Our days in Brazil are almost numbered - we booked a flight heading to Cartagena, Colombia this Saturday. We wish we could spend more time here but unfortunately this country is killing our budget. Brazil is not cheap!

We've tried to balance being somewhat frugal with not wanting to miss out on cultural experiences like seeing the Christo statue over Rio (over US $50), or going to a soccer game at the famous Maracaña stadium (also $50) and getting to yell VAMOS FLAMENGOS at the top of our lungs for 90 minutes, or probably the most interesting experience - a guided tour through the favelas - the poorer neighborhoods in Rio where immigrants settle informally on public land.

But we were both so glad we did the favela tour. The tour's been run for over 17 years by local tour guides who pride themselves on showing a different side to the favelas. And the money you pay (again, not cheap) also goes to support an after school program that you get to visit. And best of all, you get out of the darn bus and get to meet people and feel the energy on the street.

Everything you hear about the favelas is pretty negative. They are filled with violence; terrible poverty; dirty; run by drug lords; and certainly not safe for tourists. Our tour guide said that most people from Rio never visit the favelas.

Even the police don't go into the Favelas. Each is run by one of three drug commands: First Command; Red Command; and Friends of Friends. I love that name. Supposedly it's relatively stable in the favelas when one of the commands is in charge; it is when they are vying for territory that violence can erupt, and that is the only time the police enter to protect the citizens. Otherwise they stay outside, just at the base of the favelas.

I don't know what I expected - probably a more palpable sense of insecurity or violence, or maybe a feeling that I wasn't welcomed - but life inside the Favela seemed about as normal as any other neighborhood we've visited. We went on a Saturday and started in the largest Favela, Rocinha, - home to over 200,000 people.There is only one main street that cars can use - this is where everyone brings their garbage, collected three times a day. The businesses along the main street were bustling. I felt totally safe as we pulled over for our first stop to look at the beautiful view and meet some of the local artists. Simone explained that we were safer inside the favela than in any other part of Rio - the people who live there want tourists to know that it's safe so others (including potential middle class drug clientele!) feel free to visit.

Simone explained that most women in the favela work cleaning houses in the city, and most men work in construction. Even if they make more money they rarely relocate because to do so would typically mean a longer commute (many favelas are well-positioned to downtown areas), and they would have to pay more for their house as well as other services and products they can get inside the favela. Instead, they tend to upgrade their standard of living but stay in the favela. Unfortunately the favela public schools aren't great; not unlike other public schools in Rio, where the education system definitely favors the rich. There are a few after school programs for kids but some get involved in the drug business as early as 7 years old.

The most interesting part was walking through the winding side streets in the residential areas. People had their doors open and were sharing meals, watching TV, and working on their computers. The apartments were colorfully decorated, many with religious themes.

All in all the tour definitely drove home the idea that while poverty is not easily remedied, neither is it necessarily a prescription for misery and violence or even complete deprivation in this case. Depictions of the favelas in movies like City of God make them out to be frightening and most of all totally alien to a middle class experience of life - so the fact that nothing was that different, that everything was kind of life as usual, was really the biggest surprise of all.