Brazil 2014!!!

Hands down the best experience/vacation I have ever done. Going to Brazil to see the FIFA World Cup as well as train Brazilian Jiu jitsu at one of the most famous gyms in the jiu jitsu community. One of the biggest things for me during a vacation is that I love to become and take part of the culture and way of life, not just be some tourist.Although, I did all the touristy things towards the beginning of my 10 day stay, the back end of the trip was where I felt like I was really able to just be part of the flow of Rio.

One of the things I love about this city and country all together is that they lead very active lifestyles. On top of walking and taking the metro to and from work and school, brazilians seem to have a grasp of what it means to be healthy and fit. Bike/Run lanes are as big as car lanes and usually pretty packed from the early morning until the late hours of the night. The weather at 1am is just too perfect to not run or get a workout in on the beach. Speaking of beach, Every 200 or so yards has a full calisthenic structure that people can do different types of pull-ups, dips, situps or pushups. Pretty much any bodyweight activity you can think of is on that structure. In all honesty seeing how fit and active their culture was kind of made me sad and sick about how we are in the US. But enough about all this fitness stuff let me get back to my trip and break down all the things I did! I hope you are ready for a long read. If you want to check out pictures and skim read, I bolded some of the important things that I feel need to be shared with you. Enjoy!

Being A Tourist!
We definitely visited a great number of places and took in all the sites. In the beginning of the trip we went Sugarloaf Mountain or Pão de Açúcar and man that view of Rio was just breathtaking, especially during sunset. You also get a pretty cool view of Christ the Redeemer statue from afar. Speaking of Christ the Redeemer or Cristo Redentor, it was also another great site to visit all the way atop a mountain. Sometimes it gets cloudy up there so the view of the statue even up close is really hard to get. but when it clears, it is just awesome! If you plan to visit this site make sure to take the van and not the train. they essentially take you to the same place but one is more efficient in its delivery and drop offs.

Not sure if everyone is familiar with the song and music video Beautiful by Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams. Well we were and we visited the Escaderia Seleron and the Parque Lage where they filmed their video. It was hard not taking a picture acting like we were Snoop D-O-Double G haha. The Parque Lage is a public park that also holds a visual arts school and cafe that is open to public. the center of the building (picture with me and US flag) is beautiful! On a less cloudy day you can look up from where I was standing and see the Cristo Redentor statue right above it.

On the subject of places made famous by celebrities, we also went to visit the the Favela Santa Marta where Michael Jackson filmed his "They Don't Care About Us" video. At the top of the favela they had a cool Michael Jackson tribute area as well. I also found out that part of Fast Five was filmed here as well!
One of the other favela's we visited and toured was the Favela Rocinha. One of the biggest favelas in the city and it was definitely eye opening and very shocking to see the living conditions of these people. Houses built atop houses and so forth with large water tanks on the roof to serve as emergency in case the government isn't able to get the water to these places. One of the biggest problems in the favelas in general is trash. Because there is so many people that live there it is hard to collect all the trash even when the garbage trucks come twice a day! All these crazy living conditions really just stuck it to me, making me feel really bad for all these people and their families but the coolest observation I took from this part of my trip was that the people in this favela in particular were extremely nice and courteous. Showing no negative emotion about their way of life but more so showing happiness and cheerfulness that they have their lives and a place to sleep. You definitely see that they cherish the things they have rather than worry and stress over the things they don't. Kind of made me think of how our culture is in the US. Generalizing based off my observations living here all my life, it seems like this fast paced country is always consumed and worried about working so hard for things we don't have or things we want that we definitely tend to neglect and take for granted the things we have. I feel as Americans we are spoiled with a lot, resources and things that are given to us everyday making us feel that these things are never ending, never depleting are actually necessities that become luxuries to these people... very sorry for the serious moment but this part of my trip really touched a big piece of my heart. Other places we visited were the lively city of Lapa and the beautiful Buzios! Buzios was awesome, definitely a place that needs to be visited with a significant other in my opinion but I still enjoyed the city with my family. From clubs to shopping to a front row seat to a beautiful beach, its all in one place in the city.

