Just Wrong!

Early morning bleacher in Leme

I've mentioned this annoying and nasty Carioca habit here before. I just don't get it. Who in their right mind would think it's kosher to bleach their body hair on the beach?! Sure the sun makes it happen faster but I think people should look at it another way. There are certain things that are better done in the privacy of your own home at a slower rate than in public.

It is just tacky tacky tacky! I once saw a women let her young daughters use her leftovers. They were so excited to take part in the bleach fest. Teach them early I guess. The best part is that these women even bleach their mustache. It's hard to see in the picture but this statue of beauty is sporting a white bleach stripe below her nose. 

You have to admit though, only Carioca women would have such big balls as but mustache bleach on the beach.

Would you do this? Have you done it? Be honest now!

Yemanjá and the Ocean May Scare Me

I used to tell myself that I had a very deep respect for the ocean. It was as if I had a better understanding of it's true power. Well, as it turns out, I'm just a big pussy.

I don't have respect for the ocean, I'm afraid of it! Although I do think that it's a pretty fine line between the two. Actually, it's a fine line between respect, fear, and stupidly secure.

Mr. Rant walks the line of respect and stupidly secure. I've always been amazed by this. While I love to go in for a dip and float a bit in some calm water, I'm getting in and out if big waves are involved.

The fish I married is the opposite. He goes straight in, dives under, and tries to ride the waves. Got to love a fish who still doesn't quite manage to ride 'em. Regardless, he's as comfortable in the water as he is sporting the tiny Brazilian speedo on the sand.

I, on the other hand, need him to coach me out when there are big waves. On those days I usually wait until my bladder is going to burst and I have no other choice but to go into the water. I'm sure Yemanjá, the goddess of the ocean, loves that. Actually, I think she may get a bit of perverse pleasure busting out a surprise wave and making me pee a bit before planned. We women are perverse like that.

But the longer I live in Rio de Janeiro, the more comfortable I get with the ocean. It may have something to do with the 2 or 3 beers I have while on the beach or just the consistent exposure to my friend the ocean. Either way, I'm not having a quasi-panic attack when I see a huge wage coming! I just take my breath and dive down deep.

It really was only a matter of time as beach public bathrooms have only just gotten enter-able and it's hotter than a witch's swamp-ass here in the summer! No choice but to dive in and hope for the best.

How about you? Are you an ocean swimmer? Do you just hang out on the beach and make sure you are sitting near a shower? And how do you feel about all of those like me who pee in the ocean? I am nasty or just following the trend?

Buzios: Go There!

Ms. Bardot in Buzios

I'm not a sun worshiper by any means... Ok, maybe that's not the truest of true statements. Let's just say that I love a good morning at the beach followed by a big lunch followed by a little more beach.

And while that is just not possible in Rio de Janeiro, it is so possible in Buzios! Alright, again maybe not totally true about Rio de Janeiro but as locals we just don't do it.

But in Buzios it's quaint  beach vacation mode all the way! Hell, if Brigitte Bardot put the city on the map you really can't go wrong with going there, can you!

I will also say straight out that the best beach is Geríba! You can not go wrong with it, unless it's high tide but that's just nature. On a normal day the water is perfect for big and small children alike. Think shallow and waves very far from where the kids play. The sand is wet and packed down so sand castle and tunnel construction is golden.

And for the Non-children owning adults and the spenders, you can sit at a table and get drinks and snacks. Oh yes, the ease of Rio de Janeiro without the congestion (except for holidays and/or weekends during the summer).

I absolutely adore my days at that beach and we conveniently know someone who owns a house close to Geríba. Oh the beauty in it all! But this weekend, seeing that the family went, we had to pousada it. I have to say that this is the first time I've been able to recommend a pousada in Buzios (or Rio for that matter) and I think it's a good one.

While on the pricey side, and still very much a Brazilian pousada, it was very nice. The rooms are unique and clean, the decor pleasing to the eye, and there is wireless internet (not that you'll ever use it but it's there). They also have, bless them, good mattresses and pillows! Hell, they brought in two proper kiddie beds for our kids! I was like, holy hell an easy place to take a child.

Keep in mind that it is up a hill and a bit more of a trek to the beach. A little bit of a bitch but it also means the view is amazing. If you want to check them out: www.casacolina.com.br

FYI: They are not paying me for this review nor do they actually know I'm doing it. Now that I think about it, I'm a bit of a fool for not saying something. Ah well. If they ask, tell them I sent you. Maybe if enough people show up saying something about Rachel and Ranting they'll be curious enough to Google me.

