INDY

My current epic mission is to present the most vivid, all-encompasing portrayal of Rio's biggest favela, Rocinha, ever in the history of the internet.

(I took this from a rooftop near the top of Rocinha.

Cristo pokes out in the distance - see him?)

My perspective will be submerged, and whatever bias I take on will be the opposite of the bias usually assumed when discussing communities of poverty. That is, due to my submerged perspective, I'm generally on their side. And while I'm not explicitly anti-rich people, I do believe in the negative social implications of the extreme gap between the rich and the poor in Brazil, and find it easy to criticize those who happened to be born into the former category (at least in terms of misconceptions and perpetuation of problems).

Anyway, here's my introduction of sorts to the favela of Rocinha, in terms of a hypothetical tsunami!

In future posts expect deets on more specific fevela goings on. What would it be like to grow up there? How does the average adult fit into the community? (Contrary to many myths, people who live in "violent" favelas actually live to old age.) I'm going to talk about Funk music/dance/parties. I'll do my best at tackling the enormous subject encompassing drug trafficking, heavy weapons, and the relationship with the police. I'll talk about the infrastructure - from local shops and bars, to medical centers and schools, to the growing presence of tourism and Non-governmental Organizations, which, bizarrely enough, are highly linked. I'll talk about some more stuff too, I guess.

Whatever. The point is, a tsunami came for Rio. Read about the aftermath, and spread the word!

Now for a few photos.

Above photo is from the bottom of Rocinha.

Both above photo and below photos are from the [enormous area that one might call the] middle of Rocinha.