Mansions in Heaven

You heard me say I've been on a mission to find all the free visit gyms in this city, right? Well, I've not exhausted them, but I've been to a lot. So far I've only paid for two weeks, and I've been here over two months.

Well, today, I resorted to the GHETTO GYM...it's up in the hills in the 'favelas'. I thought it would be interesting--living on the edge. You know the American tourist tasting a bit of the local "danger" culture.

It was GROSS...I think every machine hadn't been cleaned in YEARS...it just felt like there were years of sweat and grime on EVERYTHING. I couldn't wait to get home and wash my hands. (I tried to do it in the bathroom, but it had about an inch of water on the floor--not sure where that came from-- I didn't WANNA know.)

The good side of the gym is the owner of the gym is a woman that won three national championships in body building several years back. She performed as a blond (the pics are plastered around the gym (they looked grimy too), but now has lost the muscle, gained some normal curves, and has black hair. But very sweet. This gym is her livelihood. I hope she makes enough to do whatever she wants.

I'm guessing she's skimping on costs by not CLEANING the thing.

MANSIONS ON THE HILLS

Really, one big issue with Rio is the favelas are everywhere NORMAL construction couldn't go. So they have literally build these small ramshackle homes on the hillsides--on rocks. It's a problem because slowly they keep creeping up on all the natural beauty that Rio is known for.

But by so doing, they must have GORGEOUS views of the city and the breach/oceans. Quite a paradox, right? Peace and Quiet for Wealth and Security.

Up in the favela is actually very peaceful. Because most don't have cars, plus the streets are so sidewinding and narrow going up, well, not much traffic. The sounds of the city are very distant and really not heard. Walking home, at dusk, I heard crickets, birds, and little else. Very peaceful.

ALICE I AINT

Well, I did my first batch of rice and beans today. I think they both would have been VERY GOOD, if I'd cooked them correctly, but as it turned out, I think I cinged the beans (nice way to say I burned the bottom--letting the water boil out while not attending it), and the rice was a bit undercooked. But I'll get better at it.

The problem is, I made a BIG pot of beans...enough to last me for a full week. They aren't horrible, but they could be better...I'll keep trying--and keep eating.

Lesson #1. When making a new recipe, never make more than one serving--that can be thrown out if you have to start over.

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY

And it did. The sun made a strong showing today, and I did too on the beach for an hour. But because of the hard rains, the beaches were lined with signs warning of riptides, and I could feel it when in the water. Most everyone staid out of the water, or in shallow areas. Me included.

Those things scare me. I was sucked out once while in Taiwan...I really thought I was going to die...you know, life passing before me eyes type stuff, and then just as soon as I was going out, suddenly, i felt my feet land on a sand bar, and I was ok.

But it scared the begeebers out of me. (I also thought I would drown in Mexico once, but that's another story--not a riptide story). I've been catious of them every since.

A guy died last week on Ipanema Beach because of a riptide, so you (read I) need to be careful.