So keep Buzios in mind. While we went with great company, you could totally pull of a good trip to this city with obnoxious people! If that annoying in-law or boyfriend of a friend is coming to visit, take them to Buzios. It's such a nice place you won't care who is there with you!

Hell, I think that should be the city's new motto.

View from the pool at the pousada 

Photos of the Northeast of Brazil

Mr Rant and I pulled out some old photos this morning. In the stack was the pictures from our trip to the Northeast of Brazil in 2005.

It was fun to relive those free and relaxing days before stability became important. We spent 3 weeks traveling from Natal to Porto de Galinhas. We took a plane, buses, paid for a ride from a random dude, walked (a lot), and even managed to get a ride on a couple of makeshift rafts.

It was an amazing trip and I highly recommend that you all fit traveling up there into your life at one point or another. Without further ado, some highlights of our trip:

Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro's Chinatown

I had an out of body experience today. Nothing special, I just went to Ipanema. I felt like I was in New York City's Chinatown but was swearing, upside down and sideways, that I was in China!

Before you call me judgmental or a hater, I do have a point. Every third person was an non-Portuguese speaking foreigner. In the middle of the day, at any given moment, I could have translated for someone in need.

Did I? Nope. I was never asked directly and I've learned to blend. You know, kind of like a wolf in sheep's clothing. We all know I'm there but I'm trying so damn hard. Why ruin it?

But something did come to mind, with all the issues to complain about, why are foreigners complaining? There's an entire neighborhood, the chicest one mind you, dedicated to you and your money. It's there with nice restaurants, English speaking doctors, and even imported products!

I was so excited when my neighborhood got jam in more than one flavor that didn't have a picture of Monica (Brazilian cartoon character) and the top ingredients of sugar and jello.

Of course one would ask why I don't live there. Well, I'm married to a middle-class Brazilian, we can't afford it! But even if we could, I would think twice. The weekends would be wonderful, who doesn't want to be steps from the beach, but do I want that day to day life?

Personally, I love my neighborhood. I love the cranky people pushing past my stroller, the doormen gossiping, and the bread shop guy telling me that my child is tired. I love the involvement.

Hell, an old lady joked with me today that I was missing a child. She saw me taking my son's friend to school the other day and mocked me. That is awesome. That is a Carioca neighborhood.

The thing that really pisses me off is all the stuff foreigners miss. They sleep in Ipanema and drink until oblivion in Lapa. There's a lot there in the middle there.

I'll break it down like this. If Rio de Janeiro was a woman's body, Ipanema would be the breasts. It's pretty, all ages like to go there, and it feeds the young. But it is not the heart.

To stick with this, to know Rio you have to be the blood. You have to travel to all the organs. One evening, without even knowing it, you will find yourself in the heart of a Carioca moment.

Take it from me, nothing can compare. 

Wordless Wednesday: Weird Jobs

For a foreigner, there are some interesting jobs here in Brazil. Let me show you a few that I see around Rio de Janeiro.

 The Corn on the Cob person. You can buy fresh, and extremely tasty, corn on the beach or the street.

 The Street BBQ dude. This is very weird but quite common. These guys set up their on bbq, bring the meat, and sell it on random corners. Get this, people buy it! Hell, I have too! Eat meat, chicken, chicken hearts, sausage, and more. 

 The beach Mate Guy. One tin lime juice, the other a Brazilian ice tea called Mate. You take a cup and mix the proportions yourself.

 Knife sharpeners. I think the picture says it all

 Beach Empada guy. He sales salty cupcake type things filled with meat/cheeses/etc. Random beach food but a job with a view.

Massages in the park. Go to Aterro in Flamengo and you'll see a couple of massage tables set up. You can also find them on the beach. Sorry guys, I prefer licensed people rubbing my body parts.

Called Flanelinhas because they used to carry flannel and clean your car, these guys are the unofficial parking meters of Rio de Janeiro. You pay them to help you get your car in the spot and make sure it doesn't get stolen. Not government regulated but culturally accepted and hated.  You leave your car in neutral and this guy pushes it up to make room for more.

This is the abacaxi guy in Ipanema. If you are standing on the beach there and get the crap scared out of you buy some dude screaming "AAAAAAAAABACAXI!" you have met this man. 

