Toto...I have a feeling we aren't in Kansas anymore!

Tonight I decided to take it easy. The plan was to curl up on the couch with one of the many horrible black market dvds, here at the pousada and have an uneventful, mind-numbing evening.

As the night shift was coming to an end, I was running through my list of things to do for tomorrow, contemplating what to eat for dinner and trying to coerce my friend into being lazy and staying in with me. The following conversation took place shortly after my suggestion to have a Saturday night in:

Friend: Did you hear those fireworks?
Me: Ha, yea, they all sound like "fireworks" to me
Friend: No, seriously..that's a lot of "fireworks" and they sound really close
Me: Lets be really dumb Americans and go see where the gunshots are coming from

**(note: yes, I did actually utter those words out loud, and at this point we've stopped endearingly referring to them as fireworks, which we often do when we hear gunshots and/or actual fireworks, which are also rather common, surprisingly)**

At this point, I open the gate to peer down the street in the direction of Prazeres, the favela closest to us. I can't see the entrance from where we live, but I do see a police car racing down the street, and the gunshots sound ominously close.

Friend: Don't stand out there, it could be dangerous!
Me: What are the chances of a bullet traveling that far and ricocheting off that wall to hit me?
Friend: I dun...
Me: Oh shit, get inside...that bullet just flew above my head

Needless to say, I have renewed faith in the danger of stray bullets after watching that orange-hot piece of steel fly past me.

It is not my intention to make light of this situation, it is obviously a very serious topic, but I do feel that it is important to express that at no point did I feel like I was in danger. The reason I mention it at all is to address the more important subject that I often find myself thinking about; the ongoing war in this city between the police, the drug dealers and everyone who stands in their way, both figuratively and physically.

The streets were closed off by the police and we found out from the neighbors and inhabitants of Prazeres who were not allowed to pass through, that a robbery had taken place in the favela. The man who was robbed called the police, which I learned tonight is a huge mistake. The rule of the favela is, if something happens in the favela, it is dealt with by the people in the favela. You do NOT call the police. If the police show up, shoot outs will ensue.

The police shoot first, answer questions later, while the men and boys in charge of guarding the entrances during these situations shoot at the police. Both sides fire indiscriminately.

Living in Brazil, but more specifically, Rio has blurred the lines of good and bad for me. The police in Brazil are not good, but neither are the people peddling drugs. Both sides are constantly at war and the people living in the middle are ultimately the casualties of this ongoing battle.

We are taught as children that the witch is evil, the wolf will blow your house down and the dragon will engulf you with flames, but what if the prince that is sent to save you turns around and plunges the sword into your chest after slaying the dragon. What happens to a culture's morale when you can't depend on the people entrusted with your safety?

In the United States there are crooked cops and of course there are plenty of documented, and many more undocumented cases of severe abuses of power, but as whole the system put in place, does more often than not, attempt to help. As an outsider, coming from a country where the Justice system does in fact work, I am constantly baffled by how a country that is as developed as Brazil, can function while such a major part of the infrastructure is corrupt and undependable.

The men and women of this country have very little faith in the people meant to protect them, so is it any wonder that the rules and laws are broken? If the police are being paid off by drug dealers and the politicians are unconcerned with their citizens, why try to do the "right thing"? Food for thought...

So ends my "uneventful" evening..I didn't get to watch that movie after all...but real life here is so much more interesting!