Rio de Janeiro ― or Rio for short ― is a major port city of Brazil. The name was given by Portuguese navigators who arrived there in January 1502 and mistook the entrance of the bay for the mouth of a river. Hence Rio de Janeiro, that is, River of January.
I first learned of Rio when I was in elementary school. In my textbook, Rio was portrayed as one of the three most beautiful harbors in the world, and this I committed to memory. Rio caught my fancy. But I had to wait a long time to set foot in the city of my youthful adoration.
I knew that the seasons in Brazil were opposite to ours. So I put on autumn clothes when I set out for Rio. But the temperature in Rio on the day I arrived was 35 degrees Celsius. That was their autumn! As I simply could not bear the heat in the clothes I was wearing, I rushed into the first store I came across and bought a complete summer wardrobe.
Although I went to Rio on business, I made time for sightseeing. It was a wondrous delight to take in the beautiful scenery that nature bestowed there. Indeed Rio's setting, between forested mountains and the sparkling waters of Guanabara Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, is one of the finest in the world, rivaled only by San Francisco Bay and Sydney Harbor.
Pao de Azucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain) is Rio's most famous natural landmark. I took a cable car to get to its summit, which seemed to be the best vantage point from which to appreciate Rio's scenic splendor. I also climbed to Rio's highest peak, Corcovado, to see the world-famous "Monument to Christ the Redeemer." It is a huge statue of Jesus with his arms outstretched as if to embrace the city he overlooks. This statue is featured as a prominent symbol of Rio on postcards.
Unlike other countries in Latin America, Brazil was a colony of Portugal, and even today the upper class of Brazilian society is mainly comprised of men and women of Portuguese ancestry. The language spoken in Brazil is, of course, Portuguese. While in Rio, I found out that "obrigado" means "thank you." When the hotel receptionist first said that word to me when I checked in, I thought she said ''arigato," having mistaken me for a Japanese tourist. I later learned that the Japanese word ''arigato" is a bastardization of ''obrigado."
While in Rio, I prayed a lot ― not in churches but inside taxicabs. Cabs were driven so recklessly that I felt I needed divine intervention just to stay alive, particularly when they went through red lights, as they seemed to do habitually. Also, cab drivers seemed extremely short-tempered. I saw them honk impatiently or roll down windows and swear at other drivers who impinged on their right of way.
A friend of mine who used to live in Brazil warned me that aggressive muggers were roaming the streets of Rio looking for potential prey, usually foreign tourists. Probably thanks to the precautions I took I did not have the misfortune of parting with my valuables involuntarily while in Rio.
Rio was also one of the host cities of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It was widely reported that to prepare for this big event, Brazil took numerous measures to make Rio a more pleasant place to visit. I want to revisit Rio if only to see how much Rio has changed since I last saw it years ago.
The writer is a freelance columnist based in Toronto, Canada. His other writings are posted on http://blog.daum.net/tom_hslee.