Rio - day 3 or 4 or 5 or ????. It is so easy to lose track of time and days. Not complaining, it's pretty nice to be able to do it. I am so fortunate to have the universe's abundance that is mine for the asking. I know it sounds crazy to some but the meditation series on abundance by Depak Copra that I took before I left really seems to work. I don't fret over what will happen, I just imagine the best possible outcome and almost always things work out great. For example - just before I left home, my friend Luci in Rio, had asked me to find a backpack for her 10yo neighbor girl. She showed me one online with an owl on it. Or something about Justin Bieber. I went to a Ross store and on the way in I suddenly thought, wouldn't it be nice to find a combination - a backpack with Justin's face on it. I went to where they had kids' backpacks and right on the top corner peg facing me was a backpack with his face on it. It seemed to jump out at me. It was freaky, I swear. I asked an employee if they had any more Bieber stuff and she said no, that went as fast as they got it. She was surprised to see me holding the backpack as they sell even faster. Coincidence? Or karma and my abundance meditations? Who knows? :-) Anyhow - After 2 nights in the Hotel Debret I am now in my timeshare-traded hotel, the Rio Othon Palace. It's one of the nicer hotels and the tallest on Copacabana Beach (30 floors). My room is the 21st floor with a great side view of the beach from a 2-foot wide balcony with a 3-foot tall glass wall. Freaky for me but I adjust.

The room seems to be one of their older ones that hasn't been remodeled - probably why I got it through RCI, where my timeshare weeks are banked. It's quite nice though - roomy, clean, big king bed, quality linens, etc. Carpet has some fraying and TV is older but who cares. Saturday noon-ish I checked in with Luci's help dragging my stuff from the other hotel 2 blocks away. I had 2 suitcases since one was full of old clothes I was bringing for her to take to those less fortunate. I got quickly checked in around 1pm which was surprising since they said RCI check-in was 4pm. He said he had an open room he could give me but was on a high floor. I said sure. So, I settled in and we took a quick tour of the hotel. Amazing view from the 30th floor bar/pool. She had to go home before rush hour traffic via the bus so I just walked around the area exploring. It is a bit hard trying to figure things out since rarely is there anything in English. And Portuguese is a whole other language than the few things I know in Spanish. But I am slowly adapting. I just say what I want in English and point to it. Somehow we get there. Still, it'd be nice to converse with people better. I doubt I can learn Portuguese. Sunday Luci calls and do I want to go to Ipanema Beach for the day to meet her son's girlfriend. Sure. She brings the bus in, about 2 hours trip. Ughhh. But she's used to it and doesn't need a car. We get our beach bags filled and walk to Ipanema. About 1-1/2 miles but I make it OK. My back has been acting up so walking aggravates it. But I survive. The beach is literally packed with people.

There are little stands along the beach that rent umbrellas and chairs for the day. Almost everyone does it since it's easier than lugging your own. It's on the honor system which blew me away. They have numbers on the items and a guy takes them down to a vacant spot - about 3 feet away from someone else in every direction. Crazy. I rarely enjoy just "going to the beach" but quickly acclimated. It was fun actually You sit around and talk awhile. When you get hot you weave through the people to the water and jump around in the surf like everyone else. Then back to the umbrella and vendors bring beverages and food around. Almost whatever you want. Ice-cold Heineken beer was only $2, some meat pie thingy $1.50, etc. - delivered to your umbrella. It looked like rain around sunset 7pm so we walked back to hotel to shower and go out to eat. Little place down the street - had great dinner - fresh fish w/shrimp sauce, mashed potatoes, and rice. With drinks it was around $40. Not bad. Back to the room and collapsed from busy day at beach. She had to go home to attend to some business this morning (Monday?) so I walked around some shops, then back for a nap to recover from the beach day. Now I am trying to figure out how to register for the bike rental system here. It only costs $5US for whole month. You sign up with credit card, go get a bike from the closest rack where they are locked up, ride for an hour, and take it to whatever station you want. You can only use it for an hour at a time with 15-minute breaks or they charge extra. Kinda weird system but it make sense. Can't get the online system to work so off to find some help. Ciao.