Gisele Bundchen takes on the Sun and off the Sunscreen

Gisele Bundchen is at it again. This time, the Brazilian Goddess of the sun is attacking one of it's worshipers, sunscreen companies.  


She was quoted as saying:

'I cannot put this poison on my skin,' the 30-year-old said. 'I do not use anything synthetic.'

Bundchen claims she only exposes herself to the sun before 8am when it's still too weak to do any damage. Nerds of the world, combine your powers to bring down the wicked Large Mouther Witch of the Southern Hemisphere and find pictures proving this wrong.  


Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if Ms. Gisele could tell the sun off and make it go back to 8am.  Remember your place you big ball of gas!


The National Cancer Institute of Brazil obviously had something to say about Gisele's new foot in mouth comment.  

"Sunscreen prevents damage to the skin and is of fundamental importance for the prevention of cancer. This is not any poison, when a public person makes a statement like this, it creates confusion."

Now maybe she does follow the 8am rule. If I made gazillions off of my looks, I would hide under a rock if I needed to. But something tells me, like her tan lines, that 8am is just not happening.

Maybe sunscreen is full of nasty shit, like everything else. But something inside me says that cancer is much nastier.  Ah well, to each there own.  

Soccer, it's in Their Blood

My husband is a true Carioca and, therefore, has his soccer team.  There are 4 club teams in Rio de Janeiro: Botafogo, Vasco, Flamengo, and Fluminense.  My husband is Botafogo and so am I. Yes, since I did not have a team, I married into one and my children were born into one. If they should want to switch teams later in life, they may also have to switch Fathers.

So imagine my husband's surprise when I announced that I was enrolling our 4 yr old son into soccer class. I had hardly gotten the last syllable of the word 'class' out of my mouth when he declared that it MUST be with the Botafogo club.

That's all well and good. I totally get where he's coming from. There's a much larger chance of our son switching teams if he is playing for and friends with people from another team.  I hear you Mr. Rant and it is duly noted.

But it's not going to happen.  It's just not practical. When I mentioned that, I was huffed. Oh yes, my husband huffed and puffed and attempted to blow down my logic.  So wasn't going to happen.  But I'm a fair player and I informed him that if he'd like to be late to work twice a week so he could load up our son in the car and drive him to practice, go for it.  I, on the other hand, was going to pick a team in walking distance from my place.

Walking distance, I'm all about it these days. I blame city life and good weather.

Anyway, he was somewhat accepting over the idea of our son practicing at the Fluminense club. It's around the corner from our place and we are members, only because it means a pool on hot days.  That and Fluminense is not a threat. No offense Flu supporters.

But something happened on the way to making that happen. I was invited by a friend to have my son try out beach soccer, also near our place.  Well, that just sounds like a hell of a lot more fun than regular soccer, plus my little one would actually be able to play around on the beach while we watched.  Score!

Imagine my husband's surprise when I informed him that I had found a team my son likes and it's, deep breath, sponsored by Flamengo!  For those of you who don't know, Flamengo is to the other Rio teams as the Isrealis are to the Palestinians.  Sorry honey, we left the Gaza strip for soccer practice.  So wrong, I know.

And it's not just my husband! I know my pediatrician's team, the school teacher's team, and basically anyone else in this country that I've spoken to for longer than a minute and a half.

Soccer is a way of life here. Even if you don't actively watch, I'd say 99% have a team they at least say they support.

As for my husband and the beach soccer team, he came and watched the other day.  He saw how happy our boy was out there.  It got the thumbs up.  Because, let's be honest, if there's one thing that makes a Brazilian Dad prouder than his soccer team, it's his kid playing soccer.  

Wordless Wednesday: Beachwear

In Rio de Janeiro, we wear swimsuits enough that they are fashion.  Here's a taste of Rio's Summer Fashion  week 2011, swimsuit addition.

And what will you be sporting on the beach this season?

Bathing Like a Brazilian

Summer is quickly approaching in Rio de Janeiro and that can sometimes be intimidating for foreigners.  Bathing suits, for both men and women alike, are enough to make you run to your hotel/hostel pool and stay there with the other white folk.

Don't be scared! The beaches here are not just for the excessively toned and tanned!  Put on that Brazilian bikini, aka. post-its on string, and get your ass out there. You are not alone.


Every Brazilian body type, and there are many, sport the barely there suits on a beach.  Hell, even Great Aunt Julia, all 200 + pounds, is wearing a smaller suit than you.

