A Spiritual Experience

Hello Everyone,

 

I just wanted to let everyone know I arrived in Sao Paulo again last night and met up with my friend Marcin who was arriving from Germany.  It was quite the experience getting here, but I'll save that for the next post.  For now, I wanted to share a little bit about my experience being alone for the first time in over four months.  As mentioned, Sean and Chris left for Floripa early Monday morning while I stayed in Rio de Janeiro by myself.  I was able to extend my stay at the same hostel without paying a higher price so luckily I didn't have to move. 

 

Since we've been traveling, Sean and I haven't spent more than half a day apart so neither of us has really had any alone time, which we both tend to make time for when we're home.  Not that it hasn't been nice having someone to travel with; I can't imagine taking such an amazing trip and seeing so many wonderful things without someone special to share it with, but as I've tried to explain to some of my friends, the logistics of traveling for such a long time can often be stressful and frustrating in general so the added dynamic of a travel partner can be tough sometimes.  There are bad days, bad moods, illness, boredom or just being tired and cranky, and no matter how much you love someone, it's nice to have a break from each other every once in a while, even if it's just for a few days.

 

That's one of the reasons it was so nice to spend some time alone this week.  I could get up early or sleep in if I wanted.  I could talk to other people or I could go out alone and ignore the world.  I could eat where I wanted and not have to worry about anyone else's tastes or cravings.  Plus, I had plenty of time to think, reflect and relax without feeling guilty about wasting the day away doing nothing.  I forgot until this week that back home, I used to take a couple weekend trips a year by myself for this very reason.  Sometimes, you just need your own space and time to rejuvenate your soul.  It's a spiritual experience and one I find to be very helpful and necessary. 

 

A couple interesting things about this particular experience were the setting and environment.  As opposed to going to LA, Phoenix, or San Francisco for a weekend getaway, I had three days alone in Rio, the week before Carnival.  The city is already overrun with tourists, and in Ipanema, where I was staying, the only people you saw around were tourists and the locals working to serve them, whether in restaurants and shops or on the beach selling crap.  At times, it actually felt more like Tijuana or Cancun than Brazil.  Nevertheless, I was quite amazed at how different my experience was being alone that it has been with Sean, or with Sean and Chris just a few days before.  We've been in Brazil since Christmas so I realized a while ago that I can blend in a lot easier than Sean can because I'm Black; but I was really surprised at how well I seem to blend in when I'm alone.  And it's not just the occasional random person who approaches me and starts speaking Portuguese, or the person asking me for directions.  Considering all the tourists and my desire to have some alone time, it was absolutely wonderful to be able to blend in and be perceived as a local.  Not only did I escape people trying to sell me stuff, I could also ignore and separate myself from the tourists as well, since like tourists anywhere, they tend to get pretty annoying after a few days.  A few of the experiences traveling alone this week included:

 

Flyers:  Whenever you walk down main streets, there are always people trying to hand you flyers.  Some of the flyers are for sales at a local store, some are for parties or discounted entry at clubs, some are for services, etc.  Just like cities back home, I assume the people are paid to hand them out; but, just like cities back home, the people are trained to only hand them out to certain people.  When I'm with Sean, I usually just ignore and refuse any flyers people try to stick in my hands, which is constant.  When I was alone this week, not one person tried to hand me a flyer and I walked past plenty of them.  During the busy part of the day, you pass one on every corner, but I could look the people straight in the eye and they still would ignore me.  The funny thing about this whole thing is that the flyers are usually in Portuguese anyway, so if they're targeting tourists, it seems like they would find someone to translate them.

 

Beach Beer:  On the beach, there are vendors walking around selling everything from beer and snacks to sarongs and jewelry.  The prices for most things have been pretty universal no matter who you buy from.  When I went to the beach alone this week, I was charged a lower price (R$2.50 versus R$3.00) twice, out of the five or six beers I bought.  At first I thought, well maybe this guy is just charging a different price, but I watched him sell to someone else and they paid more. 

 

Restaurants: When you go out to eat in Brazil, there is usually a 10% service charge added to your bill; this is the tip.  This has been the case almost every time we went out to each in Brazil, regardless of the city.  This week, I went to the same restaurant I had been to previously with Sean and Chris, but when I went alone, they did not add the service charge to my bill... twice.

 

Bus Station:  When I was at the bus station, I went to buy a water and a Fanta (a type of soda).  When I ordered these (in Portuguese) from the girl at the counter, she asked something that I couldn't understand so I looked at her with a blank face and said I don't understand (in Portuguese).  She repeated, but I still didn't get it, so I just shook my head "no".  Then she got a little attitude and just walked away and grabbed the water and the Fanta and it wasn't until she handed them to me that I figured out what she was trying to ask.  Feeling silly, I just said thank you (in Portuguese) to which she looked at me with an annoyed look and replied, "so you do speak Portuguese".  I couldn't help but smile.  Oh, all she asked is if I wanted orange or grape Fanta. 

 

These are just a few of the interesting experiences I had being alone in Rio de Janeiro.  I enjoyed myself mostly just being alone, but it was also just nice being left alone, especially considering there were plenty of other tourists in the area for the locals to harass... in more ways than one.  I even made my way to a sauna in the Botafogo area of town Wednesday night and felt completely safe doing so.  I walked to Copacabana, which is where the nearest subway stop is to Ipanema, then took the subway to Botafogo.  On the way to the subway station, on one of the streets I walked down, I actually passed the entrance to a favella, but I never felt threatened or unsafe in any way.  There are favellas on the hills overlooking Ipanema and Copacabana anyway so it's not like you're ever really far away from them.  On the way home, I took a local bus and actually chose the correct one based on the destination on the front window, which is good considering I didn't research the bus options before I left.  No problems, no issues.  One of the guys I met at the sauna even asked how I found the place and why I came there instead of one of the saunas in Ipanema or Copacabana.  I explained that the ones by the beach are full of tourists and they're too expensive (this one was less than half the cost of one I went to in Ipanema).  The guy smiled and nodded in agreement.  Ah, it's nice to feel like a local sometimes. 

 

Cheers for now,

Ozell