second and third day in rio

well rio is STILL so fun! yesterday i slept in a lot to try and catch up from the trip. we went to dinner on copacabana beach and then went out to a neighborhood called gavea. basically gavea is just one big block party a few nights a week so all the little bodegas have their doors and windows open and people just hang out and drink in the street. it was so much fun to just talk to some of the locals even though i can only speak to them in english and they can only speak to me in portuguese. it creates very interesting conversations but i talked to the sweetest guy named raphael who just kept kissing my hand and asking "how can i find you?!" which i thought was funny.

me, blair, kathy and nicole in gavea

today we woke up and went to ipanema beach which was very crowded because today is the brazilian independence day. they don't do anything like our 4th of july but everyone has off work and most of the stores are closed so everyone went to the beach. it was beautiful.

ipanema

nicole and me at ipanema

nena (the matriarch of the house) made dinner tonight and it was very, very good. she made a salad (which apparently is pretty rare in rio), whole grain rice, polenta and a pot roast. she was afraid that i wouldn't like it but we all got three servings! then the four of us washed the dishes and just laughed at some of the funny things that the brazilians have said to us since i've been here. i think we are going out tonight and then going to a different area of rio tomorrow to go shopping and see another beach. i used sunscreen today so i'm not burnt anymore which is a relief! my eyelids no longer look like i got punched in the face!!

(mom and dad, give lola a big hug for me!! i miss her so much!)