First evening in Rio

We are having a spectacular time here in Rio. Yesterday evening I was too tired to go out with Thiago so I stayed with his mom, Emy, and we had a wonderful evening together. Amazingly, we were able to communicate quite well. She took me on what was allegedly to be a “short” walk after dinner. Thinking that it would just be a little scoot around her condo complex to get the lay of the land, I asked if I should just wear the flip flops I had on. Apparently, yes, that was what she would be wearing. We started by walking to the fruit and vegetable market near her house where I encountered a plethora of fruits I had never seen or heard of before. While I was examining the interesting produce, Emy had thoughtfully arranged for the little shop boy to cut and prepare a sample of all the exotic fruits for me to try. I had not thought to bring hand sanitizer with me, and while I should have been excited to explore the new flavors, I was plagued by the question of when the shop boy had last washed his hands as he enthusiastically handed me the delicious morsels he had prepared. However, my germaphobic anxiety melted away as I savored the tropical paradise in my mouth.


Next, Emy gave me the grand tour of the neighbourhood, showing me Thiago’s old high school, his old barber shop, the place he had his first job, where her ESL school is, and so on. Then we walked across a main road to a really fancy shopping mall, where the grand tour continued. They have very elegant and expensive stores in this region of Rio. As Thiago told me, Barra de Tijuca is a paradise for the Nouveau Riche, and they like to show off their affluence with pricey couture. As a word of caution, unless you yourself belong to the category of “nouveau riche”, don’t go to Brazil to buy clothes. For example, my Tommy Hilfiger polo shirt, which I paid a modest $16 for at the Seattle Premium Outlets, goes for a staggering $235 Reis (which is about $200CDN). Shoes that you would buy for $20-40 at Payless Shoes retail for $99 here.

By this time, Emy and I had covered some serious ground and my feet, which have been babied by soft, furry boots all winter long, had already developed huge bubbling blisters between my toes. Not wanting to complain, I simply adjusted the position of my feet in the flip flops, which resulted in a second set of blisters, just a centimeter higher than the first ones by the time we got back home. That’s another thing I would recommend before leaving for a tropical vacation during the winter/spring season, practice wearing flip flops or sandals for a few weeks before you go to prevent the surprisingly crippling discomfort of such a small flesh wound.