Garden Action

The most interesting thing (or actually the only interesting thing, or even the only thing at all) in my “garden” is a small tree of the kind that we in Sweden would call “julstjärna” and keep in flowerpots for Christmas (apparently aka Euphorbia pulcherrima). The interesting thing with it is that when I arrived here three weeks ago it was completely green, without any red leaves, so it actually took me some time to realise it was such a tree.



Since then the top leaves have started getting redder and redder. Maybe I should take pictures to follow the transformation. And maybe I should have taken a real “before-picture”. This is the level of excitement in my home!


But now at least I have received a table to go with the one chair I have had until now and hopefully I will also get the hammock that I bought last weekend, up before Easter. That would mean I can actually be out there, which will be an immense improvement to my quality of life at home.

Some Brasília pictures

Posting some city picuters from Brasília. From one of my walks to through the city.






The big open space between the driving lanes along Axio monumental. Close to the TV-tower where there is a quite nice market.








The two towers at the end of the street are part of the congress buildings. Next to it is the Ministry for foreign affairs. Both quite spectacular buildings. One day I will go there without any other business than having a good look and bring the camera.




A typical local commercial center.



A typical residential area, on the Southern wing, Asa Sul.

Fireworks

They really like fireworks here in Brasilia!
I have been here two weeks now and can't even count how many fireworks I have heard. I haven't seen any though. As my apartment doesn't really have any windows and now view at all, I don't see anything but I hear.
Here they also seem to like having fireworks accompanying their demonstrations. That means you hear fireworks also at daytime, which seems like a waste as you will hardly see anything of it.

I've got a Samba Problem

I realise I have a samba-problem! Not only because samba is difficult, which it is, but I also have a more general dancing problem. I love dancing! But I prefer to dance on my own, in my own style. I have never liked or even understood the point in this couple-dancing, where the woman is supposed to follow the man, whether he is a good dancer or not. Why is that?! That is so old-fashioned!!
Here I totally accept that everyone dances “better” than I do, and I also realise that people are only trying to be nice when they try to teach me how to dance and give me lessons. But that doesn’t mean that they all are great teachers. Most of the times they just make me feel very clumsy and useless as a dancer and that is really no fun, when you are out for a good time with your friends. As they realise I am a beginner and foreigner they slow down the speed and fall back to the “one-two-one-two” and “look at my feet” but to me that only means I get completely stiff and loose contact to the rhythm of the music and it all gets very much worse.
As long as I am allowed to dance on my own (or with a very good dancer) it is all just fine, but when things like these happen I rather don’t dance at all.

This is nothing new. I hate “ballroom-dancing” back home in Sweden too and at weddings or parties where that kind of dancing might be expected I always come up with excused for not dancing when someone asks me to dance. Here that seems very much ruder, especially as I don’t know the language so I can make myself understood. And here at least I like the music and like to dance to it, as long as I can decide for myself when and where to move my feet!

That Much for Casual Friday

Yesterday I thought I could go for some more casual clothes for work, as I did not have any planned meetings and Fridays we only work until 13 o’clock. So I choose a light summer’s skirt and blouse and even a pair of flip-flops. However, at last moment I though maybe the flip-flops were a little too casual. Even though I didn’t have meetings booked, my colleagues might have and there might be external visitors at the office do I choose to bring a pair of other shoes for safety’s reason.

What a good idea! It did not take long before I was asked to join for a meeting at the senate, with very short notice. And little later I was asked to stand in for the boss at a meeting in the afternoon at one of the ministries. That much for casual Friday!

Capital Fashion Week

I made a visit to the Brasilia Capitol Fashion Week tonight. Not that I have been to any real fashion show before, but I must say I thought it would be more…. fashion. It was not very glamorous. There was not even a place where you could get a glass of wine in the break between the shows (let alone champagne).



I had tickets for three shows, but the first one started already at 17.30 and I didn’t finish work early enough to make it to that one. The second one started at 19.30. This being Brazil I never thought it would start at 19.30, but it got even later than I expected. I arrived about 19.40 and got into the hall at about ten minutes later but the show didn’t start until 20.10. For a while I thought this would mean the last show would get even more delayed, but then it turns out the whole show was over in ten minutes! I might have been able to remain seated as I had tickets also for the next show, but did not really wanted to sit there for so long so I went out to see what was going on in the lounge, which was not very much. Then there was a long queue to get in again so I gave up and decided to go home instead. It was actually more interesting to watch the visitors than the show. As the show I watched was displaying men’s wear, it was actually more interesting to watch the models then the clothes.

