A world on slippers

Bom dia a tudos,

I'm writing you for the first time from Brazil (Rio de Janeiro).
I have been here for a week now and this afternoon I 'm flying to Cuiaba in the centre of the country.

When I arrived on monday the city was overcrouded. Everywhere people dressed out (or half naked) for carnaval. I dropped my bages in the hostel and we went out with a bunch of people to the streets evenry where people where partying, there were 'blocos' (= carnavalparades) organised in every corner of the city. Every year there are some 2,5 million people comming to Rio for celebrating Carnaval. So it's 'quiet' a big thing...

My first impressions, the teperature is always around 35°C at daytime and not lower than 25°C at night, the biggest brand in Rio is 'Havaianas', almost everybody is wearing slippers. At every corner of the street you can drink an instant made juice made from all the different tropical fruits Brazil has to offer.
The city is not as tidy as the commercials movies are showing and there is lot's of poverty. So you really are in a different continent.

Rio would have about a 10 million inhabitants, that's like the whole of Belgium and there are 1000 favella's.
Favella's that's what the poor neighbourhoods in the cities in Bazil are called. Only two of them where lately passified by the police (in preparation of the Olympic's taking place in 2016 in Rio), al the others are still rulled by gangs 'structuring' social life in their neighbourhood.

Rio is a very expensive city, it attracts very poor and very rich people. The beauty of the area is undescribable. You have to see it. Rio is surrounded by hill's, islands, beaches, some remaining tropical Atlantic forest (before almost the whole Brazilian coast was covered by these forests).

I did some turistic highlights en some beaches, but the water is often very durty, and certainly after carnaval.

People:
I met some great people at my first hostel (Santa Mix) near metrostation Gloria. We had a barbecue on the roof and went out togheter and we even created a little band! The owner of the hostel who started the hostel only in decembre 2012, has a lot of instruments in the basement some we jammed a lot after my arrival.

I already did a lot of km around the city by foot but in fact it is to hot to walk for long distances in summertime.

I met Fabio Torres de Melo, a Brazilian friend who lived all his youth in Belgium and only went back to Brazil 2 years ago. He got to know the woman of his life there and is living a less stressing life than he had in Belgium. Here in Brazil life is a bit slower, and sun sun sun. That must change a lot. Peolpe in Belgium and lot's of other different countries have a big lack of vitamines D (from sunlight).

I try as much as I can to speak Potuguees, I it's still very difficult, but we will overcome!

This afternoon I 'll fly from one of the most visited tourist spots on earth, to a lot less known spot (Cuiaba) and I will stay near to Chapada dos Guimarães at Ákórá, there is a really beautiful natural reserve on the edge of the Pantanal (tropical swamp area / natural reserve) and the Cerrado (the Brazilian savanna). More info and stories later. Ákórá is a private property of a professore of university experimenting with eco-agriculture, and teachting the students about it. How to do agriculture with using indigenous plant. More about this later.

Até logo,

Pedro-João

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