Sleep walking through the daylight hours...my world has literally been turned upside down. I'm trying to stimulate my senses with guarana charged acai and mugs of tar like expresso. It's made me anxious and i've developed a twitch, but i'm awake.Comp starts in two days, i throw myself into the line-up amongst all the other frothers. It's 2ft sloppy lumps, typical conditions for any contest, however my surroundings are far from that. Surfing off a smooth stoned headland called Arpoador that seperates the infamous Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. I can't help but stare back at the lustrous green mountains perched high in the background of the multicolored dwellings known as the Favelas. Overlooking this incredible landscape is the hard too miss iconic statue Christo. I've now been awake since 3 am, having enjoyed the serenity of the pre-dawn hours, the city beneath me startes to hum. I feel naive as i can't comprehend the dangers that are etched in the facets of Rio. I look back at Favelas, the last lights beginning to flicker in the rising suns glow. I am extremely fond of sleep as anyone who knows me well can tell you, so i'm slightly suprised by this depravation. Its a postcard perfect day, as the afternoon approaches waves of grey and misty clouds smother the city, the Christo vanishes from view and the heavens open up... We were lashed with sideways rain for the remainder of my visit. In hindsight, i think Christo was trying to warn me about this impending weather. I think i got my moneys worth out of my one-day sunshine pass though...
coming soon will be stories of Argentina..Nic
