Comparing US Ghettos to Favelas

These are MY observations and opinions about what I see are the differences between American ghettos and the Brazilian Favelas. I am not a expert. This is my opinions from being in both places, what I see are the differences between the two places.

I remember reading a somebodys post on a internet website about them wanting to visit a favela. There were people who responded negatively and one response in particular made me think. The responder had wrote “You would not go into a poor neighborhood in your own country, so, why would you want to do this in Brazil?”

For foreigners, I think attraction to favelas is different because of the way the media portrays these communities. It first starts in how Brazil is promoted by tourism and films. City of God brought the favela issue to the front and this brought more attention to the favela. Carnival and Samba also created curiosity about the favelas. Foreigners were not raised with the prejudice against the favelas like Brazilians have been. Its sad becase much of Brazilian identity is from that of the favelas. Carnival, Samba, Feijoada, many of brazil’s top football players, and Capoeira all come from favelas.

Ghetto’s, favelas, whatever we call them are underserved areas of poor people. How poor? You would have to decide on your own what levels of poverty exist there. I can tell you in living in the favela here, yes, we are poor but we are not as poor as the slums in India or Africa.


My Observations about USA Ghettos and culture in the United States

Ghettos can be the inner city black neighborhoods or the midwestern predominantly white trailer parks. Ghettos are poorer neighborhoods.

In the US there will always be this thing about the individual. They are always talking about individual rights etc..American ghettos show this first hand in the way some of the people speak “I gotta get whats mine!” I heard this many times. Rarely did I ever hear the word “we” as part of speech. The US is about the “me” or “I”. There is little or no community bonding in the ghettos.

The problem starts when the country tries to brainwash people into believing they have a right at the “American Dream”. Whats the American Dream? A house, car, good job, nice neighborhood, picket fence with back yard, 2 kids? What? This is what the country feeds to the people. You gotta buy a house with a 30-40 year mortgage?? What??? 30-40 years with a ball & chain?? How do you know if you will live that long?? The US is a big corporation consumerist place. If you do NOT have the lastest technology, there is something wrong with you. This is the problem. The system of economics makes the people feel inadequate if they do not buy. And people buy into this. This dream is only afforded to the very few. Now in the US it is so expensive to live that both mother and father are working so much to provide these “things” that they call quality of life. Instead of having a smaller house and living within their paychecks, they need to buy some huge house, fancy car and put themselves in debt for the next 10 years. why? For what? Who are they trying to impress? For all that working they do, who suffers? The children suffer becase their parents never have the time to give them the attention they need to develop as compassionate human beings. Instead the children become drone like becase their “parents” are now the video game, tv, computer or nanny. There is a lack of personal connection between parents and child which results in the cycle of the child becoming the same as the parents. Why have children if you do not have the time to give to them?

My interpretation of the American Dream is people who are slaves to their jobs. I could never live this way. Working 8-10 hours a day 5-6 days a week with 2-3 weeks vacation a year? What? Where is the quality of life? But people do this just to have that Landrover or 30 inch flat screen tv????

I do not understand this? There is nothing wrong with wanting nice things but at what cost to time and happiness? What happens with this is sacrifice of the family.

For people in ghettos the same brainwashing exists. Everybody wants nicer “things”. The key word here is “THINGS”. How about strong family values or a good education? What happened to those? Everything is about material things. So with that comes a culture of feeling like they need to have the nicest clothes, jewelry, cars etc.In many ghettos, there are cycles of families living off the government on public assistance/welfare in public housing projects. This welfare and public housing is provided to the poor by the government. This sets up people to be complacent and lazy. When the government gives you housing and 500 or more a month, why work? People get comfortable with this and eventually get trapped in it. All your needs are taken care of so why go out and find work?

In these housing projects, there is electricity, water and proper sewage.so, people do not have to worry about their toilet not flushing. Most of the inner city housing projects in places like New York and Chicago tend to be high rise buildings where the basic needs are met. In a high rise every person has their own separate compartment. It may not be pretty but its adequate. There is very little embracing of community with the way buildings separate people. And sad to say, that most housing projects get destroyed by the residents who need this housing. This I do not understand. Why would a person destroy a place they need?

