Monday morning in Rio. Reflections on the journey (6/16).

Good morning world. Welcome to Rio (6.18.2008)

Quote for the day:

A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimension.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Autocrat at the Breakfast Table.

When DJ looked over our fresh faces in class last Saturday morning and told that we’d soon see and get to know each other in a totally new way, some of us thought that he was going a bit too far, but yesterday brought new perspectives to all of us. We welcomed sleep at the end of a long, long day.

We arrived in Rio early Sunday morning after a long, tiring flight in tight coach seats. Some of us yearned for those corporate business class days. As we passed though customs and retrieved our bags, we were met by Joice and Joao, our Austral Group guides who will be with us for the rest of our trip. When Rich and Hsu finally appeared with Rich’s bag, we got onto our royal bus that is to be our traveling home for the next few day to travel to the Ipanema Plaza Hotel.

By about 10, we found ourselves on the rooftop Terrace of the hotel, looking down onto Ipanema beach, up to the great Christ the Redeemer statue, to Sugarloaf Mountain, and around at the bustling heart of this beautiful city. The sun was shining and the view was glorious. Drinks and appetizers in hand, we met Shaun Sheffield, our fine Austral Group host, who presented our orientation session, and we were ready to begin our journey.

Then we had our first free time. Some of us went straight to the Ipanema Beach where two of us went into the water, while others just observed the fine sights. Others of us went to the “Hippie fair” and did some quick shopping and just listening to the great sounds of the people and the city.

At 1:30 we all met back at the bus with Joao and Joice to take a sightseeing tour of Rio. The tour was scheduled to take about 4 hours, but as you’ll see, things took a decidedly unusual turn. In retrospect, it was certainly a “bonding experience.”

Anyway, the highlight was to be a long train ride up the mountain to see the statue firsthand, so that was our main goal. As we traveled our Joao (JV) shared some of the wonderful customs, history and culture of the city. When we arrived at the train station, we found that since it was a lovely day, the train was quite popular, and we couldn’t get tickets until the 4:30 ride. Our plans were quickly revised and we went to the famous soccer (football) stadium, and then to the “dead samba mile”. There we had great fun, trying on fabulous samba costumes (and getting some great pictures).

Finally we went back to the train, which took us up, up, up the mountain. At the top, the statue and the view were both glorious.

You’ll notice that some of these pictures show a gathering storm, dark clouds in the distance, and some winds coming in. Yes, it was exhilarating, powerful, and actually quite humbling to stand in the great presence of the statue in those moments. We were seeing (and feeling) all of this from what seemed like the top of the world.

We were all scheduled to meet to take the 5:45 train back down the hill. However, since the place was packed and all were trying to leave, we all were stuck, stranded on top of the hill (with thousands of other people, of course). And soon it was beginning to get mistier, and finally to rain. We were cold, we were wet, and we were going nowhere. A group of us took refuge at the restaurant on the mount, while the rest of the group valiantly stayed in the line that went nowhere. After what felt like forever, some of us managed to get to the front of the train line, the line began to move, and we eventually met at the bus again. Soaked, tired and frustrated we came back to hotel. Then dinner and to sleep… we had certainly traveled far in this one long day.