No Regrets!

In the pouring rain, Gog and I braced ourselves for a walk to Copacabana. Copacabana was supposed to be a little sketchy, especially on New Year’s Eve. And since it’s next to but not connected to Ipanema Beach, you have to walk a short stretch of road off the beach to get there.

Along the way, police, security lighting, and other tourists made us feel safe. Eventually making our way over to Copacabana to check out the pre-party scene. We are hearing stories that the beach is going to fill up with up to two million people, so we thought it would already be getting crowded. But it wasn’t. Maybe the rain is discouraging people from coming out. The beach is pretty long, so I can see how millions of people could fit on it.

As we walked around, we kept whistling “The Girl from Ipanema” and Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana,” two songs which have gotten stuck in our heads for a few days now. “Copacabana” isn’t even about Rio’s Copacabana Beach, but it’s got a Jimmy Buffett beach-like feel to it, and it’s so damn catchy.

People are standing at the water’s edge throwing flowers and candy and wedding veils into the ocean. It would be a lot more romantic if the current swept it all away, but the waves just wash everything up onto the beach like litter.

We sat down for some ultra-strong caipirinhas at a bar called Meia Pataca and watched the crowd slowly increase in density. Local workers assembled stages and lighting structures in front of us for the DJs and live bands.

By all accounts, tonight should be a spectacle. Everyone wears white, and Gog and I have our outfits ready to go. Tati told us that there is a local New Year’s tradition of standing in the ocean, jumping over seven waves, and making a wish. I’ll have to think of a good one.

Tati also warned us that the restaurants all book up on New Year’s Eve, so in what I thought was a stroke of planning genius, we decided to go back to Carretão Churrascaria for a large dinner. By filling up at 4pm, I figure we should be able to go the rest of the night without eating.

Sitting in the apartment right now. It’s not dark yet, but already I’m starting to hear firecrackers popping outside. So weird that it’s actually going to be 2010. Have we really made much progress since 2000? Are we anywhere close to having a Space Odyssey?

Happy New Year everyone!