So now that I'm back in Rio, it's time to continue sharing the adventure.
Eli and I had a day in Ipanema, since I had an appointment at noon and an early apartment viewing. We got there early and finally the "real estate agent" showed up. Here is what the ad said:
Furnished apartment, 2 bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom. 2 blocks from the beach in a great part of Ipanema.
Here's what we found: an empty apartment, lacking even a stove, with electrical sockets hanging out of the walls, dripping faucets, the tiniest, dingiest bathroom in Ipanema, and a very large built-in closet. We asked why they had listed it as "furnished." He pointed to the built-in closet and the kitchen cabinets. Right.
So we wandered around, looking for real estate agents, finding mostly touristy rental places with ridiculous rates. The actual real estate agents we found only leased for minimums 12 or 30 months. It was kind of depressing, so we took a few breaks from hunting. We went to the park, one of the few parks I've seen in Rio not overrun by homeless people, to watch the babysitters with their rich little clients and take a break from the sun.
It was then that Eli pointed out to me that nannies in Rio dress completely in white, as a sign of professionalism and distinction. Suddenly, everywhere I looked there were women dressed all in white, with strollers and toddlers. For some reason, I find the white thing a little weird.
We went to the beach for a while, and sat staring at the incredibly turquoise waves. We went to a huge farmer's market, where we oogled the most beautiful strawberries I've ever seen, huge, ruby red, pratically glowing strawberries, and the big slimy fish, and all of the tropical fruit I've missed so much-- maracuja, jabuticaba, goiaba, mangoes.
I had my appointment and then we had a nice por quilo lunch. We're both remaining surprisingly calm despite the fact that neither of us are employed and we're about to lose our apartment. Ipanema does that.