Rio day 1

The first morning in rio we woke up around 8 and I went down to breakfast with Katie.  After breakfast, we decided to go to Corcovado… or Christ the Redeemer.  Before our trip to Rio, we were hearing rumors about Christo being closed because he was struck by lightning back in February and then was graffitied on a couple days before we arrived.  Who graffities Jesus?!  That’s so bizarre.  So anyway… we took the bus to the base of Jesus where we were hounded by a tour group to bring us up to Christo for 50 reals. me, Megan and Katie all just paid 45 reals for transportation up, to stay up there as long as we want, our ticket, and a ride down.  We ended up meeting this French guy in the van up to Christo and chatted with him.  We got to the top and saw that Jesus was not covered with a tarp which was said on New York Times because of the rainstorms but instead he was covered in scaffolding because he is going under a renovation after getting struck by lightning.  He also had a big picture covering his face because that is where he was graffitied.  How cute, even Jesus gets plastic surgery.  It was beautiful up there.  You could see all over Rio and all the different beaches and lagoons and then of course… we did a jumping picture.  That is like a staple SAS thing.  You must do a jumping picture in front of anything.  Hahah.  So after Christo, we went back down to the bottom and we saw MONKEYS!!  Oh I was so excited to see monkeys!  They were like chilling on the roof of the ticket place eating and drinking soda!  How precious. 
        After Christo, we walked the streets of Copacabana and found a wet market/fresh market where the Brazilians do their grocery shopping.  These markets are so cool because no one sees these things in the states.  They literally shut down 2 blocks and it’s just vendors of fish, fresh fruit and vegetables, flowers, and spices just line the street.  I have seen these markets in Hong Kong and Brazil and it was interesting to compare them.  In Hong Kong there was waaaay more fish and in Brazil there was more fruit.  After the market, we just went back to the hotel because it was close to 3:30 or 4 ish and just laid out by the pool.  At the pool we ran into a SAS alumni!  They were the LLC of the Yellow Sea and the Librarian of the Spring 2009 voyage!  How crazy is that!?  We literally just sat at the pool with them for awhile and talked about everything. 
        That night i went out with jaime and her sister Ashley who came in from Argentina to see Jaime.  We saw a samba band at a hostel and then went out in Impanema.
Well i have to go get ready because tonight is our ambassadors ball!  woohooo! 
oh and i am OFFICIALLY done with classes and finals.  I am no longer a junior.  WEIRD.