Obrigada

The journey throughout Rio has taught me both about the city and also about myself. This experience is one that I will never forget. To have experienced the landscapes, the growth of urbanism, and different settlements of social groups, different styles of architecture influenced by the overall culture, and most importantly how the country is moving forward in terms of sustainability and green infrastructure is an eye opening experience to any individual traveling to South America for the first time. To have the ability to emerge myself in a distinct growing culture, has opened doors to endless opportunities.There's something about traveling to a new country that you learn more than what you would've learn through  text books, presentations or movies.

 First and for most, the stigmas and stereotypes. For safety regulations, most of the friends, teachers and families that I talked to prior to leaving for this trip, were half excited and half worried for my friend and I. Though, I am thankful and appreciative of their concerns, I was excited that this trip would be conducted by two individuals, rather than an entire group. The toughest task was our 0 knowledge of Portuguese. Little did I know I would return to the states, falling in love with a language, a culture, and the country. Having the background in Spanish helped so much, and picking up the language in a matter of weeks felt so gratifying. Being able to connect with the people rather than experience the country itself, behind a glass, or within a bubble, was my major concern and a big goal, that my colleague and I definitely achieved on this trip. Not only from our experience but also from other individuals who we met traveling. Speaking with the locals of the area not only taught us about the differences in culture, but they also inform you about some of the realities, social issues and most importantly about the history of their city. Not only, have I learned to maintain persistent and perseverance but to also maintain an open mind about the differences types of cultures.
Brasil itself is a very diverse country, with so much potential and opportunities, it is worth going out there to reach out to new opportunities. This country has really affected my education, and has inspired me to expand in my field of work to focus on sustainable architecture and designs. Rio is growing in sustainable education, at market squares, most souvenirs will be from recycled products. However on the other hand, it still deals with a lot of other issues within the different favelas. Due to their disconnection with proper trash collection along with other important services, their drinking water is cycled through improper piping that is wasteful and not hygienic.


I can't express my gratitude enough, to the faculty at the Landscape Architecture Department, and the SEBS International Scholarship Program for allowing this opportunity to land in my way. It has only motivated me to move forward in my education, expand my cultural awareness, and most importantly be an example to other future students who plan on traveling.

Don't miss out or presentation on Brazil: Talks October 3rd. CDL 3:55pm

Also TBD: Our exhibition will be held in November so stay posted for that event.

-Obrigada

Kite Season

Favela,Mountain Tops and Motor Taxis

 Among the richness in textures in tropical vegetation, and sandy touristic beaches, Rio also consists of Favelas. Favela, a term also known as slums, where communities of lower income reside in. Here in Rio, the biggest one, is favela Rocinha, it sits on a steep hill overseeing Rio. The view from the top of this favela is fascinating. You can see all the components that make up the city, Rio de Janeiro: the mountains, that dispear in the ocean, and the tall hotels/apartment buildings which create the huge gap of wealth disparity. In this time of the year, you see kids at the rooftops flying their kites. Or as they call it, kite racing. The flat roof tops of the brick, or wooden houses are often used for social gatherings, such as bbq's and dancing.  According to the latest census this favela contains "over 60,000" inhabitants, however, the immensity of this favela is endless, it's more like a laberynth, so the census count numbers can be off.

The term favela comes from an itchy plant that was found in Bahia, a northern part in Brazil. During the colonial periods of the 18th Century,  slave workers  settled towards the mountain slopes with other people who had no land ownership, and created houses out of bricks or wood. Not to be confused, this day people of a middle class income are conformed with living in favelas, therefore not all lower-income families live within a favela, they chose to live there because this is where they settle and this is where they are satisfied living. For example, the Favela "Vidigal" is now a trendy popular site for a more middle class settlement. This is a common spot where some travelers seek to stay for an extended period of time. There are also immigrants from other Southern American countries who seek jobs in Rio, staying at Vidigal. Vigidal is known for its younger population.

