June 5
I landed in rio around 8:30 this morning. I made a MAJOR rookie mistake and forgot to bring USD. I had zero cash. What a noob. Luckily there were plenty of atms in the airport. I've also noticed that most businesses here seem to prefer credit to cash, which is unexpected (though awesome). Maybe that's only true in tourist areas, however.
I took a bus from the airport to Copacabana. In the hour long ride, I saw more examples of extreme poverty than I have ever seen in one place (and I'm from LA). I actually don't think we drove by the favelas but I will confirm that when I know more. (Confirmed - favelas are in a different part of the city up on hillsides). We drove by miles and miles of crumbling mid-size high rises. Laundry lines, rudimentary water tanks and various vehicles indicated that the no doubt unsafe buildings are inhabited. One interesting observation - some of the trucks and cars parked in front of the decrepit apartment complexes looked somewhat new and appeared to be in decent condition. Made me wonder if they belonged to folks who don't live in the run-down buildings ...? Or maybe rio has a major housing problem but cars are relatively cheap? I'm speculating off a Jetlagged bus ride so take this with a shaker full of salt.
I checked in to my hostel and then took a nap on the beach. Vendors moved about, selling water, beer, hammocks, hats, sunglasses, and shrimp kebabs. Men and women of all body types wore fairly revealing swimsuits. It was kinda cool actually - there doesn't appear to be as much body shaming in Rio as in LA.
I'm back at my hostel now meeting other travelers. A group of us are going to a street party later tonight. I asked if there was a dress code and the dude at the front desk laughed at me. Apparently you can party in Rio in flip flops. Good to know!
P.S. FOUND A CLIMBING GYM GOING ASAP
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