I thought this week's blog should have an Olympics photo - this is of Tom and Ruth's 3 girls, Lilian(16), Leah(15) & Molly(12). They live & go to school in Hackney, close to the Olympic site and are lucky enough to have been to several events. Lilian was chosen from her school to be a 'young ambassador' for the games (I think thats what it's called) and I'm sure all 3 girls will remember this summer for the rest of their lives.
Having everything we get to see of the Olympics mediated through Brazilian TV has been frustrating at times as inevitably we mainly get to see the events Brazil are good at but, don't worry, we are aware of just how brilliantly Team GB are doing!
Patrick's on a field trip this week, inland from Salvador, and from the photos he's been sending back, it looks pretty remote. I'm going to join him on friday so we can spend the weekend in Salvador which is meant to be an amazing place, very different from Rio. It's always good to see new faces of Brazil.
Last weekend we went to a Venezualan birthday party and then to lunch on sunday with a spanish family, both of whom Patrick knew from Heriot Watt connections. Oh and we took one of his old Phd students with us, Olivier, who had been working for Repsol in Buenos Aires until Repsol were kicked out of Argentina. I tell you, it's like the League of Nations out here - my maternal grandmother would have loved it!
Last week I went to visit the centre where the english classes we'll be starting at the end of the month will be held so I know where it is now. Unlike the class that's already started at the Rocinha favela, it looks as if we're going to have plenty of classroom space and the organiser, Ricardo, is going to screen the kids for us to try to ensure they're properly committed. Let's hope we can deliver!
Well, we've been here over 6 months now and I hope it's not tempting fate but I just want to put on record how pleasantly surprised we've been about how relatively safe Rio feels compared with what we were expecting. We both use public transport almost exclusively, even though guide books (& BG) advise against using buses and feel quite safe walking round Zona Sul which is where we live. Obviously we're careful and don't intend to become complacent and realise there are dangerous areas in Rio but, even though we live very close to a (pacified) favela, we feel much safer than we expected to when we came out here.
I do get the impression that things have improved a lot over the last couple of years and read a blog article recently to that effect. Apparently cariocas themselves are amazed how locals and foreigners alike use iphones on the street and I see people regularly walk out of shops putting their change away in purses as they walk away from the shop. It seems this would have been unheard of even a few years ago.
It would be nice to think this is the shape of things to come and while Brazil clearly still has its problems you get the sense that most people you come across just want to get on with their lives.
A big corruption trial started here last week which involves 38 politicians from all political parties, including the right-on PT lot who are in power now and from what I can understand from the broadsheet press out here, the fact the trial is happening at all and is being conducted so transparently is again a sign of steps being taken in the right direction.
Maybe the next editions of the guide books will be less alarmist about Rio...