With poverty, drugs, like most impoverished areas, are the way some feel they can “get ahead”. I think the government of the US dumped drugs into the black neighborhoods to destroy their communities. Back in the 1960’s and 70’s the black power movement was strong and developing many powerful leaders and role models for their communities. After the drugs came in, the community died. Money and power became more important than family and community values. Now in these neighborhoods, blacks are killing blacks. There is not so much the race war. Its about power, drugs, women, fancy clothes, expensive cars and who can get the most. This is the capitalist way but at what cost to these communities? With drugs, brings addicts, crime, prostitution and other social problems. Instead of growing up to be the next astronaut or fireman, kids want to be the king drug dealer. They learn what they see, kids are not stupid. And some of the rap music reinforces this negative cycle.

There are gangs which control drugs but they are in certain small areas of neighborhoods. If the guy on the next corner is selling more drugs, the other guy further down the road eventually wants to take the guys corner becase its about money. He doesn’t care if the guy is black or where he’s from. He just wants more money and will kill that guy to take his corner. This is how the gangs expand. And they instill fear in those neighborhoods by killing anyone who gets in their way. Some of the gangs are organized and connected to mafia like groups and some are more small time dealers. Everybody buys their stuff from somewhere and the connections run deep.

I always found it strange how in some of the US cities, whites would live in one area and other races would be in separate areas. In the southern states there is so much more racism against African Americans. They still have extreme groups who try to spread propaganda against immigrants and races who are not white as well. And violence against minorities still exists today. The only American city that I found had good integration, was San Francisco. That city still had areas like Hunter’s Point and Bayview which tended to be African American neighborhoods, but there were many areas where all races lived together with little or no problems.

People in ghettos are part of the problem with the drugs and violence. In order to have a drug dealing problem in your neighborhood, you first have to accept drugs in your neighborhood. Too many people turned their backs to this all becase of money and now look who’s in control. The parents are responsible to raise kids to stay out of that trouble. Parents are responsible to educate their sons and daughters about not getting pregnant at 15. Babies having babies and letting their kids run wild. But when they get shot, its all denial about how their kids was caught up in some bad shit. It all starts with parenting. If you raise your son/daughter to value school and education and follow through with discipline, why would he want to become a drug dealer. Every drug dealer has a mother or father. Kids learn from examples. The ghettos have lost their neighborhoods to thugs. And the people in those neighborhoods are responsible and to blame.

Americans have access to everything, if they have the money. The living standard is good. Food is plentiful. Water, eletricty and sewage work 99% of the time. Technology is some of the best in the world. Yet, when I was living there, people would complain about everything. It was as if the stress of trying to live up to a society expectation was a burden on some people. I saw many scenes of parents aggressively yelling or even hitting children in public. I started to see a country and people who were angry and on edge about their lives. It was as if it was impossible to keep up to expectations.

In the US they have everything, yet they are still not happy. I started to question, what is happiness in the US?


The FAVELAS (Rocinha)

Our origins in the favelas come from ex-slaves. We favelados started with nothing. We never had expectations. Our lives were about survival. But our communities are far different from the US ghettos. Our communities started with people migrating to different parts of Brazil to find work. We worked together to build our communities with very little resources.

The only thing we have in common with ghettos is that they are poor areas, but the way we in favelas function, it’s a world apart. Our favelas are very different from ghettos. I am glad I grew up here and not in a American ghetto.

The favelas are also called slums or shantytowns becase of the way the people constructed their houses. In the beginning we had no running water or electricity, no infrastructure. We would find land and we would build becase we had no choice. We built houses on the hills becase this was the land available to us. We used whatever materials we had or could get. Jobs paid very little and not enough for to afford rent in the “formal” city. So the government for the longest time turned their back while the poor would build their shacks on the hill. In the beginning there was not much confrontation becase the favelados represented a large work force for the middle and upper classes. Who else is going to clean your house or sweep the streets? As favelas grew the state started having concerns. When you live in conditions where there is no sanitation, eletricty, water or anything else, problems start. We had problems with garbage removal and becase of this rats and diseases spread. The government ignored our problems but always complained about us. In my favela Rocinha people started to organize and in 1961 we developed our own form of government to represent us to the outside world. We called it a residents association becase our leaders represent the people who live in our favela. They help educate us about our rights and protect our interests in the place we live. It is not perfect but they do more than the Rio government has ever done.

We are seen as marginalized becase we live in areas where the government does not or rarely provides services. Marginalization also has to do with the media and how we as people are portrayed to the non favela world. Most favelados do not have much education but then again we do not have opportunity to receive quality education becase the tax money is not there. But how can a person pay taxes when they are living on less than $700R (aprox.$400US) a month? The rich can send their kids to private schools which ensure them opportunity to get into university. This is foreign to the favelado. Our public schools fail to give us that opportunity no matter how smart you are.

