Scared for the First Time Here

When I told people about coming here, and about how I was going to volunteer in the favelas, I had many, many people warn me about the dangers I would face. So far, it has been perfectly serene - I was actually beginning to wonder what all the fuss was for.

Today though, was a different story. There was a police raid about 2 minutes after we arrived at the project. I'll try to explain the situation as best as I can:

- we were immediately told to get inside the community centre and hang out, until we had the go ahead to leave

- we could sense the seriousness in the air and the general feeling of masked apprehension. It was strange to see the local residents, not smiling.

- the most tense moment for us volunteers is when we walked between these two buildings, to get Haley (she was in another room) and the girl leading us was earnestly scanning the windows and buildings closest to us to make sure the police weren't aware of us.

- we got Haley and one of the main community leaders escorted us out of the area. We kept our heads down and tried to walk at a normal pace, as we passed by loads of police with machine guns, ready for action.

As we were walking, I asked the girls how they felt on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being totally fine and 10 being Oh God I have to run for my life. We all agreed that we were a good 5 or 6 on the scale. I was extremely relieved when we walked out onto the main street to catch the bus.

And Mom, if you're reading this, please don't worry too much. The community leaders were very conscious of our safety; they were wonderful and calming. The picture I'm posting is of the community leader who walked us out, we took the photo while waiting. She explained that this kind of thing (police raids) happen about 3 or 4 times a month and it is an unpleasant part of life in the favelas. Plus, the raids don't always lead to violence or conflict. It's mainly a drug sting, but as a precaution, most people stay indoors, in case anything does go down.

Anyways, we escaped unscathed, which is all that matters. Things should be back to normal tomorrow : )

Afterwards, we headed to the beach again, and I got the chance to go for a long run. It felt so good to hop into the ocean when I finished running - I love wearing my teeny Brazilian bikini and floating around in the waves to cool down. I'd post a picture of me in my bikini but I think it would be much too scandalous ha. Here, it's completely normal, almost expected!

I thought I'd post a fun picture of the typical Brazilian guy on the beach to neutralize the seriousness of my posting today. Enjoy!