The Brazilian Ghetto
 

http://www.brazilian.org.uk/news/award/pics/favela.jpg
(picture of a favela above)


The 'favelas' of Brazil are intriguing. These hillside ghettos of Brazil, ruled by drug lords and often adjacent to very affluent areas differ greatly from an American ghetto.

Without getting into too much detail, I just noticed some loud music coming from the balcony that faces the hillside favela a couple miles away. This particular favela is located right undernead the infamous Jesus statue ironically enough. The music blaring in the distance is Brazilian Funk... It's like rap, mixed with mega-funky basslines and beats and styling. It's an AWESOME style of music, but it's known as 'favela music' or looked down upon as inferior music of the less fortunate. Anyhow, looking from my balcony I can see lights flickering up in the middle of the favela and it seems they're throwing a party. Jammin music, really cool stuff... Its just weird to hear this music blaring, to be able to see the lights flickering amidst the huge favela, and to imagine them in their little town, which police wont dare to enter, throwin down, doin up their own Brazilian-favela kind of way.

They have favela tours in which an employee of the local drug lord allows you and your car safe passage to cruise around and take pictures and stuff. Without this approval you're pretty much guaranteed to be mugged or God knows what else. I'd like to go up there and see it firsthand and get some pics.

Much flavor.

Anyhow, I thought I'd share my little, as insignificant as it may be, cultural observation before I hit the sack.

This isn't K-Man. Proper punctuation and grammar? Nahhh.

Hey how is the food?

There was a good series on TV about those here.

Some very sad stories and some very corrupt cops.

food is the bomb... Brazilain Churrasco.... mhmmmm

sry for the proper punctuation, i was feeling all proper and introspective

interesting... thanks for sharing bro and please do take pics (if the drug lord lets you though)... :1orglaugh

Thank you for sharing, I love seeing how other people live, and learning there cultures. Do you have anymore Hi-Res pictures to share? I would love to see them! Thanks :thumbsup

how do people from this secret town act when they are in the city with the normal people aswell?

they act alot more playful and talk louder, shout to each other alot...

i was chillin with my buddy on the beach earlier (hes a US Marshall) and a kid sat down next to us and was staring at us, and we spoke to her in Portuguese and she was there with her 4 brothers who looked like favela kids, travel in packs, no parents to be found... my buddy bought the kids some sodas and they immediately started asking for pieced of our food we had... it was interesting to see them... they were like they've never had a coke, or a coke happened to them like once a month and they were stoked it was happening today. they stared at us alot, like they were trying to figure out how we got it made so we can have cokes whenever we like... shrug, god knows what they were really thinking... but they were friendly, made a point to shake our hands before they left.. they were about 12-13 years old... good kids.... it was just kind of weird the way the one girl just plopped herself right down next to us and started staring at us like, 'hello, my name is laura, what's your name" she had no fear of being proactive and making a new friend.... and before you pervs call Chester, remember, my buddy's a Marshall and we both have kids of our own...

she looked bummed when he had to go, i could see her keep looking at my buddy like she was gonna miss the nice dude who bought her a coke...

i couldnt help but feel bad for all the kids... knowing that they live in a perpetual warlike-zone... u can hear automatic-weapons firing in spurts at night sometimes.... then i always go over to my balcony to see if i can see anything.... nope... it looks so tranquil still... nothing changed... just heard some automatic gunfire.... like the wind...

im off to sleep yo

search images.google.com for favela

also search google im sure theres articles and reports etc

sounds like a day in chula vista

one more question... what are the girl like there? like are they snobby?

thanks for the share very interesting

here u go kman..tell em u want the tdf special


www.favelatour.com.br

thanks, that's what I have been doing for the last 45 mins :thumbsup

The movie City of God focuses on this and on the DVD they go into the actual ghettos. Very sad people are living like that. Kinda makes me want to tell the "poor" people in the US living in their air conditioned government housing with free food to stop complaining that the sink faucet leaks!

I really don't recommend going in a tour inside a favela. Period.

And hell yes, Brazilian BBQ... man do I miss it! So fucken GOOD!

Why no tour?

what a fukin dump...

It's just not safe, even with druglord permission. If police decide to storm in (rare but possible) then you will find yourself in a very bad spot. Plus, they (druglords) are in constant fight with each other to take over control and they have really heavy artillery, talking about army arsenal here.

It's moments like this that makes GFY all worth it :thumbsup

Thanks for sharing.

