You can’t always get what you want

Saturday finally rolled around, the day of the Rolling Stones concert. It was one of those sort of events where you didn’t bother asking anyone what they were doing that night because everyone had the same response. “Going to the show, of course!”

It also happened to be Jose’s last day in Rio. He decided to stay one the beach and soak up every last minute of sun while Teresa and I went to find dinner and meet up with Jose later at the show. We went of to one of our favorite “por kilo” restaurants. It’s basically a buffet, but they weigh your plate at the end of the line and you only pay for what you take. Great concept!

We had plans to meet up with another Argentinean girl right before the show but it turns out when the entire city of Rio de Janeiro heads to the Copacabana beach all at once, it’s not that easy to just randomly run across whoever you’re looking for. The next day the papers said the crowd was 2.5 million people, but I lost count at 1.45. No Teresa and I were on our own, the odds we were going to find anyone else were slim to none.

But that didn’t really bother us. Teresa is a blast to hang out with. She’s Chilean, but her mom is Brazilian so she speaks fluent Portuguese, as well as Spanish, English and French. I’m always impressed by people who can speak multiple languages…envious really. And I’ve found the best way to learn a language is to find a cute girl and ask her what everything means. It usually helps if she can speak English.

Teresa is an actress but she tells me the life of an actress is not as glamorous as it seems. “It’s like Joey, from Friends” she told me. But Teresa reminds me more of Monica (Debbie, you know what I’m talking about). Actually she also reminds me a lot of my sister Samira. Kind of has a Princess complex, but in a very endearing way. And she’s just good people.

We found a relatively tranquil spot waaaay in the back. We could just barely make out the stage where the Stones would be playing but there were something like 25 giant TV monitors setup to broadcast the show along the beach. Like the rest of Rio it was quite chill and laid back. The vendors were out in full force selling everything from beer and caiprihinis to barbequed beef and sandwiches.

By the time the opening band hit the stage, some local Brazilian band which is apparently very popular in Rio, the sea of people transformed into the largest most energetic concert I had every seen in my life in front of the stage…and then about 25 other large concerts going on around each of the TV monitors.

Then the Stones came on. The show was basically what one would expect from 2.5 million people gathered around Copacabana beach, the Goodyear blimp overhead along with 3 helicopters broadcasting the concert live around the world and the party people who had showed up for Carnaval in Rio a week early.

Now I know I’ve been badmouthing Mick and his crew in this blog for a few entries now. But they played “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Wild Horses” and it all did sound quite spectacular. Mick pranced around and the crowd loved it. Teresa and I danced and ate and partied on the beach. The guy walking around selling shots of Red Label Johnny Walker and I got to be good friends.

After the concert we headed back to the hostel assuming that would be the meeting spot. The streets of Rio were packed solid and it took forever to get back. But once we did everyone had great stories to tell about the show. Several of the hostelers weren’t as lucky as us and couldn’t find a place to stay for the night. Most of them were going to sleep on the beach or in the cast iron chairs in the lobby of the hostel.

Turns out our friends Jordan and Erin were in such a bind. Our place was small, but it was better than sleeping on top of a table, so we invited them back to our apartment. Somehow the five of us managed to squeeze into what was basically a one room studio. Life seldom seems as perfect as we imagine it to be. But it’s true what they said that night, “sometimes you just might find, you get what you need”