A Week Away

Well, now I'm less than a week away from my trip to Rio de Janiero, Brazil to go train at Gordo's Jiu Jitsu Academy. I can't believe that it is right around the corner. I have started this blog to share my trip and also help answer questions if others may be wanting to do the same thing. All the planning and double checking are pretty much done and now it's just time to pack up and get ready to go.
 

The Process

This whole trip started as a treat for my service in the Coast Guard. I was really unsure whether or not to go for it in the first place, but Brooke was very supportive and encouraging. For me, the first step was to figure out the cost of such an endeavor so I could plan how long I could be down there. Once I started looking into it and researching rentals and hostels I was pretty overwhelmed. I was reading other blogs and lots of posts on Sherdog.com about people who want to or have gone to Brazil to train. I originally was trying to train at Demian Maia's Academy in Sao Paulo, however I found out that during the time frame I was looking to be down there he would not be. So one thing led to another and I got hooked up with Dennis from ConnectionRio.com. Form there things started going pretty smoothly. I told Dennis, via email as he lives in Rio, what I was hoping to do and he put together a whole little package for me which basically included everything but food and airfare. It is:
 

• Suite in house with pool with small office space and private bathroom (with shower and bathtub)
• 4 private lessons with Roberto Correa "Gordo"
• 6 weeks training at Gordo Jiu-Jitsu in LB with the option of also training at his second academy included (this includes a week for your wife as well)
• Transportation for you and your wife from the airport and back
• 2 kimonos
• 2 Connection Rio t-shirts
• 2 Gordo Jiu-Jitsu t-shirts
• 1 round of batidas (mixed drinks) at the famous Bar do Oswaldo in Largo da Barra

Awesome! I had the time...no more job made that easy, and would come up with the money. I went for it and put down the deposit.

Airfare

This was the easiest part. I had some reward points and after a little looking around got a good deal. I purchased the airfare in June and wouldn't be leaving till the end of September.

The Visa

This was a bit of a headache. First of all you can't apply for your visa until you have proof of travel plans to Brazil, which in my case would be a copy of my flight itinerary. No biggie, I got that. Let me tell you now, visas to Brazil are not cheap. Assuming you don't live by a Brazilian Consulate, I don't, you have to express mail your application with a prepaid express mail envelope back. The application process was pretty straight forward, however Brazil charges Americans an extra little bit that they don't charge other countries citizens. That little amount is $130 per visa and they only take USPS money order. There is no way around this. After fees it was $300 for Brooke and my visas. I did all the paperwork, got everything together and express mailed the visa applications to the Consulate in Chicago only to get them back a week later requesting more information. This was very irritating due to the fact that what they wanted now was no where to be found on the website. I had to write a letter explaining my trip and that I did not know anyone in Brazil and was going down for pleasure and not business and supply proof of a bank account with enough money to support myself for six weeks while in Brazil. Back to the post office, two more express mail envelopes and a week later I recieved our completed visas back. Aye dios mio. It may not sound like much, but I was pretty nervous that the passports would get lost in the mail, and then I had to send them twice.

With all that done it is now just a matter of packing and waiting.