I rented this film the other day. I was blown away.

sounds awesome

Favelas... A lot of territory for drug lords to rule. :pimp

http://www.ephphata.net/images/favela-bresil2.JPG

Wow, looks really unique

Take some pics for GFY Kman :)

Good stuff dawg. Right on for getting out and checking out the world. :)

SixNine

That's neat

interesting... I've only seen the good side of brasil, never so it from the bad one...

holy shit! :1orglaugh

I watched City of Gods yesterday, a good movie about the favela's

I have been to the north zone several times. 90% of Rio is a favela. Some are really bad and some are just middle class people making a living. Not that different then Chicago south side in the 90's.

If you take the train up to the Christo you go through a small sample of of a favela. Very safe and a close view.

Just got the movie so I'll watch it tonight :)

thanks for the insight ive never been to Brazil

nice link TDF... i think ill go on some of these tours next week... =)

looks excellent

anytime bro.Just make sure you save some tang for me in thailand

What city are you in, I'm planning a vacation to Brazil soon..
and would like to know what city you are in and how your enjoying your general area...

If anybody wants to get a GREAT LOOK at favela life..
go rent or buy the movie "City Of God", there is a very powerful documentary in the DVD extras section that shows what life is like in the favela

nice pics...doesnt seem like a safe place to viist more then a few times. premission or not.


keep the pics coming, it is cold and snowy here...lol

this thread makes me want to go to fogo de chao tonight for dinner. lol

More favela pics, courtesy of my friend Dr. Link Hotten,

http://globetrotter-games.com/travel...ila_Canoas.jpg

http://misheli.image.pbase.com/u23/m...23.021_18A.jpg


A story re: favelas;

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (CNN) -- It was 100 years ago that the first favela, or hillside shantytown, appeared on the outskirts of Rio De Janeiro.

Despite numerous official attempts to eradicate these handbuilt renegade suburbs, housing the poorest of the poor, they have multiplied over the past century. Today there are more than 600 favelas, where one in five Rio residents lives.

Among their number is Dulciene de Souza, who lives in a 20-by-20 foot (6.1 meter-by-6.1 meter) shack with her husband and six children.
CNN's Frida Ghitis reports.

"There are streets where shacks are crumbling," she says. "There is no place for the children to play."

Until just a few years ago, the city had a policy of trying to get rid of the slums. Every so often, residents would be violently removed, only to move on to another favela.

But this approach to city planning is now history. Mayor Luis Paolo Conde was recently elected with many votes from these slums, and he has promised to continue a program to rehabilitate the favelas and help them become a legitimate part of the city.

"We are giving people back their citizenship -- the chance to live on a street and a house with a name and an address," says the mayor.

But urban renewal in Rio faces one very real and intractable problem -- drug traffickers.

Violent drug gangs make it almost impossible to even enter some of Rio's favelas, let alone upgrade the housing. The government has to resort to war-like maneuvers just to get into the neighborhoods.

However, Mayor Conde downplays the connection between the favelas and drug trafficking, noting that cities without the former still have the latter.

And despite the obstacles, his new campaign to improve the favelas has sparked hope in people like Noemia Farias, who has raised nine children and 32 grandchildren in a tiny home with no running water where she's lived for decades.

She says things will get better, with the help of God and the mayor.

that is fucked up...

man thats crazy

Change back the nick bro, I am going to miss your posts this way as I tend to look for nicknames when I read Gfy ;))))

Btw hit me up tomorow, I owe you some pennies ;)

Free birth control might help a lot of these people.

they hand out free condoms alot i think

agreed. very dangerous for a gringo.

the favella kids come down to copacabana after dark and rip off tourists, you can sit on your balcony above Av Atlantica and watch gangs of 10-12 year old kids walk behind german tourists, punch the guy in the face and take his wallet, and rip the necklace off the women's neck.

and you will see shit like this every night. very dangerous city for westerner.

if you act like a target you will become a target.... i dont wear any jewelery, i only keep like 50$ on me, and another 50$ hidden in my 007 zipper lined leather belt i wear... also im a pretty big guy who wears his hat on backwards and always has a crew with me... additionally i take a taxi everywhere after dark....

smart-travelling reprazent'

Hedonsitic we have to hook up next time I am down there. Going to skip March as we are going to Italy but I go every month normally.

They handed out condoms when we entered the sambadrome during carnival.

The europeans might have issues but the kids are so polite. I had a couple of them trying to hold me up, and it took like 5 mintues to figure out what they were doing. If you have been to an inner city in the US it is pretty close.