Really in Rio

Touched down yesterday at 9 am in the 28 deg of a Rio early Fall. Cooler they say; much better than the 40 deg they have had over this past summer. We were greeted by Edvaldo bearing a sign that said ""Susy and Jung"..how did he know I would love to spend a week with Jung? what a transformation that would be for Jurg, hard to imagine.
Edvaldo provided us with lots of information as he drove us to Casa Mango Mango our home here until Saturday. Rio is going to host both the World Cup ( 2014) and the Olympics (2016) and they are working on infrastructure. From what we could see, it is much needed. President Lulu is committing money in many directions...new subway, new roads and improving the favellas. We could see in the distance the cablecar they are building to connect some of the hillside favellas to each other and the city so that the hours of transportation are reduced to minutes. Edvaldo talked about how the public schools are good and provide 2 meals to the students, students are there from 9 in the morning to after supper which means they have little time to get in trouble. Teachers are good and the perception is that private schools don't have high standards as people pay for their diploma there...employers and higher education prefer the public graduates. We wended our way thru the city and to the cobblestone roads of Santa Teresa where we are staying.
Crime has been cut down with policies modelled on ones develloped in Columbia and are working very well. Police presence is obvious in offices spread out across the city and on street corners...though apparently bribery and imbibling of beverages is still a problem in these little sites. Lots of enthusiasm in this city for its prospects!
A little about our B and B..Santa Teresa an area of beautiful old homes on the hills above the Centro where the wealthy of old built to escape the city heat. But time and poverty have not been kind..there is now a resurgence of interest in restoring these places and many are now open for guests. Our place is owned by Julie an Irish woman who purchased this place 11 years ago. It had not been touched in 70 years and I am sure it could be called the Moneypit! She has lavished much care and finance to open as a B and B 7 years ago. Not luxurious,but comfortable and so interesting. Hugh high ceilings, about 12 ft with wood doors and floors and plaster decorations. Old chandeliers and accents. No airconditioning, but ceiling fans..and thankfully it cooled off nicely last night. The guests are intriguing..a woman from New Zealand who is returning here to live in Rio..she loves it, a woman from England who came for a couple of months and could hardly bear the heat, now that it is cooler she plans to stay another 3 weeks, faciliatated by the British Airways strike that shut down the flights! A group from Columbia, here for an Urban Planning conference where they have shared all the development there. Already Jurg is connecting with all over the upcoming World Cup of soccer and who is going to win.
Yesterday we walked the hillside streets of this area and located a restaurant..several excellent ones in this area..but at night it seems we would have to take a taxi..crime reduction has not extended to the dark. There is an old tram that travels thru this area and down to the Centro..it only seems to go about every half hour..on the list for Friday exploration. The rain came pelting down and confined us later to our hotel..made for a quiet restful evening.
Today we go with Edvaldo on a whole day city tour. Edvaldo was born here and seems at one point his parents lived in the favella..now he drives a taxi and speaks excellent English. With the traffic so difficult in the city, he knows how to get around and says he drives like a turtle..which means slowly to stay out of harms way..many fender benders here. This should be a real adventure..I will keep you posted!