Dangerous things

Don't worry, Mom, apparently the most dangerous thing around here is lung cancer. Brazil has the most in-your-face warnings on their cigarette ads and packages! So right under the brand's tagline (so smooth, etc) comes a message like: "Cigarettes cause miscarriages." And then a picture of a crumpled fetus in a bottle. Or "Impotence" coupled with a picture of a naked man whose unmentionables are obscured by a hand giving a thumbs down. Oh, the double entendre.

What's apparently NOT as dangerous as it seems: favelas. We went on a tour to the favelas and it was SO INTERESTING!!! A favela is basically an unplanned city, where people just showed up and started slapping together houses. As a result you see houses on top of houses (people sell their roofs to other people to build) and endless expanses of hillside covered with randomly laid out, super narrow streets and stairs. There are virtually no recreational spaces. Garbage collects in what could otherwise be considered open areas. Rooftops are graced with large blue water storage containers that either collect rainwater or are illegally hooked to city water sources. Electric lines are a giant mass of wires, as people who don't want to pay for electricity just hook their own wire to the source and guide it to their residence.

There are 900+ favelas in the state of Rio de Janeiro, home to many millions of people. The one we visited brings in $4 million in drug money every month. Still, our guide stressed that the majority of people living in favelas are not gun-toting ten year olds and crack addicts, but just regular people too poor to live elsewhere, who commute into Ipanema and Copacabana to work as waiters, hotel staff, etc.

The favela tour was one of my favorite parts of Rio! Afterwards, we went to a football match, and then to a club until 5:30 in the morning. What stood out about the club, besides the fact that it was more expensive than even a similar place in SF, was that the men are so. agressive. The routine is "What's your name? Where are you from? Can I kiss you? Why not?" often followed by an attempt to kiss you anyway. Even when I chose the answer, "because I'm married."