note: location is rio de janeiro, brasil
the pantanal was fun, but by far the best thing that came out of it was the people we met. on the drive up from curitiba to rio, we spent the night at sol and lilly’s beautiful house in sorocaba. in rio, we met up with julie and alan. this morning, alan took us around the favela where he volunteers (rocinha). it started off a bit confusing, with us not really sure where to meet them. the taxi drove around the favela a bit, but in the end we made it without any issues.
rocinha is one of the safer favelas. it’s also quite large (according to alan, over 300k people!) — it actually started off on one face of a hill, then spread to the other side. actually, the slum does not feel much different from some of the towns i passed through in central america….especially the border towns. it’s dirty, busy and, as julie put it, a sensory overload. however, it also seems relatively safe (…maybe not safe, but not nearly as dangerous as the movies make it out to be….granted, i would have been petrified if i were not with someone who lived there). we started off by checking out the school where alan volunteers (www.2bros.org). aside from the one main street, the streets are all very narrow alleys — like urban slot canyons. indeed, with the trash, steps and other dangers, most are even impassible by motorcycles. power is a mess there, but it seems to work. internet is not uncommon and credit cards are widely accepted (….or maybe people just love decorating their stores with mastercard stickers). however, when you look at all the cables, resistors and other materials wrapped around the powerlines, it’s a wonder that the system works.
after the institute, alan waved his hands, and, before i knew it, i was riding backseat on a mototaxi swerving between buses at 25mph (uphill too). it was probably one of the scarier things i’ve done on this trip, but it was worth it — the view from the top of rocinha is beautiful. from there, we stopped by a daycare, then went to alan’s apartment (which also has incredible views, and is just $120/mo). here are some interesting things re: favelas (source: alan). he feels safer in the favela than on copocabana beach — thefts are rare in the favela, since they don’t want cops coming in. taking pictures in the favela is ok…as long as there aren’t people around (which is a bit tricky when you have such a dense concentration). the owner of the top floor of a house can sell the roof for somebody else to build a flat on (then that person can sell their roof, etc.). making money in the favela is hard, but there are some entrepreneurs….like the guy who created the mototaxi service. water drainage is bad in rocinha, which is why there is water on the street and many places smell like mold.
after rocinha, we had some delicious farrofa at simon/rosa’s house, checked out the indian museum (feather, not dot), visited dr. simon’s office, bid adrian farewell, had some delicious homemade pasteis, hung out, then went to sleep.
aside: brazilians love the thumbs up — they use it al the time. even today, when i caught the mototaxi drivers shirt that was falling onto the road, he gave me a thumbs up…i kinda wished he had just kept both hands on the handles as we narrowly avoided a bus zooming downhill. they also have a unique hand signal — it’s the one you use when somebody’s talking too much (clamping the hand open and shut, as if it were a mouth)…..but here it also means ‘full’ (as in, the taxi is occupied or the club is packed).
