We're staying in Barra da Tijuca, a suburb of Rio for the next five months. I would have preferred something closer to the city centre but we just couldn't find anything reasonably priced for the time we are here. Barra is described as “new money”, and home of the “Barra brat” by the “old money” of Rio. With many sporting facilities, the future Olympic Village, and many shopping centres, Barra is big, new and designed for driving. The traffic is pretty horrendous though, whether you take public transit or drive, a 15 minute drive can easily take you an hour and a half. Barra's beach is the the longest in all of Rio, and is known for its strong undercurrents and great surfing.
The Connection Rio house in Barrinha
is surrounded by lavish homes, winding streets around the mountain
and beautifully large trees. It's the trees that are the cherry on
top of this wealthy residential area. The trees buffer the noise and
make it feel like a quiet neighbourhood with character. Within
walking distance, we have a few bars, restaurants, and the Mundial (the
supermarket). So even though the traffic is really terrible, for
daily life in Barrinha, you can get around by walking everywhere.
Now that Carnaval is over, and two
weeks have quickly passed, domestic life ensues. The Connection Rio
house is crowded with about 25 people. It's mostly all men (except
for me and Nicole) whose passion is Jiujitsu and in between they
manage to sneak in as much partying as possible. Most of the time it
is training Jujitsu, drilling Jujitsu, and resting while watching Jiujitsu videos. A HOUSE FULL OF TWENTY-THREE MEN...!!! Well
you get the picture! Most of the time I try to use the kitchen just
after the maid has cleaned it. I really do feel sorry for her.
Probably for very little, everyday, she takes a two-hour bus,
arrives at 8am, to clean the disaster that are the two kitchens in
the house! How am I surviving, those of you who know I'm a neat freak
will ask? Well, our room on the second floor, which overlooks the
pool and has a spectacular view of the mountain, is spacious and
quite nice. Other than the wireless signal being too weak to get
internet there, our room is really comfortable. Honestly, I guess I'm
just dealing with it, and now after two weeks, I've gotten used to
it.
A group of us started taking some basic
conversational Portuguese class at the house. Erica arrives at the
house (which is nice) every Friday and class is two hours.
Portuguese is going to be really hard to learn. What you think the
word should sound like and how it actually does, is completely different. Knowing basic Spanish isn't really helping me with speaking
Portuguese either. I am still pronouncing everything the Spanish way.
The difference between Connection Rio
and any other hostel we have stayed at, other than the house being
overcrowded, is really that everyone here has a common passion.
Although most of the time it's quiet, the conversations with
twenty-something guys around is pretty hilarious. And in the middle
of it all, Pimenta, the house cat will find a place on the mat,
nestled alongside someone.
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