Sunday, April 01, 2007
Brazil Wrap Up - Consulting, Beaches, Rio, Salvador, the Amazon, and Fun Fun Fun!
Life is good here at SOM, despite the fact that the beaches of Rio, the smiling faces on the boardwalk, and the tanned Brazilians are now but a memory in my brain.
We returned to New Haven on Monday of this week, delayed by a day after complications arose in the Rio airport. With our flight home canceled, the folks at American Airways payed for lodgings at a hotel in the Copacabana area for an extra night. Of course, being trapped in Rio for an extra day is not the worst problem to have and having experienced the nice but not that nice weather of New Haven, I very much miss the two weeks that I spent in Brazil for Spring Break this year.
The trip was a great experience from both a professional and entertainment point of view. The trip was split down to 1 week of consulting in Rio and 1 week of touring around Brazil to Salvador and the Amazon. The consulting experience was lots of fun though, as our client was pretty laid back and actually spent a lot of time taking us around sightseeing. Many of our business meetings were held over long lunches, which is always nice. He also took us to see a screening of "An Inconvenient Truth", which I enjoyed a lot. Most importantly, he usually met us at around noon, which gave us virtually daily beach/running time in Rio which I definitely took advantage of (I ran about 4.5 miles along the Ipanema / Copacabana beaches almost daily while we were at Rio).
The consulting experience also has given me some good "interview fodder" which I have used at my latest job interviews, which have been picking up in activity. While I'm not 100% sure, I feel pretty good that I'll have something pretty solid in the next 2 weeks though I don't want to jinx it with any details just yet.
Anyhow, aside from working in Brazil our group made sure to experience lots of local past times and sight seeing in Rio, Salvador, and the Amazon. Among the more memorable experiences:
- A soccer game in Rio (the locals were getting pretty riled up and often yelled obscenities and middle fingers whenever their team scored)
- A churrascaria, or Brazilian steakhouse that is basically a parade of all-you-can-eat bbq meat where servers bring the meat to you.
- A visit to a "Bossa Nova" jazz bar (basically African jazz mixed with Brazilian samba music)
- A Traditional Brazilian dancing show (including Caperara, the Brazilian martial art form)
- Eating lots of good local food and juices (among my favourites: the Filet Sandwich, the classic Acai juice, oh so much beef, a seafood stew called moqueca, a deep fried black-eyed-pea fritter called acaraje)
- Swimming in the Amazon
- Running a few miles along an older torn-up beach road in Salvador where cars do not yield to runners (quite an adventure)
- Piranha fishing
- Hiking in the Amazon rainforest
- And of course, enjoying the fun, free spirited Brazilian lifestyle (night life, beaches, etc. etc.)
But that's enough writing for now. I'll close off the entry with a good sampling of the 600 pics I took in 2 weeks. Enjoy!
Street signs in Brazil
Ipanema - A 2 minute walk from our Hotel (and a place I spent lots of time at)
Working hard - a Bunch of SOM consultants at the local "football" (soccer) match
A Local Football Fan Expresses Himself
Sunset in Rio
Assorted Fun and Games at one of many dinners/happy hours in Rio
A shot of a "favela" (Quite common in Rio, basically squatter towns)
Keep the meat coming! Some action at the Churrascaria
More Shots at Dinner
At the "Cristo" - A gigantic statue of Jesus Christ that overlooks Rio de Janeiro
Me Being a Tourist at the Cristo Statue
The View from the Cristo
Off to The "Sugar Loaf Mountain", Another vantage point that offered amazing views of Rio
A view of the Cristo (from Sugarloaf)
A view of Copacabana from Sugar Loaf Mountain
Some First Year SOM students at the Sugar Loaf Mountain
In front of one of many churches in Salvador (reminded me of Europe)
At one of the main squares in Salvador
Streets of Salvador
More Street Shots of Salvador
At the Bossa Nova Show in Salvador
Gigantic sea turtle at a turtle preserve in Salvador
Probably not the smartest move - toying with the Stingrays
Street Party in Salvador
Drum Troupe of at least 30 musicians that drummed on the streets for hours
Me eating a gigantic double burger from "Bob's Burgers" (A Brazilian fast food staple)
We Arrive at the Beaches of our "Eco-Lodge" in the Amazon
Swanky lodges that we stayed at in the Amazon
The Meeting of Two Rivers in the Amazon - Note the different shades of colour in the water
Piranha fishing in the Amazon
On the Amazon River
At the Orchid House in the Botanical Gardens in Rio
The Orchid Thief - Me Enjoying the Beautiful Flower
Group Jump Shot at the Botanical Gardens
Me and Roger Waters at the Rio airport (Lead Songwriter of the Band Pink Floyd)
¶ 1:55 PM 
Life is good here at SOM, despite the fact that the beaches of Rio, the smiling faces on the boardwalk, and the tanned Brazilians are now but a memory in my brain.We returned to New Haven on Monday of this week, delayed by a day after complications arose in the Rio airport. With our flight home canceled, the folks at American Airways payed for lodgings at a hotel in the Copacabana area for an extra night. Of course, being trapped in Rio for an extra day is not the worst problem to have and having experienced the nice but not that nice weather of New Haven, I very much miss the two weeks that I spent in Brazil for Spring Break this year.
