Rio de Janeiro Day 1

          Being as on time as we were, we had a little while to research Rio de Janeiro and Brazil before we boarded the plane. I learned that Rio de Janeiro means River of January. It is commonly referred to as Rio, so that's what I'm going to call it from now on. And it's NOT just because I'm lazy. Rio de Janeiro is the capitol city of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
          The record high and low of Rio is 111 degrees and 46 degrees Fahrenheit. Their average high and low temperature, year round, is 88 and 71 degrees Fahrenheit. The main religion of Brazil is Catholic, followed by Protestant and undetermined, which may be a good reason why Rio is known for the statue Christ the Redeemer. Christ the Redeemer is a giant statue, giant meaning 130 feet tall, that lies on the peak of the Corcovado Mountain. It is said to be the largest Art Deco statue in the world.
          Our flight arrived in the middle of the night, so we didn't even get to the hotel until 3:30. We checked into the Sofitel. Once again, we chose one of the most expensive ones. We decided since we slept some on the plane, we'd go to Christ the Redeemer for sunrise. On the way over, we picked up some breakfast which consisted of an egg and ham on brioche, a special bread; fresh fruit; yogurt; and juice. We brought it with us, sat down near Christ the Redeemer, and ate as we watched the sun rise.
          Of course, being the teenagers that we are, we got impatient. We decided to go to the beach. We went back to the hotel to grab our bathing suits and headed to the beach. Now let me tell you now, there are a lot of people who do not need to wear Speedos.

          In Brazil, it is a common practice to pee on the beach. That was scarring. And I'm the one who has spent 4 flights with Laura, which before today, I thought was scarring.
          I told Laura to put on sunscreen. I even bought SPF 100 before we got here. Me, being a burner then tanner, put some sunscreen on before we got to the beach. I knew if I didn't burn a little, I wouldn't tan. When I get sunburned, once the redness and peeling goes away, I get a bit of a tan. I wanted a tan. You don't go to Rio and not come back without a tan. Unless you're Laura or my mom. They both have "Irish" skin. They just burn. That's why I told Laura to put sunscreen on.
          "I have my swim shirt on. So I'll just put some on my face," she said. Her swim shirt went down to her elbows.
          "But don't you want to make sure the rest of your arms are covered?"
          "Too bad," she said in her blunt, nonchalant way. I didn't object because I knew I was going to get burned. I get burned even with sunscreen.
          We claimed a spot that didn't smell to sourly of pee, and layed down our towels. I immediately charged for the ocean, being the spaz I am. Laura walked slowly behind me, attempting to pretend she doesn't know me. Once I reached the water, I turned around and shouted to her, "ITS SO WAAAARM LAURA!", it not occuring to me that if people peed in the sand here, they probably peed in the water. I could see her trying to ignore me, so I ran to her and grabbed her arm and shouted, "LET'S GO!"
          After spazzing out for a few hours, I was exhausted. I flopped down on the towels and fell asleep. Laura, being the nerd she is, pulled out a book.
          Eventually she woke me up and we walked back to out hotel. We were both red and crispy. I layed back down on the bed in our hotel room and fell asleep again. As I snored, Laura chose what we were doing tomorrow.