Not to Mention the Heat..

Rio reminds me of India. It has an unpolished, urban feel, with shops lining the corners and people peddling various goods that we have no use for. There's coconut water readily available and a beach just a few blocks away. The traffic is not so unruly, though, and people seem to come in all shapes and sizes, so I don't stand out as a tourist, at least physically.

Not many people speak English here, and Raj and I have been somehow getting by with our Pimsleur method knowledge of the language. He's about 30 lessons ahead of me, though; I have a lot of catching up to do. Apparently, I. has free classes for French, Portuguese, and English, so that will be helpful.

The apartment we're staying in is a nice two-bedroom with a kitchen, bathroom, living area, and laundry room. (Free laundry, quite a perk.) It's been generally good, except for the occasional monstrous cockroach. Since Raj does all the killing, it's really not much work for me, but it does mean that I tiptoe carefully around the apartment and do not get into bed without shaking everything out. I think I'll only sleep peacefully once I have a mosquito net installed.