The Rio Beach Scene

Today I participated in the parade that is the beach in Rio. They shut down half of the boulevard that runs along the beach to accommodate the crowds of tan, almost nude people strolling around checking each other out. I walked the length of Copacabana, stopped for a caipirinha, watched a football game (they play soccer over a volleyball net--looks very hard), and bought the necesary Brazilian Havaianas sandals. Then I settled in at Ipanema for the afternoon. The beach is truly a frenzy of activity. People are sitting on top of one another and men selling cold drinks, snacks, clothes, sunglasses, jewelry, and everything else you can think of are buzzing around constantly. I didn´t get any reading done--it was more fun to watch the show!