Blogs from Teresópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America

We started the week with a visit to one of the more dangerous favelas that the organization works in. Each favela is either controlled by the city, cartel or militia. This favela, Cidade de Deus, is controlled by cartel so we can only enter when a community liaison accompanies us. While drugs are displayed and sold on the street like vegetables, the cartel does not allow the use of the drugs in the street. You actually have to leave the community to see groups of drug users in plain sight. I met with a group of the women to select a new class of entrepreneurs to start the business training courses and eventually apply for a micro loan. On Tuesday we attended a ceremony with the city to celebrate the end of a collaboration between the ... read more

Two days in Paraty were hardly enough. The town dates from the earliest 1700s and was the initial major port of entry for the Portuguese. From here the treasures of Brazil, gold and silver, were shipped back to the colonial authorities. In the mid-1700s the Portuguese ran the French out of Rio de Janeiro and moved all the major trading efforts there, effectively abandoning Paraty. Fortunately, the city merely slumbered rather than being torn down; with the colonial architecture and cobbled streets mostly abandoned and quiet, but preserved. Today it is a thriving tourist destination, with dozens of art galleries, restaurants, and music filling the air. The well-preserved architecture is painted as it would have been during the Colonial period, and many of the windows and doors are restored. There are no cars allowed in the ... read more

Sorry bout the long delay in entries, a long one to make up for it…. In prior entries, I mentioned that the Brazilian culture is very open and friendly and this extends to greetings. When men meet, the traditional right handed firm handshake is custom, but Brazilian women are always greeted with a kiss on the cheek. In Sao Paulo they kiss one time on the right cheek. In Rio it’s once on the right and once on the left, and in some cities in the south they kiss three times- right, left, right. You do not actually turn and give a full fledge peck on the cheek- you touch cheeks and simultaneously make a kiss sound. But don’t go around kissing everyone you meet. If there is a big difference in age or you meet ... read more