Saturday

I just returned from the blastiest blast of a night. I'd spent the afternoon inside, partly due to the heat and the fact that I'd like to completely get over this cold, plus, there were gun shots for about an hour in a favela near here around 4pm. I was supposed to go to a rehearsal next to the favela, but wanted to wait a while to see what was up. It turns out that the police entered the favela looking for bandidos or traficantes (drug dealers) in a caveirão looking for and shooting at traficantes. A caveirão is an armored vehicle adapted for use in the military or police force. The word refers to a skull, which is the emblem on the side of the vehicle used by BOPE (Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais), familiar to anyone who has seen the brazilian film Trope de Elite). I heard from a friend of Renato's who lives in Vila Vintem that the military police like to go in there and terrorize people in their caveirãoes and it sucks. I can understand. Who would like to live in a place where the police go in every now and then to root out the bad guys, but maybe and unfortunately innocent people are killed because of balas perdidas (stray bullets) It happens too often, I hate to say.
On the other hand, you can't just say 'bad police' because in a way, these traficantes are terrorizing their own neighborhoods. They become rich and powerful, but at the same time attract the police with their caveirãoes and guns. The regular people who live there just want to have a peaceful life and a safe place to live. They see the trafficantes minding their own business, for the most part, and they see police as instigators of gunfire violence. Trafficantes who invade other favelas start plenty of gunfire as well, but police here are often brutal; they have a bad reputation. I've seen it myself.

A lot of people at the rehearsal, who are largely residents of V.Vintem, were in strange moods tonight at first, but beer, dancing and playing music have a way of relaxing a person! I got there early and heard an all women pagode group with a guy in black (to be kind of unobtrusive I guess!) playing a guitar in the very back on the edge of the stage. They had a banjo, cavaquinho, tantan, pandeiro, surdo, and reco-reco. They all sang and that was the part that needs some work. It wasn't bad, but there wasn't a stand out strong voice. Their voices all had a similar girl sound, and no one sang high or low, or raspy.... I talked to them afterwards, they were excited that there is a group of all women in the US. I sat with the ritmistas of the bateria and we all had beer and danced to cds of american music...they love it and wanted me to dance like we do in the US. I didn't have to be asked twice! In the bateria, I played hard and held my own. Those chocalho players I played with are so good...I'm happy. Taking life as it comes and enjoying what is right in front of you is part of what I learn here.