No Centro

I got to go to the wonderful world of downtown Rio de Janeiro today.  I can´t help it but I love that place. It´s the knick knack capital of Knick Knack Hell!  Hoarders beware, you will not make it out of the centro alive!

My first favorite thing is that, no centro, I´m the slow walker.  Karma is a bitch people and I´m blocking your way.  It´s like walking on train tracks. I was taken down 3 times this afternoon.

I can´t help it. I become a looky loo when I get down there.  There´s so much going on.  You have the vendor selling black market dvds, the guy throwing the glowing ball thing up in the air, H Stern, clothing stores with sales, shoes, shoes, more shoes, and the biggest newsstands in the city.  It´s like an acid trip gone bad, or good, depending on your preference. 

And I love the mix. There´s a little bit of everything down there.  The super star executive, the movie star doing a commercial, the patricinha going to the bank, the street kid, the artist, the vendor, the English teacher, and the regular guy. We all chill downtown. 

The best part, you can get a metro straight there.  The 3 main point of downtown are covered.

Maybe I like it so much because I´m comfortable down there. Downtown is where I basically starting teaching.  I know my way around pretty well for a Gringa.  I even managed to buy a good keyboard and get a 20% even though I paid with a card. Not bad I say.