Yes the title of this blog is honeymoon. But no, Katie and I
have not got married. Well we sort of did last week when we signed a document
to prove we have been in a common law / de facto marriage, but this post is
about my arrival in Brasil! (Katie is arriving later this month, which gives me
a chance to settle in and ensure I am better at Portuguese than she is).
I will not talk about the flight and travel and that
nonsense because it’s the same old story of flying over 5000 miles in less than
a day: a feat impossible only 100 years ago. Aeroplanes are one of those
technologies that continues to blow my mind whenever I stop to reflect on it...
So yes it was just a simple 15 hour flight, 1 change... Although I have written
a complaint to the airline: Italian Airways or Alitalia as they are known. It’s
a long story. And by long, I mean uninteresting, which is basically always what
people mean when they say “long story”.
I couldn’t say “I arrived jet lagged”, as Rio is only 2 hours in the past. It’s basically like having a
triple espresso in the morning and just feeling like you have more time. My very first impressions were mixed. The immigration queue took over an hour to get
through and was surprising lax. I jumped in a taxi and paid £30 to go for 50
mins in what seemed like a real life version of Crazy Taxi. I know the rules of
the road are different wherever you are... but this particular taxi driver was
genuinely crazy. He drove like John McClane in Die Hard 3, aiming for people,
and what have you. He spent as much time on the hard shoulder (no-one else
decided to drive there) as he did on the main shoulder... He weaved, sped, and
even when I told him I was in no rush and was happy to pay to go slower, he
still went faster than Usain Bolt on steroids running on one of those airport
travelator things.
Besides being mildly crippled with agonising fear of someone
snatching my worldly goods, I was able to observe Rio through the taxi window.
I saw a city of beauty and sunshine, as well as poverty and hardship. It’s
difficult to comprehend poverty when I have seen and met people with such vast
wealth. Anyway this isn’t a post about my political standpoint, it is much more
about my happy honeymoon period in Rio. The taxi pulled into my apartment
complex, which I recognised from my Google Maps page. Love at first sight does not exist for locations anymore now that Google Street View has happened.
The apartment complex is in
front of Barra de Tijuca’s 18km beach. The beach is something else. It’s over 30 degrees at the
moment and the sun has not stopped shining. Real feel on accuweather shows the heat from last week. It was 47 degrees on one day and I even saw a new graphic of a thermometer.
It’s here that I need to give credit to P20 - the sun cream
that has protected me thus far, hence why I brought 1.2 litres of it with
me. The waves are constant and I feel like a young boy again fighting to hold
back the ocean. That is not a metaphor, I just used to love playing in the
ocean as a boy. Who am I kidding, I still love it now!
There was a street festa (party) by the beach opposite the apartment on my first night.
I was surprised they had thrown me a party as I didn't realise I had so many fans in Rio. I later found out that it was in fact for someone's birthday and was not a celebration of my arrival. When they later sang "Happy Birthday", I was tickled as it was to the same tune as the original.
The first couple of days have felt like a holiday. Except I
am not on holiday. This is now my life, living a six minute (I timed it) door-to-feet-in-ocean walk away from the longest beach in Rio. Yes the honeymoon
period won’t last forever. But if I have learned one thing in my short time on
this planet, it’s to enjoy these moments when they come.
Barra de Tijuca has been described to me as the Miami of
Rio. Under 6% of the population live here, but it generates 30% of the tax for
the city. Basically I think that means it is a wealthy area, or Rio has a particularly
uneven council tax system. Long term followers of the blog will enjoy the next
stat: Barra Shopping is the largest shopping centre in South America. Having
lived in Busan, home of Shinsegae, the largest department store in the world,
it seems like fate / coincidence that has put us in Barra. (If coincidences are just
coincidences, why do they feel so contrived?)
Barra will also be home to over 50% of the Olympics in Rio
2016 so let’s hope we’ll be here to see it. It has many residence complexes
like the one I am staying in that have shared amenities with good security and
the comfort of home. That means I have a swimming pool, tennis court,
private and free cinema, saunas, gym, and a restaurant. Absolute bliss.
My overall thoughts on the first week are largely positive. I won't talk about my new job yet (everyone is lovely so far) but instead focus on the emotional side of things.
I had forgotten what it was like to be in a new and vastly
different culture about to undertake a new chapter in my life. All my talk of
preparation, and even the handy guide my company sent me, I still hadn’t prepared
my mind for the honeymoon period of living somewhere new and exciting. The joy
of tasting new foods, seeing different animals, watching the habits / oddities
of a different culture.
It’s interesting that the cynic and anxious side of me
has fully prepared me for the culture shock and annoyance of another country’s bureaucracy
affecting one’s ability to carry out simple everyday tasks such as buying a bus
ticket. But I didn’t remember the elation and the adrenaline buzz of
being surrounded by difference. I notice I am most grateful at these times,
which makes me a happier person. I believe that happiness is infectious and
self perpetuating, just like sadness.
However I still have this nagging sense of not deserving what I have
right now. I try my hardest to live a good life – I don’t cheat, con, steal,
and try to minimise harm whenever I can. I am no saint but I try my best and
more importantly try to learn from my mistakes. Yet this feeling of “undeservedness”
stays with me whenever I receive good things in life. Jim Carrey touched on
this in an interesting speech that is worth a watch from around the nine minute mark. That said, it is no Tim Minchin university address, which I still watch every few
months. Jim said that “it’s about letting the universe know what you want, working
towards it, while letting go of how it comes to pass.”
Unfortunately like any good advice that I have received by
the many people/teachers in my life, it’s easy to hear but harder to follow. A
sense of entitlement doesn’t come easy to me, even though I live a very privileged
life. I have my parents to thank because it’s better to feel undeserving than
to feel entitled – I imagine it limits disappointment... and it makes you seem like less of a dick.
Anyway ignoring this minor quibble, I’m very happy at the
moment. Life is unlocking a lot of doors and I am grateful. I also want to show
gratitude to the family and friends that have helped me. Whether I needed a
wise word, a hug, a home, a "like", or simply a laugh – you have all been there to
deliver. I am very lucky. So thank you.
I know some people (especially Brits) think showing positive
emotions and adulation is somehow odd, boastful, or self aggrandising. The
internet and the ability to connect to so many people certainly can promote
that type of behaviour. But this is not. Right now I am showing happiness to
promote happiness. I want to infect you! (It also means that the more distasteful
and angry blogs aren’t what define my online persona).
