The dirty 30's

Whilst for most, this statement is a bit, shall we say, redundant, it is important to clarify this fact before I move on.

I am a very disorganised person.

...to be honest it even goes a bit further than this. When I try to be organised things just never work out. It is, almost always, much better for me to float along and just let it all work out. Massive preparation for job applications, for example usually means I don't get the job, apathy on the other hand means I'll be offered the job, told I'm an impressive candidate and assured I will rapidly get a raise. Given this fact there is no massive surprise about how my 30th birthday would pan out.

Approximately 2 weeks before the day arrived I started considering my options and came up with a tight yet workable schedule.

Morning – Hang glide over Rio
Afternoon – Go to Maracana stadium and watch one of the biggest ever football games held in the stadium.
Evening – Go to Casa Rosa., listen to Samba and let the night drift away.


...Here's how it actually turned out.

12:01 – Find myself at home drinking Cuba Libres with an Australian friend whilst listening to some tunes.

02:00 – see 12:01 am

03:30 – wake up on my couch and realise that my spine is trying to approximate a question mark. Consider waking friend on other couch, but instead just turn off the light and go to bed.

09:00 – Get woken up by another friend with the statement “I'm not letting you sleep your 30th birthday away”. Have a shower and marvel at feeling 100% fit and healthy. Look out of the window and feel a rolling disappointment caused by bad weather. Scratch “go hang gliding over Rio” from my mental list.

13:00 – Learn that Futbol (that's how they spell it) tickets have not been organised and try and organise an alternative.

15:00 – Make my way to Maracana stadium to purchase tickets off scalpers with a solid R$40 limit set in my mind.

16:00 – Get offered tickets for R$40, decide it was all too easy and we could get them cheaper. Turn them down and keep searching.

18:00 – Game starts with us sitting on the outside with no tickets. The word “tightarse” is used liberally and a game of roll the beer bottle down the ramp commences and we bet on the cans final resting place (bottom of the ramp, side of the ramp, grabbed by one of the 8.3 million can collectors before reaching its destination).

18:32 – A huge crowd surges towards the stadium as someone on the inside forgets to close a gate. Motivate friends to make the dash, although fail to invoke enough enthusiasm. Slow trot to gate. Policeman breaks from crowd and runs past at high speed. Tactical shotgun is fired in the air and is pointed at us as well as the rest of the crowd. Go white and and find an increased need to go to the toilet.

18:45 Return to “can game” but part way through meet a gent who can get me the flares and fireworks that I always wanted. Follow man across bridge and soon find that he actually doesn't actually know where he can get them. Head back along bridge but note three suspicious individuals who have set themselves up to mug me. Turn around go back under the bridge and find friends.

19:30 – Catch a cab to Casa Rosa and listen to Samba. Receive some birthday cake from Adriana (my house mate) who has taken it from someone else's birthday party.

???? - Go home and sleep off a truly well organised day.

So all in all, I give this birthday a 7.8, with most points being lost due the fact that I didn't get to judge any bikini contests. After all, I got to hang out with friends, Got to do something I'd never done before (react to a shotgun), and generally got to enjoy the place in which I was living, you can't ask for much more than that...can you?