Risking My Life in Rio

It was only a matter of 40 cents and my life was in real danger.

Was it the crime for which Rio is famous? Hardly. I felt less safe in New York City.

It was a streetcar. And it didn't almost run me down like you are probably thinking. And it wasn't because the driver was crazy. It was just dangerous.

Let me explain. You can ride inside or outside. If you ride outside, you stand on a little step and hold on tightly because you cannot stand comfortably, you are leaning back. Supposedly it is free if you are standing, but I ended up paying the 40 cents anyway, no big loss.

There is no warning by anyone about any potential dangers and I am so accustomed to tourist sites that warn you with signs, verbal warnings, and safety equipment that I was not on guard. The difference is that this streetcar is primarily transportation for locals and secondarily for tourists, hence, the low price and lack of warnings.

The danger starts when you leave the station and cross a high and narrow aqueduct. I was leaning back, enjoying the air, when I realized that I had about half a second to squeeze my feet as close to the streetcar as possible or I would be knocked off by the ankle high concrete wall the runs across the aqueduct. There was only about an inch and a half( 3 cm) of extra room.

I was marveling at how close of a call that was when I barely missed getting knocked off by a post that is remarkable close to the side of the streetcar. All the way up the mountain there were posts, poles, walls, cars, and signs that forced the people riding on the outside to flatten themselves to the side. I tried to look at the view while keeping an eye out for the next danger flying past. It was a dangerous to be inattentive. I loved it. It was exciting and completely contrary to anything in the states. If you get hurt, there is no chance to sue anyone, so take care of yourself.

The best/worst part was on the way down. We were not going too fast and I was clinging to the back, when I heard a terrible crunching scraping noise and I saw my fellow standers jumping up into the air. We were squeezing past a car that was parked too close to the tracks. The problem was that if you stayed standing it would crush your legs between the vehicles and we had to jump on top of the car, sliding and bouncing over the trunk, top, windshield, and hood, the whole time keeping hold of the streetcar because it was not stopping. We just kept going down the hill.

It was quite an exciting adventure.

Rio de Janeiro

Almost all of my life I have known about the city of Rio de Janeiro. I knew Ipanema, Copacabana, Christ the Redeemer, and carnival. Oh, and crime and violence too. Finally, after almost two years of coming to Brasil, I got to see it for myself.

It has the most natural beauty of any city I have ever seen and the beaches live up to the hype. It is a stunningly beautiful place, even though it was overcast most of the time I was there. It looks like god threw a handful of mountain size rocks down along the coast. The picture does not do it justice. Go to google images and search Rio and you will see. I loved it. I loved the sand, the cool water, the cheap food and drinks, the people watching, and the relaxed atmosphere.

It was also great that I can speak Portuguese well enough to manage most things. I didn't feel like I was a complete tourist. In fact, there were a few times that I only spoke Portuguese and Patrícia only spoke English because she wanted people to think she was an oblivious American. I felt very comfortable the whole time in Rio. Cariocas, people of Rio, are a friendly lot in general.

Patrícia was in Rio on business and I went down to meet her for the weekend. It was only two and a half short days and I left wanting much much more. We managed to see Christ the Redeemer just before we left, but the sun went behind the clouds just before we got to the top. It was still a breathtaking view.

As for the violence and danger...

There are many favelas, or slums, right beside the richest areas. The favelas are not places the police can go lightly because they are controlled by drug traffickers with serious weaponry. Normally they have to fight their way into the mountainside slums in huge gun battles. I, of course, love a little danger, but I am not stupid and I stayed far away.

I desperately wanted to go hang gliding over the city, however, the visibility was not great and I decided to wait for Eric to come and then we can go together. It is very safe, I am told.

The beaches and tourist areas are very safe if you use some common sense. There are a lot of tourist police and the drug traffickers know that tourism is important for people to earn enough money to buy drugs, so they try not to scare too many people away. Although, there are many oblivious tourists who are asking to be robbed and the poor people take the opportunity.

The most dangerous part of the visit was where I least expected. My safety was genuinely in danger. I have got to go now. Check my next post for details.