day 3 - continued.....

today has to have been the most interesting day of our trip so far. in the morning, we hit the beach, but after about 1 hour of wading and sitting in the sun we were extremely tired (great life, huh!). the waves at ipanema beach are ridiculously strong and we were tossed around like rag dolls.

afterwards, we talked on the phone with camilla and met her at the sisquiera campos station to head to the favelas. previously, we had booked a tour through marcelo armstrong, however, camilla said that this would be a better opportunity to actually interact with people in the community.

we got off at praca 11 station, and then took a cab with camilla and vinicius (camillas boyfriend) up to the favela. camilla and vinicius are involved with an organization called the FGS, or favela graffiti social, and they are there to engage members of the favela community in beautifying the neighbourhood with graffiti, and also promoting non-violence in their murals. they partner with a lot of well-known rio graffiti artists such as ECO and IRA, and a couple of foreigners. the guy who heads the FGS lives in the favelas, but also has been one of those who has ^made it^ - he is also a rap artist that tours internationally. anyway, so as soon as we got there, we were greeted by several machine-gun wielding men (eeek). but we were also greeted warmly by the residents, and were given a neon green vest to wear to indicate that we were part of the project.

many of the walls in the favela were painted a light turquoise green, and murals were painted on top - it gave the favela a lot more colour outside of the dusty reds and browns.

two residents took us around the labyrinthine favelas, with all its back alleyways and makeshift infrastructure. there were electricity cables all over the place, and bulletholes dotting ceilings, walls and windows, reminiscent of a less peaceful time. kids were fascinated by the indian and chinese girls that had suddenly invaded their area! overall, they were extremely appreciative of the graffiti in the neighbourhood, and as we passed people they would ask when they would get to be involved with it.

the other thing that amazed me was the speed that information travelled in the favelas. and, the fact that many people are connected to the internet (and use orkut!!! who knew!)

after today~s tour, i think kavitha and i were glad to have such an intimate tour of the favela..... so super interesting!

afterwards, we took a cab down to santa teresa and went to vinicius~s friends house. it was in this HUGE portugese mansion that must have been 300 or 400 years old. it had definitely seen better days, but boy was it gorgeous! lots of mouldings, high ceilings, wooden floors, and heavy wooden doors.anyway, vinicius~ friends are in a bossa nova rap group and were doing some recording, so kavitha and i sat around awkwardly, and it could be best described as colon pipe.

and then we went for dinner in cafeiana in copacabana, almost got lost walking back, picked up a popsicle at la zona sul, and we are now back at our hostel trying to cool down.