Rio In My Heart

When I first arrived here in Brazil one of the first things I wanted to do was to go and visit the "Cristo Redentor" (Christ The Redeemer) statue that watches over the city of Rio de Janeiro. I had seen it in documentaries and travel programmes when I was living in England but nothing prepares you for the real spectacle of this gigantic spiritual presence up-close.

The statue is located on the 2,300 feet high Corcovado mountain, it's construction took nine years to complete and it was finally erected on October 12th 1931. It is made of reinforced concrete and the outer layers are made of soapstone. It is thanks to the soapstone that the statue wasn't destroyed on February 10th 2008 when there was a violent electrical storm in the city and the statue was struck by powerful lightning... being as soapstone is an insulator it gave protection from the lightning and so Christ still stands atop the Corcovado mountain...

We took the little train that takes visitors to and from the mountain, a long slow journey that takes about 20-25 minutes, with wonderful views of a rainforest along the way, the air is fresh and very humid compared to the stifling heat of the city. I had my camera and my heart was pounding... I was so excited to be finally seeing this amazing landmark up-close and I was remembering all the documentaries I had seen while the train chugged up and up... It was a clear day, the sky was dark blue without a cloud in sight and the temperature was scorching; around 40 degrees celcius (summer time)

When we reached the top we got out of the train and proceeded to walk up the hundreds of stone steps that leads up to the statue (now however these steps have been replaced by escalators - the steps before were much more romantic and left you even more breathless when you finally set eyes on Christ! - it's a shame that they replaced them)

The statue stands 120 feet tall and weighs 700 tons and as I walked around to face the front of it my jaw dropped to the ground... this truly is an amazing spectacle and I suggest to whoever can travel to Brazil one day to visit it and see for yourself! As I looked at his serene face and his arms open wide "holding" all of Rio de Janeiro I was overcome with emotion, I felt within my heart and soul that I was experiencing a truly religious moment, and it really is... being there you feel as if you are floating on air and protected by Christ's power in some way. I felt that I needed to write and tell all my family and friends about this wonderful experience. It isn't just any old statue... it has an incredible power and you really do feel it when you are there looking into his eyes, the eyes that seem to know you, that seem to be saying "everything will be alright"

The view from there is, as you can imagine, fantastic! You can see the whole of Rio de Janeiro, the whole of the coastline which includes Flamengo, Botafogo, Leme, Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon, and also a spectacular view of the "Pão de Açúcar" (Sugarloaf mountain)

This statue that watches over the whole of Rio de Janeiro's inhabitants, me included, and keeping them safe can be seen from many roads and points in Rio and many of the local catholics "cross themselves" upon seeing it for the first time each day, giving thanks for one more day of life and beauty. Rio is a city with vast differences and many social levels, on one side you have the huge favelas (hilltop slums) full of the poor lower classes and on the other side you have neighbourhoods like Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon which house the rich upper classes and inbetween all of this you have the middle classes. There is no black and white in Rio... just lots of grey, socially speaking, and it is a huge melting-pot of different cultures mixed into one. For me it the most beautiful and exciting city that I have ever visited and the scenery is amazing: golden sandy beaches surrounded by mountains, small rainforests inside the city and deep blue sea that goes on forever. It is very rare to see a miserable person in Rio, everyone has a smile on their face no matter how difficult their lives are and you feel the energy of the wonderful people whenever you step outside your house.

When my Mum passed away in London I went back there for a month to help my Dad with everything and to try to mourn her death, however I couldn't do it there in England as most of the time I was having to keep strong for my Dad who was falling apart, and I couldn't let him see that I too was falling apart, so the only time I got to let my feelings out was when I went to bed at night and cried into my pillow for hours. It was a complete shock for me as I wasn't told of her illness as she didn't want me to know and so I was "protected" from the pain that my Father and Sister were enduring for many months. The first news I got of her illness was when I received a telegram one day from my Father telling me to phone him immediately and that I should arrange a flight home. That very night at the airport, just before my flight, I felt compelled to phone him again and he told me that Mum had just passed away ten minutes before.... I believe that it was my Mum who was sending me this "strong instinct" that I had to phone my Dad. My life changed completely there and then and everything just went very, very black and blurry for a very long time. Needless to say that the long and lonely journey home was the worst trip of my life, hours spent looking out of the window and looking across "heaven" with tears streaming down my face, I've never felt so helpless as I did then.

When I came back to Brazil I was a different person entirely, as you can imagine, and there started 3 very long and very dark years of depression, sadness and pain, mourning my dear Mum all on my own. During that time I visited the Christ statue a few times, but the first time I went there after my Mum's passing was very emotional indeed... I chose a cloudy day and very early in the morning (so that there wouldn't be many tourists there) and went up to the mountain in the little train. When I arrived there I was the only person there. I stood in front of the Christ, looking into his eyes, and thought about my Mum, spoke to her in my mind and questioned why? Before long I was standing there crying uncontrollably and I felt as if I was ten years old again. I went over to the balcony, looked out onto the vast view of the coastline and sky and said Goodbye to my Mum.

I have been back to the Christ statue many times over the years, mostly when my family and friends have visited me and we have done all the usual tourist spots, and every single time I feel that emotion in my heart and the presence of his power up on that mountain. Whenever I'm there I don't speak... I'm not sure why, maybe it's a kind of respect for what I am witnessing or maybe it's because my mind is always full of wonderful memories that come flooding back to me at that point and everything else just gets blocked out.

I've come a long way over the years, I'm very happy and I have a wonderful life here, however it's been an uneven journey and not without many struggles and pain, but throughout it all Rio de Janeiro and it's positive energy has been the one constant that has remained with me and kept me sane.

I walk along the beach, sun shining down onto my skin, the sea breeze attaching itself to my lips as I taste it's salt. I see a friend so I say hello and shake his hand and as I continue on my morning stroll I look up towards the blue sky, up higher to the mountain and see his face looking down at me with his arms open wide. I feel safe, Christ is in town.

This post has just won the Post Of The Day Award from celebrated professional author David McMahon at "authorblog" - 10th November 2008.
Thank You so much David! I feel extremely honoured indeed!!

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For anyone who is interested here is the poem that I wrote for my Mother, entitled "Mum" as a tribute when she passed away:

http://thebritsvirtualhouse.blogspot.com/2008/03/mum-original-poetry-by-me.html