Moving right along.

It's taking some effort to adjust to life here in Rio, but all in all, things are going well. One thing I've had no problem adjusting to is the 30-minute walk to the beach! I took the photo below when I was in Leblon last week and a storm began to roll in. It never did rain that day, but ever since, we've had little storms every afternoon.

Carnival starts today, and while I don't think I'll be doing anything special tonight, tomorrow will be a marathon. My friend Dani and I plan to go to one of the street parades in the morning, have lunch afterwards, go home and nap for the afternoon, so that we can go out again at night for the big fancy parade in the Sambódromo. The "big fancy parade" is where the samba schools (escolas de samba) finally get to perform what they've been rehearsing all year. The parade, which starts around 8 or 9 pm, supposedly doesn't end until dawn, and knowing what I know about Brazil so far, I do not doubt this one bit!

I hope to get some good pictures of both events on Saturday, so check back here on Sunday or Monday to learn more about the phenomenon that is Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.