Progressively Louder Laughter

Day 7 started by going into the main strip of Recreio with my friend from the hostel, Louise.

While walking back to the hostel, we pass a very smelly canal which contains several alligators/crocodiles (not sure which one it is). It’s very bizarre and jarring, but they are so still that we wonder if they are dead (death by the stench of defecation).

It’s Chris’s first day in Rio and so we arrange for him to meet me in Recreio to take a surf lesson. Unfortunately he arrives before I get back from shopping, so he decides to wait at the beach, unknowingly picking the side that no one ever visits. As a result, I spend about an hour searching for him and he spends an hour downing beers, which leaves him an hour to sober up before our surf lesson (he does not).

The lesson begins as normal, with the instructor teaching us on the beach how to paddle on our boards and then pop up. These are instructions that seem to be heard by Chris, but are only renting space in his brain. When we finally get into the water Chris flails his arms dramatically at same time trying to propel himself forward. It is a far cry from the elegant front stroke-paddle my instructor had demonstrated earlier. He spends most of the lesson falling off the board (while lying on the board) and then suddenly attempting to surf with no warning to anyone around him, their looks of shock sometimes causing them to wipe out. At the end of the lesson Chris confesses to the instructor that he probably was too drunk for surfing. I bury my head in my hands.

For dinner, Chris, myself, and some friends from my hostel go to this amazing all-you-can-eat Brazilian barbecue. This is recommended to us by Rita, a friend of the couple from my hostel (Fiona and Marc). She is from Recreio and promises that this is the best Brazilian barbecue in Rio. The salad table alone is worth the cost of the meal. It’s essentially where you find every type of food you love, only to realize that once you sit down, several men with a different types meat will visit as frequently and as fast as you can say ‘Brazilian Barbecue’.

Chris jokes that it should be called ‘all-you-can-feed’ instead of ‘all-you-can-eat’.

Rita spends most of the meal trying to get Chris to eat more: ‘Chreeeeeezzz eat this sushi! Chreeeezzz you have to eat this beef, they slaughtered a cow for you!’ She orders a shot of lemon for Chris which she says will allow him to eat more. Chris’s eyes tell a story of a man facing many hardships- one of which being the rack of ribs that have just been added to his plate by Rita.

Chris, Rita and a 🍋

Song of the Day

Os Mutantes – A Minha Menina

Waking up and feeling quite exhausted, I nearly opted out of my surfing lesson. The sky is overcast, reminding me of the heavy books I had decided to pack in my backpack; I can hear them calling my name.

One of the girls who works at the hostel convinces me that experiencing a surf on a rainy day is worth pushing past the lethargy, so I put my bathing suit on and climb into the van.

Part of the reason I wanted a break from surfing is that the waves can feel quite relentless. You catch one, you feel good, you swim to the surface- only to be met with a gigantic wall of ocean ominously hovering above your head. The wave crashes above you, and then for kicks takes your board too. Rinse and repeat about two more times.

By the time you paddle back (the hardest part of surfing) you feel like you have gone to war with the ocean. You did not win.

But the person from my hostel was right. The beach is stunning, mountains fading into the background like a distant memory, the ocean a dark turquoise. The waves have not calmed but there is a sense of peace.

The lesson begins with my continuous and violent forced baptism. I feel like a rag doll being pull towards the beach with every crashing wave, salt water up my nose, stinging my eyes, swallowed accidentally. I try paddling back only to be overtaken again and again.

After a succession of waves I feel the final straw has been drawn and I have entered fight or flight mode. A powerful wave is coming towards me, mocking me, ready to throw me back towards the beach once more. I hold onto my board with both hands, jousting it into the wave with full strength. I find myself on the other side of the wave, board in hands, electric red in my eyes, a new passion coursing through my veins. I am ready to take on my new nemesis: the ocean.

I love surfing.

Song of the Day:

Viscous – Lou Reed