Carnaval and... I know it's luck!

On Sunday (my only regular day off), I began my CARNAVAL festivities...
I went to my first bloco.
It was awesome, because people were dressed up everywhere... it was also a panic attack waiting to happen, because there was just soooo many people, wow!

It was blistering hot. I stayed for about an hour, that's all I could take before I started to panic.

Then I went home, my roomie came by, took a shower and invited me to go to another bloco... this one was even bigger. At this piont I understood and knew what I was getting into, so it wasn't as bad. It was also at the end of the afternoon, so there was shade.

After that bloco, we went back home to rest and get ready to go to Sapucai... yes, the SAMBADROME... the place that hosts Samba Schools... the ONE place north america gets 15 seconds of tv time, when people mention that Carnaval began.. yes, I was there... it is HUGE. It's also a place designed by Oscar Neymier ...(ballllller).
We saw a school from Vila Isabel.
They were outstanding... (maybe cuz it was the first and only school I saw in the sambadrome). We went with Day who had been there before, so we sat infront of the judge panel, she knew that the schools would stall there, like they would in the parade. The drumming was so loud and refined it pretty much rocked my soul! It was an amazing experience... I kept it together as a young woman with kids beside me spat multipletimes, folded paper airplanes out of brochure and gave it to her kids to throw.

It was also the night my left foot began to hurt... yeh, from standing all day... great!
The next day I woke up and my ankle was the size of a watermellon... I still went to the garden.. then it only got worse!
I began icing it, and elevating it for circulation.... today it was better, till I got to work.
I did what I needed to do, then got some ice, wrapped it in a towel and sat at the desk.

Then two french women come in and we talk (they are room 7). They see my foot and ask if they can take a look: they are postual podiatrist!! WHAT!!!! The woman massages my foot, flicks a few nerves... and I AM WALKING WITHOUT PAIN AGAIN... that means I am back in business and I will be enjoying carnaval... I am just so lucky. What were the odds. This, once again is one of those cool things about working at a hostel!

Pre-Carnaval WOW.

Okay. Blocos have begun and I have managed to miss alot of them. Mostly due to work.
So what happens...what are blocos? (please understand this description is before I've even been to one).

Blocos I've been told:
People who play music together. Dance together. And they ALL have tacky names. There are blocos dedicated to certain things: like being single, being too sexy, being gay, etc.

It's extremely awesome to ride the bus home and see people all over the city wearing color wigs, costumes, beads, carrying props... just anything... ANYTHING counts.

I went down the street at 7pm to get some potatoes and I see girls wearing crowns, fake jewelry, beads, boas... the more colos the better. Men wearing funky hats... ANYTHING. Carnaval might be the coolest thing I'll ever experience. Holy shit, these two weeks will be insane! I'M SO EXCITED!

Starting tomorrow, 10am. My first bloco. Fogo e Paixao.
Rio de Janeiro, I love you! I love you!

Beauty Salon in Lapa, Rio de Janeiro!

I've been living in Lapa for the past 5 months. Since I am living in a tropical country where I am wearing shorts and a bikini bottom often, waxing is undeniably necessary.

The BEST Beauty Salon in Lapa, Rio de Janeiro, that has hair removal, manis, pedis, haircuts, etc... is 
"NOVO ESTILO UNISSEX"
They are located on: Av. Gomes Freire (corner with Mem de Sa), #663, take the elevator to the second floor and it's room 202. 
Their phone number is: (21) 2222-0977
They're only open Tuesday - Friday!

I know it doesn't look awesome, or very chic, cause it's not... but SANDRA is phenomenal. (She only speaks portuguese though!)

Why am I writing this post?
Because things happen where I couldn't go to Sandra, (weather and her vacation) and I went somewhere else... it was the WORSE experience ever.
I tried all the places on Riachuelo, and they all charge more and do a terrible job! They either leave hair (most common), wax wrong (don't hold the skin, just pull in any which way), pour HOT wax on ya, leave wax on you and just don't give a shit that you're in pain during the process!!

So incase you googled salon or salao de beleza or hair removal or waxing and LAPA, RJ, I hope you find this post and go there, it's the best advice I can give you!

DANGER - Not a cute centipede....

Okay, luckily I didn't have to learn this the hard way... this NASTY centipede
is poisonous! It can kill you...

Name: LACRAIA....

I've seen 3 of them!
It's like what scorpions are to Mexico...
They only die with chlorine... so tourists beware!

It's Official!

It's official, I am on the GREEN MY FAVELA website!

Rio de Janeiro - Open! (Tennis Tournament)

Sometimes I'm really caught off guard by how active and exciting this city is.

Today whilst I was eating breakfast at work, this lady mentioned how she hopes it doesn't rain because she is going to the game.

Soccer game, I assumed... but no, she was going to a game at the RIO DE JANEIRO OPEN 2014. It's a South American Tennis Tournament!! Wow!!! She told me that yesterday she saw famous players and took pictures with them... then she started to name a few popular tennis players, including NADAL.

Yup, international sports event, happening about 50 metres from my job. In order to cooperate with my job, I took it upon myself to create an advertisement for the few beds we have vacant..

Hopefully I'll develop better methods of advertising soon! haha!!

New Trend - Comparing Prices

It's very common for people in Rio to make price comparisons and talk about it. It comes up with everyone absolutely everywhere.

Whether it's the price of tomatoes, coconut water, carpets, clothes, or ice cream. 

People in Rio are constantly baffled at the price difference between things! 

They even made a Facebook page in order to bring attention to how crazy the differences are... 

Splitting a Bill

The most agonizing task in Rio de Janeiro is when you go out with friends to eat and drink, and then the bill comes! Ugh... why can't they just split the bills?? It comes as one large sum, so you have to spend atleast half an hour trying to determine if it's all right, then who had how much of what... It's simple if you've had only one or two glasses of beer, but when you have to split an order of fries, or pastels it get pretty ridiculous! It's even more annoying, when someone has to leave before the bill comes... it's like taking a shot in the dark! haha - I need to add, that there was about 25-30 people at the birthday dinner.
Take out your smartphone... "who had two or more glasses? who ate from the cheese plater? did anyone have any carne seca? who order agua com gaz?"

Pedra do Sal, Rio de Janeiro

I often get asked "how do you get to Pedra do Sal?"

Google maps can't find it, so it becomes pretty annoying to explain it to tourists.
Here is a map I made really quickly.

No Writing Skill

I have this little calendar beside my bed. I find it crazy how the days here just pass by so fast. I always have something to do.

This city makes me happy. This city makes me want to live.

Thinking back, I also wondered why it took so long for me to get inspired to do something... anything!

I used to sit at home and be depressed- really... without a purpose. Since I've been here, especially with volunteering, I feel like I should be doing something all the time. Creating and expressing and exposing and... and... and... 

I feel like I don't have enough skills or time to do all the things I WANT to do. 

One of the things I want to work on when I get back is writing. I want to be taught how to write properly again. It's a phenomenal skill, that to be honest, I've lost since John Abbott College. Concordia fueled my critical stance, but killed my writing skills.

From what I have known so far (in the last 2-3 weeks), I could be writing a billion freelanced articles a day. I speak Portuguese, I can get into the nitty-gritty topics, I can probe, I can research... but I just don't have the skills to bring it all together. I HATE myself for that.

There's at least 5 people I know and 15 sites that I could be writing for, but I just don't have the quality for it to be published and paid for!

Stay in school kids & always practice writing!