Good Bye Rio!

I let gravity take its work as I gingerly stroll down the antiquated cobble stone roads in Santa Teresa. It is dark and the streets are empty - but I feel safe and am not worried. A couple dogs are barking on the next street over, a cat jumps up on the wall adjacent to me, a firecracker explodes in the distant, either celebrating something or warning the favela of danger (police!). I am on the hunt for something. I saw it today on the bus as I returned from Copacabana. It was but a glimpse of the black, sleek package with stylized lettering in red and silver. It instantly led to reminiscing of rainy days spent reading in broad-leaf thatched huts or salty hours lazying away on a deserted beach in Indonesia. What I have saw were Djarums. Now, before I get into it, I will reiterate that I am not a smoker. On the odd occasion I will have a cigarette, mainly to curb boredom and to increase my cool factor (at least 2.3 fold). This aside, Djarums are not what I would call a traditional cigarette.  They are a kretek (clove cigarette), 40% spices, such as cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom. Sort of like smoking a spicy cinnamon bun. Fortunately for my lungs, I found none. I wandered slowly back up to the hostel, on the well worn cobble stones, avoiding the various smelly puddles and presents from street dogs, as a young girl on a bike yelled "Attack!" behind me and proceeded to pretend to run me over (little kids love attacking me for some reason). 

A photo of Rio's centro district from the patio of my hostel in Santa Teresa. The building with the green and orange cubes is Petrobras, Brazil's semi-public (and the world's fourth largest) energy (oil) company.  

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After hours of ethnographic observation at the beach I have come to a number of conclusions with regards to Brazilian beach culture and appearance. One, Brazilians like tattoos, well perhaps the Brazilians that can afford them. The tattoos vary, but there seems to be a high interest in kanji characters (健次, "healthy, next", etc.). Kanji also appears to be mildly popular in clothing as well. There are also a lot of tribal. Perhaps it is the same presently in Canada? I have not been to the beach lately in Vancouver.
Two, the rumours of skimpy bathing suites are true. Men and women of all body types have no fear in wearing nothing but the smallest of bathing suits, barely covering their unmentionables. While I do not complain when I see the odd 3-9% of women wearing them, the other 91-97% (and 99% of the grape smugglers - I am sure Bruno would look good in a Speedo) should perhaps try something else on, maybe a bed sheet?

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Ahhhhhhh  ... Well, I have officially eaten all of my candy I brought down. It was supposed to last me until December. I still have a bag of Sour Patch Kids that I am saving for Jeremy. Hopefully Susan will drug-mule down a couple cut kilos of sour jujubes and DinoSours. 

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I am off to SP tomorrow via bus to meet up with my supervisor, Jutta. It will allow me to determine what it is exactly I will be doing for the next coming week(s)!