Julia Michaels
Declaraçâo de missão / Mission Statement
IS IT GOING TO LAST?
I want it to. And to this end I’ll deliver information, independent and objective, bilingual and multimedia, about the momentous transformation that began in 2008 in Rio de Janeiro.
Is it just a mask? In 2017, should we expect the BMWs to revert to pumpkins and the politicians to turn back into myopic rats?A BLOG WITH AN AXE TO GRIND
I want it to last. I want the changes to be deep and real. I can see that the way cariocas are thinking and talking about favelas and their residents reveals new tolerance, concern and solidarity.
The more we know about what’s going on, the more we can contribute to the process, whether we are cariocas born and bred, transplants like me, onlookers, investors, tourists, transients, or cynics.
I will give you links, original reporting, questions, ideas, images, sounds, reflections, answers and more questions. No bullshit. You won’t have to read between the lines. My only agenda is I WANT IT TO LAST.This is Rio Real, a blog created in 2010 by Julia Michaels, an American writer, editor and journalist who has lived in Brazil for more than thirty years.
If you speak both languages, I suggest you read both texts. I’ll be providing more context in English and more detail in Portuguese.
We’re still pinching ourselves. Only five years ago you couldn’t walk in Ipanema and talk on a cell phone, for fear someone would snatch it off your ear. Now everyone has a cell phone, everyone walks and talks. You thought cariocas were a relaxed sort.
But only now are they finally starting to chill!
Construction is booming, favelas have an increased police presence (and more social services as well) rents and real estate are up, jobs and income are on the increase, education indicators are heartening, frozen yogurt is everywhere, health and sewage are getting serious attention for the first time possibly ever, the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas is being cleaned, new restaurants and shops are opening, Brazilians are moving here from other cities, the beaches are policed, drunk driving is almost nonexistent, the Olympics are coming, the metro is expanding and best of all, key parts of the city are safer than since just about any carioca can remember. Politicians are buddies: President Lula da Silva, elected in 2002, and then President Dilma Rousseff, after 2011; Governor Sérgio Cabral, reelected in 2010 and mayor Eduardo Paes, reelected in 2012, are working in concert to turn around the decadence that set in back in 1960 when the capital moved to Brasília.
But will it last, will the politicians persist and businesses invest?
Please tell me what you want to know about. Meanwhile, I’ve got tons of questions…VAI DURAR?
Quero que dure. Para que dure, me lanço mar adentro pelas águas da mídia social para fazer oferenda à Iemanjá: informações, independentes e objetivas, bilíngues e multimídia, sobre a transformação histórica que começou há quatro anos no Rio de Janeiro.
É apenas uma máscara? Em 2017, os BMWs irão voltar a ser meras abóboras e os políticos, ratos míopes?UM BLOG POSICIONADO
Quero que dure. Que as mudanças sejam profundas e reais. Constato que os cariocas pensam e falam das favelas e de seus moradores de maneira diferente do passado, que revela uma nova tolerância, consideração e solidariedade.
Quanto mais informações tivermos sobre o que acontece, mais poderemos contribuir, quer sejamos cariocas da gema, adotivos como eu, observadores, investidores, turistas, flaneurs ou cínicos.
Vou postar links, reportagens minhas, perguntas, ideias, imagens, sons, reflexões, respostas e mais perguntas. No bullshit. Nada de entrelinhas. Minha única agenda é QUERO QUE DURE.Chegou Rio Real, um blog criado em 2010 por Julia Michaels, escritora, editora e jornalista americana que mora no Brasil há mais de trinta anos.
Se você fala tanto inglês como português, sugiro que leia os dois textos. O inglês terá mais contexto e o português, mais detalhe.
A gente ainda não acredita. Apenas cinco anos atrás, não se podia caminhar em Ipanema e falar no celular –apesar dos seguranças fortões da Richards e da Mr. Cat— pois um assalto era certeza.
Agora, todo mundo tem celular, todo mundo se dá ao luxo de perambular e fofocar. O carioca tem fama de ser relax, mas só agora a noia está começando a se dispersar.