However I was really proud that this time I managed to call and order a taxi all by myself when it was time to get back. Not that I understood everything the operator said, but the taxi came! :-)

Where The Streets Have No Name

Well, I don’t think Brasília was the city that U2 had in mind when they wrote the song Where the streets have no name, but it could very well be a fitting description of Brasília. Ok, there are a few streets or roads that do have names, but addresses here are more likely to be something like SQS 403, SHLS Q 716, SHN Q 2 Bloco E or SES Q 807, Lt 29 which happens to be the address of the Swedish embassy. I will not go into details on how to read this, as I haven’t quite figured out all the details about it, although I have started getting the logic behind it. In fact it is probably absolutely über-logical. I will simply quote Lonely Planet again, this is how they describe it:

For example, the address for Pensão da Zenilda is SQS 704, Bloco Q, Casa 29. That means it’s in Super Quadra 704, bloco (building) Q, casa (house) 29. The first digit in the address (7) shows the position east or west of the Eixo Rodoviário (the main north-south arterial road) – odd numbers to the west and even to the east, increasing as they move away from the centre. The last two digits (04) show the distance north or south of the Eixo Monumental. So Pensão da Zenlida is four blocks to the south of the Eixo Monumental and four blocks east of the Eixo Rodoviário (1, 3, 5, 7)

That’s super logical isn’t it!? Adding to this are a number of acronyms used in addresses like SCLN/SLCS for Sector Comércio Local Norte/Sul, SBN/SBS Setor Bancário Norte/Sul and SEN/SES Setor de Embaxiadas Norte/Sul and so on. These acronyms are frequently used on road signs etc. That will be a challenge when I start to drive myself here, as if the traffic wasn’t already a challenge.

Brazilian Teeth

Already in Rio in January I noted that there were a lot of adults wearing braces. The same thing goes for Brasília. I have seen so many wearing braces you could almost believe it is a fashion thing. I will have to keep an extra eye open for that at this week's fashion show.

Another thing that I have noted about teeht here are that many of the others, those who don't have braces, all have very white teeth. That also goes for the expats. I wonder if toth-bleaching might be cheap here. Maybe I should ask someone.

I have been thinking of bleaching my teeth before but never tried it. I am a bit worried wether it really is good for your teeth. If it is inexpensive here I might give it a try. But on the other hand it also trigger this thing inside of me that never wants to do what all the others do. So if a majority has white bleached teeth I all of a sudden feel an urge to keep my natural yellowish. Well, let's see.

A Trip to the Mall

Having finished my first, rather intense work week and considering that it is my birthday tomorrow, I decided to treat myself to some shopping. I was recommended a shopping mall a bit outside city and asked the guards at the gate to order me a taxi to get there. It was a quite nice mall and I found just about what I needed (two pair shoes, two tops and some practical things for the apartment). It was nevertheless very exciting to go shopping without being able to speak Portuguese. It is really striking how few people here speak English. Today I did not meet one single person. Most of the time its works quite ok though, although every time I wanted to pay with my credit card they asked something that I never understood. I thought it sounded like “cash or credit?” but it didn’t seem to make sense. Then I thought they asked whether I would sign or had a pin code, but no, it didn’t seem so either. I felt so stupid, but it worked. What made things a little more complicated was that I managed to sit on my credit card so the card got a knick that made it work less in the readers. In the ATM it did not work at all, so I am really happy I had cash enough for the taxi home. I have to contact my bank to have them send me a new card.

Well, talking about the taxi drive home. That was another exciting thing. I had a number for the taxi company, but kind of assumed they would not be able to talk English so I tried to ask for help from an information desk. I showed them the number, said “taxi” and offered them my mobile and pointed to the gate and used all English/French/Italian words that I thought would make sense. But no, it didn’t help. They just sent me to another exit. I thought maybe they meant that there was a taxi stand at that exit and went there, but no, there wasn’t. So then there was not much left for me to do but trying to call myself. First I thought it went quite well. I managed to explain that I wanted a taxi to the specific shopping mall and the specific gate and also gave my name. Then I had expected to get something like a time estimate or a number of the taxi or something like that, but I just could not understand what the operator said. Somehow it seems the harder I try to understand, the more tired I get and the less I understand. After a while she just said “boa tarde Susanne, boa tarde”. That left me wondering if that meant a confirmation, like “good evening Susanne, your taxi is coming any minute and soon you will be at home and have a nice evening” or if it meant “just piss off and have a nice evening whatever you like to do, I don’t give a damn”. Anyway I decided to trust it worked and sat down and waited for a taxi to come. But at the same time I felt I could not just sit and wait for something I didn’t know would come, so when I saw a taxi standing at the parking lot I just walked over and asked if it was free. It was. So to the taxi driver who was possibly sent to the shopping mall on my behalf; I am so sorry and hope you got another customer who gave you a really decent tip.

