Brazil nuts

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Fact: Brazil nuts aren´t called Brazil nuts in Brazil. They´re called something completely different. And they´re not extremely cheap. They´re actually quite expensive.

So we´ve enjoyed Rio being our home for the past few days, to having fresh juice daily and for me a dose of "açai" with various acoutrements. We´ve got used to seeing men walking around on the streets in speedos (sometimes white, always tight), and women in their g-string bikinis (sometimes black, always up the, well, you know what...) We´ve seen dog salons where the poshest of the Ipanema la dee dahs get their pooches groomed and fluffed to the max. We´ve got used to a daily life of gossiping about our newfound motley crew of hostel mates, discussing the ins and outs of Portuguese (we´ve decided it sounds weird, almost Eastern European) and we´ve bitched in secret about other people in the hostel and their views about travelling (Aussie guy: "Why can´t they understand me when I speak English?? Why can´t they even try to understand me when I´m yelling BUS BUS in their face?? So bloody stupid") We´ve enjoyed sunset over Ipanema and chilling out to Bossanova beats in Copacabana. John got to see the footy at the Maracana stadium, and we´ve washed it all down with Brazilian beer (in varying qualities) and caiparinhas.

Friday morning we went up to the area of Santa Teresa by cable car which clattered along ancient tracks up through windy cobblestones streets. On the way back we had the (mis) fortune of sharing the tram with about 50 screaming school kids, all hanging onto the outside as the tram rattled back down the hills.

On Friday afternoon we did a tour of the favelas or "shanty towns" as our guide Christina translated. These areas are the places in the guidebooks where they scream "don´t wander into the favelas alone!!" These are the sites of most of the drug lords in the city, where deals are done and money is made.

Some favela facts: 20% of the population of Rio live in favelas - that´s 1.2 million folks. Rio is described as the city of contrasts - while the richest in the land usually enjoy the best views, in Rio, the poorest do. The favelas stretch up the mountains and give a stunning twinkle to the skyline for a night time Rio view. There are 752 favelas in Rio, the biggest of which, Rocinha, we visited, as well as one called Villa Canoas which was a lot smaller.

In terms of money, the minimum wage in Brazil was just increased yesterday to 412 Reais/month (about $USD200) In contrast, on the way up to Rocinha we passed the American school which is the most expensive school in Brazil. For one child to attend this school it costs 4000 R/month. Yes 4000. Again these places, rich and poor, favela and private school, co exist virtually side by side.

Our guide was great, has been doing the tours of the favelas for 6 years and was really knowledgeable about everything. We noticed during the whole tour she was constantly looking around, presumably aware of exactly what was going on and who was around. We had warnings and were instructed when it was ok and not ok to take photos "Don´t direct the camera up to those stairs behind you because that´s where a lot of drug deals take place." On security though, the fact of the matter is that you are safer in a favela than out of it - the drug lords who rule the communities don´t want crime up there, don´t want to attract police or media to incidents because this threatens the way they make a living. "The crime is committed down in the city, but not up in the favelas".

The hierachy of these places was explained to us. The drug lords rule the land, and they in turn belong to gangs, the ADA (Amigos dos Amigos "Friends of friends" or the CV "the Red Commanders") are the main ones. The lords then have people working for them in distribution etc, the main drugs being marijuana and coke. Within the favelas there are all kinds of security measures in place to foil the cops. There are lookout boys at the entrances. These are kids aged 13, 14, 15 who keep an eye out at different vantage points and know exactly who is coming in and who going out. They are usually armed with walkie-talkies and a firecracker. If they see cops, firecrackers go off, and the warning is sent. The alleys are so intricate that by the time the message goes out, the people in question are safely in hiding and the cops have little chance without keen knowledge of the back streets and dead ends and numerous hidey holes. Whilst minimum wage is 400R/month, a lookout boy can expect to earn 200R/week. And they are keen to keep the cops out. Despite there being a police car at the entrance to the favela, plus a little cop shop in the favela itself, our guide told us it´s all a bit of a front. The police who have the most interest in the drug lords are the special squad who basically have a "shoot to kill" mentality, are extremely heavily armed, and whose emblem is a skull and crossbones. Life expectancy of a drug lord is around 30 - they are usually met with a premature death by shooting. Most of their life is spent in the favela itself with little need nor desire to go "outside". Most of what is needed is within the community - shops, hairdressers, internet cafes, motorbike taxis, buses....as well as the fact that these guys are well known to police and presumably once they´d left the comfort and safety of their posse in the favela, they would be putting themselves at risk. Seemingly the main danger in the favelas is when these terminator police do a no holds barred raid, and when the ADA and the CV decide to have a bit of a gang war.

