We had a Brazilian holiday last weekend, Consciência Negra, in recognition of those who resisted black slavery in Brazil several centuries ago. We did not have school on Thursday or Friday, so my roommates and I and several others from school decided to take a 6 hour bus trip to the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro. We were warned before we left that Rio is a violent city and that often people are robbed there, so we said lots of prayers and it was an uneventful weekend in that regard. We were very thankful that God was watching out for a bunch of girls with only one guy to serve as bodyguard. We got on the bus early Thursday morning, arriving in Rio around 2:30 p.m. Our first day's trip was to the soccer stadium, Maracanã, former stomping (kicking?) grounds for Pelé and Kaká. We got a tour of the stadium, field, locker rooms, and press room for the low price of $10. The stadium itself was really the only thing I was impressed by...showers are showers are showers. The stadium is huge, once the largest of its kind, able to hold almost 200,000 crazy soccer fans. And you can see from the inside of the stadium, in the distance, the Christ the Redeemer statue high above the city on its mountaintop. We walked to the soccer stadium from our accommodations at a Bible school where my roommate's aunt works. It didn't seem like such a big deal, until my feet began to hurt and then began to feel like blisters were forming with everysinglestep and then began to feel like my shoes were slowly peeling the skin off the bottom of my feet...not a good time. I have worn these shoes before, but apparently not on an extended walking tour, and I had brought only these shoes and their gold-colored counterparts for the entire weekend (I was no longer pleased with myself for my awesome skill in packing conservatively, I wanted different shoes NOW). We stopped at the mall on the way back to the school for a bite to eat and I scrounged all the stores for anything else for my feet (by this time I was beginning to entertain the idea of walking barefoot as opposed to enduring one more step in the torture chambers that were my shoes...barefoot on streets where we had already seen a dead cat, a dead rat, and and some other not-so-nice evidences of animal life). Luckily, I found a pair of Havaianas (famous flip-flops in these parts), parted with $15, and was a happy camper for the rest of the weekend.
Maracanã stadium, once the world's highest capacity football (soccer) stadium, able to hold nearly 199,000 fans.
Home of the 2014 World Cup.
Friday morning (with happy feet), our intention was to go to the beach, but we were told that the weather would be bad on Saturday, so we decided to do as much sightseeing as possible on our sunny Friday. We headed to O Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer), located at the peak of the Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking Rio, one of the new seven wonders of the world. There were a LOT of people, but it was a beautiful view of Rio, with city on some sides, mountains and beaches and ocean on other sides. The statue itself was also remarkable, though I was most impressed on the ride up by how far it was above us. I'm not certain what I expected, but I was quite taken aback the first time I saw O Cristo Redentor situated on a mountaintop that seemed miles above the city. After we left Christ the Redeemer, we then took a trip down to Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain) and Cara de Cão (Dogface Mountain), which are located on a peninsula in Guanabara Bay. These are two of the mountains that we could see from O Cristo Redentor. The mountaintops also offered breathtaking views of the city. We rode cable cars to the first mountain (Dogface) and then again from there to the bigger mountain (Sugarloaf). We even saw a little monkey hanging out at the top of one of the mountains, jumping in the trees, on deck chairs, under tables. I know people who live here may not be as impressed by monkeys as I am (I heard someone here say they are more impressed by squirrels), but we don't have monkeys frolicking around Indiana, and I was excited to see this new furry friend. I suppose it is a matter of perspective, I think I've seen my share of squirrels so I'll just be keeping my eyes peeled for monkeys. Our bus driver then took us on a drive along the coast to admire the beaches, past Barra da Tijuca and Ipanema. We stopped once to swim (by this I mean three of us jumped in the enormous waves and the rest sat on the beach wrapped in all the clothes and blankets they had)...it was a little bit chilly, but it was chilly in the water or out of the water and in the water was much more fun. Then we made our way to Copacabana, where we stopped at a feira, or street fair. You could buy anything from semi-precious jewels (or colored cut glass, there wasn't really any way to tell) to flip flops to post cards. It was a fun, full day and I had the sand in my clothes at the end of the day to prove it.
O Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer), located at the peak of the Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking Rio...here overlooking Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain) and Cara de Cão (Dogface Mountain).
atop Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain) and Cara de Cão (Dogface Mountain) in Guanabara Bay...a cable car took us first to Cara de Cão, then to the larger and more well-known Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain). There was a furry friend waiting to greet us at the top!
Beautiful beaches...including Copacabana (center).
Centro, downtown Rio.
On Saturday, it was indeed rainy, but a few of us decided to take the metro to Centro, or downtown Rio. We saw some older buildings, including the Teatro Municipal (which was covered in scaffolding) and a World War II Memorial (Monumento dos Mortos da II Guerra) in Flamengo Park, where you could stand and see the Pão de Açúcar and O Cristo Redentor in the distance or facing the other direction you could look toward the city's center. The memorial honors those Brazilian soldiers who died in Italy during WWII and inside is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was fun just to walk around and step into a few of these different places to admire the displays or learn new things. There was a calligraphy display in one building that I thought was especially interesting, writing all over walls, huge, tiny, all in different scripts and fonts. I wish I had that gift. We then headed back to the metro to head home, stopping by a place called the Candelaria church on the way. At this church in the early 1990's, several street kids were murdered by city police officers. There are outlines of bodies on the sidewalks for each child that was killed. I believe at least some of the police officers were put on trial for these murders, but it seems that street kids are thought to be a menace to society because of the increased possibility that they will grow into a life of crime if they haven't already, it was apparently not uncommon for street kids to be "gotten rid of" in this way. It seems horrifying to think of someone believing that they are doing the world a favor by murdering a group of children, yet it stems from a belief that we are not all equals, that we are not all created in the image and likeness of God. How often are any of us guilty of thinking that we are better or that others are worse, that we are more lovable or others unlovable, that we are more deserving and others undeserving? God loves each of us, He does not love me more or less because of anything I have done or will do and He does not love anyone else differently than He loves me. He desires for each of us, created in His image and likeness, to be in a relationship with Him, to choose to love Him and show our love through obedience to His Word. And His Word tells us that God is love (I John 4:8)...not just for the rich, or the beautiful, or the intelligent, or the lovable. God is love.
For God SO loved THE WORLD that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. (I John 4:7-12)
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