Rio de Janeiro!

Hi everyone,

Here we are in Rio de Janeiro after some very long flights. We arrived yesterday to a very cloudy and rainy day. We hopped on the bus from the Airport to Copacabana and, after freezing in the air conditioning, and gazing out the window at the amazing diversity of the city (very poor neighborhoods right next to or up the hill from walled guarded palaces), we stepped off the bus on that classic beachside road, the Avenida Atlantica, a couple blocks away from our hosts apartment. We walked right to his building and there we were! We were welcomed into a very nice and clean living space and it feels very nice to be here!

We cleaned up from the long trip, and stepped out to eat dinner. They have these restaurants here where you eat [por quilo], pick what you want from a buffet and pay by the kilogram. A good way to make sure that you get only as much as you can eat.

One vision we saw here that you probably would not see back home was a bunch of guys playing pool in a building that was practically in shambles, piles of rubble everywhere and the walls broken down, but having a good old time anyway!

Will post some pics soon!

Até,
Tony e Anna