Once their I spoke with Brazilians about the World Cup being in their country and the press leading up to the World Cup, and I got a wide variety of responses but in general most Brazilians were in favor of the demonstrations, and the fact that Brazilians were taking advantage of their moment in the spotlight.
I also spoke with a few people about the missed opportunities that occurred in London during the Olympics. Most mentioned that the biggest missed opportunity was a culinary one. At no place during the Olympics in London did the organizers feature local food, in fact local art and culture of any kind was absent because of the high price of Olympic sponsorship.
This is something I later found was shared by the World Cup in Brazil, hot dogs, and coke, and hamburgers were the most readily accessible food. It was only the local people smart enough to watch the games in bars and restaurants all around the city who really got to experience the local foods.
After leaving Fan Fest after the last game, I stopped in Ipanema for an acaraje, (local shrimp, and okra appetizer), and I then I went on to a barbecue at my hostel afterwards.
For the majority, western food and culture were what they experienced but for a select few that stepped away from the beaten path, there were some unique experiences. As are evidenced below, as a group of Doctors from Toronto, and Cape Town, South Africa took the time to tour Rocinha in Rio's largest favela with my friend Zezinho,. There they experienced local cuisine and culture firsthand.
