From a 5 star hotel to a Guesthouse...

We just got to Buzios, a little beach town 3 hours from Rio. (sorry for the lack of capitals, the shift button is stuck on this keyboard!) it gets dark really early here - like at 6 pm so when we got to buzios it was already dark. looks like a super cute place though - reminds me of how cute ios was with its cobble stone streets and little boutique shops. we met two american guys on the bus who were super funny. whenever you hear people speaking english, its like khushali as nadia said (a big deal) b/c its very rare. We were rescued by english speaking people - at the bank and at the bus stations. We got a really cool taxi driver on the way to the bus station and Nadia was practicing her portuguese with him - he laughed at us a bit but was super helpful. nadia asked in portuguese and he answered back in english - a very good exercise for both parties involved!

so the place we are staying at is really the most literal translation of a guesthouse. its called Zen-Do guesthouse. its super cute but wow what a change from a hotel. well, this is what psuedo-backbacking is all about! the lady speaks perfect english and its so funny too. i~d share stories but i think you just have to be here. i am currently typing on HER computer. i believe there are only three rooms and she is cooking us breakfast in the morning! should be a very intimate stay!

all in all, our first few days in rio were pretty good. nadia complains alot about the buses and insists we take a damn taxi everywhere so we compromise. no muggings, shootings, rapes that i~ve heard of so we will continue to keep our fingers crossed for our last 3 days in rio! there is a lot of security everywhere especially in our area. copacabana definately felt a bit sketchier and whenever i saw a bunch of kids, i would get paranoid bc of all the stories we heard before we left. im glad we are taking in ipanema and would recommend it to anyone who goes to brazil in the future. copacabana has some crazy nice hotels like copacabana palace hotel - basically where all the stars and rich people stay. in fact, im pleasantly surprised as to how nice the people are when you can communicate with them - esp people in the clothing stores, etc. brazilian fashion is also very cool - definately ahead of us.

we did our first major sightseeing trip today. we went to see one of the new seven wonders of the world - christ the reemer on top of corcovado mountain. in order to get there, you can hike for 8 hours (nadia cañt even handle the bus, hike for 8 hrs?! i dont think so - lol), take a tram or a private van/taxi. we opted for the tram that takes you through one of the only urban rainforests. the statue itself is crazy! its so big and pictures jsut dont do it justice! apparently its 40 metres tall and 700 tonnes. a lot of fricken tourists, as expected, including a group of french men who each wanted to take a picture with me and then would put my name is a song, that they would casually sing as they walk by us a few times. "oh Sahra.....!"

ne ways, off to bed. will write again soon. gotta work on my tan tmr and learn some more portuguese! Chow!