Shit Showers?!

So this is a bit of a public service announcement. The newspaper Globo was kind enough to take away any shred of doubt I had about the cleanliness of the showers at the beach.

You see, one of my absolute favorite things about the beaches here is that they have showers at the top of the sand where you can cool off, hose off, and let your kids play. Given that the ocean is said to be beyond polluted here, it is a lovely alternative.

Of course I have had more than one friend inform me that the shower water isn't "sweat water" as Cariocas call it. Since they were not making these claims with a research paper in their hand it was easy enough to ignore. Ignorance is bliss and I really like those damn showers.

This morning I read this article in Globo stating that the showers on the beaches in Zona Sul contained not one but many contaminants and were proven to not be coming from the city's clean water source. Awesome.

A presença, em sete pontos de coleta, de coliformes termotolerantes, que se desenvolvem em fezes humanas, indica a possibilidade de contágio por vírus como o da hepatite A, rotavírus e salmonela, que pode provocar diarreia, gastroenterite e febre tifóide — explica Fernanda.


This says that they found fecal coliform in 7 collection points, which are developed in human feces. This means there is a possibility of infection by viruses such as hepatitis A, rotavirus and salmonella, which can cause diarrhea, gastroenteritis and typhoid.

So yes, you are showing in water that was once, and maybe still is, swimming with poop.

And before you say that you live in a "rich" neighborhood in Zona Sul (ie. Ipanema and Leblon) so you should be ok, Baixo Bebe in Leblon had the highest levels.

So rich or poor, those showering on the beach in Zona Sul are surrounded by the same shit. Oh the irony. 

Rio de Janeiro's Rocinha

Rio de Janeiro is like a family, a family with estranged children.

Visiting Rocinha, you could see the family resemblance. She looks like a sibling of my neighborhood only closer together and much more on top of each other. Then there is the obvious, more neglected by their parent the government. The thing about ignoring children is that it does not make them go away. Quite often, it just makes them hungrier for life. That was my first impression of Rocinha, a very concentrated center of life.

In Rocinha you have a large grouping of people who have all but been ignored by big government. They are our maids, bus drivers, tour guides, and trash men. They carry our city on their back, literally, with their labor. They are honest people who work hard and then climb up a large hill to their home, the view reminding them that as neglectful as their city can be it is still beautiful.

As I walked through the busy streets and down the narrow alleys, I saw a lot of things.  I saw newly washed laundry hanging. There were toys sitting on the windowsill in the sun. I saw welcome mats in front of alley doors and people sitting in windows saying hello to passerbyers. There were families chatting with neighbors, little babies breastfeeding and kids playing near their Mothers.

I saw people there. I saw people living their lives. And you know what, they are damn resourceful people! Take the mail system. In Rio de Janeiro, as in everywhere, you have to have an address to receive mail. 90% of the residents of Rocinha live in the little alleys that don't even have names (though they are starting to put some in). Did they throw their hands up in surrender? Nope. Someone found a solution.

Members of the community can give R$2 a month to a barber who has a shop on the main street. Using his storefront as their billing address, they can get whatever service they need (internet, cable, etc). The barber organizes all the bills in alphabetical order and they come and pick it up monthly. He makes an additional income and offers a service that aides another resident. That is not survival, that is just smart.

Regardless, life is not all peaches and cream. There are still quite a few sections with open sewage lines that are blocked off by pieces of wood and an issue with the water supply. It is ludicrous that the one and only pumping station was built 25 years ago. Don't even get me started on the "community center" built by the government. That is its own blog post!

What hit me the most about this visit was how wrong I was. People should tour Rocinha just as much as Santa Teresa but with the same intent. I went on an educational tour. Trust me, Zezinho is not the guide one wants for a light and history free visit. He goes into politics and voices the thoughts of someone who has been a member of the community throughout all the changes.

We as Cariocas (or wannabes such as myself) have a duty to know our kin. It is our job as siblings to know who they are, understand them, learn about their joys and struggles, and accept where they are coming from. You do not fear your brother. Rocinha is a part of our Rio de Janeiro family. It is time we look them in the eye and welcome them in. Working together as a family, as opposed to fighting among ourselves, makes us better as a whole.

Yes, it is more complicated than that but what family isn't? 

Rio has been Baby Jesus-ed

My Zone is covered in baby Jesus-es.  At first I thought wow, Rio de Janeiro has a lot of nativity sets! Good for them for being so festive.  But really, I mean really, do they need to put them all out? 

I don't quite know what's going on and neither do my Carioca contacts... aka my husband because I'm too lazy to ask anyone else or read today.  Then again, I have you cyber world friends, don't I?

So I hear it's some sort of mission. The mission to offend someone. Oh wait, Brazilians aren't petty like that and don't get pissed off over someone else believing in something. Now there is a concept to consider during this holiday season.

Anyway, there are Nativity scenes all over Zona Sul, quite possibly the city. I wouldn't know because I've only been hanging in my zone lately. 

They come in all shapes in sizes. We're talking metal, statues, colored, modern, "modern", and so on and so forth. 

Does anyone know how or why this has come about?  Is it a competition? Is it a faith thing?  Is it like the painted cow statue phenomenon? 

Who's got the story?

Attack of the Mommy Brain

I so have little motivation to write. Actually, I have a lot of motivation to write but little to write about. I´ve been on full Mom mode since Tuesday. Mr. Rant was prisoner in a hell of a place called São Paulo working.  He was then stuck working in an even worse spot this weekend, Barra!

Yes, I do suffer from Zona Sul elitism. Actually, it´s worse. I bascially enjoy my neighborhood and the surrounding ones best.  You can even count Leme.  I like Leme. They have pools on the beach for my boys.  I mean, pools on the beach! That´s as evil genius as you get!  The sand of the beach with the convenience of a kiddie pool.

See, see where my mind is. My head is wrapped around juice boxes and poopy diapers, kiddie toys and parquinhos (parks).  You really can´t get that sarcastically sassy when you are searching for a shovel.  What can I say, my hands are tied with Playdoh and bristle blocks.

Not to worry, it´s Monday and a new week! Oh wait, the school will be shut Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.  It´s closed Tuesday for whatever the hell Catholic Saint´s day it is and on Monday because Tuesday is a holiday. That just burns my butter. What the hell is that? You can´t just make Monday a holiday because Tuesday is one!  Then the school looked at me, put up a talk to the hand hand, and asked me what the hell I was going to do about it. 

Well I´m going to bitch on my blog! So there! I´m taking my ball and I´m going home. 

Yeah, basically I took it where they wanted to put it. They are also closed Friday for Teacher´s day. That is another load of poop.  I consider Teacher Day like Father´s Day. It´s a day for them to spend with the kids. Now Mother´s Day is also a Day for Dad to spend with the kids.  Like that, don´t you?

Daring to sound fuzzy and positive, I have been enjoying my little monkey. Not a derogatory term, I did, in fact, give birth to little monkeys!  We´ve gone to every playground imaginable, cooked together, finger painted, regular painted, played everything possible, and snuggled.  I´m not stupid, I know they are at the age where Mommy is cool and they want to hang with me. Soon enough they will get delusional and think I´m not cool. Crazy, I know! 

Happy Monday!