The trip was a great experience from both a professional and entertainment point of view. The trip was split down to 1 week of consulting in Rio and 1 week of touring around Brazil to Salvador and the Amazon. The consulting experience was lots of fun though, as our client was pretty laid back and actually spent a lot of time taking us around sightseeing. Many of our business meetings were held over long lunches, which is always nice. He also took us to see a screening of "An Inconvenient Truth", which I enjoyed a lot. Most importantly, he usually met us at around noon, which gave us virtually daily beach/running time in Rio which I definitely took advantage of (I ran about 4.5 miles along the Ipanema / Copacabana beaches almost daily while we were at Rio).
The consulting experience also has given me some good "interview fodder" which I have used at my latest job interviews, which have been picking up in activity. While I'm not 100% sure, I feel pretty good that I'll have something pretty solid in the next 2 weeks though I don't want to jinx it with any details just yet.
Anyhow, aside from working in Brazil our group made sure to experience lots of local past times and sight seeing in Rio, Salvador, and the Amazon. Among the more memorable experiences:
- A soccer game in Rio (the locals were getting pretty riled up and often yelled obscenities and middle fingers whenever their team scored)
- A churrascaria, or Brazilian steakhouse that is basically a parade of all-you-can-eat bbq meat where servers bring the meat to you.
- A visit to a "Bossa Nova" jazz bar (basically African jazz mixed with Brazilian samba music)
- A Traditional Brazilian dancing show (including Caperara, the Brazilian martial art form)
- Eating lots of good local food and juices (among my favourites: the Filet Sandwich, the classic Acai juice, oh so much beef, a seafood stew called moqueca, a deep fried black-eyed-pea fritter called acaraje)
- Swimming in the Amazon
- Running a few miles along an older torn-up beach road in Salvador where cars do not yield to runners (quite an adventure)
- Piranha fishing
- Hiking in the Amazon rainforest
- And of course, enjoying the fun, free spirited Brazilian lifestyle (night life, beaches, etc. etc.)
But that's enough writing for now. I'll close off the entry with a good sampling of the 600 pics I took in 2 weeks. Enjoy!
Street signs in Brazil
Ipanema - A 2 minute walk from our Hotel (and a place I spent lots of time at)
Working hard - a Bunch of SOM consultants at the local "football" (soccer) match
A Local Football Fan Expresses Himself
Sunset in Rio
Assorted Fun and Games at one of many dinners/happy hours in Rio
A shot of a "favela" (Quite common in Rio, basically squatter towns)
Keep the meat coming! Some action at the Churrascaria
More Shots at Dinner
At the "Cristo" - A gigantic statue of Jesus Christ that overlooks Rio de Janeiro
Me Being a Tourist at the Cristo Statue
The View from the Cristo
Off to The "Sugar Loaf Mountain", Another vantage point that offered amazing views of Rio
A view of the Cristo (from Sugarloaf)
A view of Copacabana from Sugar Loaf Mountain
Some First Year SOM students at the Sugar Loaf Mountain
In front of one of many churches in Salvador (reminded me of Europe)
At one of the main squares in Salvador
Streets of Salvador
More Street Shots of Salvador
At the Bossa Nova Show in Salvador
Gigantic sea turtle at a turtle preserve in Salvador
Probably not the smartest move - toying with the Stingrays
Street Party in Salvador
Drum Troupe of at least 30 musicians that drummed on the streets for hours
Me eating a gigantic double burger from "Bob's Burgers" (A Brazilian fast food staple)
We Arrive at the Beaches of our "Eco-Lodge" in the Amazon
Swanky lodges that we stayed at in the Amazon
The Meeting of Two Rivers in the Amazon - Note the different shades of colour in the water
Piranha fishing in the Amazon
On the Amazon River
At the Orchid House in the Botanical Gardens in Rio
The Orchid Thief - Me Enjoying the Beautiful Flower
Group Jump Shot at the Botanical Gardens
Me and Roger Waters at the Rio airport (Lead Songwriter of the Band Pink Floyd)
¶ 1:55 PM