To be able to get home in any situation I have learned how to say the address in Portuguese. I thought I did a good job and the driver seemed to understand. I could also follow the drive and see that he was driving the right way. But then at a crossing in the embassy quarters I realise he wants to drive to the Swiss embassy. Ok, this is a rather common mistake so I will not blame that on my pronunciation. I am just very happy the Swiss embassy was rather close to the Swedish. Honestly I had no idea where the Swiss was and was just happy to see the sign for the Italian in the same crossing and knowing that the Italian is just next to the Swedish it was not so difficult to point the right direction. I really have to learn Portuguese. Although it will make my life here less exciting. 

The Difficult Name

Of course I have long known that my name is not the most internationally viable name one can have. The very name of this blog is an evidence of that. But here in Brazil it seems to be even a bigger problem than in other places. People just can not handle it. But as the very kind and polite people they are, they try not to pretend that they have no idea how to pronounce my name and that they just can not remember it.

Today I joined some of my local colleagues for a pilates class. The trainer asked a couple of times for my name, but after the class I found out that in addition to asking me, he had asked one of the colleagues several times what my name is and if I do not have another name. While talking about this, the other colleagues joins in and tell me that other colleagues in the office ask them all the time about my name.

Later, one of the colleagues sent me an e-mail saying I HAVE to come up with a nickname. She had just helped me to make a reservation at a beauty salon and had had a very difficult time getting them to understand my name.

I guess my poor parents had no idea I would live such an international life!

Creeps

I don't know why, but it seems the amount of insects in my apartment is increasing. The first days i didn't see any insects at all, but after a while noticed mosquito bites so I realised there must be mosquitos. And there is. Now I have got some mosquito repellant so that problem is under control. Yesterday ther was this strange little creature on the kitchen wall. It did not look very fierce so I let it be. Don't know where it is now. Yesterday I also noticed there is an ant path on the wall behind the TV. Don't know it it is new or I just didn't see it before. A little while ago I saw a very strange creep lying on its back on the floor. I have no idea what it was but as it almost looked half dead anyway I just helped it a little with one of my Hawaianas.

And bang, there another mosquito just died...

Not so luxurious

Just to make one thing straight. This post is not a complaint. I only want to show that a posting like my present doesn’t automatically mean a life in comfort and luxury.

To answer some questions that were put to me before I came here; No, I do not live in a big villa, and no I do not have a full set of house maids and gardeners etc (until yesterday I didn’t even have a vacuum cleaner). Yes, there is a pool and a tennis court, but on the compound and not in my garden. My place is just off the parking lot and “my garden” is about 2X2 metres. I don’t know exactly how big my apartment is, but I think it is best compared to a student’s apartment for two students. That means there are two more or less identical bedrooms, a bathroom, a small kitchenette and a narrow living room, that is actually an extended terrace opening out to the 2x2 m garden. It is all ok, what is not so good however is that the whole apartment is basically lacking windows. The door out to the garden is a glass door, but that is basically the only source of natural light. It means the place is very dark and isolated as there is no way where you can look out of the apartment. My first impression when I saw it was that no Swedish architect can have constructed this, no Swede would ever build a place for human habitation without windows. Later I found out the architect of the whole complex is indeed Swedish, but I gather this extended terrace/living room was not part of the original plan. Or he just had a bad day.

In the kitchen I have exactly; four plates, three glasses, four mugs, four knives, four forks, tree tea-spoons, one cutting knife, one frying pan and one cooking pot, one jug and one plastic bowl. That is all. It might be all fine if you are just staying here for a couple of days or a week maybe, but for six months it might be just a little too meagre. It is not much you can or want to cook in that kitchen. I have now arranged for a vacuum cleaner, an iron and ironing board and also got a new TV (although I still haven’t managed to get the connection to the satellite dish working) which all are huge improvements to the place. However I have not managed to do something about the smell in the wardrobes so I can only hope that my clothes wont catch too much of that rather pungent smell.

