Turf War Rio de Janeiro

In Rio de Janeiro there is a huge gap in wealth and social stratification. Beautiful high-rise buildings overlook spiraling slums creeping up hills. A city where the poor deal with the corruption of drug lords in your neighborhoods as their governing body, and the rich deal with the same corruption of drug lords on a less blatant platform, but that deals with a greater sum of money.

Over the past few years the police of Rio de Janeiro have been slowly taking over the "drug lord's" turf in the slum (favelas) and permanently reclaiming the land and power as Brazil's. The series of operations have not been peaceful or been done without some type of retaliation from the escaping drug traffickers.

Last week, due the up and coming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the police invaded  the favelas of Pena in the north zone which sparked a wave of crime and retaliation throughout the city: buses and cars burned, people robbed, stray bullets near the slums of the invasion, drive by shooting aimed for police posts, stores closing early, classes cancelled, and terror in general spread. Now as I type the police have secured Complexo do Alemao. Now waves the flags of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil at the top of the conquered hill.

Let's all hope that there are no more innocent people killed or wounded by this all out war between authority and anarchy. Which leads me to the question: why did the government let it get to this point? Also, knowing that drugs kill people, innocent people and ruin the lives of loved ones, why do people (rich & poor)  continue to use and create a demand for these illicit crimes. Stepping onto my soapbox--people, love your neighbor and do good to each other. Treat those how you would want to be treated.

I'll leave you with a quote by Ganhdi, "You have to be the change that you want to see in the world." Please don't create a market for blood shed.



The Gayest Day of the Year in Rio de Janeiro

So, every Sunday I take my weekly walk on the beach in Copacabana, nothing usual. I stroll down Ave. Atlantica dodging little poodles and kids motoring around in miniature cars and bicycles; however, two Sundays ago I was met at the beach with "Ra ra u-la la, Ra ra u-la la, Ga ga..." blaring over (what's typically used during Caraval blocos) these monsterous sound trailers with people dancing atop in tight white jeans shirtless and men in drag. Normally, I see old men walking along with their saggy sungas (Brazilian version of a Speedo), but today that was replaced by young guys walking around with angle wings on their backs. This meant only one thing, the excessive dance music, topless men with sparkles, drag queens, butch women, and a rainbow of colors, it was only the GAYEST day of the year in Rio de Janeiro-Gay Pride, my friends!

Last year my friend (super cute gay guy) dragged me to the parade where I was shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of sweaty topless guys. Surprisingly enough, only men hit on me there. I was a little taken back by this, as it was a "gay pride" parade. Fortunately, my friend posed as my boyfriend the entire way repelling off the hordes of hormonal conquistadores. The girls that saw me gave me one look and ran the other direction. One even looked at me and turned to her friend and said "She's straight!" right in my face.

That leads me to a digression- how does one look straight? From all I could tell at the parade in Rio (I know some people aren't gonna like this, but oh well, here it goes anyway) a straight girl looks normal, by normal I mean isn't butched out, while a gay guy is harder to tell. All of the women I saw were wearing sports braws, cut off jean shorts, and many with ball caps demostrating their muffin top bellies. Call me traditional, but that's not sexy at all! If a woman were to like another woman, why would she go for one that looks like a guy? Why not just have a boyfriend? It's socially acceptable and easier. The men there were gorgeous for the most part, some outrageously flamboyant, but at least with nice bodies.

This year instead of being in the middle of the action I opted to be a passive observer from a kiosk a safe distance from the crowd (I'm American- I like my personal space). I would say that the parade this year was very tame in comparison to last year's giantic parade. The most excitement was when a drunk guy and one of the kiosk security guards got into a fist fight 6 feet from my table. All in all it was a very gay day in deed!