Hello Riooo...oh.

It is a lot harder than I expected to keep up to date blogging while working full time, and traveling. It has been more than a month since I updated and arrived in a long awaited city - Rio De Janeiro.

(Photo borrowed from Hotels.com because this was NOT my view :'))

Known for it's dangerous tendencies, beautiful beaches, and the Christo statue and Sugarloaf Mountain, I had been looking forward to Rio for months. I only had one full day in Rio between work days (I didn't want to spend a whole week in the huge city.) and because of the talk about how dangerous Rio is, I decided to book one of my only tours I've ever booked traveling. Getting a city tour and and all the famous destinations without having to worry about getting around or safety.

I must say that I was super excited to head south from Ouro Preto towards Rio. The landscape was incredible. Unique mountains, farm land, palm trees, some water...All of my favorite things.

But, when I arrived in Rio, I was honestly shocked. It is not a pretty city. It is dirty, chaotic, and with marks and scribbles of graffitt everywhere. Homeless people lined the streets and crowed under bridges. It was hardly the images I'd seen on travel blogs, or been expecting.

(My first view of Rio)

I arrived at my hostel and it wasn't much better. Dark and sketchy feeling, I waited a good ten minutes for someone to arrive to reception. She half looked at me as she checked me in and waved boredly in the general direction of my room. The place was huge, so I give that a 0/10 for service. Thankfully a repair guy was super friendly and showed me to my room, assuring me that he'd help me with anything I may need. 

(And, it was cute!)

I got settled and met a sweet guy from Argentina. We chatted a bit and headed to the terrace and enjoyed some wine with a view of the Christo statue. Unfortunetly, that view would be the best that I'd get, because it decided to start raining shortly after, and didn't stop through the entire tour.

At this point I was still excited. :')

Saturday I woke up and got an uber to a meeting point where I was joined by our tour group. We started out at Sugarloaf mountain and even as we headed up to the first stop, the weather was slightly promising - we had a view!

(The base before heading up)

(On the way up! It was quite spectacular)

We did get a small glimpse of Sugarloaf as we climbed up in the cable car, just to be rained out at the top. Thankfully, good company makes everything better, and  I got to be friends with a sweet Chinese group that was throughoughly impressed at the fact that I travel the world alone.

At the top there was also a fun little show going on. People in customes played instruments and danced around, and my Chinese friends joined in without a second thought. I prefered to stand by and take some pictures.

And a cute elephant...

And even though we got soaked and didn't see a thing from the top of the mountain, I did get this teaser picture in front of a picture. I guess you gotta take what you can get. :)

After decending the mountain again, we decided to explore some famous sites in the city before heading to the Christo statue, hoping it would clear up a bit. As we explored the city, we did find some charm.

We visited a really cool cathetral (Catedral Metropolitana de São Sebastião) that was shaped almost like a pyramid. The inside was a mosaic of cool angled stained glass windows. 

(My camera needs help.)

(Look, it's me. :D)

And one of my favorites, the mosaic tile steps.

I asked chatgpt to summarize the story of the steps because AI can tell the story better than I can remember - so from here down is a story I find so fascinating. Feel free to read, or, skip down to the next photo to continue my experience. 

"The mosaic steps in Rio de Janeiro, known as Escadaria Selarón or the Selarón Steps, are one of the city's most vibrant and iconic landmarks. These steps are the work of Jorge Selarón, a Chilean-born artist who moved to Rio de Janeiro in the 1980s.

Selarón began renovating the dilapidated steps that ran along the front of his house in the Santa Teresa neighborhood, which borders the bohemian Lapa district. What started as a side project in 1990, became his life's work. He covered the 215-step staircase in over 2000 tiles, ceramics, and mirrors collected from all over the world. The tiles are a mix of hand-painted pieces by Selarón and various tiles he received from visitors and admirers worldwide.

The steps became a symbol of Rio, showcasing a colorful and dynamic blend of cultures. They have shades of yellow, green, and blue, reflecting the colors of the Brazilian flag. Among the tiles, you'll find many that are red, which was Selarón's favorite color and a prominent feature in his work.

Selarón described the staircase as a "tribute to the Brazilian people." The work was constantly evolving, as he would often replace or rearrange tiles. It was this ever-changing nature that kept the steps alive and intriguing for both locals and tourists.

Tragically, in January 2013, Jorge Selarón was found dead on the very steps that he devoted much of his life to decorating. The circumstances surrounding his death were unclear, but his legacy lives on through this vibrant and artistic landmark. The Escadaria Selarón is not just a popular tourist attraction but also a symbol of the artistic and cultural vibrancy that characterizes Rio de Janeiro. It has been featured in various forms of media, including music videos, documentaries, and commercials, becoming an emblem of the city's creative spirit."

Around the steps there were lots of venders selling arts and crafts, and the streets were also covered in artwork. 

Besides my new friends, my highlight of the tour was the popular Brazilian all-you-can-eat buffet with the most delicious food, that, quite honestly, I still have no idea what most of it was.

After dinner, I was hopeful as clouds came in and floated away, but no such luck. We headed up to the Cristo Statue but the group unanimously decided not to venture up the statue itself. Our guide was apologetic as he gave us our refunds from the Christo statue since we couldn't see more than three feet infrount of us due to the pounding mist. (Can mist be pounding? I don't know, but it felt like it.) And, as luck would have it, as soon as we got back to our hotels after the tour, the sun came out. Talk about bad timing! :')

(The view as we drove back to our hotels)

But after a day of rain and deep disappointment, I got to meet a new student that I taught just a week earlier! She was a gem and helped me out through a lot of issues with getting money in Brazil, and she invited me to join in on a birthday party that she was attending not far from my hotel. Her and her boyfriend picked me up in uber and took me to a typical Brazilian scene - a bar in the street. There was a little window to order, but most of the tables were outside on the street. We talked and laughed and celebrated a sweet girls birthday, and it was a nice change of happiness after a disappointing day.