In the favela, everybody works. We have no public housing/housing projects, welfare, food stamps or social programs. You don’t work, you don’t live. We care about our community regardless of the problems. In the favela it is a community effort for survival and nobody is better than anybody else. We are all equal, we are all favelados. Are favela is far from perfect but for us, it works.

When people construct their homes, there are always people willing to help. My neighbors helped my father build his house. There are groups of men in the community who know how to build houses so there is not shortage of help. The only thing that separates our houses in the favela from those on the outside, is money. This is the way it is. I remember a story my father told me when I was 8 years old. He was leaving the house and I asked him where he was going. He told me that he had to help a guy fix his roof. I asked him why? And he replied, becase someday son, you may need help with your roof. So, it shows that the people try to build a bond in their community. When the outside world ostrasizes the favela, the people in the favela bond together for support.

The difficult thing about favela life is that everybody lives so close together. There is very little privacy. If you are not careful, people can get in your business. My father always taught me to be nice to people but we don’t need tell everything about us to everyone. The house I live in has good privacy becase the walls are thick made of cement and bricks. I do not hear much noise from my neighbors. But when we lived in the shack, we heard everything.

Many people who do not live in favelas in Brazil think the favela is one big shit hole full of vagrants, thieves, and drug gangs. I think every place has bad people. We have people like this but the favela is much more than a few bad people. Most of the people who live here are honest hardworking types who only want their opportunity. The word “favelado” to me has only one meaning, a person from the favela. Just becase one is poor does not make them a criminal. This attitude of stereotyping favelados as marginal is similar to American ghettos residents being thought in the same way. Not every African American kid growing up in the ghetto is a drug dealer.

When I was a teenager growing up in the favela, life was very different. The favela did not have as much organization and we had more people who did bad things here. There was more petty crimes and abuse. Around 1983 came the drugs into the community and with that came the organized gang. There was a good and bad side to this but the community changed drastically after this point. In Rocinha, our first drug lord “Dennis” changed the way of negative social behaviors in the favela. The “traficantes” (drug dealers), not only sold drugs but acted as a internal police for the community. They protected the community from outside police and rival gang invasions and established social codes inside the favela. Dennis and his gang laid down the laws. There would be NO stealing, robbing, raping or killing. If you did any of these things, you would be punished severely. There were several reasons for this. First the gang was in control and wanted to establish stability in the community. The second was to show that the favela was a safe place for outsiders to come to buy their drugs. They only sell marijuana and cocaine. They have no interest in meth, crack, heroin, crank or any of that designer drug stuff. So if your looking for ecstacy (E) or mushrooms, you find that in the nightclubs outside the favelas.

Today in Rocinha, its one gang that sells here, only one and they work like a business. They work like a mafia type enterprise. They are a very organized cohesive group. If there is a problem within the gang, it is dealt with internally. The gang wants no problem with residents here. In exchange for selling inside the community the gang does provide some need help to people and will sponsor community events. They are certainly far from angels, but if you are not a threat to their business, they do not care who you are.

Today, the same social codes exist and unlike a US ghetto, I can safely walk through my favela anytime, day or night without fear of having crime done against me. In a ghetto in the US, I could be killed just for being the wrong color. There are no controlled social codes in the American ghetto. Its only the strong survive, again, all about the individual, certainly not about community.

Becase of our simple and different way of life, Brazilian society has referred to us marginals. Our community is not seen as the same as outside neighborhoods. Also, becase of the drug traffic and other bad things that go along with it, the “formal” city fears us. To admit to living in a favela is a stigma. I am at the age where I do not care and I will not lie about where I am from. I am proud of the people and my community here in ROCINHA.

Where else can I feel totally free and walk the streets safely at 3 in the morning with total freedom? Where can I walk in my community where I get greeted 10-15 times a day by my neighborhood people? All I need to do is walk out my door and find a party, no need to “crash” the party as there is no such thing. Today I decided I wanted peace so I stayed inside and relaxed. In Rocinha, you will never be lonely.

