Rio de Janeiro - a city on the edge of heaven and hell

Last week I spent my holidays in Rio de Janeiro - the city of Samba, Coconuts, Christ the Redeemer and Favelas.

To be closer to culture and people, I used Couchsurfing and stayed with local people who introduced me to daily life in Rio.

Even if I just stayed for 7 days in the historical center and by now moved to the outskirts in the south - those days left lasting impressions on me.

Some positive, some negative, but all profound, adding to my understanding of this country's "belezas e problemas."

The Rich

Rio de Janeiro is and has to be one of the world's most beautiful, vibrant, and scenic cities.

The endless deep blue mirror of the ocean stretches behind the horizon.

The juice thickness of the Mata Atlantica sparkles in the widest varieties and shades of green one can imagine.

And the rugged mountains explode into the sky with nearly perpendicular walls, drawing a sharp contrast to the surroundings.

Luxurious apartment towers shape the coastline with prices in the millions, balconies with ocean views, and private jacuzzis.

The Poor

For each rich person in an acclimated taxi or Mercedes, there are 5 people lying on the pavement.

With torn clothes, bare feet, and empty eyes with no sign of hope or even despair. Just glazing into the nothingness of their lives in total surrender.

For each rich person with a full belly, there are 5 teenagers on the streets, trying to sell self-made sweets or looking for victims to rob.

Not out of an evil will or bad intention. But with righteousness in mind. Because they don't know better.

You see the vast, green golf courses and the neighboring favelas from the same mountain peak.

Separated by high walls, barbed wire, and high voltage fences, they are climbing up the mountain hills, ever-expanding on slippery slopes.

There are welcoming favelas with open arms and doors for tourists, and there are favelas you may not leave again if you'd ever put a foot in them.

But in every favela, people fight for the bare minimum of life daily.

Some are born in them and die without ever having left their walls and fences.

The Past

The history has everything: From gold carriages for the royal português family to thumbscrews, whips, and chains for the African and Native American slaves.

The class differences from today are the continuation of the brutal colonization by the white European man.

Frequently turning native American tribes against each other and using slaves to fight battles which aren't theirs.

The Present

With all the beautiful pictures of the beaches, coconuts, and the Cristo monument, one might think those times lay in the past.

They do - at least partial and superficial.

The poor are still being suppressed, black people are still discriminated, and the president normalizes homophobia and rape.

Since Bolsonaro, the violent advance and deforestation of the Amazon alone have skyrocketed by 135%.

Leaving nothing behind but devastated forests that will never recover, corpses of dead animals burned in the fires, and a decreasing indigenous population.

In the city, environmental catastrophes happen daily, with littered beaches and sewage of 4,7 million people that is getting dumped into rivers and oceans. (In Rio, only 30% of sewage water is being filtered, contaminating whole coastlines.)

The future?

Uncertain.

There is hope in the goodwill and initiative of humanity. And there is inevitable extinction in merciless greed and egoism.

To quote both the "Museu do Amanha" as well as the national museum of Brazil:

"Look in the mirror, and you'll see the present of tomorrow."

Pictures: Taken on the tail to the "Morro Dois Irmãos" Top left: Promenade of Leblon & Ipanema, behind the lagoon the city center

Top right: Favela "Vidigal", a tourist-friendly favela Bottom left: Coastline of Leblon and Ipanema Botten right: Favela "Rocinha", the biggest favela in Latein America

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