Business As Usual

It's a wonder anything gets done here at all--the beauty of the city is magnificent and there are more than enough activites to keep one busy (parasailing, rock climbing, trails, the beach, soccer, basketball, walking around the lake, etc...) for a long time, not to mention, things move slower here.

Today, I had the distinct pleasure of visiting the bank to pay my tuition payment (automatic withdrawl isn't an option). Upon arriving, one must take a number from a small and precisely placed box next to the watercooler. There are two options: (1) preferential customers (meaning: old, pregnant, or disabled), (2) all other services. So, using my excutive seletive mind, I pressed the botton for "all other services" not knowing the wait ahead of me. 447 my slip read. 428 the teleprompter signaled. Normally in the US going to the bank isn't a chore, but here it's a nightmare! The system was running slowly, so each person averaged about 20 mins at the teller's station. Not to mention, in Copacabana there are a lot of elderly folks, implying that they move ever-so-slightly slower and don't know how to slide there bank card through the machine. Each needed additional assistance. Conversation of one sweet little lady was the following (roughly translated):

Teller: "Thank you Ma'am that is all."
Cute Little Old Lady: "I am so nervous. I need to take an asprine." (Hunched over the counter)
Teller: "No, you don't have to be nervous. I have taken care of everything."
Cute Little Old Lady: "Oh, I needed to pay yesterday. I will sit here and take an asprine."
Teller: "Of course, sit and relax if you want. I am at your disposal if you need anything else."

A new client approached the counter and began her transaction.

Cute Little Old Lady: (Staggered over to the counter where there was the new customer and teller) " I just need to know if it was paid. I am so nervous."
Teller: "Yes, Ma'am. It was paid. Don't worry anymore."
Cute Little Old Lady: "Oh, okay..." (Muttered more for about 5 more mins before sitting down to rest)

I felt so bad for the cute little old lady. She was out doing her errands, but she had no idea what was going on around her. The poor dear. Finally, about an hour and a half later, I was attented and 5 mins later out of the bank. The little old lady was still sitting there chatting it up with the other perferential customers. I have come to the conclusion that things move so slowly in Copacabana for the following reasons: (1) the help doesn't get paid enough and is underqualified, so they don't care, (2) there are a ton of people, and (3) little old ladies and men (like our friend in the bank) get lonely at home and decide to make their errand time into social time also. In any case, it's just business as usual in Copacabana.

"The Silence of the Rain"

Currently, I am reading the "Silence of the Rain" by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza-- this title could not be anymore correct for Rio lately. As I sit on my veranda dressed with my sweatshirt, jeans and tennis shoes, watching the water stream down from the roof, I am reminded that I am in Rio de Janeiro: it should be warm with rays of sun hitting the pavement instead of gallons of rain. The rain has been relentless for the past week, and on and off for the month I have been here.

It's a good day to be lazy and tuck into a book. My book happens to be a mystery novel that takes place in Rio de Janeiro: Downtown, to be more exact, but meanders throughout the city as Inspector Espinoza tries to uncover a peculiar killing in a parking garage downtown that is morphing into more and more killings.

As I frequently look up to watch the rain while reading my book, I can't help but to feel like I haven't accomplished anything today. That poses another question: what really is accomplishment? Accomplishment is so subjective. I went to the bank today in Copacabana and waiting in line for one and a half hours to be attended without blowing a gasket, when it should have taken 30 mins. That's quite an accomplishment. A couple people waiting gave up and left. Not I! Also, I accomplished adding more pictures to my facebook account with my snail connection that similarily took forever, but I did it! It seems to me that today has been a productive day. The best news is that it isn't over yet.

Arrival

September 7, 2009, 10:11 a.m.
Tom Jobim International Airport, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Exhausted from less than three hours of sleep and bad inflight movies, I emerged from the plane, only to find myself in another line waiting to pass through customs. "Ma'am, is this your computer? Will this computer be returning with you to the United States? Did you bring any other electronics with you?" the custom's officer queried, as it is his job to be nosey, but not really caring. "Oh, you're going to study here and you speak Portuguese?" surprised, as if it was some type of novelty- an American that speaks another language besides English. Amazing.

After customs, one gets bombarded with taxi agents trying to get you an outrageously overpriced taxi ride, most likely if you are a "gringo," to the Zona Sul area. If this happens, sometimes, you can just go outside and ask for a metered taxi. It's easy to get duped in Rio when it comes to services as a foreigner. My thoughts on that are the following: it isn't that much more money and this is their only income- I make three times what they do, so it's hardly worth fighting about. It's just not nice to feel like someone is trying to take advantage of you.

So, R$80 poorer and slight grossed out by the taxi driver's gas (stopped once to use the bathroom, claiming it was from having an acai), I arrived safely at my little apartment in Copacabana- little is not an exageration, plus the hookers and pimps on the street at night give it a fabulous added touch.

Safe and sound, as the cliche is, I relaxed.