Brazeeeeeeel la la la la la la la laaaaaaaaa.

I wanted to check in quickly and let everyone know that we made it to Rio. We arrived on Friday afternoon on seperate flights but managed to meet up at the airport hungry, stinky, and tired. We are staying with my friend Mara in a neighborhood called Leblon in Rio and it's great to have people let us tag along, while they speak Portuguese and we loiter in the background.

This is my third time to Rio and my first time for Carnival. Chris did Marti Gras in New Orleans but has never been to Rio so we are balancing each other out nicely.

The first night, we went out with Mara and her fiance Rodrigo. He is from Rio and they are set to get married in April. We went to Rodo Skol which basically means Wheel of Beer. Skol is a brand of beer and they sponsor this giant Ferris Wheel in Ipanema (another neighborhood in Rio). So we rode the ferris wheel, had some Skol, and got caught in some wicked rain.

Yesterday, we slept in until noon (lazy!) and Chris and I walked along the beach in the afternoon. I love the beaches here because they are long and clean and have little kiosks every hundred feet or so that sell beer, fresh coconuts, and snacks. There are also people selling corn on the cob and sandwiches and shrimp on a stick. You can rent chairs at the beach and have people bring you water and food, but we didn't have time for that. In the afternoon, Chris, Mara, Rodrigo, his brother Rafael, Brandon (an American that lives in Sao Paolo that came up for Carnival), and myself went to a soccer game at Maracana. It's the largest soccer stadium in South America and we saw two teams from Rio; Vasco and Botafogo. Rodrigo and his brother Rafael love Botafogo so we sat on that side and cheered for them. Chris wants to tell you about that, so I'm off to shower and get ready for a Bloco in Ipanema. A bloco is a block party in celebration of Carnival. This particular bloco is known for cross dressing gay men... Chris is super pumped. :-)