Life in Brazil: Our first few days

It may have only been a week, but I have learned so much about Brazil and seen so many things that have been beautiful, sad, joyful and surprising. In this entry to my blog, I won't attempt to tell you everything as I don't have enough time to write it and you wouldn't have enough time to read it! 

The base where we are staying is beautiful. Situated in Santa Monica near Camaragibe (a town at the end of the Metro to Recife), we are at the top of the hill overlooking the countryside. To our left is a community with many poor families, in front of the base is a concrete 5-a-side football pitch and some local shops selling amazing fruits some of which are only available in Brazil. One surprise regarding our view was seeing one of the World Cup stadiums so nearby - the Pernambuco Stadium which hosted several games. Having seen the local area, this stadium looks so out of place being so modern and expensive! It is easy to see why so many Brazilian people were upset and angry about vast amounts of money being spent on stadiums for the World Cup. 

On Tuesday, we travelled into the centre of Recife and I saw the incredible contrasts of life here in Brazil. On the way in on the Metro (similar to the London Underground), we passed housing that in England would never exist made of any materials the people could find. Then, as we travelled further, we entered an area of great wealth (similar to Canary Wharf) which had majestic new shopping malls and impressive new buildings.

This week, we have also spent two evenings on the streets in the centre of Recife visiting children and families. Before I went there, I felt scared as I did not know what to expect and what I would see. There were quite a lot of people in the many places we visited of all ages from young babies to older men and women. I have learned that many of these people come to the streets at nighttime from their homes in the favelas (slums) as they can receive soup from charities who often give it out on the streets. Knowing this has helped me realise how challenging their lives can be. Imagine taking your family including really young children into the town centre late at night just so that you can get food! Imagine little children being out in the town centre at midnight (and later)! 

The children we met on the streets were so excited to see the team as they knew  that we would spend time with them and play games. During those evenings, I played Uno, street football, and even played with a very young child with a broken cardboard box that was lying on the street. The fact that he seemed so happy playing with a piece of rubbish really tells you a lot about his life. Another little boy (4) was playing with my wife and was making up a game with little stones that he could find. These simple experiences have already made me consider how we in England sometimes are not grateful for the things we have and often want more. For the little boy, at that moment in time, he had everything he wanted and was having fun in what otherwise is a challenging life!

There were other children who live on the streets but I'll explain more about them another time as I still learning about that situation. What I do know is that it is much more complicated than I first understood.

I have also had the privilege to visit several families in the slums. My wife and I along with two Portuguese speaking members of staff from the base went to a favela next to a busy Metro station in central Recife. I was allowed to go into two separate homes and the first thing I noticed was, unfortunately, the smell. However, within a few minutes, I was used to it. The next thing I noticed was that it was a home. The people living there had made it look as nice as they could! I learned that they can be very crowded; the first family had six children in a small space with one bedroom! Whilst visiting, I did not understand the conversations but was able to bring a smile to some young children's faces by just being a bit silly whilst playing with a balloon and some bubbles which we had taken with us. 

To finish for now, I thought I should share some of my more unusual findings from this week:

buses are busy. When you think that the bus is full, 30 more people can get on!

five-a-side football can even attract a huge crowd

traffic is crazy

dogs don't go 'woof woof'; they go 'ow, ow' 

caterpillars are dangerous 

There are so many other things I would love to share but until next time, tchau.