Favelas

It would be unfair to write about our experience in Rio without writing about favelas, large slums. Rio has around 500 favelas, some filled with up to 200,000 inhabitants. Movies like "City of God" portray the institutionalized poverty and inescapable cycle of oppression that exists in Rio, alongside the very richest in the country, perhaps the world. From most vantage points throughout the city (even the most pristine beaches), favelas can be seen on hilltops.
Jamila had learned about favelas and watched a few movies about the conditions in her Portuguese class, and we had discussed their comparisons to the American ghetto, as favelas are filled with mostly Afro-Brazilians.
When we arrived in Rio, our fancy hotel boasted a complete "favela tour" for around US$75. Jamila and I were horrified by the objectification of people and their homes as another tourist attraction, the notion of slumming. We wondered where the money went- to an outside tourist agency or to support businesses and families within the communities.
Our friend Warren went on a favela tour that took him about 5 hours. He said it was a really great experience and kept talking about how the favelas had their own grocery stores and were their own self-sustained towns. When I expressed my concerns about visiting a favela, he admitted that he too was worried about treating a favela like a zoo. But our discussion with him brought up the important fact that favelas do exist in Rio, and in fact are a large part of the city's history and culture, and to ignore their existence would be equally ignorant. If I return to Rio, I would be interested in visiting a favela, to get to know the people beyond the stereotypes, and to hopefully directly support those living there. It would be a different vacation than lying on the beach, but I think also important. I would be interested to know what others think.

More Pictures from our Travels

Copacabana beach!
We drank agua de coco from the beach.
What would Jesus do?
The view from Sugarloaf.