Pooky Pooky Poo

So I'm officially a resident of Rio! Does this make me a carioca? Definitely not yet - I can't tell you how many people have enthusiastically approached me on the beach to practice their English (is it my pastiness? style of dress? give-away American walk? who knows?) - but I'm getting there. Dora, my host, is the Brazilian granny of my dreams. Upon my arrival at her Leblon apartment, she took me on a little tour of the neighborhood and walked me to PUC-Rio, or "Pooky" as it is so affectionately called around these parts, so that I would be able to figure out how to get there the next morning. It's only about a 15-minute walk, maybe 20 if I'm feelin' extra leisurely and indulgent, and I only have to cross the street 4 times, which is good because venturing off the sidewalk in Rio has quickly become one of my greatest fears. I can't emphasize how lucky I am to being living in this location - I'm literally probably the closest or second-closest to campus of anyone in my program. Most EAP students are living in Copacabana, which requires a 20-minute bus ride, or neighborhoods that are even further. Dora's apartment is two block from the beach, which may serve to distract me from my studies in the future, but for now I'm definitely not complaining. As far as I can tell, Leblon is also the safest neighborhood in all of Rio. There are a few streets that seem a little touristy, but for the most part, it's pretty residential but very populated even after midnight.

That being said, I think that Leblon's extremely wealthy population might take something from its potential for heterogeneity or character. Walking down the neighborhood's main drag can be kind of a trip - for example, I've noticed that in front of some of the more bourghie boutiques, a red carpet has been laid on the sidewalk. Seriously. Also, everything in Leblon is more expensive than it would be elsewhere, which I'm thinking might actually be kind of a blessing in disguise because it will motivate me to explore the rest of the city.

Anyways, back to Dora. She is great. She is a big fan of chatting about everything under the sun, which so far has varied from being ripped off by the company that makes her evaporated milk to classical music to the best brand of alarm clocks. I usually have relatively little to contribute to these conversations, but I understand almost all of what she says, which is reassuring. A "Brazilian breakfast" of bread, cheese, fruit, and either coffee or hot chocolate is included in my rent, along with a pleasant little bedroom complete with a desk, a bed, two dressers, a luxuriously comfy chair, and a strange little cat figurine that functions as a doorstop. Aside from scolding me once for not flushing the toilet correctly, things have been just peachy between Dora and me. In fact, we're seeing a classical concert together tomorrow morning. Aren't we cute?

During the past few days, we've been having a series of different orientations and tours at Pooky. It's a pretty small campus, especially coming from Davis, and guess what? It's in a forest, A Floresta da Tijuca to be exact, and it's pretty incredible. I hope that going to school here never desensitize me to its beauty, because as of now walking outside feels a little bit like I'm Mowgli from The Jungle Book. In the best way possible.

That's all for now, my possums. Future updates may include: how my date with Dora turns out, the first day of language intensive classes, foods I have tried, of my attempts to learn samba, and methods for removing sand from every corner and crevice of my currently gritty room.