Pao de Açucar

Alright, don't judge me. I am a tourist after all. So we succumbed to the temptation to rise above the Pao de Açucar (also known as Sugarloaf Hill). The cable car ride takes you to the top of two different towering hills over the eastern parts of Rio de Janeiro.

Was pretty awesome up there. Except for the hoards of tourists! So weird to hear english spoken for the first time in weeks... Yes I'm probably not the best travel partner for my english speaking friend. I try my best to remember to translate, but it's hard! Especially after I've had a beer or two. I have a bad habit of forgetting what language I'm speaking in... so she has no hope. Lucky for me (and her!), she's easy going and doesn't mind it when I go off on crazy spanish tangents with my newest friends in south america :)

Sunny side isn't always up

For most people in the favelas, there isn't much work and when there is it is unskilled labour based. On average, the boys end up going to school for about 3 or 4 years and the girls just a little more. After that, they try and learn to build houses (they'll need this skill to keep mending & extending their shacks) and then basically hanging around the favela. The pics below are pretty typical of the scene in this part of town.

Makes for a pretty depressing and hopeless lifestyle, not many of them get out of the favelas and into mainstream society. But interestingly enough, there are some total juxtapositions in this place. They have a government provided Wi-Fi hotspot in the centre of the favela, a centre of commerce (including shanty town style beauty salons, bars, hairdressers and hardware stores) and everyone has a mobile phone. The strangest thing I've ever seen in my life. The way in and out of the favela is to walk up the steepest hills you've ever seen, or get on a rickety elevator. Needless to say, the effort to get in and out means most people spend all day in the favela, only leaving for the absolute necessities.