This was a day filled with exploration and learning.  We started the day by walking to the General Osario Metro Station to use our Metro cards for the first time.  Sue gave an overview of the Metro system and used the map to show us the location of our final destination.  We boarded, and by the time we reached a transfer station, we realized that Conor was missing.  The faculty engaged the “search and rescue” process, and with the help of cell phones, our lost lamb was quickly returned to the fold.  We learned that the Metro doors closed before Conor could board. Although the event started as a crisis, it ended in laughter.

We first visited the world’s largest outdoor mural created by one person.  It was huge! The mural showed images of faces of native people from throughout the world.  The mural was near a park that had benches that were supported only on one side.

We walked to the Museum of Tomorrow, which had incredible architecture.   The entrance is below a very long suspended arbor.  You have to see it to believe it.  Inside, there were many interactive exhibits to teach about the rapid change in the earth’s environment.  It was like technology melted into a light show.  At the end, there is a message of hope for our earth.

We then traveled to a Ferry to cross to Niteroi.  The ferry ride was smooth and quick.  Some of us saw frigate birds, which are very large seabirds – up to 42″ in length, with really long tails.  We then walked about 100 kilometers (not really, it just felt like that in the heat) to reach our lunchtime destination.  Once there, we entered a fish market on the ground floor of a large building.  There, we could select raw seafood, which we purchased and carried upstairs to one of the many restaurants, where the fish was prepared for us.  Joe and Shirley were seated with Lawson and Sean, and we shared lobster, blue crabs in a delicious tomato stew, hake, shrimp, more fried fish, and 5″x5″ pastry pockets filled with shrimp and an unknown orange-colored paste.  All of it was delicious!

We waddled out of there to travel to the Museum of Modern Art at Niteroi.  We learned about this building a couple weeks ago through a student presentation about Oscar Niemeyer, architect.  The building was expansive, but with few items on display. One floor had interactive exhibits, like a lounge chair facing a looping video, a small cart filled with straw, a large cart with a mattress, and a lot of metal pots to pound on.  The top floor had wall art poised for us students to complete a sketching assignment.  We sat or laid on the carpet to sketch one artwork.  After that, we were asked to design a garden plan and elevation based on the style of the artist.

Eventually, we left the museum to return to Atlantis Copacabana Hotel by ferry and other transportation.  A short while after that, groups of us traveled to Scenario Club between 8 and 9 pm.  The Club had a large interior, decorated with collections of things, such as a wall covered with wooden pendulum clocks, or a room with dolls, glass cases filled with a special selection of glassware, or a wall decorated with doll carriages, or a shelf filled with old, old oscillating fans.  There was a live band playing modern Brazilian music, and eventually most of got up to dance and have fun.  Some of us left around 11 and others explored other local Clubs with Cecelia.

It was a great day in Rio!  For those of us from a wealthy nation, it was all fun.  However, if we contrast our experiences against those of the vendors on the beach selling junk 3 for R$10 (about $2.50 US dollars) or the derelicts who sleep on the sidewalks, there is a huge void in what we strive for to make us happy.