Day 1 - Arrival

In hindsight, the journey feels like a blink of an eye. Fortunately, everything went smoothly, but seeing our backpacks on the luggage carousel was a big relief. Upon arrival in Rio, we wandered around for a while until we met the host family. We drove to the condominium where the family lives.

During the drive, you could see the favelas hidden behind a privacy screen on the right side of the window, although they were still hard to miss. In my imagination, these areas were always small in size, so it was shocking to see how far they stretched across the city. And we only saw two of... several hundred?

In contrast, on the left side of the window, you could see skyscrapers, a concert hall, a circus, an amusement park, and a stadium. Separated only by a road. Strange sight.

~Lenja

Upon arriving at the family's house, we were warmly welcomed and given a tour of the gigantic apartment. My favorite part of the apartment is the large balcony with a hammock, lounge chairs, and an unfortunately empty pool. After a quick refreshment, we were shown the way to the beach, which can be reached in less than 2 minutes with some lucky timing at the traffic lights. On the way through the condominium, we were also shown the sports fields, swimming pools, sauna area, and a building with billiard tables and similar. With its own small supermarket and a restaurant, one would never have to leave the condominium. Upon arriving at the beach, we felt the full extent of the temperature jump from -10 degrees in Hanover to 30 degrees in the shade and a feels-like temperature of 40 degrees in the blazing sun.

Now that Christian is at university, we are taking a rest in the room with the air conditioning on and letting the first impressions sink in.

~Viktor