This morning we had a city tour in our big van that takes us to school. The driver actually knew a lot of facts about the sites that our program director from Maceio/tour guide did not.
We went to the city square and saw the Governor's palace where government work is done but no one actually lives. Same with the Mayor's mansion. We saw the theater and a bunch of museums that we want to visit later.
During the Napoleonic wars in Europe, the royal family of Portugal fled to Brazil (or was exiled or banished or something) and settled in the region. We saw a cathedral across the square (like a European square with important buildings on the sides and a big fountain and all that) from the governor's palace that had a fresco of Emperor Pedro II, who was the prince of Portugal at the time, with Jesus. It shows the history of the Church with Spain and Portugal and how intertwined the Royal family and the Church were. The divine right of kings and all that. It was beautiful there. In another square that was like a park, children ran around in only shorts and clothes were hanging from the railing that blocked the statue from vandalism. A small girl used a condom as a balloon.
We also drove around the peninsula to the other side from the beach, to see the harbor. The harbor is very important for the economy of Maceio and the whole state of Alagoas. We continued our tour around the city and ended up on the lagoon side. So, Maceio, the city, is like a sandwich. It is between the beach and the lagoons. The beach side is where we are staying, all touristy and beautiful. Workers are constantly cleaning the beaches, sweeping the sidewalks, and picking up the rotting fruit when it falls from trees. But, the lagoon side is like another world! The water is too dirty to swim in, yet people fish from it to eat. Trash litters the shores. People live in "fishing villages" which are slums with houses made of trash, literally styrofoam and plastic containers stacked together with broken bricks and sheets of tin. Some of the houses are up on the hill more, these people are better off. They have houses made of bricks but when it rains a lot, landslides take the houses right off. Last week, 6 houses fell. The people at the bottom of the valley have a riverbed running in front of their house which is an open sewer. They have to go over a bridge to get into their houses, which flood when it rains (every day in the winter). There were horses everywhere, very skinny and hungry-looking horses who are used instead of cars. Nearly everyone was barefoot. It was very hard to see. I mean, we all know this extreme poverty exists, but seeing it is very different from an intellectual understanding.
We went to the top of a hill where we could see the whole city, the harbor, the lagoon on another side, and the downtown apartment buildings, all with the slums below. Behind us was a Marist Catholic school which cost at least R$800 per MONTH per kid, (min. wage is R$788/month.) with a courtyard overlooking the houses perched perilously on cliffs and those in the valley that fill with raw sewage when it rains.
They say Brazil is a country of contrasts.
Then we went to the French Beach, praia francesa. It was actually colonized by the French and the Portuguese teamed up with the Indians to fight them and kick them out. It is one of the most beautiful beaches in the region. We sat on the beach and ordered at a restaurant. But, then a HUGE black rain cloud was coming in, so we had to move inside. I was sitting at the end of the table, so I still got rained on a bit.
Afterwards, I walked to the store with another coach. I bought 2 packages of these Nesfit cookies, they are actually really nutritious, sort of remind me of honey flavored short bread. There were only $1.00 each, and I gave one to a woman begging with two small children right outside the grocery store. I'm not sure if it was because of the morning's tour or not.