I also took a walk on the famous Copacabana beach - a must for a trip to Rio. Here I saw a lot of the hype about Rio, but in all reality, Rio is not a pretty city apart from the small tourist areas. Of course i'm sure if I stayed longer and got to know it i'd fall in love with it like the locals, but I was exhausted from two days of being hyper-aware of my surroundings and keeping my phone hidden. 

So, early the next day I grabbed another bus for the one place in Brazil that completely stole my heart - Paraty.

Ouro Preto - Colonial Gem

They say time flies when you're having fun - I think I've come to disagree. I think time flies more when you're doing the same mundane thing. You zone out and go through the motions, and before you know it time is gone.

I wouldn't say this is how traveling is. I've been in Brazil just a few days shy of a month, and I can honestly say it feels as though I've been here for months. Maybe because each day is full of new experiences, so each day feels like a week, even when I  just work all day, even a trip to the coffee shop becomes an adventure.

After the challenges of traveling Brazil without a CPF number, there was a part of me that wanted to throw in the towel and head back to my comfortable travel places. But, I told myself I'd give Brazil five more days...and thankfully, I did. (Sometimes all we need is some sleep and good food to feel better. ;D) I got out of the big city and headed to the little college, colonial town of Ouro Preto.

The drive was beautiful, and promising. The graffiti of the city gave way to rolling hills and little farm villages. I would say at this point that Brazil definitely has some of the most beautiful scenery of any country I've traveled to. That's one of the reasons I love bussing during the day - you get to see the parts you'd never see if flying or taking a night bus.

When I arrived in Ouro Preto, I was greeted with countless churches, cobblestone streets, and unique little colonial buildings...we all know what my favorite places look like. :-)

Ouro Preto, which means Black Gold, is known for it's prosperity during the gold rush in the 17th century. It is nestled amongst the nooks and crannies of steep hills (and we are talking STEEP), with countless old mines available to tour. It has become a popular tourist town, with lots of nearby hikes in nature with waterfalls, as well as it's famous soap stone market - vendors carve the magnesium-rich stone into all kinds of shapes and sell them daily in a little market set up outside one of the countless churches.

Along the streets you'll find cute shops, each marked with a unique sign hanging outside.

You'll find lots of shops with trinkets and souveniers, cafes with Brazilian chocolate, bakeries, restaraunts, and "republicas" - basically, fraternities and sororities. Since Ouro Preto is a college towns, a lot of the "pousadas" or places to stay, are with college students! I had the fun experience of renting a room in a house full of guys (sorry I didn't mention that part, mom.) The guys felt like brothers and were so sweet, respectful, and helpful - and super fun (maybe a little too fun for my old go-to-bed at 10 pm 30-year-old self.)

 After my bit of a nightmare getting going in Brazil, it was such a relief to have them to help find places and get around. They even set up a cable so I could continue to teach when the wifi kept going out in the rain. (Unfortunetly, my new laptop doesnt have an ethernet port so I ended up switching airbnbs, but it was a great experience nonetheless.)

Right down the street from the republica were countless bakeries, and they told me I had to try "pao de quijo" - Cheese bread. Basically little balls of bread and cheese, they were definitely everything they're cracked up to be. Little breadballs of delishousness.

I stayed in Ouro Preto for about a week, and one weekend. On my weekends, of course, I love to go hiking. I connected with a fun tour guide and another hiker and we headed off into the back hills from Ouro Preto to Lavras Novas. Not too hard of a hike, and the weather, landscape, and nature was beautiful.

 

About halfway through it started raining. Luckily, right around the time we arrived at a waterfall. So, we stuck our stuff under a rock and went swimming in the river, in the pouring rain.

Thankfully, the rain around Ouro Preto was usually pretty temporary and passed in about a half hour. The area was beautiful - though, the area we walked in around the waterfall was completely empty. Our guide said that usually this entire area is a big river and we could see where the water usually flowed. In the last few months, it's been much drier than ever before and the river has almost completely dried up.

 

And a few fun shots from the hike:

A mound of little bugs. Not ants, just weird little bugs. ;D They build HUGE houses and the dirt is hard as cement. (Okay maybe not that hard, but its pretty indestructable.)

And a big centipede.

And another little waterfall...We got to take off our shoes and make our way across this river.

A few hours later, we reached our destination: Another cute little toursit town called Lavras Novas. The town was full of more shops and adorable little buildings and churches.
 

And, my favorite part: All of the garbage cans set up around the town were painted cows!

We also stopped for a typical Brazilian lunch - an amazing all-you-can-eat buffet with a lot of foods that I have no idea what they were. But, I tried them all, and most of them were delishous! :)

The rest of the week was spent working, and exploring. Ouro Preto is a charming little town, but a little too quiet for me. (Aside from the college parties which aren't quite my thing :')) 

So, even though I had expected to stay a few weeks, I ended up taking off a little sooner than planned - I left just 8 days after arriving and caught the bus to Rio. Ah, Rio De Janeiro, the one and only. But, that's another story for another day. Until then, enjoy the streets, churches, and charm of Ouro Preto:

Praza Tiradentes in the Main Square

A typical street market.

One of the most amazing sunsets ever - a rainbow appeared over one of the churches on the hill. (Unfortunetly, my camera refused to capture it.)

Little ladies in so many windows. More than once I had to do a double take thinking I was being watched. :-)

The enterence of one beautiful churches.

And the inside of another.

That's it for now. Until Rio. :)