My day of Independence

All my trainee friends had left to go back to their cities because they all needed to work. My LC was flexible and so I was able to stay a day longer to see the city. The problem was, my host was very busy at school and I had to travel the city by myself. So I wake up at around 8:45am due to sheer nervousness I was about to embark. I took an hour to get ready just to stall the start of my independent journey. I had my little map of Rio I got the day I arrived in Brazil and a manually drawn map and stops of where I should get off. My plan was to go to Rio Sul Shopping Centre, then to Uruguiana, then the cultural centre and finally the ballet at the Theatro Municipal. My host was able to describe the path the bus would take very well. The way it would go up a ramp and go straight then do and slight turn to the left. I was able to also ask the bus people to indicate where I should get off just in case. The people were a lot friendlier then I had imagined, thank God. I finish shopping and had to take the bus again to go back to where I was staying to go to the metro station and take that to go to the “centro”, their downtown. This is probably the most dangerous part of the city because it is so crowded and full of vendors and things everywhere that someone could just easily rob you. I was super careful and constantly was conscious if anyone was following me or if I looked too touristy. Mind you, I think the whole being a tall Asian girl gave it away without me speaking, that I wasn’t from there. Uruguiana is equivalent to the markets in China were there are a million little booths cluttered with tons of things on sale for a lot cheaper then any stores would charge and a lot of fake designer items. The food there was dirt cheap. Unfortunately after spending all my cash on my 2 pairs of Havaianas, I only had about R$10 to get back home and also have dinner. Smart, real smart. Sadly, I didn’t end up getting much there. The great thing was I felt guided that day, like I knew where I should be going without really knowing the area. I made it to the city centre and was able to get more cash randomly at the bank, buy stamps to mail my postcard home and see one of the famous churches. Unfortunately, the city centre was closed but everything worked out. The only problem was that the ballet didn’t start until 8pm and it was 5pm right now and I had to figure out a way to waste 3 hours safely. So shopping it is. I went into whatever boutiques were still available and probably spent about 2 hours at this one bookstore. I left after the manager kinda gave me the look of “you’re STILL here?” Whatever, I learned more about Rio from a tourist book and read almost every cover of the fiction section in Portuguese. The words written are so similar to French and Spanish that I got most of what they were trying to say.

The ballet was amazing! It was only R$5 for 5 performances. The best R$5 I’ve ever spent. I think I was supposed to sit in the cheap seats section at the very top of the hall but I was the only one who bought that one (I’m trying to save money). So I ended up getting to sit on the first floor with eye level viewing of the show! It was awesome. They had everything from modern music, to classical and piano pieces that were similar to what you would hear on soundtracks for movies. I safely got back to the apartment I was staying in after my 12 hours of asking in Portuguese for directions, prices, trying to bargain (unsuccessfully) and ordering food. It was so nice to feel like I overcame a real challenge and that I wasn’t robbed and survived being alone in one of the most dangerous cities in Brazil.