Athena - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Birthday Celebrations

Night #1 of my bday celebrations
Tiffany, Me & Lula-- 3/4 of the Traveling
Tarheels

One of the things I was most looked forward to on this trip was celebrating my birthday in Rio. I was almost born on Christmas but I showed up a little late. Usually my birthday is sandwhiched in between the holidays, visiting family, Christmas shopping/returning and New Years. Very rarely is my birthday the main event. Well, this year it sort of was and I'm glad for that because I wasn't exactly looking forward to this birthday.  Turning this age (somewhere in my 30s) reminded me of all the things I don't have in life-- husband, kids, established career-- while so many of my friends do have these, so I originally wasn't very excited for my birthday this year. But I decided to focus on what I do have-- amazing friends, a wonderful family and a crazy five month trip in South America-- and go out and enjoy my birthday.

Our late night pizza & drinks

Night #2 of my bday celebration with Megan,
Me, Tiffany & Lula - all 4 of the Traveling
Tarheels

 

 

We celebrated by going out the night before my bday, and of course had the it's midnight so now it's officially my birthday toast. We went to an area of Rio called La Napa, it's billed as a cool area with lots of Samba clubs and bars where people just hangout. We were headed to a particular Samba club, but took a detour when we ran into a large area filled with people, music and street food. Everyone was just hanging out; it seemed like more fun than a club. So we hopped out of our cab early and joined the swelling crowd. We saw a lot of sights, so I'll save you the long details and just share the highlights:

  - My friends convinced two random Brazilian guys to sing happy birthday to me. Then later two guys from Argentina sang the song to me too.
  - We had some amazing pizza from one of the vendors. It has a type of meat/sausage that is really popular here (sorry I forgot what it's called)
  - There was just a random group of guys playing all sorts of drums together. They sounded really good and provided a better soundtrack than the nearby bars
  - Tiffany and I used the worst bathroom we have yet to see and managed to survive without falling in or picking up too many germs (I hope).
  - I got a chance to practice my Spanish again with a Brazilian who speaks 4 languages (yay!) Since leaving Argentina I feel like I'm losing my Spanish skills so I was really excited to speak it again.
 - We were out until 4 a.m. It's been a long time since I've hung out that long, guess I thought I was still in my 20s or something. But when in Rio you have to party like the locals.

    And all of this was just the early morning of my bday. After we returned we slept forever, our friend and fellow Tarheel Megan arrived to join us on our travels and then we hit the beach. I still can't believe that I spent a good chunk of my birthday on the beach, and Copacabana beach at that! My birthday is usually filled with ice, snow and anything else cold. I truly enjoyed having a "summer" birthday for once. I've never worn a bikini on my birthday before, but I could definitely get used to it.  Lula, another Tarheel traveling with us, treated me to ice cream (which is my favorite food) after we left the beach. I was in heaven- beach time + ice cream - I didn't think my bday could get any better. After returning from the beach we took naps and then chilled in our apartment before heading out for another night to celebrate. This night was a bit more chill. We tried to go to a Samba club in La Napa, but the line was super long, probably over 100 people. So instead we walked around for a while and found another club. This one was more like a huge sports bar, with 2 floors with tables to eat & drink at pool tables. A Brazilian band was playing on the third floor. They played a wide range of music types, and for one part dancing girls dressed in Carnival outfits came on stage to dance with the singers. The crowd was good and even though I didn't understand the lyrics I really liked the music. The only downside to the night was a lady stepping on my toes and cutting my foot. Nothing major, but it was a bit painful. I guess you're really not having fun until someone starts bleeding.

So now it's officially no longer my birthday, but I think I'll continue the celebration anyway!