So, as I begun, I don’t want to complain and I hope there will be a chance to change housing after a while, because this place is rather depressing. What I want is just to show that it is not all that luxurious.

City Planning and Planned City

While driving around Brasília I cannot help wondering how they were thinking when they planned this city. “Ok, we are going to build a completely new and modern capital. Hey! Let’s build it in the shape of an airplane!!” Some plans are obvious and somehow makes reasonably sense. Like I can understand that you put all the administrative and representative buildings in one area and the original plan of having commercial centres in every residential block makes sense, although it might not have worked out exactly as planned. But why putting all hotels in the same area?

Driving through the southern embassy sector you find some embassies that seem to be placed completely randomly and others according to some plan. For example I find it hard to see a plan behind having Lebanon, Mexico, Hungary, Indonesia and Slovakia next to each other, whereas it is easy to see the logic behind placing the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland) as neighbours as well as having Colombia, Chile, Venezuela, Uruguay and Argentina together (although I don’t see the logic in putting Serbia next to them!!). However, some locations are so surprising or unexpected it is hard to guess if it is by coincidence or if someone put them there by will, just to annoy or provoke them or maybe force them to cooperate. Hence you will find that Greece and Turkey are next door neighbours, as are Netherlands and South Africa as well as Russia and USA.

A First Glipmse of Brasília

From Lonely Planet Brazil: "With long distances and harrowing sixlane highways connected by spagetti junctions to negotiate, Brasíla is not really a city for walkers."


So what is the first thing I do on my first day in Brasília. I go for a jog in the morning and then for a walk in the city. And ok, I can agree on that this city was not built for walkers, but on the other hand, just because of the fact that there are no room for walkers (no side walks) you can walk everywhere. Between the above mentioned highways there are plenty of green spaces where you can walk and it beeing highways that you need to cross, means at least you only have to look out for cars coming from one direction at a time.

I don't really know what to say about my first impression this far. It is a very different city, it is fascinating and interesting and I think it might work, but I don't know if I will find anything charming and cosy about it. We will see. However some first impressions are at least that it is anything but crowded and there is lot of green. I knew that it would be nothing like Rio, but I must say I did not expect it to remind me more about Harare that Rio.


Here are a few glimpses from my first walk in the city.





View from the Embassy district (one of them) towards Lago do Paranóa.





Flowers on a tree





One of the junctions





The Catedral Metropolitana





Inside the cathedral








Museu Nacional

Arrived in Brasília

So, I just arrived in Brasília! Not too much to say after having seen just the way from the airport to the embassy and a supermarket. But it is very green and lush and looks kind of nice. A positive first impression! Somehow it reminds me a little of Harare, but I think it might just be that it is at approximate the same latitude so I guess the light is the same and maybe the climate too.

It was a bit of a strange feeling going to the supermarket to do some shopping the first thing in the morning before 7 pm, freshly arrived in a new country where you don't speek the language. I felt a little bit lost, but still I like it. Just walking around among the shelves and see what they have and try to figure out what you want. And, actually, this is the first time I am posted in a country where I at least have sat my foot before! :-)

Swedes abroad

It is amazing how easy it is to tell a Swede among other nationalities abroad! I have been sitting at the same place in the airport in Lisbon now for almost two hours and noticed several times how easy I can tell who is Swedish- I can tell from afar. This far I haven't mistaken once. However I can not exactly tell what it is, but I see it from a long distance. I wonder if people just as easily can tell that I am Swedish!? And if other nationalities spot their countrymen just as easy. Please let me know!

On the Move again

So I am on the move again. Sitting at the airport in Lisbon on the way to Brasília. I have quite some time to spend here and airports are great for writing/blogging. If I were an author I think I would spend a lot of time writing at airports.

