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Day 1: Tuesday 2/13
Woke up and ate breakfast at the hostel, ham, cheese, bread, pineapple and watermelon. Then i went to the grocery store and bought yogurt and milk. Later im going to the atm to get out cash to buy whey protein powder so i can make shakes. tomorrow i have the derserted island trip with the hostel which is included in the package that i paid oodles for. should be awesome, we just go out there and hang and take pics and stuff.
rio is so awesome, its really nice and sophisticated but still really brasilian. the people are nice and theres everything here that i need and its great being at the beach where the wind blows all the time. its hot but not crazy i sweat but kinda like in GA, just a little bit and when you go inside its cool. the best is sitting under a tree in the shade with a 10 mph wind. soooo soothing. i ate grilled chicken today and it was great, just chicken. no fries, no sauce, just chicken. i feel a million times better. i dont think im going to drink very much this trip cause my body is so sensitive now and i feel energy, but not when i drink so ill just hang out with everyone and enjoy the people. petty much everyone i met yesterday got kicked out of the hostel because all the carnival new people are coming in today. i think they said 61 new people moving in today and 61 people moving out. i havent taken any photos cause i dont have pockets and i dont want to carry around a camera all the time. but i will have pockets tonight and i want to spend a day walking around with my camera to take pics.
its really weird being the tallest guy in the whole hostel, and probably the biggest too. euro kids are pretty small and skinny but they are all cute like kids.
Just got back from going out, its 4AM and i did it huge. Had a blast hanging out with 2 americans and 2 irish. drank at the hostel then at a local bar, then at a hotel bar outside near the beach. walked home and got to bed.
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Day 2: Wednesday 2/14
Tonight i slept till 11 then went to a club called Casa Matrix in a shady part of town with some folks and met up with some other folks. The bar was a house that someone turned into a club. It had an $8 cover charge and instead of paying the bartender for drinks, you write it down on a sheet then give the sheet to a cashier who stmaps your ticket so you can leave the bar. The club had two floors, one reggae and one techno. We went to both and two British girlsnamed Amy and Lauren taught me this game that´s silly but fun. You tell a person something you really like about them, then they tell you something back. Guys can do it to guys and girls to girls it´s not just a guy/girl thing. But the comment has to be true. Its a fun game cause it makes everyone happy and they get to know what´s good about themselves instead of hearing all the negative things. Its really expensive here, like america. I spent over $30 total.
No one even remembered it was Valentines day here cause everyone is single. But i made sure that i reminded everyone that i had a gf so it was important to me.
I´ve gotten lost in the city 2 times already which is a little scary, but i dont feel unsafe at all here.
I went on a deserted beach tour today which was a 4 hour bus ride and a 90 minutes walk through the jungle where it was super steep and i should have worn hiking boots but instead wore sandals which made it interesting.
The beach was kinda like every other beach but the hike was refreshing.
I have never been so hot in my entire life, imagine GA in August with 100% humidity and no air-conditioning anywhere. Thats RIO. It suddenly got blistering hot today and i cant cool off. I´m very close to making a bag of ice to carry around on my neck like UGA. I think i have slept 6 hours total since i arrive, im in a 24-person dorm with no AC and its like a sauna in there. I literally lay in a pool of sweat and occasionally doze off. I might resort to crashing at another hostel during the day that has AC cause my buddy Tony is staying there.
Ive been hanging with aussies and kiwis alot telling them about my trip with Haley to their countries and it looks like we will have lots of people to stay with and show us around.
I hung out with a British guy today who was with me in Buenos Aires named Mark, small world...
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Day 3: Thursday 2/15
Today was one of the best nights of my life. The cruise was awesome everyone partied and had a great time and i got lots of pics, then i took a nap in the chill room, then we went to a street party. and when i say street party, i mean the biggest thing ive ever seen. mobs and mobs of people samba dancing and drinking and generally being happy brazilians. they have meat on a stick, steak or chicken, and these open charcoal grills where they BBQ. then they have sauces and you just carry it around and munch on it while you drink beer on the street with 2 million of your best friends samba dancing. Its the best meat ive ever had, i ate so much i thought i was sick, then i ate more. I could live down here i love it so much. I need to learn portugeuse too. Prob do that today actually. i speak spanish well enough to get everything done but i would like to learn it just for kicks. Bought Valium at the pharmacy today its $1 for 2 pills which isnt bad or good really. Watched the sun rise then got a few hours sleep then today hit the beach again, carnaval is def in full swing.
I´m posting pics today, here is the link.
http://uga.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2178228&l=674d6&id=4917504
It feels like the day goes by in a blur without me doing anything other than eating, taking a shower and going to the beach then its time for bed. I met a bunch of americans today. One guy was hilarious, Tyler wearing the speedo on the boat. It´s nice to share traveling stories with americans who can understand the differences from our country and apreciate them.
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Day 6: Sunday 2/19
Me, Tony, and Mark went to a small street party on Copacabana and then drnk a few beers on the beach as the sun set.
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Day 7: Monday 2/20
Went to the beach all day and bought an umbrella. I was kind of weary when I first got here of the sun but after 3 days with block on, I´m still white as a ghost. The crap hit the fan today and I decided to go with no block on. Me, Tony, Jen, Fiona rented an umbrella and 3 chairs but we all sat in the sun and I got a little pink. It actually feels good to get some sun. While on the beach I smelled the wonderful scent of BBQ meat. I ran over to the guy and told him with hand motions I wanted some. 10 Minutes later he brought me a plate full of chicken, steak, sausage, liver/kidneys, and garlic bread. Then a few minutes later he brought me more. Then more. Until I told him not to bring any more! Everyone got a little then me and Tony hung out on the beach by ourselves just shooting the breeze.
There was a huge beach party at Ipanema and being the crazy party animal I am, I made sure the group went. There were tents every 100 yards with music playing and people gathered around dancing. I had a great time on the beach dancing and hanging out with no shoes on. Got home around 6AM.
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Went to the Sambodrome for the carnaval parade tonight. It was an absolute disaster. We took a really long time to rally the troops and our group got seperated on the walk to the stadium. Eventually we found each other in our section, but our section was the cheap seats and pretty far away from the action. Since we got there after midnight and it started at 9PM, the stadium was packed. There were people on people and everyone was dancing and screaming. We tried to negotiate our way up to an empty spot but there were no empty spots. We tried to sqeeze in but the locals were very angry that we came so late and pushed them out of their seats. Finally we settled in a tiny open space and the locals were very adament about their distaste of us gringos. If looks could kill we´d all be dead, and after an hour of semi-watching the parade we all decided to leave before things got out of hand.
Hit up the street party near the stadium, taught the foreigners how to shotgun, then hit up Lapa street party for some food and beers, then went to the beach to watch the sun come up. Me and Mark went for a 6AM it was refreshing watching the sunrise on an empty beach at 5AM in Copacabana.
http://uga.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2179695&l=e8f4a&id=4917504
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Day 9: 2/22
Did nothing all day. Slept till 3, read for a few hours, watched 2 movies, ate BBQ. Tomorrow we leave early for Ilha Grande with Amy, Lauren, Freddy Krueger, Tony, and I. Just catch the bus tomorrow then see what happens. Hopefully there will be a hostel open.