Every time I suit up for the beach, I go in front of the mirror to pinch and groan. Oh how the glory days have passed.  Of course I suck it up and head out with the family.  Upon arrival, I look around.  Sure, there are the hot bodies and the not bodies, and everything in between.  It's enough to make this stomach obsessed girl from California finally breath.

The beach in Brazil isn't really about how hot you look, not once you pass 25 anyway.  It's about being there, enjoying it, and burning off the drama from the workweek.

In the words of the Caricoa: "There's nothing a good day at the beach can't cure."

Amen! And don't forget your sunscreen!

Here are a few of my favorite things

Because I can sometimes seem like a negative Nelly, I wanted to post on a few of my favorite things about living in Rio de Janeiro.

1.  How Cariocas can chill. Only in Rio could you have a brunch that goes until 4pm where your childless friends spend the entire afternoon watching Cinderella with your kids and playing Uno, while simultaneously chatting amongst themselves. These guys chill so well they sometimes seem comatose.  A trip to Rio de Janeiro should be mandatory for type A personalities.

2.  The food. I've said it before and I'll say it again, who knew black beans and rice could be so damn good. Don't worry, after a while your bowels get used to the fiber and the gas subsides.  We're still waiting for that at our house but fingers are crossed.

3.  You can take your kids anywhere and everywhere and they can, gasp, act like kids. You will not be shunned if your kids scream or drop something on the floor. You will, however, be given a series of dirty looks if you do not let the table next to yours give your kids some of their fries while you are waiting for your order.

4.  The beach.  For starters, they are beautiful, all 300 + we have here.  Add in that you don't have to bring anything (city beaches anyway) and I'm a happy camper. I'm talking no cooler with snacks, no beach chairs unless you want to, and the seriously lazy don't even have to bring sunscreen although you'll pay out the nose. You can buy it all there! 

5.  Coconut water. Sir, could you please bust out a machete and whack open a stupidly cold coconut for me? Two straw and R$3 later = heaven!

6.  Chopps. I really do love cold Brazilian draft beer. Even more, I love getting together with friends to drink it. For the serious chopp lovers, you can also bring your kids. Oh yes, it is ok to bring your kids to a bar, even at 1030pm. I have yet to get to that point in my Brazilian-ness and I don't think I will, but it's always nice to have the option.  I do, however, drink beer at birthday parties, the beach, and bbqs.

7. The activities.  Rio de Janeiro is like a book of 1001 outdoor activities to do on the 359 sunny days a year. Hike, climb, swim, run, ride bikes, bird watch, waterfall hunt, or just sit on a beach chair at one of the many beaches. We really do have it all. 

8. Movies.  Cariocas love their movies, both foreign and local. There are festivals on top of the already well represented movie theater industry.  Now I just need to get a babysitter so my husband and I can start going again!

9. The culture. There's always some new exhibit somewhere, a dance performance, or a play (adult and children's). It's very cutting edge here and you will see some amazingly good stuff and total crap, all of which are pretty entertaining.  Hell, a friend of mine went to a play that wasn't even a play. They paid R$30 to go into and wait to see a play that was never going to happen. A kind of psychological experiment if you will.  So it's a grab bag and you never quite know what you are going to get.

10. The people. People here are so helpful and kind.  They are so helpful that strangers have no problem telling you that your kid is going to die of strep throat just because you gave them cold water.  And they will chase after you, 2 city blocks, to give you back the shoe that your kid kicked off.  That's caring with a capital I know how expensive shoes are and you were going to be pissed when you got home.

11. Destinations. Want to get away for the weekend? There's Buzios, Paraty, Ilha Grande, Visconde de Maua,Teresopolis, Petropolis, Cabo Frio, etc etc and so on and so forth. We have country, "mountains", beaches, and islands.  It's all beautiful and you can go cheap or expensive or rich and obnoxious. 

It comes down to Rio de Janeiro being a truly unique place.  Smiles, sunshine, live music, large asses, street food, and beans on the side. I'll take one please.

Sprinklers Rio de Janeiro style

We live in a big city, a big HOT city 4 months (or more) out of the year.  In my day, we kiddies would spend hot days running through sprinklers in the yard.  Hell, when we lived in Florida, my Mom would send us out into the summer rain in our swimsuits. 

Could you imagine that here?!  Cariocas melt in the rain, even when it's 100 degrees. I think they would create social services just to come take my poor children away if I ever let them play in the rain on a hot day.  Heaven forbid if  I let them do it in the mud! 

