Successful first day!

Today was my proper day of life in the favela. I was up bright and early and after class Elisa showed me to the nearest supermarket. Walking around the favela I literally felt like I couldn't be further away from Copacobana. All I saw around me were DIY brick houses, noisy traffic, and music blaring out from stalls. To think that beautiful Copacabana where you feel like you are on a film set is in the same city is almost unbelievable.

I had my first classes and they went well. I was a bit nervous about the first class as it's got a reputation as being the naughty class. There were a few names on the board but in general they were fine. In fact, I got my first “I love you” note from one of the girls and a few came up and gave me hugs at the end. That's the kind of thing that reminds me why I am here and makes me smile.

A bit later on after class Elisa and I went for dinner and I had my first sighting of guns. I knew I would see them and be scared but I didn't expect to be less than a metre away from the guy and have him making some clicking noise like he was playing with the trigger! I also expected them to be smaller, discreet, and maybe in a holster. Wrong again. These are big guns that wouldn't come close to fitting in a holster! The narcos know that we are here to help in the community centre and Neuza tells them that we are coming. They allow us to be here but we have been advised not to look at them as obviously they don't know who we are and for all they know we could be police and they don't want us remembering their face type thing. We went to a bar round the corner for a beer and lots of blacked out cars drive past. Including one with the window down and a guy resting his gun out the window. I always knew they would make me nervous but sitting there thinking that if any problems were to occur round the corner, with the kind of guns they had kind of freaked me out a bit.  I've been told I will get used to seeing them, as perverse as that sounds.