RIOTS in RIO

Burning Car in Rio de Janeiro (My minivan perhaps will face the same fate). 

If I had a car, I would just be getting into it on my way home after closing down MiKiDo with Brent. Instead I'm just arriving home after a 2 hour ride on the metro and a shuttle to get to the university.

I spent the majority of the metro ride home looking up tips for teaching English in Brazil, joining Linked In, and starting up a website from my worthless excuse of a Smart Phone. I was doing everything possible to keep my mind off how pissed I was that I would miss training tonight because I didn't have a car to get from the university to MiKiDo. Riding the metro gives me plenty of time to think. I often wonder what my life would be like if it wasn't ruled by a strict diet and gym routine. On my 24th birthday, I celebrated by skipping work and class at the university and I spent the whole day working out. A total of three times... it would have been four, but Master Brent's sister made me skip grappling and took me out to eat.


I can't fathom what life is like for people that come home from work and do nothing but watch T.V., cook dinner (or order out), and hang around. I'm constantly running around between work and school and fitting in two workouts a day whenever possible. Taking the metro takes away from my training time, and now I have to get plenty of extra paperwork done for my research proposal and for my visa. On Friday I'm going to the consulate to apply for my visa, which means I need to buy a plane ticket. I also need the data collected for my research before September so I can write my thesis from Brazil.


All of the pieces are starting to come together...


But today my aunt tried to say that, "No, you can't go to Brazil because it's not safe". My aunt, not my mom or my dad (because they know better- I wouldn't listen to them). It had to be my aunt; my aunt is the person that has clothed me since I can remember and has helped me through school and basically has been an essential part of my formation. She has great expectations for me and even put me through my undergraduate studies, which is why I call her my benefactor(anyone catch the literary reference??). She has done a lot for me, so her approval and support means a lot to me, but I'm unrelenting on this. I've wanted it so bad for too long to give up now. Between the riots and whatever my aunt's friend in the government has been telling her she is against my going to Rio. She wants me to get my teaching license and find a job because "you can't always do everything you want". So now I'm 0-2 this month, first I get my car stolen,  now this.


The riots in Rio will die down by September and I hope that my aunt's opposition to my trip dies with it.

I'm really excited about going to the consulate on Friday.