Day 13 - Saturday, May 30, 2009: Rio de Janeiro, Sugar Loaf and Christo Redentor

by Matthew Chapman

Waking up to hear the soft sounds of island funk outside my hostel room, I knew that today was going to be a good day. With the morning came breakfast and a soft stroll on Ipanema beach to check out the surf and the wares that the local merchants were hocking. The first thing that struck me, beyond the beautiful people, was the unbelievable scenery. What seemed like miles of pristine beaches was bordered by lush mountain sides (the locals call them hills...yea right). After purchasing what I am sure was a `hot´ jersey for my roommate (your welcome Mick), I hustled back to the world renowned Impanema Beach House to meet up with the rest of the group for our jammed packed day.

The first stop was the Christo Redentor or Christ the Redeemer. Upon letting off near the top of the hill a couple of monkeys creeped toward the group. It was a good reminder that we were still right next to the heart of a jungle. As we started up the mountain to see the statute, I found myself in awe of the number of kiosks that sold souvenirs. To make matters worse, when we got to the top of the mountain inside the Christ statute was a church where one could buy t-shirts. While I don´t consider myself particularly religious, I found it a little troubling. I think Professor cummings said it best when he said that to many in Rio, the statute was more akin to the Statute of Liberty than a religious symbol.

Beyond the statute, and oh by the way the view, the taking of our group picture was unbelievable. What made it so fun was the instructions that were given on how to get everyone out of the way; big guys make a wall and push everyone out of the way, and than take a step down for the small people. Seeing Kwame Samuda and Steve Broadwater gently nudging people out of the way was priceless. [It is noteworthy, and makes the joke a heck of a lot funnier, that both gentlemen played college football as lineman.]

On my way down the mountain to meet with the busses I found out that Brazilian Doritos taste nothing like the American counterpart. It was one more thing to add to the list of things in Brazil that were oddly similar yet completely different.

After boarding the busses we drove over to an old church that had an amazing view of the downtown region of Rio. It also had some very odd steps which many people, including myself, found to be particularly hard to navigate. Some of us even fell flat on our face. This made for some great moments which could win the million dollar prize on America’s Funniest Videos.

After that little trek, the group made its way down to catch a trolley that would lead to the center of town. When the trolley pulled up it became apparent that we were all not going to fit. But that did not stop us from pouring onto the trolley. To save space in on a bench that was already full, I sat with Laura Wakim on my lap. When the seats were all gone, people started hanging on to the side of the trolley. But some people were still left without space, including Kwame Samuda. So with a little push Kwame squeezed into the already full bench. [Again, think big college football lineman] Needless to say, I got to know my neighbors on the trolley very well. With everyone onboard [it is questionable whether one could say safely onboard] the trolley pulled away from the station. Within the first minute the trolley almost collided with a bus, and almost took out some of our students who were hanging on to the trolley. This was a foreshadowing of things to come. From the top of the mountain to the bottom, people who were hanging on had to deal with a wall that scrapped the back of their shoes, almost hitting several more cars and being exposed to a thirty foot drop.

Once at the bottom, we steadied ourselves. Everyone needed a second to make sure that they were alright and that nothing was missing. We then proceeded over to the Metropolitan Cathedral. The outside of the building was reminiscent of an Aztec Temple. To be blunt, it was ugly. It was a big concrete structure that towered up like a pyramid.

While the outside was ugly, the inside was very beautiful. It was a big open space with pews and a massive crucifix hanging right over the pulpit. It had four big stained-glass murals that went from the floor to the ceiling, one on each wall. My only problem with the cathedral was that there was a gift shop in the church. Maybe it is just me, but I find it a bit blasphemous to be selling trinkets and postcards in a church. I guess I am old fashioned that way.

After exiting the church, the group loaded up the vans and headed for the hills; specifically, Sugar Loaf Mountain. The plan was to watch sunset at Sugar Loaf Mountain. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the mountain, it was already dark. But that gave us a great opportunity to see Rio at night. To get to Sugar Loaf Mountain, one had to ride two separate gondolas. The first gondola ride brought one to a staging area where, of course, souvenirs were sold. The second gondola brought one straight up to the top of the mountain. If one was afraid of heights, this probably was not the best mode of transport. Before the trip we were all warned by Adam McCoy that if we rocked the boat, so to speak, he would be very angry.

While the ride was a little nerve racking, it was well worth the view. The most spectacular part of the view was seeing the Christo Redentor. It was a relatively cloudy night, but the clouds were only sitting on top of the mountains; the city was completely visible. Add the slight cloud cover with a lit up Christo Redentor and you get an almost surreal scene. Unfortunately, pictures do not do this scene justice. As the day came to an end, we were whisked off to the Ipanema Beach House for a good nights rest [wink].