Learning to Give Directions in English or How NOT to Get Lost in the Becos of Rocinha

Becos are something typical for Rocinha. They are small narrow streets usually full of stairs, which make it rather complicated to navigate your way around.  Because of this, I decided to teach my adults intermediate class how to give directions to a tourist lost in Rocinha. 

We started with a few simple phrases and then gradually added vocabulary until the students were able to direct the foreigner from the very bottom of Rocinha all the way to their favourite bar or restaurant.

Some of the basic phrases we learnt:

Cross the pasarela

   Go up the Via Apia

Take the third street on your right

When you get to the market turn left and go up the street past the banks

Take the beco on your right

Continue going up the stairs

 Go up the Estrada da Gavea

Turn right to a beco, go to the end...

 ... and the snack bar will be on your right

Monster Mash.

Halloween isn't very popular in Brazil, although its fanbase is currently growing in some of Brazil's bigger cities. I imagine that this can be attributed to two things: The number of English-language schools that throw Halloween parties and also because of American pop culture. It is entirely possible to find Halloween parties around Rio, but they aren't that numerous and you generally wouldn't see swarms of people dressed up in costumes everywhere!

We try not to limit our curriculum to strictly English lessons, so whenever we can, we incorporate cultural lessons and activities. Additionally, Halloween is my absolute favorite Holiday, so it was only necessary to celebrate Halloween with our kids and teens by throwing a party at the Escola Moranguinhos. Vivi (Our Field Coordinator) and I planned and organized the party in adavance, but she couldn't stay for the party because she was ill. Will (a resident volunteer), Maria (one of our board members) and I were at the school before the party started to set up and decorate everything.

Maria & Will decorating

Vanessa & I

Around 7PM, Will had to leave the party to teach his English class for adults and shortly after, Maria also had to go home. I would also like to note that I was very impressed by how helpful some of the teen girls were. A couple of them did a wonderful job of helping me watch the younger children.To keep the momentum going and everyone entertained, we played some typical Halloween games such as bobbing for apples and the mummy wrap game. Since children do not go out trick or treating in Brazil, we did the opposite and went door to door on our little street to hand out candy to our neighbors. 

Here is a clip of our reverse trick or treating:

I hope all of you had an equally delightful Halloween!

Also, if you are interested in learning a bit more about me and getting more insight on my life as a resident volunteer/assistant field coordinator here, you can click over to my blog:
 www.riohapa.com
or e-mail me directly at Jennifer@2bros.org

Rocinha Favela = Misunderstood

Waiting anxiously at the end of our street for any bus with the illuminated words 'Rocinha' branded on the top, we felt a sense of both apprehensive and excitement at the same time. Finally a bus approached with our desired destination and we boarded, squashed, close and hot we were whirled down a long concrete tunnel 'Zuzu Angel' which for us felt like the very clear marker of where the affluent Gavea neighbourhood ended and the Rocinha favela began.

 At nighttime all we could see of the vast favela was the sea of lights cascading down the mountain above. Police presence was very apparent as the red and blue lights of about 3 police cars flashed on the street. We walked from the bus stop to the 'Super Sucos' juice bar, where we had been told to wait for two volunteers who would take us to the school. As we sat down and ordered a Manga juice (admittedly that was one of the few fruits we understood) we didn’t feel nervous or unsafe at all, instead we were interested by the constant growl of motor taxis, the chatter and bustle of people, the combination of smells from petrol to fried onions.  It seemed like a place constantly on the go and while we sat, waited and watched the time go by, no one paid any attention to us, and that was something we were not expecting, being that we do seem to give off that tourist English vibe no matter how hard we try. It was a pleasant surprise and an eye opening first insight. 

As Ben and Jess took us on a short tour  (they are both Resident Volunteers who have both been working with 2Bros and living in Rocinha for 6 months) one word came to our minds: Community.  Granted this is a buzz work in the applied theatre world but at times it seems it is misrepresented, as what we witnessed was: a community just simply of people living, working, laughing, playing, talking - going about their lives. It wasn't the shocking, scary, unsafe place depicted in news reports or travel guides. This was something very different.

Walking up a little sloped alley, just a few minutes from the entrance of the favela, we arrived at Escola Moranguinhos 'The school of little strawberries'.

Jess explained that she takes beginners English classes for 8 year olds twice a week, and that evening we would be able to sit in on and help in one of her classes. At around 6.30pm, 12 highly energetic children came bursting through the door, interested to know who we are, why we are there and trying to converse as best they could with us. While the fact that we don’t speak Portuguese seemed a slight issue and at times was a barrier, once we met the kids and started to play some simple English exercises and games which focused on predominantly on numbers, letters and short sentences we seemed to cope well, and anything we didn't understand would be translated for us by one of the Resident Volunteers.

After a whirlwind hour or so, the class was over. We then met Jennifer, who is co-ordinator of the company and has been working with them for around a year.  She was very friendly and welcoming, and she told us exactly what the schedule for our time with 2bros would look like. Aside from our classes we will have the opportunity to help in Erin's class (which is teenagers learning intermediate English) as well as Jess's class. Also there is a field trip which the students are attending in a couple of weeks and Jen asked if we could cover the classes while some of the students go on the trip! After the class, the other volunteers asked if we wanted to grab some sushi before we left (an offer we happily accepted as we have heard that sushi in Rio is the best outside of Japan) and as we sat in a small restaurant, lost somewhere in the streets of the favela, we found the opportunity to get to know the people working with 2bros. Over some delicious sushi what came across most was their sense of happiness and passion living in Rocinha, as well as their admiration for the sense of community spirit generated by the people who live there!

Olivia Jackman
Masters Student from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London
2bros Voluntourist 
http://volunteeringwith2bros.blogspot.co.uk