Saturday night was an unexpected blast. It started with us running off to see this parade that was going on down the street, which was more or less a group of 500+ commonly dressed Brazilians drinking beer and dancing behind a van with giant speakers strapped to it while a band played. From the outside, we weren't too impressed... until we decided to join the party! For a while it was just me and most of the girls from our group, but then we ran into Dallas and Kal who joined us in samba-ing down the street, lightly drinking and having a grand old time. Knock that one off the bucket list: dance in the streets during Carnaval- check.
Dallas, Rachael, and I took a bus out to Atlantida and got in around 830. From there, we just hung out around the town, got some food, and waited for the rest of our troop to arrive. What really impressed me is that 100% of our group decided to go to this show, even though none of us were obligated to. I don't know if it's a bandwagon thing, or whatever, but I'm cool with it, I'm really glad they realized how cool of an opportunity that was. I just know that when I saw on Facebook that Tiesto was coming to a sweet outdoor beach club during Carnaval, there was no way I was missing that.
I have mixed feelings about the show, even though overall it was a great experience. I'll start with the good: Tiesto was incredible, we got to be really close to him while he played, I made a couple cool Brazilian friends, most of the people we were there with (in our group) were a ton of fun to be around, and the women anywhere you looked were drop dead gorgeous. The bad: babysitting/ dealing with people in our group who get too drunk is a buzzkill (no pun intended), the whole group traveling dynamic is always a clusterfuck, and the most disappointing part of the night (for me): Brazilians don't know how to rave. Simply put. I couldn't believe it! We showed up, and literally every girl was dressed to impress, heels and all. Not like they were going to an awesome sweaty rave party like we do in the States. But they would just stand there, sip on their drinks casually, and TALK with their friends while the #2 DJ IN THE WORLD was playing a killer set. WHAT?! That, and Dallas and I were the only dudes wearing colored shorts and tanktops. It was like we dressed to the theme of the party but walked in to the wrong one, I was so confused. That being said, we still went hard and had a great time- American style. And we found some Brazilians to party with us like that, which was great. Makes me miss that scene back in Seattle.. I had never been so oddly disappointed in a crowd like that before.
Notice, in each of the three pictures above, that you can notice a bunch of Brazilians NOT going hard. UGH
Anyway, we were up all night at this club, then took taxis to the beach to watch the sunrise. I hadn't seen a sun rise on the ocean since I was a boy in New Zealand, and it blew my mind. I had only seen the sunset over the Pacific Ocean from the West Coast of the US. It was easily one of the most therapeutic moments of my life, spiritual even. You can't just sit there, in complete silence, watching God conduct his symphony of the sunrise, without getting to some thinking... and it was exactly what I needed. I thought first about how I had only seen sunsets over the ocean, and how they are equally yet inversely just as breathtaking as the sunrises. Reminds you that the world keeps spinning, regardless of what you do while you're on it. Waves will always keep rolling in, the wind will always keep blowing, and the sun will always rise off the East Coast and set in the West... it was a beautiful moment. That got me to thinking about myself critically, what makes me tick, why I do what I do during the day, why I surround myself with the people I do and why I do/don't like them, etc.
*A fair warning- I'm about to rant about life, so if you're sensitive to that, skip to the end *
I always come to the same conclusion: I do life with the intention of maximizing every day, and to open doors to walk through in the future. This counts on many levels: spiritually, academically, socially, morally, athletically, physically, healthily. I choose to do what I do by asking myself how I can benefit from this, or how someone I care about can benefit from this. Shit, even a complete stranger. I always find myself asking "why not?" and "would I regret not doing this?" as reassurance. That is why I have stepped out of my comfort zone so many times in my life, in so many aspects... and why I have made it a primary goal of mine to be skilled and proficient in many different areas of life where many people only pride themselves with one or two life skills.
For example, one aspect of my personality that I am confident in is that I know I am socially gifted. I mean this in the sense that I have a lot of friends from many different walks of life, of different ages, who carry themselves with completely different personalities and moral values. Not many people have as diverse of a friend group as I do, and I don't mean that judgmentally; it's just a legitimate observation. So many people only surround themselves with people that remind them of... themselves. People with the same color skin, the same God, the same upbringing, the same passions or hobbies, etc. The way I see it, why are so many people like that? Why do so many people compartmentalize themselves, only make one type of friend, only let one influence drive them, and let themselves get so closed minded? Why does it seem like I'm one of the only people I know who likes to branch out, always participate in various activities, travel to foreign/previously unknown places, make new friends everywhere I go, spend time with and get to know wonderful girls, be open about my thoughts and feelings to people, be the leader in a group, and indulge in just about every random adventure that presents itself to me? If you have one life to live, why sit back and not realize your potential as a human being, or the potential of others?
I WANT TO BE VERY CLEAR: I'm not saying this because I think highly of myself, or am putting myself above anyone else. I have my faults, just like anyone else, and I'll be the first to admit that. Rather, I am making a fair and unbiased observation about what makes me tick as a person in comparison to the thousands of other people I know who live their lives by different, more closed-minded philosophies. That doesn't make them wrong, but it leads me to question why I am different. Why I'm never bored, never scared of stepping out of my comfort zone, never alone unless I want to be... whereas I see a lot of people every day who close themselves off to the world, are too nervous/anxious to try anything risky, are constantly worried about what other people will think of them, or will judge a person before they get to know them on any kind of personal level.
While you're on this planet, you have so much at your fingertips any given day: countries to explore, cultures to appreciate, foods to eat, romances to enjoy, languages to learn, jobs to work, music to listen to, pleasures to indulge in, friends to be made... and only one life to live. Why not get the most you can out of this adventure we know as life? Why the fuck not.
That's just who I am: a guy that actually lives by carpe diem and believes that enriching yourself with friendships is one of the most valuable things you can possibly do in life.
If you have any feedback about that assertion I just made, I would really love to hear it and/or have a discussion with you about it, positive or negative. Email me at gtruschel@gmail.com or hit up on Facebook.
Getting to bed- watching the live footage of the Carnaval parades in Rio and it's completely blowing my mind. One of the most impressive visual spectacles on this Earth, definitely on my bucket list to see at some point in my life.
Last day of Carnaval tomorrow, vamos lá!
~2/11/13
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