More Impressions of Rio

Probably you heard of the beautiful girls of Rio and their tiny bikinis. A non-Brazilian friend of mine, while visiting one of the beaches here, told me that the Brazilian bikini was the best invention in the history of humankind. I should add that the boys of Rio also deserve their minute of fame: they certainly are way up there with the girls even without tiny bikinis.

No picture here – you should come and see for yourselves.

Of course, if you live in one of the most gorgeous cities of the world, enjoy life, and have sun shining pretty much 365 days a year you are likely to be lighthearted and in a good mood most of the time. This certainly helps making these people beautiful. But a great deal of it is simply physical beauty, and by that I mean bodies in pretty good shape.

Walking in the streets of Rio, you quickly find out why there are all these beautiful bodies in the beaches: there are gyms everywhere. Every single corner in the block in front of my apartment building has a gym. Thus, the secret of the carioca beauty is not hidden anywhere, on the contrary (“carioca” is how people from Rio are called).

The entire gym scheme is very welcoming: there are gyms for everyone. There are expensive ones, for those who want (and are able to) invest lots of money in their workouts.


There are also cheap ones for those who cannot afford the fancy ones, or simply don’t care that much about fancy machines.



There is also spiritual ones, for those who believe that a healthy body only comes with a healthy mind.

(see picture in the next post because I reached the limit for this one...)

The gyms are always full, especially in the mornings and evenings. I tried one for a couple of days and in the “rush hours” (i.e. after office hours) you need to wait in line for a vacancy in the treadmill. And this makes them even more welcoming: those who are waiting chat with each other, making new friends and/or flirting with other beautiful people. Thus, no time is wasted.

When I first arrived in Rio, the fact that there were so many gyms and that they were so busy was a puzzle to me. These people can exercise outdoors anytime they want. And they can do that for free. Take a look at the running track by the seashore in my neighborhood.


You certainly miss the socializing part, but if you go to the seashore you get one of the most astonishing views on the face of earth, which is this one.


I could not understand why people would choose to be locked inside a gym, on the top of treadmill, starting at a boring TV set, instead of having the privilege of going outside.

I could not understand that…until I decided to go jogging by the seashore. It was 5 pm. It was not dark and there were some people using the running track with me, but nobody had their music players ostensibly exposed as I did (I had it in my armband). It did not take long for two guys in their late teens to block my passage with their bodies and ask for my I-Pod. Somehow, I sensed they were not well intentioned long before that. This gave me enough response time: before they could react, I got out of the track and run with all my forces.

Shortly after that, while I was recovering my breath, I saw from a distance two other guys coming from the seashore towards the running track, staring at me (more specifically they took a good look at my shoes and my I-Pod). I rushed to the side of a well-built guy who was jogging in front of me and safely passed by them pretending that I was “accompanied” by someone who would get into a fight with them, if they did not behave.

My carioca friends, after hearing the history, simply told me “Mariana, you are not in Toronto. You are in Rio.” You can certainly run outside, they said, but do so at your own risk. “Welcome to the jungle”, was the closing sentence.

Now I know why people go to gyms. It is the peace of mind they are looking for. Those who want the bodies in shape and the view need to face the risk of being robbed. Sadly, nobody is thinking how we can have a country where anyone who wants an I-Pod should be able to afford one. If cariocas were thinking about that, I think they would be even more beautiful.