FOOOOOOOODDD!!!
What kind of Chef would I be if I didn't talk about the Food of Brazil!! Honestly, it seems the regular diet of Brazilians is very simple. Meat, rice/potatoes and beans in every dish, hearty and essential for the lives of very active people. We got to enjoy REAL coconut water straight from the source just how I like it. One of the cool places we went to was a churascaria where the succulent variety of meats are ever flowing and the vibes are of that of a big family picnic. It is very similar to our Espetus in the Bay Area. Actually really happy that the quality of our Bay Area churascarias are really similar and on par with that of ones in Brazil. When I travel I like to try out  all kinds of food, which includes fast food!! We tried a place called Bobs and I ordered their signature burger and it was the same like any other fast food. Yummy while eating but gross feeling afterwards. On days I needed a quick meal I tried out a sandwich Brazilian style! Which is super simples with meat and cheese. Their bread was crunchy and super soft on the inside! It seemed like every ingredient was made from scratch from the meat to the perfectly baked bread. Also their cheese they put is amazing! It felt freshly made if that makes sense. The texture of it felt like a softer version of string cheese but the flavor just popped. It is hard to describe but even with no condiments the sandwich was amazing! One of my brothers was a fan of all the baked pastries Brazil had to offer. We tried pao de queijo which were little bread balls stuffed with cheese and the group favorite coxinha!! Coxinha is a golden fried pastry filled with shredded chicken or other types of meat, it is a fluffy savory pastry of heavenly goodness . Now to the alcohol!!! We drank the Brazilian national cocktail called Caipirinha. A drink made with cachaca, sugar and lime. It was refreshing and had me feeling great while watching all the FIFA games!! I miss how simple the food was and the portions are the right size for one person. My most favorite food in all of brazil was the ACAI!!!! Even though the acai bowls here in the Bay Area are much healthier, you could really taste the quality since the acai berries come straight from the amazon. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it was loaded with sugar!! I still enjoyed it once a day! Just thinking about it gives me chills!! 

2014 FIFA World Cup!!

Amazing experiences all around. From watching the games on the jumbo screen of the Rio Fanfest to watching a quarter final match (Germany v France) at the Maracana Stadium. I have seen sporting events with up to 30,000 fans but this game.. 80,000+ fans watching the game!! Such a crazy atmosphere with fans who just love futbol. National futbol chants being screamed in their native language, fans getting in fights and loads of security diffusing the situation with the quickness too. After the game my brothers and I decided to make plans to follow the next tournament in Russia. If you have the opportunity to go to a World Cup game or even just be in the city/country its held in then you must go and experience. Even the atmosphere at FIFA Fanfest was awesome. Every goal scored during Fanfest had at least a handful of people throwing beers up in celebration with music blasting and dancing all around! Remembering it gives me chills and makes me miss it. Cant wait until the next tournament!

'

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu!

The ultimate cherry on top! this experience made my vacation the BEST vacation I have ever had. I am currently training under a Checkmat affiliate so I got the opportunity to connect with Professor Rico and train at Fightzone with team Checkmat Rio which was amazing. The caliber of training partners is unreal and even though some of them speak only Portuguese, communicating was no problem. Professor Rico who is the co-founder of the global team is a phenomenal coach. All the techniques I learned from him are things I have put into my game as soon as I learned them.

At first, it was intimidating because in one class I have never seen the number of black belts out number all other colored belts. After a few days training with all of them, I got comfortable and took it as a blessing and welcomed each challenge. Also, to be honest after learning some of names of my training partners, I googled them to see what their stats and achievements were and found out that I was training with people highly ranked in the world and even national champions!!! You can't really get training like that anywhere else!

This experience fueled something in me though. I was only there for a short period but they made me feel like family. I felt like I was part of something big and I was welcomed with open arms. After training with Checkmat, I will forever be team Checkmat. There is no other team I want to be with, no other family I want to be a part of in my Jiu jitsu Journey other than Checkmat. Thank you to my training partners in Rio for giving me the best training of my life and most of all thank you to Professor Rico for being a great teacher and leader. Oss!

a bit of a long read but that is my Brazil trip! I hope you enjoyed reading it. If you get the chance to travel you should always take it. There is a lot the world has to offer and a lot of beautiful things to see, one needs to explore and take it all in. I am very blessed and thankful for all the opportunities I've been given. Brazil, I will never forget how amazing you are!