Rox is in RIO!!

Bom Dia, Gatos y Gatas (Good day, hot cats and kittens)! It is day eight in Brazil for me and we are having an amazing time. I cannot believe how beautiful this country is and the people here could not be any more friendly or charming. Do they speak any English, well, none. And when I say "none" I mean not a freakin' word. However, based on my learning a few key phrases and names ("Un coca-cola light,
obrigado!") and creative hand gestures we've been able to manage pretty
well. We went to El Cristo (Christ statue) yesterday and it was very moving. Now, let me tell you about the opening ceremonies for the 15th Pan American Games Rio 2007, which my lifebuddy, Mark produced. I have seen many productions that Mark has done but this one actually brought tears to my eyes as I realized 100,000 people were cheering throughout a production that my little hubby created and was executing. It was enormous - giant cobras, an aligator the size of a 747, dancers, singers, actors, acrobats, some major Brazilian celebs and fireworks that put our little ol 4th of july to shame. It was part Olympics, part circque du soleil as Mark and his team took us all on a visual journey of Brazil -- from Carnival to the
amazon to the famous beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana. It was fantastic. The other thing that has really been amazing so far is going to Foz de Igauzu (Igauzu Falls) which straddle the borders of Argentina and Brazil. There are 217 water falls in this area and it is the largest water falls in the entire world. It was the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen -- gave me goosebumps and going into Argentina was lovely -- we actually got on a speed boat and went through (we were soaked but laughing all the way...ha, ha, ha!) one of the most famous falls called
Devil's Throat which is the exact divide of Brazil and Argentina. The story goes that many people commit suicide in Devil's Throat but neither Brazil nor Argentina ever want to accept responsibility on their side so they just tell people they don't know because the aligators got 'em! And thus the mentality here. We were at the airport in Igauzu on TAM Airlines as the other TAM flight was crashing. Our plane was delayed two hours but no one told us why. It has been bitter sweet being here with this national tragedy and the largest plane disaster in the history of the country. I had to make a lot of phone calls back to the states to let everyone know we were ok. But I don~t want to leave my Brazil travels on that note...

The first grocery story I went into on the first day of my trip was playing Madonna's Hung Up, had a cold coca-cola light near the check out and because the line was so long and it was the only thing I had in my hands a lovely Brazilian woman
bought it for me. I mean, could it get any better??? And, by the way, the only pop people that they play on the radio from the States or English-speaking countries are Madonna (natch), George Michael, Celine Dion and Desree. My, my, my ... they must think we are so 80s!! Ciao for now!