People socialize all the time here and there is always people out in the streets. When I show people my community they are amazed at how people are so friendly. I always tell them that just as you are curious about the favela, they are also curious about you. The media spreads so much lies about favelas that the outside world only knows this. When you have no more information about a place, you don’t have much choice on what you can think. We, who live in the favela knows that all the media talks of is negative things. So, we who live there often wonder if we live in such a bad place, why would people want to come. But we also know that people out there educate themselves and want to see for themselves. It is common to hear upper class Brazilians say to foreigners, “why would you want to go THERE?” Our lives are simple here, but we know how to enjoy life too.

Our street parties include everyone, nobody is excluded. We can have a party for any reason, samba, funk, football, birthday or just people who want to get together. If you decide to want to come for a visit, I am always available to show people a good time here that you will never forget. I do not know if the American ghettos have street parties anymore. In our club called “Emocoes”, we can have 3,000 people in there dancing and not one fight breaks out. Can that be said in any US ghetto club?

As I see it after all I have written, I hope you can see too that American ghettos are nothing like Brazilian favelas. We are both economically challenged but the people and the way they interact have nothing in common.



FAVELA ADVENTURES
http://www.favelatour.org
http://lifeinrocinha.blogspot.com
Facebook: "DeeJay Zezinho"
Orkut: "Favelado do Sucesso"
tel: 21-8221-5572

Living in the Favela.

The foto is visitors to my home in Rocinha. We are sitting on my rooftop enjoying the view.


Many visitors ask me how it is to live here in a favela. So, I decide to write about this. There is much misinformation in the media about what life is like here. And most of the media portrays life here as being one of misery and awful conditions.

I was born here and I really do not know much different. I have lived in other places but do not feel like I belong in these places. The favela is community for me. It is where I belong. I know so many people here. I can not walk the streets or becos without somebody knowing me or calling my name. It feels good to have a place where I feel cared for, loved and needed. Outside the favela is very different because everybody is for themselves. In my life, the favela has always helped me and I try help it too. Living here, this is how it is.

People think that the drug traffic controls everything but this is not true. The guys sell their drugs and of course people buy. The majority of the people who buy are not from the favela. They are the middle class and rich who come in to buy their stuff. Drugs is not a problem only in the favela. Drugs is a world problem.

The gang does not control my life. The rules are simple, if you do not steal, kill or rape, nothing will ever happen to you. Living here, I have never had a problem becase I never think about wanting to break the rules. Unless you have bad intentions the life is good here. What makes Rocinha a special place for me is the people. My life is simple. I work, enjoy my life, have my friends and family. What more do I need.

I live in a small shack here in Rocinha. Things are not perfect but my life is ok. Sometimes we do not have water and times the electricity does not work, but I have my health and have a job. My house is small but the space is big enough for me and a guest. I also have a nice roof view of the community. Now I am living here alone but sometimes I have volunteers who help out here in the favela and they stay with me. Every morning I wake up and say a big hello to the favela and when I go to sleep I tell the community, good night. This keeps me connected to the favela and reminds me to always be humble and appreciate the things I have, not the things I do not.

My favela has about 300.000 people living here in 800 square meters of area. Rocinha is very crowded place and noisy. The place never sleeps. There is constant activity here. Since 1997 people have rights to their houses so many people are now making improvements on their houses. With the government project and personal home improvements, construction is going on almost everywhere here. One of my neighbors in one week built and second floor on to his house. I was amazed that he did this with only one other person helping him. This is the way in the favela.

Rocinha is really a city inside the city of Rio de Janeiro. We have about 55.000 houses here. Favelas are starting to be integrated with the rest of the city. Just five years ago, you would never see favela communities on city maps. It was as if we did not exists. Strange considering that about 1 in every 3 people in Rio de Janeiro lives in a favela now. Close to 2 million people live in favelas.

We have two bus routes that go through the favela on our one main street that starts at the bottom in Sao Conrado and goes up the hill to the other side which is Gavea. One bus route (#546) goes to Leblon, the other (#592) goes to Leme which is close to Copacabana. There is also kombi vans that go to Leme (#593) and Botofogo (#592) as well and the mototaxis that serve the favela for 2 reais. Transport here runs all night and it is very easy to get anywhere in the South Zone of Rio.

Many days when I am not working, I just take walks through the community just to remind me how lucky I am to live here and have my family and friends. Today I decided to walk on Rua 1 or first street which is a beco (alleyway) that cuts across the top of the favela and runs down the right side of the hill. And ends at the bottom in Raiz which is a area in Rocinha. I met so many friends today and becase I was not working, it was nice to have the time to stop and talk to many people.

