been a bit tired

I will start this post with a list of things that have broken in the last 7-10 days or so:
-my glasses
-my sunglasses
-1 of my apartment building's two elevators
-the shower's hot water
-something else that broke but I can't remember what it is

I'm not sure where this list is leading or what's next, but hopefully it's not a limb or my morality. Just kidding, I don't see how being in Rio could ever break my morality.

The past week was relatively slow. Monday through Wednesday especially were pretty quiet because I slept for significant portions of the day. That probably had something to do with waking up before 6:15 for 3 out of 4 days around that time. The adults reading this are probably like, big deal I'm always up then, but I'm definitely not used to it so it threw me off.

The first day waking up that early was last Saturday, when there was a field trip organized by the University to go the city of Petropolis, which is a little over an hour away from Rio. Petropolis is known as the Imperial City, and it was the former summer residence of the emperor during Brazil's colonial times. The city is pleasant, with various palaces and nice looking houses. The trip was a bit frustrating/boring though, because staff from the University kept us on a tight leash. I would have rather preferred to do my own thing there. The main sights we saw were the Imperial Museum, which was the emperor's palace, a grand cathedral where the emperor and his family are buried, and the house of this guy named Santos Dumont. Santos Dumont is heralded here as the father of aviation. Apparently he was the first person to take off on his own, whereas the Wright Brothers' flight was propelled by a catapult. Santos Dumont was also an inventor; I read that he invented the wristwatch, and that Cartier comes out with a special edition watch every year called the Santos. Anyway, the house itself wasn't really that cool. It was a pretty ordinary house with some pictures and letters hanging on the walls. The most interesting thing that I took was that Santos Dumont's bed was also his desk. Or his desk was also his bed. Not sure which one's right. But he basically slept on a hard wooden shelf. I guess that's how geniuses roll.

The next early wakeup was Monday morning, when I had to be at the University at 7 am to take a van to the airport where I had to register with the Federal Police here. The early morning was a bit tough to handle considering I had been up until nearly 2 the night before watching the football playoffs, with which I'm happy with the outcomes. The University assigned all exchange students to a group on a certain day to go to the police, and my day was Monday. All students need to register with the police within 30 days of arrival here in order to be here legally for whatever reason. However, when we got to the airport, we were told that we couldn't see the police because they had already given out the maximum number of tickets for the day. Apparently the police only give out 60 tickets per day, and although we got there at 8 am, they had given out all the tickets already and would not accept us. After waiting around for about an hour (if you recall from a previous post, waiting around is a favorite Brazilian pasttime) we headed back and were told we would need to come back tomorrow. I was just thrilled, so thrilled in fact that I removed my sunglasses from my head and hurled them at the airport wall; thus, that is how they broke. (Just kidding, that isn't actually how they broke. But they did break at some point during that experience, so I thought that would be a fitting story.)

Due to Monday morning's invigorating experience, we were informed that the next morning we would have to report to the University at 6 am in order to arrive at the airport early enough so that the police didn't run out of numbers. So I had to wake up about 5. We got there about a quarter to 7, and by the time the last of us was finished it was 1:00. It was a lot of waiting for a 5 minute process. The police registration is one example of a number of Brazilian processes that I have noticed are absurdly and remarkably inefficient. We didn't even get the worst of it, however; the group that went the next day didn't return until 6 pm, and the group the following day came back at 4:30. Pretty ridiculous.

So, now you know why I did so much sleeping during the days and evenings this week. To recuperate, I spent Thursday and Friday afternoons at the Copacabana beach. There were some very big and powerful waves both days; it was fun.

My Portuguese class was very frustrating this week; it was exceedingly slow and boring. We really need to pick up the pace. There were multiple times where I would have rather banged my head against a wall or jumped off a cliff than sit in that class. At least that old guy in our class continues to be entertaining.

During much of the time that I wasn't sleeping this past week, I planned a trip. Our Portuguese class ends this coming Thursday; later that afternoon, I will take a bus to Sao Paulo, where I will stay through the weekend. The bus ride is long, 6 hours, and I will arrive late Thursday night. On Monday afternoon, I will fly to Florianopolis, which is farther south and is supposed to be beautiful. Florianopolis is on a large island and is full of beaches. I have heard only good things. I'll stay there until Friday afternoon, when I'll fly back to Rio in time for the start of Carnaval. I'll be traveling with two guys from California and a Norwegian. I think the trip should be great.

Tomorrow I'm attending a soccer match at the Maracana stadium between Flamengo and Fluminense, which are the two most heavily supported soccer teams among Rio residents. To add even more intensity, the teams are tied for first in the league standings. People have said that games at Maracana, especially between these two teams, are incredible to experience. With a lot on the line, the game should be fascinating.