Running in Rio
I accelerated along the wide promenade. The great orange orb slowly descended over the tropical peaks of the two brothers, the twin-camel-hump-mountains whose feet the Atlantic massages on Ipanema beach.
You don’t need layers as the temperature climbs into the 80s. People watching here deserves its own franchise. I made my way past bronze beach-goers, the out-and-about, fashionable crowd and the scary-ripped-crossfit-types.
Fake boobs, butt implants and male thongs take a second to get used to, but I’m sure Cariocas (Rio residents) would have a similar perspective of our obsession with vests and yoga pants. At least running out here doesn’t require a snow jacket.
Brazil has some of the most beautiful people in the world (along with Moscow and L.A.) so the eye candy and the inspiration for a good pace ensured a decent sweat sesh. If all the racist, anti immigrant people in the states traveled to Brazil, they may realize the benefits of mix race babies - they grow up to be gorgeous.
Roadside vendors are selling water and booz every ten feet so you can hydrate (or dehydrate) at your leisure. Rio loves its fried food, so your workout can quickly backfire if you don’t watch what you snack on after the run.
People are out at night just as much as they are in the daytime (I chickened out and didn’t do much favella exploring this time around. Probably because my hosts kept going to the swankiest parts of town to party), so it’s safe to be out. Rio pulsated with energy which seemed to seep from the ground into my feet and chest.
The sunset drew a blurred line between the sundrenched beach time and the dinner-dance parties which would undoubtedly follow the quick siesta in the shade. Running helps me baseline my body chemistry and a night out in Rio definitely requires some soul searching and readjusting afterwards.
Food
It’s tough not to enjoy the food from best restaurants, especially when the exchange rate is 4x in your favor, and yet budget friendly cuisine has been on point too. You can eat on the street every day. I was obsessed with Acai (the amazon jungle berry) and all of their doughy variations of the Russian pirogis. I probably put on 20 pounds but it was well worth it.
Rio has amazing sushi. We went to a very popular place in Leblon (the new money district) and I was blown away, even trying octopus for the first time. The star actor from Narcos is supposed to live in Leblon and frequent this spot, as are a bunch of Victoria's Secret models.
Society
To someone from San Francisco Brazil seems to be set about 50 years back in time. My friend’s building had two elevators a social and a service one. The help wasn’t allowed in the first. Brazil was the last country to outlaw slavery. The majority of Favelas are inhabited by the darker skin population, same with the people who serve caipirinhas to the rich on the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana. America has a shit story with slavery so we can’t talk, but racially segregated elevators is straight up Jim Crowe.
On a brighter note Rio is definitely more sexually charged than the US. Women's bikini bottoms are clearly designed to barely be there and men wear different variations of speedos. The language is full of sexual innuendos, as is the culture. While we drive sex through media, Brazil has more sexuality on a purely social level. Their PDA is insane and even innocent conversations have tons of physical contact. Good for them! US feels way too prude sometimes.
Language
This was a tough one for me. As someone who speaks a little Spanish, I tend to lean on it. Brazilians can often understand me, but as the speak back, the whole thing comes crumbling down. Portuguese is just far enough from Spanish to be hard to understand and the way in which the languages evolved from the common ancestry makes it even harder to make the connection. The pronunciation isn’t phonetic at all. Not even a little bit. So if you are learning Portuguese, you are learning two languages, the written and the spoken one.
Outdoors:
Outdoorsy people would salivate over Rio. The brothers (twin peaks), Sugar Loaf and Christ the Redeemer are all awesome hikes. The city itself is encased in all sorts of mountains with the remains of a once mighty amazon jungle sheltering winding trails of old. Bring water. You’ll need it.