Favelas, ofcourse are dangerous, and they have the reputation of being run by druglords, and having all sorts of negative conotations to them. I can agree to that opinion, but after my tour in a favela, all I can see was hope, and opportunity for so many people. Favela Rocinha was pacified last November 2011. When a Favela is pacified it means it was taken over by the police, and any druglord that runs the favela is captured and turned in to jail. Once a favela is pacified it's in a state of recuperation engaging children in educational experiences, such as art studios, excersize programs and even volunteering opportunities for people. Although, this state of recovery, is currently in transition, it does not mean the violence is completely over, it just means that there is less of it, and the best strategies of prevention are being set. One of the main faults in favelas keeping kids in violence, is the common abuse of drugs. Kids at a young age are not motivated enough to stay in school and therefore they find themselves emerging into selling and using drugs before they reach adolescence. Kids find comfort and power in holding guns and having money, rather than staying in school and working twice as hard. Meanwhile parents living in these communites are given a stipend by the government for every child they have, so, their mentaility is to keep having more kids, and not having to work.

I did not feel threatend or scared when I was on the favela tour. The only scary part was the beginning, where each tourist had to ride the motor taxi to reach the top most part of the favela before the tour began. The motor taxi is an amazing yet scary experience because you ride up in a motorcycle up a one street, with cars running both directions, along with other motor taxis,  and people within the street. This was an incredible experience, because I had no expectations of what this tour was going to be like. That's one of the great beauties of Rio, you never know what you will experience or what you will find.

So here we are at the top of the favela where there is a small community center, here there is a post office box, a medical center and school all in one small central building. The people who lived in this village kept on with their daily lives, as we proceeded in a line behind the tour guide. Kids waved at us, screaming "hello my friend". The guide pointed out the electric wires that were woven together to "rob" electricity. This was how the people of the community  found their source of electricity, as it was free of charge from any utility company. The piping system was the same. People also had rearranged their water piping supply to allocate them so that they get their water supply for their homes. As we walked through small tight alley ways we saw more and more small openings to stores, homes, stairs up and down each side, concrete, grafitti, balconies and all sorts of components keeping favelas together. Because there is no building permits or any type of building ordinance in these communities, a new house can touch upon another, there are no rules. Another, interesting fact about favelas is the new law permitting graffiti on the walls. It is only permitted if they are art, any type of negative words are not permitted.

Walking through this community helped me realize how, people lived happily despite their commodities somehow it worked for them, yet most people would think, that they are a working class trying to make their way up in the social class pyramid.

Another observation that really caught my attention, not in the favela but in the overall city, was the growth of their recycling habbits. At the bottom of the Favela, there was a huge yard of aluminum, here I learned that Brazil is the biggest nation in recycling aluminum cans. In small markets you will see vendors making art out of recycable materials. This idea, to me was very moving to see how local people made a living out of materials that were part of their city. Art was displayed through plates and bowls made from newspaper or magazines, bracelets made out of telephone wire, and even magnets made out of the bottom of soda cans. As you can see people in Rio are making a living, while living, and there is nothing more to it. That's what a favela is, its a place of growing opportunities, its a quality of the beauty of Rio, its a community of progressive movement, but most of all its part of Brazil's rich history and culture.

Rio Encouters

The botanical garden was magical. Stopping in for 3hrs was not enough. However, our time was limited. We found Rio to be beautiful, exciting, diverse, but also to our understanding very different in some of the local ways of living. Some things that appeared different from our perspective, were the cross walks, supermarket aisles and even the metro. Rio appears to have a very disciplined set of rules, that can easily confuse foreigners. For example, riding on the metro from 8am-10am is a little different from any other times of the day. There is a separate metro cart for women for their safety, and no men are allowed in this specified cart.
It was really interesting to see different parts of the City Rio de Janeiro. Our next visit was Niteroi, a town where many people chose to live, because it was more affordable. Our destination was to see world known Oscar Nieyemeyer's museum of contemporary art. Here this public space in itself was great. Not only did it have great views as it rested at the edge of Niteroi facing Rio, but it also had a large public space in the entrance with great sketching opportunities. We entered the museum to inspire our sketching abilities. Within the museum, a lot of the contemporary pieces also included stadiums and plazas that were upcomming projects for the next world cup and the olympics. It was great to see the detail of the scaled models constructed. After observing these pieces, we decided to sketch some of the beautiful views outside the museum. I decided to also sketch my interpretation of the view from within the museum.

