I locate traditional Rio

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  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Friday, December 21, 2007

I say goodbye to the Irish girls in the morning and obtain the necessary provisions from them to enable me to trek through Bolivia.  I pack my bag again (I pack more crap than gay guys) and catch a cab to Lapa which is a much poorer neighborhood north of Copa.  Lapa is older and much less touristy than Ipanema, Leblon and Copa.  This scenario lends to much more authentic and traditional Brazil.  Ipanema is not Brazil, it is a resort area but with rich locals.  I have an address of a hostel but when the cab drops me off I notice the hostel is no longer there.  Ahhhh shit.  I don`t know much about Lapa and I have no idea how dangerous it is.  From the look of things it doesn`t look overly safe but at least it`s daylight and a lot of people are running around.  I later find out Lapa is safe, it just looks more dangerous because parts of it are in shambles and it`s much dirtier than the touristy parts of Rio.  I want to stay here though to get away from touristy Rio and have a genuine Brazilian experience in this city.  The other good thing is that due to it`s proximity to Central and other attractions I will spend much more time checking out sites as opposed to going to the beach.  I am definitely a creature of convience at times.  Anyway, I`m like shit, I need to find an internet place so I can scour the web in order to locate another hostel in this area.  As I am walking around I luckily see a hostel by the Lapa Arches and they of course have a bed available.  This place is only $19R a night and the rooms have air, sweet.  One of the part owners is this gargarious Australian guy who when I ask him a question gives me all the information I would ever need regarding the pertinent question plus much more regarding questions I never even thought of asking and at times questions I would never need to ask.  But, nevertheless he is extremely helpful.  I take the tram through Santa Teresa which is an even older part of the city and is located on top of this enormous hill that overlooks the city.  The neighborhood still retains houses built in the old Portuguese post-colonial style.  It`s an amazing place considering it exists in the middle of Rio de Janeiro.  The electric tram (street car) was one of the first of it`s kind built in the entire world.  This place reminds me of San Francisco somewhat with it`s street cars, art deco painted houses and steep hills everywhere and with it`s cobblestone streets San Francisco in like the 1940īs or something. 

Later I check out the Modern Art Museum.  It was Ok but nothing there that necessitates me writing about.  The museum contained zero Dali paintings although it did have some very nice Monet`s and some Manet`s but who cares about Manet as I think he sucks.  I end up talking to the Australian dude for a bit and he tells me that if I want to go to a Flavela that I can since it is totally safe.  I assume he is full of shit and that there is no way in hell a gringo that looks like me could walk into a Flavela.  He tells me that when you enter a Flavela you`ll see a couple guys or more likely kids sitting there with automatic weapons.  These dudes are there more or less to alarm the ghetto minutemen in case of a raid.  Once you get past these crazy fuckers then you come to an area where you`ll see chairs with boxes on them filled with various drugs.  It`s basically a drug buffet and you just pick out whatever you want.  He says it`s safe because the drug lord of the Flavela would kill whoever fucked with his business and if you are a gringo going to a Flavela than you are probably there to buy drugs.  You can only skin a cat once so why harm or jack with a customer.  Drug dealers make money from repeat business.  Very true.  This all sounds interesting and intriguing or what have you but yeah, I don`t think I`ll be going to a Flavela anytime soon. 

Go out for a bit later that night.  Lapa is off the hook.  People are everywhere just coursing through the streets drinking, talking, hanging out or doing god knows what else.  I sit down at a table in one of the many restuarants and as I`m sitting there three guys two tables over from me start busting out a little tune seemingly from out of nowhere.  One of the guys has a cd case and he bangs on it with his hand to create a little drum beat.  This is so cool.  I mean, how often do you see people singing at a table in a packed restaurant?  In America, never.  They would probably be told to shutup or looked at as idiots.  But this is Brazil and it`s totally different and why I love it.  After about 10 minutes two dudes sitting at the table next to me join in on the singing and now they have a 5 part harmony thing going.  They jam for about 20 minutes and when they stop they get some applause from the surrounding tables.  This is the loudest restaurant I have ever been in.  Everyone is so loud it`s like this place is filled with a 100 of me (btw, I talk really loud when I`m in a crowd, I think I get this from my mom as her and her 5 siblings always had to talk over one another to be heard.  You should see the Maas family gatherings, the decibal level is off the charts and quite a sight to behold.  When my friends give me shit for talking so loud I usually just tell them, if I have something to say I`m sure everyone in the place will want to hear it as it is probably awesome).  I don`t make it out out tonight.  I hang for a bit on the street but I don`t do anything exciting.  Just chill.  Hah, in my notes this is what I have written about Lapa.......Lots of homeless here, very authentic.  That`s pretty funny. 

Fin

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