When I wanted to log on to the wlan at the airport I realised that all the information was in Portuguese. I don't know Portuguese, but I did not find it very hard to guess my way through the system. At least I somehow managed to get the system working. I was smiling to myself while doing it and thinking about when I landed in Rio in January. In the plane, before landing, they handed out embarkation cards to be filled in. They were also only in Portuguese. Too proud and stubborn to ask for help, and also because I love doing things on my own, I guessed my way through that form as well. And then I knew even less Portuguese! I kind of realised that it would be a bad thing to accidentally give the wrong answers at a moment like that. "Do you bring weapons, ammunition, drugs etc etc? Yes!" But at least they let me in and I didn't get any problem then. Let's see if they will let me in this time. Maybe it is good that I travel on different passport this time. :-)

Lisbon looked absolutely lovely from the air. I will have to come back and stay. I noticed that I had been looking out the window for quite some time before noticing the fact that it was green, warm and summery outside. It just looked normal. Swedish winter is an absolute abnormality. A freak of nature.

But there is (at least) one thing that I think Sweden should make a serious effort to export. That is the construction of washrooms and lavatories at airports! I just don't understand what the architects/constructors are thinking while creating these small cabins at airports. At airports you are constantly reminded not to leave your luggage unattanded. So what is your option when travelling alone and if you need to go to the bathroom?! You will have to bring your luggage. Then it is absolutely nervewrecking trying to squeese into those small cabins where the doors, of course, also open inwards!! Why the hell do the doors have to open inwards!?!? I must say I don't particularly like Arlanda, but the toilets are great in comparison.

Ok, still three hours to go. Hmm see what I will do now. Shopping is not an option as I already have a huge amount of luggage. Drinking another beer might be an option..

Black and Red or Black and White?

If you want to be a real carioca you need to have one favourite samba school and a favourite football team. Finding the samba school was easy. As we visited Unidos da Tijuca of course I am a Tijuca. Their colours are even blue and yellow!!

Finding a football team (in two weeks without even watching a game and having no clue about the teams of Rio) was not as easy. However, already some of the first days I noted some red and black striped flags with some emblem on, that I kind of liked. I saw it everywhere, flags on the beach, stickers on cars and even on the beer cans, but I did not know what it was. On the last day I learned that was the emblem of Clube de Regats do Flamengo, one of the bigger Rio teams, also the club of Ronaldinho. So, I decided Flamengo is my Rio football team. Just because I like their colours and symbol.

Later I learned more about the club and I felt happy with my choice. Not least because it actually started as a rowing team and sill have rowing too, which you can see from the name. But while reading about it I also read about other Rio teams and learned that one of the other big Rio teams is Botafogo de Futelbol e Regatas. Then it became a little bit difficult. Already from the start I just liked the word Botafogo. It just sounds so cool (in Portuguese) and it is so fun to say. Their symbol is a lone white star on a black escutcheon and their colours are consequently black and white. Also very stylish. And they also do rowing. So, now I don't know. Can one have two teams?! Or does that make me unfaithful?!

One Week Later

So, now I have been home for a little more that a week and still Rio is very much in my mind. Not only because of the sand falling out of bags, pockets and books and not because the cold that I caught the last days in Rio is still hanging on, but because the city really made a strong and lasting impression.

As I made my decision to go there very sudden and without much preparation I had read and studied far less than I normally do before I travel to a new place. What I knew was mostly the standard clichés about samba, beach, carnival and crime and also what my friend told me, which was also stereotypical in a way. He talked about the sensualism of Rio and the Cariocas, their joie de vivre and the very easy going lifestyle and how very special the place is. Looking back I must admit that most of it is true. The only thing that I did not experience was crime and violence. Many have asked me about whether it is dangerous or not in Rio. It is of course difficult to say anything about the security situation in Rio after a two weeks visit only because nothing happened to me. Maybe I was just lucky. No, not only lucky. I stayed in one of the safest areas of the city and of course one has to be careful. There are places where you should not go alone after dark and you should be careful carrying around valuables. But tell me the place where you should not take these precautions. There are places in Stockholm where I don’t go alone after dark either. And crowds attract pickpockets everywhere. However these precautions were never anything that I felt impeded on my movements or what I wanted to do. I felt absolutely comfortable walking home alone at night and staying late alone at the samba school and taking a taxi home alone felt completely safe. To be honest I felt more safe there than in Stockholm at times.

