Day 11: Ilha Grande, Brazil -> Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Today we left Ilha Grande and made the four-hour trip back to Rio. It was mostly a travel day for us, so it was largely uneventful.

Upon arriving in Rio, we went to our new accommodation, a room we found using Airbnb. Airbnb is a website that helps match people renting out rooms or full apartments with those looking for a place to stay. Dan and I had made our selection based on pictures, location, and reviews. It turns out that the guy whose apartment we are staying in is originally from Michigan and has been living in Brazil for the past two years. He has a decent-sized apartment--massive by Manhattan standards--and he rents out three of the rooms (he himself resides behind a curtain in a makeshift bedroom/office). We are free to use the kitchen, bathroom, and living room as we please, and we are only paying a combined $38 a night. Not a bad deal!

Once settled in, Dan and I went to a casual restaurant near the apartment. Over dinner we discussed our longing for products with a higher thread count, including napkins, towels, and bedsheets (I'm not sure if this is a cultural thing or a result of the places where we have been staying). We also talked about the fact that nearly everyone we have spoken to has mistaken us for Brazilian; this has certainly worked to our advantage, as we are not recognized as tourists.

At night, we went to a Samba party at a location that is touted as the birthplace of this dance. The cab ride there was speedy because there was little traffic, and because red lights seem to be optional in Brazil. When we got to the party, we met up with our Mellow Yellow friends; while we had arranged to meet there, our ability to follow through on our plans without the use of cellphones was still remarkable to me. We all got caipirinhas and then fell into the sea of people. 

Although we showed up too late to the Samba party last week, this time we arrived early enough to see what Samba was all about. To my surprise, the festivities mainly consisted of six guys playing various instruments and singing around a table. It didn't look like much, but the crowd rippled very far out from the musical epicenter. Some people joined in singing and dancing, while others were talking and drinking with the melody acting as a backdrop to their partying.

We stayed, listened, and talked for a few hours. A little after midnight, Dan and I headed back to Copacabana Beach with five other people from five different English-speaking countries. One of the guys was going back to Mellow Yellow for the night, but the rest of us went to hang out at our friend, Kish's nearby apartment. 

We sat in Kish's kitchen and talked for awhile. The main focus of our conversation centered around the British guy named Louis. Louis is a staggeringly tall, easygoing individual with long dreadlocks and brown rimmed glasses. We learned that he is a bit of a YouTube celebrity, and has nearly one million followers (his YouTube channel is https://m.youtube.com/user/FunForLouis). He was extremely humble about his experiences, but fascinating to talk to. For example, he begrudgingly explained that the start of his internet fame came from ingesting ten blended up mice. He also told us that he travels off of the profits from his videos, went to about 24 countries last year, and has not yet totaled up his trips from this year. He meets new people wherever he goes and seems to have a never ending list of friends he can stay with during his travels. 

Our conversation was really interesting, but eventually exhaustion took over and Dan and I called it a night.