The honeymoon begins just as the marriage ends...

I fell in love today (and no, not with the 80 shirtless Brazilian military-policemen-in-training running down the mountain where Jesus lives....aside: thank you lord jesus...I have seen the light! My eyes have seen the glory!). 

I leave tomorrow. 

Timing is everything, they say.

Today was the first day this week that I awoke to a non-rainy day. The many jewels of Rio called to me this morning and I again ditched the work I planned to do. Instead, I took an early morning trip to Parque Nacional da Tijuca, the location of Corvocado mountain atop which the famous giant Christ the Redeemer statue sits, in the center of the city, arms open, embracing this blossoming city that is not without it's growing pains, faults and roughness (sound familiar?). When viewing the statue from the city, the clouds roll by Jesus and obscure the base of the statue and the mountain top from view, and it appears as if he is floating on a cloud, spectacularly hovering above Rio de Janeiro in classic 'sky-god' big-brother style. 

I felt an urgency to get up there as Christ has been socked in all week with inclement weather and I figured it would be my last chance. I made my way to a brilliantly located little kiosk in Copacabana to catch a shuttle to the park and up the mountain. I purchased my ticket for the 8 am shuttle and was told that Jesus was still socked in (they even had a Jesus cam so we could see what the visibility up there would be like). I decided to hedge my bets and go all in anyway rather than take any chance waiting until later in the day on the off chance the visibility would improve. 

On the drive, we gained elevation climbing through windy cobblestone roads lined with charmingly shabby, colonial Portuguese buildings:

And with breathtaking views of the city:

As we maneuvered up the narrow road to Jesus's base camp, through a dense tropical forest and catching glimpses of this beautiful city nestled in "the armpits of Jesus", I consciously thought to myself, :wow, this really is a beautiful city"... I don't think I had noticed this yet since arriving. I was overwhelmed with joy and wonder and excitement that I have the good fortune to be here and see this place's magnificence before the Olympics destroys it (side note: in fact it might be that the 2014 World Cup and Olympic prep are kinda making this place even MORE spectacular, cleaner, and safer...and trust me, I am no avid supporter of multi-national, multi-gazillion dollar sporting competitions on principle... with all this being said, I want to also acknowledge the immense poverty/equity gap that continues to exist and appears to be kind of swept under the rug, as far as I can (or can't) see).

As if on cue, as we reached the top of the mountain, the clouds parted for just a few minutes and Jesus came into view:

IT'S A GODDAMN MIRACLE!!

...and I got my money's worth:

... which quickly (like within 12 minutes) turned into this:

And this....

On the way back down to catch a shuttle van home, I pulled  a tiny little banana out of my sweet nylon airport sac and pulled the peel off,  and was about to chow down when I looked to my right and, much to my surprise, there was a Brown Capuchin monkey who seemed to appear out of nowhere. He gave me the old sad eyed-monkey look and, at the same time, I was kinda freaked out cause I have seen how aggressive the monkeys in Indian cities can be AND I'm hella-scared of wild animals and their erratic behaviour. In a panic, I just threw the banana on the ground for him to have and then felt guilty later that I didn't respect him more and just gently hand it to him, my cliche little earth brother:

A monkey eating a banana..soooooo original.

And I also don't typically condone the feeding of wild animals. The panic made me do it!!

I headed home from hangin' with the lord and went to the beach for the first time since arriving here in Brazil. This time of year, the beaches are completely empty outside of a few foreigners, who you can tell are foreigners cause they actually go in the 'frigid' Atlantic waters. A small amount of locals hang out there but would never be caught dead going in the water for fear of hypothermia, I'm sure. It was exactly like I had read on the internet: full butt cheek exposure bottoms on women, teeny tiny man shorts, and NEVER use a towel but rather use a colourful sarong. That is the accepted Cariocas way.

Ipanema Beach

...Ah the sweet sweet quick-tanning powers of the equatorial sun even through cloudy skies. Soaking in the VD.

But the day was not done with my beach lounge, oh no! I JUST discovered the beauty of this city and I was not going to let it go to waste! 

After lunch I headed to the Jardim Botanico to stroll through the imperial palms and imperial they were:

Imperial palms

Portal del Antiga Acadmeia de Belas Artes (The Portal of the Former Fine Arts Academy)... an old entryway to nowhere.

The day ended with dinner with some new friends (yay I got to go out late at night in Rio AND have a full conversation with other humans!!), packing and strategising how I could take a quick morning beach lounge before flying inland to Curitiba tomorrow, to embrace this stunning place one last beautiful and peaceful moment.

I recognize that if I stayed even slightly longer, the city would begin to kick me in the teeth. I would begin to have yelling fits at bank staff and servers, overwhelmed with the frustration that comes with growing up in Canada, the land of efficiency, organisation, and low population density, and experiencing places that work on a more "tropical" schedule, let's call it.

Tchau, você bela cidade verde! I'll be back for more of you someday!