It really hurts me when people think that I live in a bad place. Or they think favela life is all misery. This is not true. Of corse you will always have people who do not have such a good life. As I said before, life is never perfect but if you were to ask the people here if they had the choice to leave, would they? Probably 90% prefer to stay here. This life here is all I really know. How could I move? Where would I move to? How would I live? How would I make friends? How would the people on the outside treat me? So many fears I would have to leave here.

Becase of our situation living in favelas, we experience much prejudice here in Rio. Many people who live in the formal city think favelados (people who live in favelas) are all criminals and uneducated. I am a favelado only becase I live in a favela, and I am not a criminal and I have some education. This is one reason that I do not like to leave the favela. I feel safe here. I never have troubles here becase everybody knows the rules. To the outsider the favela looks like a place of caos and confusion but there is more organization than people think.

We have a community government which is like a liason to the outside world. It is called a residents association which represents the right for all who live in the favela. If there is a serious problem that we in the favela can not solve, then we can ask the residents association to ask for help to the city of Rio. Our RA was formed in 1961 so it has been established here in Rocinha for a long time.

My life is pretty simple, I am a guide here who brings visitors in to see my community. I help educate them about the realities of life of living in the favela. I dispel myths that the media has brainwashed into the minds of both the brazilian people and the foreign media. I show them that the favela is so much more than crime and drugs like the news says. We have so many good things going on here too. The outside world needs to know what life is like inside a favela from WE who LIVE there!

I can say proudly that I like my life here and I have no plans to leave. Even if I was to win the lottery I would not leave here. I love my life here. Sou favelado com muito orgulho.

The favela is me and I am the favela!!

Bruno Borges: Classism and Prejudice courtesy of the Brazilian middle class!

I vote this guy...idiot of the day!

Read this passage below written by Bruno Borges a 26 year old resident of Rio and his opinion of favela residents. His comments were posted on couchsurfing.com website which is a website that supposedly supports anti discrimination written material! We were discussing foreigners and their wanting to visit favela comunities.

I am going to pick apart what he say and why I have a problem with his statements. His comments are in bold smaller print.

Bruno: "I'd say that: it's not a rule that anyone who lives in a Favela is a criminal, rather most criminals live in Favelas. Why? Because the way they are. Disorganized, out of control and geographically well positioned."

Yet he fails to mention that the "so called criminals" are tightly joined at the hip with the corrupt police forces and politicians that control the very city he lives! We all agree that the drug dealing criminals certainly make favelas dangerous places to be if you do not know somebody there or being there for some purpose. Nobody likes the drug situation, but as I have said so many times..if there were not buyers, the sellers (traficante) would not exist! So, my blame is put on the users. I am not perfect, but I am not into drugs of any kind, even if I have headache.. And regarding drugs, so I wonder what Bruno thinks of the drugs that are peddled in the nightclubs outside of the favelas. I had a guy try to sell me Acid and "E" (ecstacy) outside a club in Botafogo and this guy was not "some guy from the favela."

Bruno: "I do not suggest people to go to a Favela because poor people live in there and because I think this would look like going to a zoo - even this thoughts come to my mind - but yes, I do not suggest simply because, there are criminals living in there, and at any day, any time, a war between dealers and cops, or dealers and dealers, can suddenly start. And from this situation, there's nothing you can do except hide and pray for not being hit by a bullet."

It's obvious that this guy has no idea what he talks about. He assumes only POOR people live there. Yes, the majority may be poor, but more middle class are moving to favelas becase rents in their own comunities are too much. Also how do we define "poor"? There is Africa "I havent eaten in a week and have no clothes" poor, then there is how we in favelas live. Yes, it is poor but nobody is "starving"! And what... nobody should go there, just because there is poor people. Bruno, then what do you think of the varios non profits that go there to help the people. They should not go there either?

He also mentions that "there are criminals living in there", does he really think favelas are the only places criminals live?? You know Bruno, I live there and I am NOT a criminal..Of course there are criminals that live there just as there are criminals who live outside of favelas too! It is a bigger subject matter in trying to determine why "people become criminals?" That is a question that is left to sociologists, but I can tell you that, in general, when people are not given "equal" oportunity in education, job oportunities, healthcare etc..many do become criminals. Is it right? Of course, NOT, but it is reality. If I am some 18 year old from a poor comunity who is not given equal oportunity in the job force, eventually I may turn to crime to survive. I in no way condone crime of any kind,but I am not living in the shoes of somebody who makes that choice,

so I cannot judge.