In their defense, I live in Rio and the mud is probably more feces than actual dirt.

What to do?  I can't drag my bunch to the beach everyday and my building does not have a pool.  I have considered New York styling it and busting open a fire hydrant but, yet again, I would be flogged.  Plus that is just wasteful, and I don't know how to open them anyway. 

So I joined a club.  Oh yes, a country club baby, if you can call it that. It's the Fluminense club. It's more like paying to use a large, rundown common area of an apartment complex.  But you know what, it gets the job done and it gets it done close enough that we can walk there from home. 

I joined this club for one main reason, the shower in the walled-in park.  They have a little shower area, an aquatic park if you will, that consists of 3 showers, a faucet, and a padded floor for the little ones. Of course they took 3 out of 4 knobs off the showers/faucet so we can only turn on one shower. 

Water conservation so we heard.  And it gets a little knock down drag out fight-ish during the peak of the summer when there are 20 kids trying to play under it.  What can you do. It's our sprinkler. 

And the big posse full of kids only brings up more more memories from my youth. Some kids are totally prepared in their bathing suits with towels waiting for them. And then there are kids like mine, who's Mom totally forgot to bring anything. They run around in their underwear, or naked if they are little enough. They air dry while eating a Popsicle on their way home. 

There's screaming and hollering, laughing and spilling of buckets of water over other kids' heads and sometimes the feet of the grown ups.  We big people sit on chairs a couple feet away from the shower, watching and chatting amongst ourselves. 

It's very simple and very pleasant.  And in a weird way, I feel like my boys are getting a taste of my youth, in Portuguese.

I want that Carioca job!

I can't figure out, for the life of me, what a quarter of the parents of the kids at my kids' school do for a living. Seriously, it's mind boggling.  

It reminds me of weekday Ipanema beach goers. When my parents were visiting, I took my them there on a random Tuesday morning, around 11ish. My Dad turned and asked me if it was a holiday.  Nope.  Then why in the hell aren't these people at work or school?! 

That is a good question.  Any given beautiful Rio de Janeiro day, Ipanema, Copacabana, and Leblon will be pretty full considering it's a weekday.  They can't all be students or mooching off their working parents. They can't all have won the lottery, be software geniuses retired at 35, or only work nights and weekends. 

What gives? What is the Carioca secret no one is sharing with me?! 
 
That's what's throwing me off with about 1/4 of the parents at my kids' school.  Let me explain, school starts at 1pm, middle of the workday.  The majority of these guys get dropped off by extended family or a maid, a school bus, or are in school full time. There are also a few stay-at-home parents who bring the little rug rats in. 

Then there's the magical 1/4. Sometimes the Father drops off the kid at 1pm. Sometimes the Mother.  Sometimes it's both of them.  Sometimes I see the Mother dropping off the kid and then run into the Father just cruising the neighborhood. 

No, these are not stay-at-home parents. And I don't think there are that many independently wealthy families sending their kids to our tree-hugging, hippie friendly, Harvard school of finger painting. 

So where on Earth do these people work and can my husband work there?  My husband can sometimes get off early to pick the kiddies up but no, he's not doing drop off duty or anything close to that. And the job must pay decently if they can afford the tuition.  Even with a discount, it's nothing to scoff at. 

So here is our mission.  We must discover the secret to the wandering Carioca.  How do they make their livelihood? And are they hiring? 

Neurosis of a Carioca

I can´t speak for all Cariocas, but I can speak for my husband. I find that as mellow as this specific breed of Brazilian is, the Carioca has some really funny deal breakers.

1. Coconut water: My husband will not drink pre-packaged coconut water. He says it tastes dirty. Plus it´s just ridiculous to drink it out of a box when you can go outside and get it fresh.    It´s a good point. And as a processed food, everything comes in a box and loving it American, I never even thought of that. 

2. The dirty beach:  My husband hates dirty beaches. Funny because I consider any city beach dirty but there are degrees of dirty in the mind of my Carioca husband. For starters, you can not even step on the sand at Praia do Flamengo.  It will eat your feet right off. Ok, maybe not but it´s still not recommended. You can, however, walk on Praia Vermelha (Red beach) but can not go in the water. You get the point.