Cresce o número de construções, temos as UPPs e a ocupação social das favelas, esquenta-se o mercado imobiliário, há mais empregos e a renda cresce, os dados educativos são animadores, as lojas de frozen yogurt se espalham, pela primeira vez a saúde e o saneamento básico recebem atenção pra valer, a Lagoa está ficando limpa, abrem-se lojas e restaurantes novos, brasileiros de outras cidades chegam para morar no Rio, nas praias temos o choque de ordem de verão já adentrando o inverno, a Lei Seca pegou, os Jogos Olímpicos estão a caminho, o metrô se expande, e o melhor de tudo é que partes importantes da cidade estão mais seguras do que qualquer época que o carioca consiga se lembrar. Em todos os níveis governamentais, os políticos se tornaram amigos de infância: Dilma, Cabral e Paes estão trabalhando juntos para reverter a decadência que se instalou em 1960, quando a capital se transferiu para Brasília.
Mas vai durar? Será que os políticos irão persistir e as empresas vão investir— ou seja, se comprometer com o futuro a longo prazo?
Me diga o que quer saber. Da minha parte,tenho muitas perguntas...PESQUISA / POLL
-
Join 530 other subscribers
Twitter Updates
Tweets by riorealblog-
Click to get Facebook Rio news updates
Category Archives: Brazil
A new alliance for change in Rio: Casa Fluminense
Local residents and leaders of major carioca movements for social change gathered yesterday at the city’s westernmost edge, in Santa Cruz, to inaugurate the new think-and do-tank, Casa Fluminense. To kick off the Casa’s ambitious work, IETS researcher Valéria Pero … Continue reading
Is Rio a lost cause?
Read on, if you think so– even if you got here by Googling for sexy photos After the devastating events of the last few weeks in Rio de Janeiro, many Cariocas and foreign observers have fallen into a perfidious mind-trap: the … Continue reading
Van rapes reveal social division
[UPDATE: minutes after this post was completed, Rio suffered yet another tragedy: a bus fell off an overpass on Avenida Brasil, killing at least seven and severely injuring fifteen passengers. According to a passenger who got off the bus before … Continue reading
March rains: a lesson in humility?
Probably not If the mayoral election were this week, Eduardo Paes might be sweating. After a night of torrential rain Tuesday that flooded the city and killed five people, cariocas have it in for him. Neighborhoods lost electricity for as … Continue reading
Is the pacification unit still there?
Theoretically, yes Para A UPP ainda existe? clique aqui [UPDATE] The UPP command in these favelas changed in the last week of February. According to the press relations office of the Pacification Police Office, “The current commander of the Chapéu Mangueira … Continue reading
Do not pass Go
A game with surprising lessons Mayor Eduardo Paes seems to like the way his shoe fits. While critics decry the real estate speculation they say his policies have sparked, he allowed a Brazilian toy company to make a Rio Olympic … Continue reading
Carnival 2013: straining sustainability
How about a re-think? Possibly, 6.5 million did the dance City officials usually announce the number of revelers just after Ash Wednesday, but so far this year there’s no news. A mere 900,000 tourists (up from 850,000 in 2012) were … Continue reading
We are Santa Maria, but are we the same as everyone else?
A village mentality– in transformation It’s always useful to recall that until about two years ago, you could get a bus to stop and pick you up in Rio de Janeiro merely by raising a finger. Life occurred as if … Continue reading
Revitalização do porto, reassentamento e moradia
For Port revitalization, relocation and housing, click here A revista Piauí quebra o silêncio geral: não deixe de ler Se no portão de embarque do aeroporto você já passou por um atraso ou um cancelamento de voo, você já experimentou … Continue reading
Port revitalization, relocation and housing
Piauí magazine takes on the subjects: a must-read If you’ve ever had a long flight delay or cancellation at an airport gate, you’ve seen the chaos (unless you were comfortably distanced, in the VIP lounge). First they say it’s just … Continue reading
Rio real
RioReal 