Last Stop

7/11-12/14

Time to finally say goodbye to Fe’s family. Her parents came over to take care of the girls one last time while we all headed to Rio de Janeiro. (It’s been great listening to Nick talk to Fe’s dad in Spanish – he’s picked up the Portuguese cadence when he speaks Portugñol.) [Nick: My Portugñol has been super helpful on this trip. Even as people talk to us in Portuguese, I have been able to understand them well enough to get by.] We will miss Isabela and Camila; they have been so much fun – especially when the two of them insisted on putting their princess dresses on before taking a group picture. Adorable. [Nick: Isabela sat on my lap for the group picture. When she got up I was covered in sparkles; her dress was full of glitter that rubbed off on me. I was joking that I looked ‘radiant’.] Bagi and Claudia joined us for the caravan over to Rio. It was a long drive but, fortunately, the traffic wasn’t all that bad. We were expecting a lot worse, given all the talk of Argentinians driving in just for the game. It was rumored that about 50,000 Argentinians had descended upon Rio, many just jumping in a car and driving thousands of miles with no hotel or game tickets (the latter of which some of them were able to obtain last minute, as Filipe had heard of many Brazilians who were so disgusted with Brazil and that Argentina was going to the final that they were willing to sell their coveted finals tickets just so they wouldn’t have to be in the middle of the Argentinian crowds). We heard that many Argentinians were just sleeping in their cars or in tents, on the beach or in parks, anywhere they could find to be a part of what they hoped would be history. As such, we were a little weary of how rowdy the crowds might actually get.

Princess Camila & her pai

Tio Nick & Princess Isabela

World Cup family photo

In the morning, we were joined by Fe’s sister, Lila, and her boyfriend, Juan, who had also gotten tickets to the final. (Juan is Colombian and actually moved to Brazil two years ago in anticipation of the World Cup – a dedicated man.) [Nick: He did well. In a year and half, he got a job as a graphic designer, learned Portuguese pretty well (not that I could tell myself but everyone seemed to understand him), and found a Brazilian girlfriend. And Colombia rewarded him by going farther in the tournament than they ever had before; like Costa Rica, they also exited in the quarterfinals.] We all wandered around Copacabana Beach and Ipanema Beach before the Brazil game. These are by far the most famous beaches in Brazil but they were pretty laid back (not surprising since it is winter time down here and the ocean was pretty damn cold – just like CA year-round). The scenery was beautiful: broad sandy beaches with giant green waves, framed on either end by domed cliffs rising out of a mixed wall of favelas and high-rise hotels.

Ipanema to the left

Ipanema to the right

We didn’t stay on the beach too long, as we planned to meet Bagi and Claudia to eat and watch Brazil v. Holland fight for third place (hopefully, Brazil will be able to rally for one last triumphant stand in the Cup). But before we left, the guys were star struck by a couple famous retired soccer players (Juan Veron, Argentina, and Lilian Thuran, France) playing soccer volley (a mix of soccer and volley ball where you don’t touch the ball with your hands) on the beach. I would never have known who they were if there hadn’t been a giant crowd surrounding the court. All I could tell was some very chiseled players were really good at keeping the ball from hitting the ground. But the guys, of course, knew who they were and we stood around watching them for a while as they giddily took pictures and pointed out who was who. [Nick: I think Juan was the first to recognize them. It was cool to watch then play footvolei (pretty amazing sport) but actually the locals they were playing against (and lost to) were even better.]

Juan Veron and Lilian Thuran

We ended up at a Mexican restaurant (woo hoo!) to watch Brazil v. Holland and were once again disappointed by the host team. Brazil played so poorly AGAIN. At least it wasn’t a total blow out like it was with Germany and they were visibly trying to hold a defensive line, but there was still no control and no successful forward attempts. Are all 10 guys really that dependent on Neymar to save them?! [Nick: As Bagi said, at least it was just a regular blowout and not another historical one.] Is Neymar even that good to carry an entire team at the age of 22?! I guess we’ll never know since after this Cup, many of these guys will never play for the national team again (partly due to age and partly due to a horrible performance). The game was essentially over in 20 minutes after Holland scored the first two goals (yay for Andy and Henny), and it was clear very few people at the restaurant were even interested in watching the match anymore. It must truly suck to have your entire country give up on you. Obviously, the national team couldn’t handle that kind of disappointment and walked off the field before Holland’s 3^rd place award ceremony – not very sportsman like of the host team. It was all just kind of deflating and anticlimactic. A real bummer. [Nick: But I think Brazil will bounce back. I just can’t believe that large a nation doesn’t have anyone better than Julio Cesar for goalkeeper and Fred or Hulk as striker.]