Day 10 Still in Rio --

A visit to a IBFMC university campus revealed a Polish connection. The young man in charge of international relations had a Polish grandmother and he could even speak some Polish. He established a partnership with Kaminski University in Gdynia (of which I haven’t heard until now) with faculty and student exchanges. Maybe something to follow up on. I did get to the botanical Garden today – this time by bus. I got very lucky because as I was walking there and stopped to look at the map, a woman approached me and asked me what I was looking for (in Portuguese). I responded in Spanish, but she asked if I spoke English. She told me she lives in Rio and walks in the garden every day, and then she took me on a tour. She showed me some amazing places and plants I would never have found by myself – a blooming tree from the Amazon that was Margaret Mead’s favorite, an avenue of huge mango trees, a favorite place of Antonio Carlos Jobim, and many more. She seemed to be a very educated woman and knew a lot about the plants. She said she used to bring her granddaughter to the garden and make up stories about plants. Her name was Sylvia and she was an absolutely delightful guide. She showed me where to catch a bus back to Copacabana and we kissed goodbye. On the bus, a woman sat next to me and started talking to me in Portuguese and when I said I didn’t understand she switched into English. She was a high school English teacher. She said she used to live in Sao Paulo, but she’s been living in Rio for 28 years. She says that Sao Paulo works and Rio enjoys. In the afternoon I went to the fort. I don’t know why I thought that there will be a little train or something that will take us up to the top of the mountain. Wrong. I had to climb there. It was worth it, though. The views were spectacular and the fort, even though it isn’t very old (1930s), was also interesting. On the long way back, it was getting dark and the promenade was full of street musicians playing the guitars and big, tubular drums. Good walking music.