Rio de Janeiro: Part 1

At best, my image of Rio is that of the wealthy middle class, and at worst it is some kind of twisted tourist's impression of a city of beaches, scantily dressed people, and volleyball, but I’m happy to revel in it for the moment. We didn’t visit a favela (though you can see Favela Vidigal scaling the hills in the picture above), we didn’t see Christ the Redeemer, and we weren’t there for Carnaval. But it was sunny, gloriously sunny, and besides, one of the most significant influences on the culture of Rio is its fabulous coastline. Where else can you visit walk past Brazilian bikinis in the supermarket? That might be the single most important cultural experience for anyone visiting Brazil.

So, with that out of the way, I proclaim Ipanema to be one of my favourite places in the world. I'm not usually one to daydream myself into wealth and the easy life, but I would be much more than content to buy an apartment in Ipanema and do nothing with the rest of my life. I love city-by-the-sea culture. Cariocas are relaxed and friendly; there’s that vibe of permanent holiday. If you can play beach volleyball after work almost all year ‘round, you are probably going to feel pretty good about your place in this world. I'm pretty sure I learned more about the city, by sitting on the beach than a lot of other things we could have done.

One very important cultural difference between Brazil and most other parts of the Americas is society's perception of the ideal female body shape. On our first day there, my wife pointed out two groups of women walking down the beach. One group was mostly slender, pretty in a Californian kind of way. The other group was mostly busty with giant Brazilian bums. Now guess which direction the male heads turn. As if Rio needed to belabour this point further, later that evening we caught some weird Brazilian dating/game show on TV. The models were all just like that second group we saw on the beach. Simply, Brazilians don’t like thin women. So, next time you see that Pitbull music video, understand that he isn’t playing on cultural stereotypes to market his music, he’s just a product of cultural realities in Brazil.

Although it was amazing to finally have some proper sun, we didn’t just laze around and drink beach beer for 5 days. One day we went to an antiques fair, where we found a few cool Rio landscapes painted on bits of Coke cans, made into magnets, and some post cards. We also contemplated mugging what appeared to be an expensive camera owner convention. We saw about twenty people with Leicas milling around one end of the antique street, taking photos of each other posing with their cameras. Unfortunately, we didn’t have access to a Carioca fence and we weren't sure how to carry away twenty $5000+ cameras discretely. The logistics of the operation just wouldn't work themselves out so headed back and took a look at Copacabana beach on the way. It’s just not as nice. The sand is dirtier, the water’s murkier, and streets are seedier. Call me snob, but the Ipanema life is the only life for me.