March 30, 2007
Day 548
Francisco is going to school for his master's degree, and today I met him there for lunch. I paid a fixed price and got to load my plate with food. It was a great deal. Francisco also showed me the robotics and computer labs. The facilities were really nice, like an American university would have. It was a private school, though, so most kids couldn't afford to go there.
In the afternoon I walked to the Leblon beach (three blocks from Francisco's apartment). It seemed very busy, especially considering how many completely empty beaches I've seen in Brazil, but I was told that it was much less busy than normal. Next, I grabbed a bus to the tourism information office. The helpful lady working there gave me some maps (always a good thing in a city as big as Rio) and a book of things to do in the city. She even called some hotels for me to get prices for me.
My next task was to go hotel shopping for my parents. I took another bus to Flamengo, a district that's away from the beaches (ergo cheaper) but still nice with a lot of stuff for tourists to to nearby. I found what are probably some of the cheapest hotels in town, but they were still far more expensive than the rest of Brazil. I guess I'll have to get used to the higher prices here.
Francisco and I went out again tonight, this time to a club with one room playing forro and one playing samba. There are way too many styles of dance in Brazil to keep track of, and I don't even know how to dance any of them.
