannot wait to go visit the Sugarloaf and see it up close.

Bad panoramic of the view from the top of the mall

After walking back from the mall, we went to Drink Cafe with Viviane and Mónica for their friend's birthday party. Two of Vivi's friends, Carol and another Mónica, were there and they were a riot! Carol is in the catering business and tries out her food on her friends before offering it as something she would cater. She's working on barbeques right now and invited us over to hangout and eat some of the food. You don't have to ask me twice! They had also ordered a cheese and vegetable platter type thing and Claire was the only brave soul who would try the food. One type of food was capers and cream cheese wrapped in eggplant. Mónica said she wouldn't eat it because it tastes like a wet dog and Vivi didn't want it because she doesn't eat ugly food. Good thing we were all in agreement, it looked pretty nasty. It was nice to go out with some locals and hang out with them and get accustomed to the culture here in Brazil. Even if they were adults and our mentor teachers.

On Saturday we woke up bright and early to go to Copacabana. We got there around 10am and Vivi met us around 11am. We stayed until about 3pm until we decided that we absolutely could not hang out there anymore. The heat and warmth was fantastic, but they aren't kidding when they say that the Brazilian sun is brutal. All four of us left with some sort of color, whether it be brown or red or a combination of both. To esape the sun we really tried to get in the water, but it is so cold! Seriously, after standing in it for a minute or two, my ankles get that sore feeling like I've been icing them for awhile.

Flat Stanely goes to Copacabana

The sun must have wiped us out because we came back to the apartment that afternoon and crashed. Showers and naps all around. We woke up that evening and just hung out in the living room chatting with each other about the weirdest things-- weddings and suicides were just two of the topics we touched upon.

Nomming on some watermelon at Copacabana

Sunday morning we kind of slept in a little bit before waking up and going to the Hippie Fair in Ipanema. We braved public transportation and took a taxi to Siqueria Campos Station where we hopped on the metro which took us straight into Ipanema. We're still trying to figure out the most efficient time and manner in which to travel-- I'm sure we'll figure it out sometime.

The Hippie Fair is a giant, glorified, not junky flea market. There were vendors EVERYWHERE selling anything that you could imagine. It was a great place to buy souvenirs, I've made quite a dent in my shopping and gift list. I think we're hoping to go back sometime while we're here because we didn't even make it all of the way through the fair.

Typical Carnaval headpieces

Later that night Claire and I went to the indoor/ outdoor market and went to Rota 66 for dinner. The waiter didn't speak English, which we're finding to be pretty typical here. We both ordered grilled chicken sandwiches with french fries-- true Americans. The food was delicious; we both blinked and our food was gone.

Each time we go out we feel more and more comfortable talking to people and conversing with people. And it always feels good when you taxi drops you off in the right location or the food place in front of you is the same food you thought that you had ordered. It's definitely A LOT tougher living in country that speaks Portuguese than I had expected, but we're surviving quite well.

When In Brazil, Do As The Brazilians Do.

After teaching today we all decided that we absolutely could not waste another day of sunshine and headed to the beach. We're practically locals at Copacabana (HA!) and we have all heard so many awesome things about Ipanema, so we decided to head on over there. We haven't exactly figured out when is the best time to take a taxi somewhere as there ALWAYS seems to be a lot of traffic, so our ride seemed to take forever, but we finally made it there.

Seriously, culture difference. The girls' bathing suit bottoms are practically thongs and the guys' bathing suits are Speedos. Claire and I were saying that no matter how dark we get, we'll always stand out as tourists because our bathing suit bottoms will cover our butts. So we're either Americans or Brazilian men. Awesome.

PDA is also EVERYWHERE! On the street. On the beach. Seriously, no boundaries.

We stayed for a couple of hours and were able to catch some of the sunset. Amazing-- loved it!

Sunset at Ipanema.