Since Day 2 of this trip was such a profound experience, I have decided to table it until I have a substantial amount of time to give it justice. Stay tuned, no one.

Day 3

Yesterday (Friday) began on a bus ride to Recreio (a neighbourhood of Rio that is quite far from Rio’s city centre). It is in Recreio that I plan to become the next super cool Gidget at my surf camp hostel.

While on the bus I met a Brazilian surfer who to my relief spoke very good English and also happened to be going to the same neighbourhood as me. He also thought I was 21 which was ever better, because they stopped I.D’ing me at the LCBO this year and it’s kind of been bumming me out.

Later on in the day I got to hang out at his hostel, which turned out to be the more authentic Brazilian version of my hostel. This hostel is owned and run by a family of surfers, complete with Grandma and a bad-ass surfing seven year old girl. Also this dog, whom I love, but seemed pretty indifferent to me:

We walked into the town with the Grandmother and the bad-ass seven-year-old girl (who ran in into an older boy with her bike and then proceeded to yell back at him as he walked away- she is everything I long to be…) In town we ate croquettes at a food stall and the family took turns trying to guess my age (a game I do not care for). The Grandmother also guessed 21 (take that LCBO!) and then without missing a beat, the seven-year-old guessed it correctly (which everyone laughed at because apparently, it’s hilarious being this old). When I confirmed she was right, she celebrated, two fists shooting in the air while the rest of the table gaped at me in disbelief, scanning me for tell-tale signs of old age: wrinkles, dentures, a walker they might have overlooked.

After arriving back at my hostel, I got to do my new favourite thing with my old favourite thing: watching the sunset in Rio while drinking a beer.

The rest of the night was spent drinking beers with people at my hostel. When the song ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ came on, a girl from the Czech Republic confessed that she had thought the lyrics to the chorus were ‘Sweet home Barrack Obama’ which I think is amazing because of how innocent and strange a mistake it is and also because I really miss Barrack Obama.

She then informed me that it was my turn to be interviewed. She held an imaginary microphone to her mouth and asked:

“Why did you come to Brazil?”

I answered.

And then:

“Why did you come to this hostel?”

I answered.

And THEN:

“What is the biggest lie that you tell yourself?”

When I couldn’t answer, she said: “you have seven days to answer this question.”

And then, today at lunch:

“6 DAYS.”

Day 3 Song: Over the Mountain Across the Sea- The Ventures