So, what about the other things. Yes, I think a lot of it is true. There is a very relaxed atmosphere over the place, maybe simply because it is too hot and humid to stress, but nevertheless. The beach culture and the music are indeed very sensual. People flirt in a very positive and friendly way that does not mean anything more than just that, it is just a way of interacting. Before I came I had heard about the minimal bikinis, floss bikinis, and thought the beaches would only be full of beautiful, slim and tanned bodies. And there are a lot of very beautiful people on the beaches, people who like to show themselves. The funny thing however is that is not only the young, fit and beautiful showing themselves off in tiny bikinis. No, also the older, the rounder and not so very beautiful also show their bodies in minimal swimwear and do not feel ashamed or embarrassed about that. That I like!! In Sweden I would say the tolerance is much lesser and the verdict hard on anyone showing up in too small a bikini if she has a few kilos more then some ideal. “How can she?!” “Who does she think she is?!

The same things go for dancing. By the way; Yes, they do dance in the streets!! Also here, everyone joins in. The old, the fat and the ugly as well as the young, slim and beautiful. Now writing this, I choose words as “fat” and “ugly”, but when I think about it they were not fat or ugly, the music and joy made everyone beautiful. As it is very hot and very humid everyone sweats the whole time, which means no one cares about that either. Who cares if you have some sweat marks on you shirt, so has everyone! Even if you can’t dance, as a tourist at a samba school, it is not a problem. People are very happy to help and show you how to make the steps, and they do it in a very positive and appreciative way not to make you feel bad or stupid not knowing how to move your feet (or your ass) to a hellish speedy samba rhythm. I only regretted I do not speak Portuguese so I could talk more to people. I have the feeling it would have been very interesting.

Well, on top of this you have a very beautiful landscape, fascinating architecture, some of the most beautiful beaches, parks and nature, lovely music and fantastic fruits. So how can you but love the place? I want to go back and in a way I am still there.

A Visit in the Favela

The last day of my stay in Rio we went on a tour into one of the favelas. My friend and I had been talking a lot about whether we should do it or not. Those kind of events can be rather tacky things, poverty tourism or misery voyeurism, neither of which we would like to contribute to. On the other hand the favelas are such a big part of Rio’s (and Latin America’s) reputation and character that it would be strange never to have seen what it is all about. But as it seems unadvisable to go there on you own and if you don’t know anyone living there who can take you, there are not that many options. So after having deliberates pros and cons for quite a while we decided to go on a tour with Be a local.

A bus took us to the entrance of the Rocinha favela. From there we went on a motorcycle taxi up to the top of the hill, from where we then would walk down the narrow lanes and alleys. During the ride up the hill I for the first time really started to wonder if we had made the right decision. The drivers were racing each other up the winding serpentine road, overtaking each other and criss-crossing between busses, cars, pedestrians and animals at a hellish speed. Of course we did not wear helmets or any other protection. Ok, I thought, this is exactly what you are NOT supposed to do while travelling. I think my friend was particularly nervous as he just a couple of days before had realised his travel insurance had expired. But anyhow, we all survived.

Rocinha is supposedly the biggest favela in South America with an estimated population of 200 000, but of course no one really knows, as no one living there is registered and no one counts. The government has no real control of the favelas and the ones living there don’t pay any tax, which of course also is one of the reasons why the drug lords have established themselves there. This might now be changing. The government has started to clear, or pacify, some of the favelas and promised to solve the problems by building new houses for the inhabitants etc. There are obvious problems in the favelas, the sanitary situation is not great, in some there are high levels of crime and violence connected to the drug-trade and the complete lack of town and country planning poses risks in it self. Almost all favelas are built on steep slopes on the hills and at risk for landslides. So something needs to be done, and should have been done long time ago, but no one really cared. Now with the World Cup and the Olympics coming up that has changed and things are happening. Therefore it was indeed interesting to see what it looks now.




I must say that our hesitation about to go or not to go very soon changed, the guide was very good and knowledgeable and knew all the people we met and seemed to be well seen in the area. No one seemed to object to us being there, on the contrary. We visited a gallery, a bakery, a social project and some small shops that had the opportunity to sell things to us and earn a few Reais. Therefore it did not feel as we were voyeurs and we were both very happy we did the tour.

Of course it is poor and crowded and the buildings are very simple, but somehow it was more well-organised than I thought. Although you had open sewers running along the paths and loads of garbage everywhere and the smell was sometimes overwhelming, the insides of the houses and shops all seemed very clean and tidy.



As it is sprawling high up on the hillside you have a stunning view from many places in the favela. Then it also becomes very clear how close the poorest and the richest live in Rio.