2 gun shots and it is not 7pm yet. I got back to my friend's place in Vidigal - a favella west of Ipanema - less than an hour ago after my first day in Rio - my first day in South America.
My friend Jean (as well as Thierry who introduced me to him) had told me not to worry about staying at the favella, "you'll see, it's the richest in all Brazil" had he mentioned during our meeting at l'Orange Bleue. "I have heard maybe two, three gun shots since the beginning of the year", "The thing you have to be careful when going in and out of my place is to make sure not to be ran over by bikes and vehicles; it's like India!" Even Thierry had rolled his eyes at the Indian comparison.
The apartment itself is charming and well decorated. My host Jean is still in NY so I will not get to see him in his own apartment. Maria Elvira, his lovely girlfriend welcome me this morning as I arrived from the airport (taxi, after-nego: 50 Real). We are about the same age and have both lived in different cities, the one we have with London in common.
She is a dance choreographer while Jean is a percussionist and a movie director.
Maria Elvira led me for breakfast to Leblón - which is a quick ride on a mini-van after a very short walk snaking down the hill (price: 2 Real). She introduced me to this very unusual fruit: Asei, served as a frozen yogourt (without yogourt though) and mixed with guarana. It came with granola on the side (with tea: 7 real). She got a sandwich for herself (with coffee and free papaya juice: 8 Real), after explaining she abused from this purple jelly the past week using it to replace many of her meals...
After leaving Maria to the rest of her day, I walked around, watch the surfers (the cloudy weather makes the waves a great playground for them), and walked around again.
As soon as I got back to the apartment (taxi: 8 Real), a little after 1pm, I called Sara who invited me to join them at the in Ipanema. After slipping into a bikini and a pair of jeans (it is winter here, NY was way warmer as I left it), I quickly descended the laced road, and got into another mini-van (2 Real).
On the beach, I can see Sara waving at me in her brazilian-flag themed bikini. She does look good, as well as Claudio and Carmen running towards me. Sara and I re-enact the scene in slow-motion :)
Carmen and I are getting into the cool water. We are having a blast except that my (brand new) bikini keeps getting off my waist due to the strength of the waves. So while I kept an eye (and a strong hand) on Carmen (I believe she just turned seven years old), I also checked nobody sighted in our direction.
I got introduced to Jocelyn who happens to also be a mix, her father is Danish, her mom from Papua New Guinea. Exceptional combination. This led us to exchange our parents' stories. We are the first two guests coming for the wedding. Sara and Claudio seem happy to see our friendly faces and thanked us countless times.
We all cruised around Ipanema. Food was indeed welcome, so we stopped at a delicious buffet and filled our plates and stomachs with mango salads, and other exotic food, as well as big glasses of guarana juice (check: 0 real, invited by the bride and groom - thank you!). After a detour at a dessert place where following Sara's advice I enjoyed a typical and delicious brazilian sweet (check: 0 real - invited by Jocelyn - my turn's next).
Fascinated by the surfers observed in the morning, I inquired about the possibility of renting a surfboard. On their way home, they brought me into an area dedicated to surf. There I met Pedro who shown me a board (it looks and feels much better than the one rented on Long Beach, NY). I shall come back in the morning to pick it up, if the weather remains the same as today's - if it gets nicer, I will probably visit the tourist spots instead).
Maria is not home yet. I feel sleepy but the favella is not ready to rest yet, proved by its miscellaneous horns, singing residents, neighbors, children, in a word: its life...
Monday, April 28, 2008 at 09:37PM 
I met Adam five years ago, during my first year in NY. Sweet, caring and very loyal, he even gave me a couch for my new place at the time, that I ended keeping for two three years. And now that I think about it, I remember I spent my first Halloween with him and some friends.