Sadly it dawned rather drizzly, and plans to walk to the statue of Christ the Redeemer were canned. It brightened up enough to warrant an outing and my roommate Lisa and I set out around noon to walk to Santa Teresa.
Santa Teresa is a village-y sort of neighbourhood, very arty and cool (although not really massively prosperous). It sits on one of Rio's many hills above Lapa and Centro, with wonderful views out over the bay. You can catch a free tram up there over the Aqueduto do Carioca, but we thought on our feet was the best way forwards.
We walked up the Escadaria Selarón (why do a touristy photogenic thing once if you can do it twice, right?) and then into Santa Teresa proper, stopping regularly for photos as we climbed a pretty steep hill. We'd hoped to meet some of our colleagues, who said they were at the last tram stop, so we gaily kept on following the tram lines until we realised we weren't finding them. On the way a man in a car stopped, wound his window down and warned us to put cameras away between shots as people drive past on motorbikes and snatch them. I'm pretty confident my shoulder strap would make that tough, but followed his suggestion, although frankly it was a pain to keep stopping, digging the camera out of the bag, taking a picture and putting it away again ...
Eventually we did find our colleagues for a bite to eat, then as we were starting to head downwards again past the arty shops another two groups of ONS-ers arrived too so we teamed up to find a viewpoint - well worth the walk.
Back down the Escadaria and on the hunt for a place for a beer - they're known as boteco or botequim here - we passed what looked like two guys asleep on the pavement opposite. Homelessness is rife in Rio and you see people, almost always men, bedding down everywhere. I even saw one guy bang in the middle of the pavement on my first full day. But as we walked on it was impossible not to notice that their upper bodies were shrouded in black plastic. In discussion over our beers a short while later everyone agreed that the two were not asleep, but dead: lying on the pavement awaiting someone to take them away. It was Friday night, with everyone leaving work and a busy food market in the park just metres away; a sobering reminder that Rio, amid its chaotic beauty and vibrancy, is a harsh place to live for very many people.
No comments:
Post a Comment