The favela or staying in it? Wasn't that eventful. The favela is like a city in itself. They are huge with all sorts of pathways and hidden homes. So where we stayed was a nice house converted into an airbnb.. No lie they got airbnb's in the favela. shyt had a mini pool on the balcony and all that. It's about 2 or 3 streets up the favela....
So anyways you start at the bottom. There's all sorts of general stores and bodegas. There's a line of motobikes that you pay $2 dollars to take you anywhere you want to go in there that has a street. So normally you'd ride all the way up and hit whatever you needed. Grocery stores, barbership, clothing store.. As you go up, every block there's more stores, food spots, washing place.... But it's all in spots the size of our apts. Bang the right two streets up, was our apt, so we just walked it.
So first night there, we walk down to the bodega to get food. It's closed. So naturally we start walking up the other way. Now I'm not gonna lie, now I'm shook. My boy has been to Brazil before, speaks a little portuguese at the time, but never this favela. We walk up and start hearing music. They throwing a party in the field on a Thursday night. fukk it we here.
We roll up, start buying beers, chilling in the party like we live there. This young couple approaches and starts speaking English. I've been to brazil every year since 2012 and I've heard English spoken twice. They just got out of high school and heard us speak English and said what's up. They literally said "Man we thought you were drug dealers from the favela until we heard you talk. You look just like us."
From then on, it was all good. I mean it had been good the entire time. We'd end up riding up to the top and walking all the way down one night. Stopping and getting the best damn egg sandwiches I ever had as another party let out and the sun was coming up. Some dude with a grill in front of the crib. It's just like that. Every time I go back, we stay in a different spot, and we make lifelong friends. It's to the point we hop in the car and drive hours away from the airport now.
The way they show Brazil to us, is the same way they show Africa to us, and US to the rest of the world. It's a bunch of bullshyt.