Semana Santa

Hello dear friends back home in the US of A! It's been a month since my last post and I am so very sorry. I would love to use the excuse that I've been just too busy to post for the last month but it has actually been the opposite - I've been too boring! Not that I've had absolutely nothing to post about... just nothing that would be very exciting for others to read. This past weekend, however, was definitely worth a blog post :)

In case you didn't know, Semana Santa is the week of easter and is celebrated throughout pretty much all of Latin America. Some countries have more involved celebrations, and some just have vacations. Here in Rio (I'm sure that in other areas of Brazil they have traditional celebrations) Semana Santa/Easter is pretty much more of a vacation. Anyway here's how my Semana Santa went down:

Tuesday: 
I had a test for my Brazilian Literature and Culture class and I was pretty nervous about it because it's hard to tell if I really have a grasp for the concepts when they're all in Portuguese. Anyway I think I did pretty well! We'll see. After that class I had my Community Involvement class and some friends (Ellie, Briana, and Kim) and I went out for drinks afterward (even in the US you can't judge me because I'm 21 now!). We got hungry and decided to splurge a bit on this restaurant nearby that's known for it's linguiça (sausage). We were very careful about how much we ordered but we still were a bit concerned about the price. Then, some American guys (who we still think were a gay couple but claimed they were not) asked us for help ordering in Portuguese and asked if they could join our table. One of them then proceeded to tell us he worked for a non-profit group that helps college students pay for meals. Whether or not this was a lie, we got a free meal (which I'm pretty sure otherwise would have costed a nice little bit) and some beers out of it. So this was a great start to our Semana Santa.
Wednesday:
Went to the beach! And for a run! And to capoeira!
Thursday:
Thursday must not have been very notable because I don't remember what I did on Thursday... but I probably went to the beach!
Friday:
Scuba Diving! My friend Daniel picked me and my friend Ellie up around 6am and we drove a couple hours out to Arraial do Cabo. Daniel and his friend Hannibal (yes, Hannibal) are diving instructors so they guided us on our dives. We took turns with Daniel's other friends (who became our friends) and got two good long dives in. Arraial do Cabo is known to be one of the top 3 places in Brazil to scuba dive. Granted we only went down a few meters, but we saw a ton of sea life. I think Hannibal took some pictures so if I get ahold of them I'll show you guys. Anyway after our air supply ran out and we had to call it a day, we headed over to Sacuarema where Daniel's parents own a house that they stay in on weekends. They served us lunch composed of some delicious crab thingys and salmon filet! It was almost too delicious. After driving back into the city, we all met back up for drinks at a bar called Lord Jim's in Ipanema. Before this I hadn't really gone out to any real bars so it was a fun new experience with fun new people :)
Saturday:
Ellie and I were pooped trying to figure out our day when she got a message from a friend of hers asking if we wanted to hike up Pedra da Gavea and sleep on top. We agreed and hustled on over to his house to head to the trail. We caught an empty van and paid them a bit extra to drop us off closer to the trailhead, which was pretty convenient. We started the hike around 3:15pm which was perfect timing because we got to the top just before sunset. The hike takes about two hours going up, and it's pretty strenuous with some rock climbing parts (though ropes aren't necessary). We had started with a small-ish group but the other groups of hikers were all people we knew through association so by the end of it it was just a big group of friends. The view from the top of this thing was unreal. You can see the entiiiiiire city! I'm so glad we planned to stay the night because we got to see both the sunset and the sunrise (though just as the sun started to rise the clouds set in and we could no longer see anything...). It was really really fun, and a good bonding experience for all the people there.
Sunday:
We hustled on back down the trail and stumbled back into society with cuts and bruises and dirt covering our bodies. Caught a bus back home and rested a bit. Then I got up, got ready, and went to my first soccer (I mean, futebol!!) game: Flamengo vs. Fluminense at the Engenhão. I went with Ellie, Eliana (my host mom), Marina (Eliana's daughter who is visiting), Bart (Marina's boyfriend), and Micheli (Marina's dad). We sat on the Flamengo side because they're all Flamenguistas, which was cool because Flamengo won! It was really fun and it's a cool experience being in the crowd at a futebol game; the crowd was much more involved in the game than I've seen at any American sports games.
Monday:
Went for a nice run around the lake (which is about 4.5 miles... and beautiful the whole way around!) and then relaxed for a bit. Met up with Petroleo before capoeira and we pigged out on the box of bombons that he gave me for Easter. When we headed to the lake for capoeira it started raining (so capoeira was cancelled) so we went to the grocery store and cooked a delicious chicken and pasta dinner.

So in case you couldn't tell, it was a great week. Here's some pictures to prove it!

Me, Ellie, Daniel - before diving

The docks at Arraial do Cabo

The climb up Pedra da Gavea

Sunset over Barra!

Me and Ellie!

I laid on that rock pretty much the whole night looking at the city lights

Some guys cooked cachorros quente (hot dogs)

Sunrise over Zona Sul!

That blanket (named Kevin) saved us from the cold!

Um, I live there.

Ellie, Igor (I see this guy everywhere, he knows everyone, and he is hillarious), me, Raquel - when the clouds set in

Leoo (Ellie's friend who invited us on the hike)

Clouds passing over!

Clouds over Barra

I love this picture.

Ellie, Raquel, and Danielle

SPIDERS!

We're strong :)

You can't even see the rock we were on top of!

Bart, Eliana, Marina - Flamenguistas on the way to the game :)

Stadium

Flamengo side

Under the bandeira

Bandeira being passed down

Me and Eliana

Penalty kicks to break the tie

Flamengo won!!

Love this picture.

Rubro-Negro!!

Well, I'm gonna get going on some reading for class. I hope you all had a great Easter! And  a belated thank you for all the birthday wishes - it was so nice to hear from you!! Love and miss you all :)
Beijos