Football Match...

We woke up at 7 AM and headed up for breakfast at 8. Today, we had plans to visit the largest poor neighborhood in Rio's slums. There are about 400 favelas in Rio, and we aimed to check out the biggest one, which is home to over 100,000 residents. It’s a must to go there on a guided tour with a local, so by 10 AM, we were ready at our hostel, where a minibus picked us up. There were a few others joining us, so we ended up with a group of seven for the trip. Many favelas are perched on hills, offering breathtaking views of the city. To get up there, we each hopped on a motorcycle at the entrance of the favela. The favelas ARE very poor, and people live in close quarters, but compared to what we've seen in Thailand and Vietnam, it doesn’t feel quite as harsh. It’s not uncommon to find TVs, radios, and DVDs even in a favela. Just a couple of weeks ago, it was too dangerous to enter the favelas due to gang wars, with two gangs fighting for control over the drug trade. That's why there were heavily armed police patrolling when we were there. One reason drugs are so widespread is that the wealthy buy drugs here, which keeps a deadly business alive and lures many young people into this world. Kids as young as 12 or 13 work for the gangs, earning three times what they would otherwise. They keep watch and set off fireworks if they see the police coming. We also saw some of the projects that have been launched to educate people or teach them a trade, giving them a better chance to escape poverty. Back in our own neighborhood, we strolled down to the beach, where we enjoyed a coconut drink while writing postcards as the sun set over Rio. In the evening, we were off to a football match at the world’s largest stadium, Maracanã, where Flamengo was playing against Santa Cruz. We were picked up and driven to the game at 8:15 PM, so we stopped by the local shop to grab some dinner. We bought freshly baked bread, cold cuts, cheese, a whole pineapple, salad, water, and strawberry juice for 40 reais, about 80 kroner. The atmosphere at the football match was electric, even though there weren’t that many people there—around 14,000. The stadium can hold 200,000! We bought T-shirts to blend in with the locals. Throughout the game, vendors were constantly walking around, so you definitely wouldn’t go hungry or thirsty. You could buy all the traditional snacks that come with a football match... hot dogs, beer, ice cream, and chips. Flamengo won 1-0 and moved on in the Cup tournament.