The carnival of Rio de Janeiro has started today!! But already two weeks before the carnival there were many street parties going on, called blocos. I went to one yesterday and I thought I would hate it, instead I enjoyed it a lot as I met a lot of sober people and we had some great conversations :) - I thought it would not be possible as most of the people were drunk.
I live in Santa Tereza now, with my third host Eduardo. He is the third divorced guy in a row I am hosted by (what is happening here??). He lives in a very small studio flat and there is a fantastic view from the flat over the city and the Sambodrome (in the picture). There are two favelas in the vicinity.
After the bloco, at 2 am I was coming back home on my own (never do it at night in Rio, I am serious) and I met two English girls and a Brazilian guy who was helping them to find their way back to the hostel they stayed at. It appeared that the hostel was close to my flat so they walked me home and then we were talking until late. The guy starred in "City of God" (in the film the boy with the big afro hair) so he was telling us about the favelas and how they shot the film.
Great news - I found two hosts in Porto Seguro, my next stop in Brazil. There are only 18 Couch Surfers in the town, half of them travelling now and some without a good profile but those two guys said "welcome to Porto Seguro!!" :)