It was a completely different place to what I had imagined. I had this vision of people, extremely poor and huddled together, rotten kids with runny noses playing with guns.....the reality is that these are just whole communities which exist separately from the glitz and glamour of Cobacabana and Ipanema. There are bad things going on, like the drugs etc, but there are also community projects started up in a lot of favelas - City of God was filmed in Rocinha, and there is quite a well established drama school now operating with kids, getting them away from the life around drugs. We went to a little market area for budding painters and visited a community school set up by an Italian couple who live in a big, fancy house right at the entrance of Villa Canoes. The houses around the immediate areas of the favelas have no need for big electrical fences, security guards or cameras as they are respected by the community. Of course, Samba also started in the favelas, and most of the floats from the carnival parades are made by and performed on by favela people. The irony, when tickets for carnival can go for up to $500, the rich come out of the woodwork to watch the poor in all their glory. Another kind of music which was born out of the favelas is known as "favela funk". We heard some of this around the tiny back alleys of Vila Canoas. I asked the guide, she said she liked the beat of the music but the lyrics were extremely "dirty". There are frequently "favela funk parties" which are held inside and attended recently by rich and middle class kids. Drug lords come and dance here, guns above their heads, luring the girls both for sex and to become new clients. It´s not uncommon for a young rich girl to fall in love with these guys as they are attracted to their power.

We really enjoyed the tour, I thought it was great to see, a real eye opener, and a real inspiration to see people like Christine, the guide, who was obviously extremely well respected and loved by the people we saw - she constantly had men, women and kids coming up to her to give her a hug and a kiss, always with a huge smile.

So I suppose we did our little philanthropic bit - bought a couple of paintings from the kids, and even doing the tour itself contributes to the school and community itself. But on a personal level, I was really amazed, it´s hard to explain, but it was just such a positive experience.

In the evening we enjoyed a bossanova session at "bip bip" bar in Copacabana.

Yesterday we visited Sugarloaf Mountain, ("Pao de Açúcar" to the locals.) It was impressive, great views of the city, although I still think the highlight for me was the favela tour. We decided to boycott Christ, another entry fee to go atop a mountain and take pics for a few minutes.....the view from other vantage points was enough for us, and we´ve become stingy now anyway.....Rio is frightfully expensive!!

Last night was a big free concert on Ipanema beach - 50th anniversary of bossanova. What a great atmosphere. A stage was set up right on the beach, so you had to stand on the sand to see the stage, with the (extremely violent!!) waves crashing to the left. We snacked on cobs of corn, fried cheese, hot dogs with a self service condiment stand of an array of vegetables and sauces, beer and caiparinhas. Cool music and beautiful sunkissed people walking around with the bossanova beat in their step.

So we bid farewell to a city where you can buy Viagra over the counter. Where people pound the pavement down on the beach, all shapes and sizes, in various stages of dress and undress. To a city of contrasts, of various songs devoted to her, and the home of bossanova.

Anyone know any songs about Bolivia????

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Photos

The poor have the richest views!
View from the favela. Christ on the left, Sugarloaf on the right

Local kids outside community school
Camera shy? I think not!!