Although "invasions of cops or dealers do happen", how about the "arrastao" or the robberies and such that happen all the time in Copa or other tourist areas in Rio. And Rio is not the only place that has this problem. My best friend was pickpocketed in Rome, Italy. One of my martial arts students was beat up and robbed in Paris by three guys, so this kind of crimes can and do happen everywhere. Sad but true.

Bruno: "Please, don't get me wrong here as it follows.
The Amazon is a cool place. Lots of people live in there. Lots of tourists go there too. But I would not suggest a walk in the middle of the jungle, as it is not safe just as a Favela isn't. The "tour" sounds like the same. A guide takes you to dangerous areas, risky areas, but they tell you they will protect you, will overlook for you. But this is not always true. Warm situations turns people into savages, and their first instinct is to regard for themselves. What does this means? Watch your back."

So now he go on his writing about comparing the Amazon Jungle to the favela. This is where I have a BIG problem. Becase he is comparing people of the favela to animals. I have never heard of ANY tourist visiting a favela being killed or hurt in any way. So, again he has no idea what he is talking about!

Bruno: "The people who live in the Amazon are like the average people who live in a Favela. Cool people, honest, but as in a Favela, the jungle has a higher concentration of dangerous animals that won't miss an opportunity to hit your back if they think they need to. Animals will attack if they must, if they feel alarmed and if they feel ... hungry."

Sounds passive agressive to me..he says the people are cool, honest but then goes on to again mention the comparison of people to animals in a jungle. I find this offensive. HELLO! BRUNO...I LIVE IN A FAVELA and I am NOT an ANIMAL!!! Its obvious this guy has never travelled and seen anything more than his protected middle class life.

Bruno: "As in a Favela, animals from the jungle can surprisingly act weird. People from the Amazon will warn you about how dangerous can be to walk around in the middle of the jungle. They will tell you to not go just to "take pictures" and "to know how does it feels". They will ask you: "do you REALLY NEED to go there?!".

More of his rant of favela=animals in jungle stuff and how "People" can act weird..bla bla bla..

Bruno: "For me, who wasn't born in the middle of the jungle, I'd think twice, or even more times, before going there just to "walk around and get to know the place". I don't need, I don't want to know a Favela. My curiosity in favour of that is the same as about the Amazon jungle. None."

Ok here he is just saying his opinion of not having a desire to go there, ok, no prob there. But the fact that he still is using the word jungle when we all know he is referring to the favela does show his discrimination against the favela and its residents. So by his not wanting to "know a favela", he will never be open to changing his idea that there are good people there too. His mind will be stuck forever thinking the same way..sad! Maybe is he got to know some of the people there, he would then realize that the people there are not ALL criminals. I consider myself a good person who lives a honest life, I do not drink alcohol and never use drugs. So, I take his remark in not wanting to "know a favela", that he would have no interest in knowing me.

Bruno: "Just for a thought: ask a Yankee who was born in Manhattan, if he would take you to walk around the Brooklyn, or Bronx."

Here he mentions not only the word "Yankee", which is offensive to any American, but includes

places he has never been as an example of prejudice too. I wonder what the people of the Bronx or Brooklyn would think of this guy prejudice against their neighborhood? I have been to the Bronx and Brooklyn and I am sure there are areas that are more sketchy than others, I never felt fears when I was there.

Bruno: "To conclude my opinion, I'd like to ask people who live in a Favela, specially for those who were born at: if you were born at somewhere else, would you really take someone to a Favela Tour?
Zezinho, I honestly think you are happy living in there, and I'm glad you feel that way. For all the people that think like you, I feel happy. And I respect that. I truly do. Again, don't get me wrong here. If you think you got the wrong idea, please reread this whole text over and over. But just consider others' opinion as most of us consider yours."

Dude, you wrote offensive, bigoted, prejudiced comments about people and places that you have even said that you have never been and have no interest in knowing! This is the place I live and you just made it sound like I am in a jungle which I feel I am NOT. And that everybody around me is like somebody waiting to kill somebody..Then you try to be all passive with me after equating my neighborhood to being a jungle full of wild animals just waiting to attack.

This guy is an ignorant and as long as this attitude persists, racism, prejudice and bigotry will continue to keep Brazil a third world country!

I think the thing that is more upsetting to me is not so much this guys attitude (I think amoung the Brazilian Middle class this is so common) but that Couchsurfing would allow this kind of prejudice to be posted publically especially in this day and age.