CARNAVAL

Today we had a tour of a favela aka shanty town just outside of the city centre. I wasn't that bothered about going but it turned out to be a great day and I really enjoyed hearing about and seeing a totally different way of living.

It was crazy seeing so many houses and people living in such a small area. I think the actual population is around about 300,000!
The guy taking the tour was very good and was actually born in the favela, had moved out and lived in America for several years but was now back living there. He was so passionate and proud about living in the favella and really had no bad words to say about it. He was covered in tattoos all to do with living there and even had all the little houses drawn on. He has started up a DJ school which the kids can attend for free as long as they are in education, like most activities offered and so the money we paid for the tour was going towards his DJ school to help improve it. He even took us to his home and showed us his set-up for the school.

What I liked most about the tour was that it showed us how a community can live without unnecessary luxuries. This wasn't a shantytown suffering poverty and it was clear that they made the most of what they had. Although you can see houses piled one on top of each other, water tanks which are only filled once a week and crazy bunches of overhead electricity wires, when you catch a glimpse of the insides of some of the houses they appear very similar to what you would expect of an average middle-class house. A lot of people living there actually have enough money to leave but they choose not to. What is funny is that many people choose to avoid this area of the city associating it with danger and social problems when in fact according to the people living there it is one of the safest places to live and I certainly felt 100% safe for the 4 hours I was there.

Later we headed to the Ipanema beach area to join in some the pre-Carnaval festivities. It was a great atmosphere as we sat on the beach drinking beers and watching the sun go down. Before heading back to the hostel we listened to the music of a live street band and watched the people dancing samba in the streets.