Living in Leme...

Corey left so now it's back to "normal daily life" here in Rio.  I want to use this post to tell you a little bit about where I live.  We are in Leme, which is the neighborhood bordered by Copacabana and Botafogo.  If we were to do a comparison to NYC,  it's kind of like living on the Upper East Side.  It's far removed from the craziness of Centro (Midtown), not as swanky as Impanema (Tribeca) and not touristy like Copacabana (Times Square).  It's quiet, has a lot of families, and is a beautiful place to come home to at the end of the day.

Our apartment is in a quaint elevator/ doorman building on a tree-lined street.   As I type this, Fred is working hard to organize the place and get our pictures/ mirrors hung up on the wall.  Once we're done decorating, I'll post some pictures!  Our doormen are all "Paraibas," which means they are from a northern state in Brazil.  According to Fred, the Paraiba is Rio's version of a guido.  Our Paraiba doormen have frosted hair, like funk music, sport unilateral earrings, and speak with an accent that is completely unintelligible to me.  So I THINK they're nice...but I don't really know what the hell they say to me when I come and go, so who knows???

Right around the corner is the best acai place in Rio.  I'm sure of it.  For those who don't know what acai is, check out this link: www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acai.  It's a fruit and it tastes like chocolate...seriously, it does.  Don't ask me how God created such a food, but PRAISE HIM for doing so.  

My gym is a sh*thole and costs 2x as much as I pay for the NYSC.  But, it's the only gym in the area and it's right around the corner. Almost everyone at the gym is middle-aged, and most people have no idea how to work out.  If I was licensed to practice PT here, I would be handing out business cards left and right.  On the bright side, I have a new trainer friend at the gym named Fabio (though sadly, he doesn't look as hot as his name suggests he might). 

My class is pretty good.  The building is in Copacabana and is easy to get to (a 30 minute commute).  There are 3 other students in my class:  Claire, a cool girl from Amsterdam here for 3 years because her husband got a job in Rio;  Hugo, a gay Parisian who is on sabatacle from his high-powered CEO job; and Arthur, a gay New Yorker who, unfortunately, is SO weird and withdrawn  that we can't even celebrate our common Big-Apple-ness together.  

So that's basic life here in Leme!  It's a rainy day today and I just taught my first private lesson to Fred's best friend, Jose.  I have some work to do - knowing how to speak English does not an English teacher make!!