Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Today I moved hostels from Stone of a Beach in Copacabana to Ipanema Beach House.  Originally I had planned to take a taxi for safety, but decided last minute that it was sunday morning and I could safely carry my pack on the subway to the Beach House (no its not on the beach).  So I made the move on foot: I walked to the station, waited in line, bought my ticket, walked through the maze of tunnels to the platform to Ipanema, waited for the train alone, got on the train, got off the train, navigated through the tunnels to the street, and walked the 6 or 8 blocks it was to the hostel.  While I was a bit scared at first to be venturing out pack and all in the notoriously crime ridden Rio, once on the street I felt safe.  The reputation of Rio is quickly changing, it is clear the massive amount of money Rio is spending to reduce crime in the city is truly paying dividends.  The propaganda forced into my head before leaving about the danger may not be completely without merit, but at the same time is vastly exaggerated.

In the afternoon I went to a football match between Flamengo and Sao Paulo.  Despite being a fairly large rivalry only 10,000 people showed up which in a stadium that holds 140,000 people seated, and up to 200,00 total the stadium looked like I was at a Marlins game.  There were a few reasons for this that I didn't know before going (but should have) first because of the world cup the stars weren't playing, second it was raining, third at R$40 for upper deck the tickets aren't exactly cheap, and finally (and most depressingly) they don't sell alcohol in the stadium.  Of course the first thing I did when i got to the stadium was order a Cerveja S. A. not realizing S. A. stood for Sem Alcool (without alcohol).  I choked down the "beer" anyway as it was the same price as coke.  The game despite its flaws was great, the crowd was as rowdy and loud as expected, and the soccer was great.  The game ended in a 1-1 tie though so it was disappointing not having a winner.  Most disappointing was I forgot my camera because I was doing my duties as a son and talking to mom on mothers day up until the moment I had to leave.  Oh well, the stadium (although completely renovated) will be all over TV in 2014 for the world cup and 2016 for the Olympics.

At night because I couldn't find anything else going on I walked around Ipanema for a while before stopping at a sucio for a burger.  Here an English speaking Carioca (person from Rio) struck up a conversation with me.  It was really a surreal time standing on dimly lit street corner at a juice bar talking to this dude discussing our vastly different lives.  This is exactly the type of experience I was looking for when coming here, one on one with a local sharing stories where you realize that despite how different your lives have been, you still have so much in common.  (Well that and the two things that every non american says to you when you meet them is Chicago Bulls, followed by Michael Jordan)