3. You do not, unless it´s completely unavoidable, go near the ponte on the last day of a holiday weekend. This is just insanity and will cause your spouse to call in the professionals. Of course if you are returning from Buzios or something like that, it´s ok.  Then again, I´m sure my husband would say there are even better routes. 

4. You can not plan to meet someone on a beach without getting their cell phone number. It does not matter if you designated a spot, are going to put up a sign, or will have a plane circling. It´s madness to not have the person´s cell! We had this discussion yesterday when I, oh dear goodness the sanity of it all, didn´t get my friend´s cell number.  By the way, we found each other just fine.

5. Sit on your bed in your street clothes:  He will not sleep well if he sees me do this. Seriously, the microscopic germs he imagines transferring from the butt of my jeans, through the blanket, and into the mattress will keep him up at night.  He´s not the first person I´ve seen with this rule.  The entire family does it.  People in the family wouldn´t hold my newborn because they had just been outside, on the street. I was like, then unless you move in with me, you´ll never hold the kid. Apparently, just walking outside makes you a dirty sack. 

Just a few little things that make me laugh every time.  I wouldn´t even notice these things if it weren´t for the people closest to me.  Got to love their little crazies.  Goodness knows they love mine, or at least are good at faking. 

By the way, the great image highlighting this post is from the book I am Neurotic.  The brilliant Lianna Kong composed a book of people´s random neurosis.

What are yours?

No you can´t see me naked

There are certain people in my Brazilian life that I do not need to remember are women and men. They are people, of course, but are non-sexual beings in my mind. Call me crazy but it works. 

Now Brazilian swimwear makes this quite difficult. There´s no hiding behind the 3 inches of fabric they give you.  I´m comfortable with that. I bust out the Brazilian bikini at the beach and pool without a problem, normally. 

The thing is, when you are sun bathing like a Carioca, everyone knows what God gave you.  It´s almost like being a tease with just the bits and pieces covered.  Of course, we can all tell what´s under there. 

So you can imagine how I felt when I saw that I was about to run into our pediatrician at the pool. Yes, I´m about to be 30 and am a mother of 2.  I should be somewhat mature. We´d all like to think that, wouldn´t we.  Well, I´m not. I took evasive action. 

Call it what you will but I´m not ready to have an idea of the fruits God gave the man that checks my kids´ ears. I have to be able to go to a doctors appointment without thinking about what lies beneath! 

I could not look.  Sure you would say that.  Of course I would look! Are you kidding me?! I´m that girl that if you say, oh don´t look Rachel, I`m a lookin´.  I´m also that person that slows down her car to stare at accidents, laughs at inappropriate times, and spills wine on children (long story). 

Think of me what you will.  But you know, deep down, you only love me a little bit more. 

Been in Rio too long

I decided today that I've been in Rio too long.  It's technically winter here so it's "chilly" for natives and those who have adapted to the climate.  While it's warm in the sun, it's been all too easy to say that it's too cool for the beach. 

My friend from Norway is visiting and I swear she almost bitch slapped me when I said it was too cold for the beach.  Keep in mind it's 75 degrees F and 24 degrees C.  It's just WRONG for me to think it's too cold.  So I listened to my friend, we packed up our kids, and we headed out. 

Well, I'm sunburned. When I'm wrong I am so very wrong!  It was a wonderful day at the beach.  For starters, we stayed there past noon and didn't melt into our chairs. The waves were calm and the water was clean.  Ok, the definition of clean here means I didn't notice an alarming amount of trash.  Big city beach people, I know it isn't clean! 

All and all it was a wonderful day!  Not to mention that my kids were utterly exhausted and crashed afterwards. Mom and Dad got a 2 and 3 hr nap respectively.  Hell, I feel so rested I could have another baby... ok, not that rested but I'm feeling pretty darn good.

10 favorite things about living in Rio

10. The weather. Sun, sun, and more sun.
9. There's always something somewhere to do
8. The parks: parque lage, Catete Palace, Aterro, etc.  Sure there may be some crazies but it's still a good place to visit.
7. Leme beach for kids
6. The scenery- Take a walk/run on Aterro or the beaches (Leblon, Ipanema, Copacabana). It's beautiful
5. The people - very sweet, sometimes crazy, always supportive and social
4. The food - enough said
3. The love of life, the love of living, the art of enjoying the life you are living. They have that down here
2. You never know when you'll run into live music. It may be at 8am in the park, noon in a plaza, midnight in the street.
1. The love and acceptance of children. You can truly take them anywhere in this city.