Summer in Brazil: My New Favorite City
Right now, I'm on my last bus during my time in Brazil, and I just watched a beautiful sunset on my way back to São Paulo. My friends and I have been in Rio de Janeiro on a trip. We left on Wednesday, July 9, and just left this morning, Sunday, July 13.
We arrived in Rio and immediately changed into our swimsuits, heading straight to the beach. Thankfully, our Airbnb was two blocks away from Copacabana Beach. That day, we got to watch the sunset in one of the most beautiful places in the world.
The next day started nice and early at 7:30 am because my friend, Elsa, and I had bought tickets to visit Christ the Redeemer. I was thrilled because my dream since I was young has been to see all seven wonders of the world, and this would be my fourth. We were picked up by van and embarked on a scenic drive to the top of the mountain, offering a breathtaking view of all of Rio. The monument itself was enormous. I was genuinely mind-blown at how beautiful it was. Following our drop off back at Copacabana, we met up with our friends to get brunch at the beach, and then headed over to the botanical garden. The garden was a peaceful and necessary afternoon activity, and honestly, the fact that we got to see monkeys made it worth it alone. Our day ended by watching the sunset at the top of Pão de Açúcar, one of the large coastal mountains that look over the city.
Friday was a full beach day where we all lay in the sand all day, soaking up the sun and playing in the waves. The day started at Copacabana and ended by watching the sunset at Ipanema beach. Ipanema already looks beautiful in pictures, but the pictures don't even do it justice.
On Saturday, we all woke up and had breakfast together at the beach, and then we went to the flea market located in the center of Rio. It was a fantastic flea market and I bought several articles of clothing made by local artists. The center of Rio is filled with very historical architecture, and it was exciting to see the duality of history with all the coastal aspects of the city. There are cobblestone roads and colonial style architecture due to the cities colonial history under Portugal, but there are also many beach front stores/buildings that demonstrate the coastal aspects of the city. We took the metro back from the market and immediately left to watch a soccer game at Maracanã, a historically significant soccer stadium in Brazil. Maracanã used to be the world's largest stadium and was built in 1948 for the 1950 World Cup which was held in Brazil. It was very exciting for me to be in the stadium because I had just taken a class on the history of Brazilian soccer last semester and had learned about the significance of the stadium. We watched Flamengo beat São Paulo, and it was so incredible being in all the energy of the fans. That night we went to a samba event and spent our last night in Rio dancing together.
Although I was in Rio de Janeiro for only four days, it's my favorite city I've been to in Brazil. I fell in love with the city and the people, and it just makes me so excited to come back and visit. I'm glad I got to spend my last weekend in Brazil with my friends in such a beautiful place. It was also the best way to unwind before this hectic final week filled with assignments we needed to get done.
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Summer in Brazil is a 6-week summer program sponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane University and the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies at Vanderbilt University. It caters to graduate and undergraduate students who wish to achieve a high-level of Portuguese fluency through immersion in Brazilian culture.
You can learn more about our Summer in Latin America programs here.
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