Cidade Maravilhosa!

Rio de Janeiro, 6,136,652 occupy approximately 1182.3 square kilometers.The greater metropolitan area is estimated to be home to roughly 11-13.5 million. The juxtaposition of the transatlantic rain forest and concrete is breathtaking to say the least.

View overlooking Gavea Jockey club from Christ the Redeemer

The "Carioca" (the name used for people from Rio de Janeiro) embodies a particular personality and attitude. One that is easy going, happy, relaxed and ready to put anything off until tomorrow in order to "curta sol na praia ou danca samba."

But Rio is a megatropolis. 19% of Rio's population live in favelas (Brazilian Portuguese for slums). Some of the original favelas were started as quilombos (independent settlements of fugitive African slaves). The areas later grew when slaves were liberated in 1888 and had no place to live. The housing crisis of the 1940s also forced the urban poor to erect additional shantytowns/favelas.

The favelas of Rio de Janeiro are built on the mountain side with some of the best panoramic views of the city. However, during rainy seasons, these areas are prone to flooding and mudslides, leading to numerous deaths each year.

View of Rocinha from Sao Conrado

Add to these very poor areas the fact the Brazil is one of the most economically unequal countries in the world with the top 10% earning 50% of the national income and about 34% living below the poverty line. During the 20th Century the Brazilian Government made several attempts to improve the nation's urban poverty problem. One of the most well-known is the relocation of 10,000 favela inhabitants to public housing during the 1970s while Brazil was under military governance, depicted in the film Cidade de Deus/City of God. Programs are continuously implemented but with little avail.

This huge contrast in economic dispertion leads to a sometimes volitale environment. On the surface, Rio de Janeiro is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. However, poverty perpetuates crime, and Rio is no stranger to crime. The desparate will go to extreme measures to put food on the table or clothes on their children.

Praias Lelon e Ipanema

I fell victim to this crime about a month and a half ago after living in Cidade Maravilhoso for three and a half years. A beautiful, sunny Friday afternoon, roughly 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Another American teacher and I were walking the beach on our way to take a quick swim and meet friends for happy hour. The beach was packed, the sun was shining. As we attempted to cross from Leblon to Ipanema near the water, we were suddenly jumped by about 15 teenage boys at one time. They immediately separated me from my friend and commenced to strip us of everything we had. My sunglasses were literally ripped from my face.

My initial reaction was to flee, attempt to run, fight off the little piranas, but the truth is I was completely outnumbered. The result was me getting more banged up than necessary. The delay in the struggle came because one boy wanted my watch, which needed to be unhooked in order to be removed. (He wasn't intelligent enough to know that.) He tried for what felt like 5 minutes to tear the watch from my wrist without opening it until I was able to yell in Portuguese that I would take it off.

We were left with the clothes on our backs and nothing else--literally. Thankfully, we have friends in the city. No body on the beach helped. Whether anyone saw the encounter I am not sure as it all happened very fast, but there was no reaction from any other person on the beach that day.

Where has this left me? My perspective of Rio de Janeiro has certainly been changed. I still love Brazil; I still love Rio; I still go out; I still walk the beach. BUT...I am far more cautious and at times downright scared than I ever was before this experience. I now go out with nearly nothing. I have a very plain watch. I don't carry a bag. I don't wear jewelry. I shove my cell phone in a pocket. I disperse money throughout all pockets and stuff a little in my bra. Being left that day without money to even jump on a bus and get back to my neighborhood left an ugly feeling of desperation that I don't ever wish to repeat.

Yes, these sorts of things happen in cities around the globe. Rio is not the only megatropolis in the world with crime. Lessons of life in the fast lane are sometimes harder to learn than others. I got this one. I don't need a repeat in order to understand.

Rabanada Bem

They might look like your average French Toast, but don't be fooled. These are genuine Rabanadas. Delicious and sinful, traditional Brazilian Christmas goodie. Let me share with you how to create these at your house. Make a batch to share with family and friends during your holiday feast. Add a little Brazil to the table.

Take bakery style dinner rolls. The kind that come in a "log" and you pull them apart. Pull them apart. Mix together milk, sweet and condensed milk, and if you can coconut milk. Soak the pieces of bread in the milk mixture. Beat eggs (2-3) in a separate bowl. After soaking each piece of bread, squeeze out excess milk, and dip in egg. Fry in pan with oil until golden brown. Cover with cinnamin/sugar. Enjoy!!

They are very similar to American French toast in preparation, but the milk mixture makes an incredible difference in final taste.

ENJOY!! Happy HOlidays!

Digital Photography has changed the way we socialize.

Seriously, I was watching a novela (soap opera) a few weeks back and there was a scene in a bar/club. There were 2 main couples (in the show) who had gone to this bar together. Part of the scene in the novela included the four characters taking pictures of each other and immediately looking at the camera to see if the photo turned out, laugh at a crazy face, or gush over how beautiful one of the others looks in the photo. After this brief segment of the scene, the scenario of the novela continued (in the bar/club), and the camera was put away. The picture taking portion didn't really have anything to do with the plot.

It made me think: Digital Cameras have changed how we interact with each other.

'NO LOOKING AT THE PICTURES UNTIL SUNDAY ON THE WAY HOME!'
My friend Diane established this rule Friday night of a recent Girl's Weekend. I have to admit we were all a bit resistant; however, we complied. It was not easy at first, but by Saturday afternoon we were no longer thinking about immediately turning the camera around, pushing the the play button, and looking at our pictures. We accepted that whatever crazy photo might surface on Sunday could discreetly be deleted later if necessary. We also agreed that if we missed the really great shot because we didn't know it turned out the first time, it wasn't meant to be.

Remember having to wait for the film to be processed? Picking up the prints from Walgreen's, shuffling through the stack sometimes still a little sticky from the chemicals used. In a roll of 24 or 32 you may have ended up with 10 decent shots, and you had to pay for all 24 or 32 regardless of how blurry, dark, over-exposed they might be. There are benefits to only printing the 'good ones'. And we must be doing the Earth a favor by printing and discarding fewer pictures.

But I was thinking about the feeling of anticipation. The pleasure of receiving the pictures after so much waiting. How that is somewhat character building. We are able to be instantly satisfied, appeased by looking at our shots seconds after they have been taken, which is GREAT! At the same time, Sunday's drive back to Rio after the "no looking girl's weekend" was quite entertaining as we recapped our weekend adventure while scrolling through the pictures together for the first time. Try it the next time you have an afternoon, evening, weekend get together. Apply the no looking rule and observe the difference in the behaviors of people.