One of the great experiences of sketching in a public area is the interaction with other people who learn to see how you are interpreting a sense of place. Some people stop and admire and complement the work. Others are curious, as to who we are and what we are doing and become interested in more of our work. It was great to meet people and be able to understand what other people are saying despite our cultural differences. For instance, a lady approached me and asked me if I was a disenadora, and I could understand very little with some of my background in Spanish. I had to explain to her that i spoke Spanish because of my family background, but that I was a student in the United States. People were very friendly and glad to meet a foreign student. Some children were inspired to draw and observe what we were doing. It was great experience to interact with people from other languages and cultures.

Jardim Botanico

At Jardim Botanico.

Agua De Coco

Where to begin!!! despite the long tiring journey to South America I made it. Its unbelievable and truly spectacular the culture that exists just at another continent. Truly beautiful fascinating and eyeopening all at once.This experience can not be understood through words or pictures, it's so breath taking and I'm enjoying every minute of it.
So first things first. After an 11 sleepless hours flight, we arrived at Rio de Janeiro GIG and decided to take the shuttle bus to our host family's apartment in Ipanema a route of about 45-50 minutes away. This was our first test getting around. I was so nervous, although I know how to speak Spanish, the locals "cariocas" smiled and politely guided us to the right stop and direction to our home. Our home only a block away from Ipanema beach. On the bus ride "home" it was already incredible to see the different qualities of landscapes within the city, but what was more obvious was the great change of social class. As we exited the  airport we drove through a neighborhood which seemed unsafe, the kind that everyone warns you not to go about. The kind that most people think Rio is made up of. As we drove through this neighborhood, I accepted reality, I was finally here, but was it safe? Would I make it? The neighborhood consisted of windowless brick homes, with clothing hung up outside, flat roofs, some painted, mostly covered in grafitti. What truly touched me the most was when we passed through a concrete soccer/basketball court and a group of kids were playing soccer without shoes. This to me was incredible, I couldn't find words to describe this moment, seeing how local kids despite the commodities they do or do not have, they still do what they love most, soccer.

Now I'll explain why I mentioned earlier the huge gap of social class disparity. After driving through this area, the bus finally reaches the downtown area,  which is similar to New York, the busy streets, the huge sidewalks, and the tall buildings. As we get closer, and finally reach our destination, I couldn't help but notice, the gated communities, with door watchmen at almost every single building in Ipanema. All of these buildings were over 4-5 stories high and after talking to a local, about over 2,000R a month which is equivalent to 1,000$ for rent per month. Now another social class observation, which really caught my attention was the arrangement of the apartment here in Ipanema. The apartment had an extra bathroom and bedroom separate from the rest of the apartment for the "maid". However, our hosts did not have one. It really amazed me how this place in South America still had a colonial concept of dividing or placing people in social classes. I've been to Ecuador, here in South America, and I've never encountered that situation before.

So after settling in, my colleague Alex and I decided to start our trip off with a small tour of the Botanical Garden, a 15 minute walk from the house. This was our first breath taking experience, seeing the nature in store for us here in Rio.

Here you can see a small pocket of green space at our host home.

In this sequence of photos, you witness a few of our photos from the our first week traveling. A taste of our host family, also a peek at the botanical garden "Jardim Botanico", and also a picture of the existing landscape found right at the heart of Rio. This lake is called Parque Lage, we passed it on our way to the Botanical Garden. It had many exercise stations along the way, and everyone at any age, would participate in outdoor activities. It was incredible to see see young children, and older family members participating in healthy outdoor activities at any time of the day here, with a great view. And of course we could not have continued on our journey to the botanical garden without first having tried the agua de coco. Which is an entire coconut!! fresh and delicious.More pictures to come, of the beautiful botanical garden.

Bom Dia

Only a little over a month now, and I will be on a plane to Rio De Janeiro! the ticket is purchased and the visa will be ready to go tomorrow. Now all I can do is prepare with a little Portuguese here and there. I've already started, as a result of my excitement.  It is such a beautiful language.  Being able to speak Spanish helped me pick it up a little better. Some of the words are cut short, and is more fluid than some of the Spanish words. For example in Spanish good morning is Buenos dias, and in Portuguese it's Bom Dia. I'm so excited, now I have to get back to picking up some of other terms. The excitement continues. Keep in tune, more to come!