Another look on the Favelas of Rio

For my holidays I went to visit my family in Rio Brazil. Of course I went on the beach of Ipabena and Copacaban and saw the Corco covado (you know the big jesus that you see on all the pictures). What touched me at most was the visit in some Favelas. In this article, I will write what I learned about the favelas during my visits.

What is a favela?
Favelas is a term for slum in Brazil. It was supposed to be temporary habitations for soliders and now families have been living there since generations. What defines them is that constructions are not made by a plan, follow no influence of the state. Inhabitants left on the side of societies had to organize hemselves to get some road build, get electricity and water. The community feeling is very strong in theses places.

Favelas have a very bad reputation, known for their drugs dealers and violence as in the movie, the city of gods:

If this is still true it is not the case in all favelas. Their inhabitants are human beings. I invite you to watch the movie 5x Favelas. The trailer is in protuguese, but if you get the DVD you will appreciate those 5 short stories giving another side of the life in the favelas.

As a preparation to the world cup and olympic game, some favelas are being "pacified". This means that the police comes and install some policemen in the favelas. The people are being told a week in advance so that "caids" go away ... or just stay quiet. The pacification police unite then will settle in the favela. Different projects are then done to bring in infrastructure, education and culture.

Graffiti in the favelas:
I visited two favelas with a lot of graffitis, Prazeres and Vidigal. In the favela of Prazeres, a project supported by a local NGO, organised to have grafters from all over the world to redecorate the favela. There are two goals:
-Make the living of the inhabitants better
-Enhance local economy and tourism by getting visitors to see the graffiti. We did the tour accompanied by Young people linking there.

Here, you can see some pictures I took. Enjoy the art and the view!

Garden View from Prazeres

Graffiti in Prazeres

Graffiti in Prazeres

Graffiti in Prazeres

Graffiti in Prazeres

Graffiti in Prazeres

View on the favela of Vidigal

Graffiti in Vidigal

Graffiti in Vidigal

Graffiti in Vidigal

Graffiti in Vidigal

And there are a lot more to say. So if you visit Rio, get off the beaten tracks!

Lucie's 4-month adventure on Mars

I hope you are all enjoying your Easter holiday! Sometimes it's difficult to find some time to write a post when you are so busy visiting family and friends or sun bathing under the Spanish sun with a beer on your hand (the sunlight makes it impossible to look at the laptop screen...). Emma has also been busy getting ready for her trip to Brazil (yes, we all hate her!) (no, not true, we all love you, Emma!). Anyway, I've looked through the window this morning and I've seen it's raining (it sometimes rains in Spain), so it's time to write a post about my very good friend and colleague Lucie, who is spending Easter in a very different way: she's on Mars!

She is also an aerospace engineer and she couldn't wait until the next European Astronaut Selection. She wanted to know what it feels like to be on Mars with a crew, a habitat, freeze-dried food, an unknown desert around and complete isolation. Thus, she has joined the HI-SEAS mission in Hawaii. Yes, how cool, Hawaii! But remember I said habitat, astronaut food and isolation. And desert, not beach! And I forgot to say that every time she goes out from the habitat she has to wear a space suit, no bikini!

Habitat on a volcano in Hawaii

 

HI-SEAS crew

 

She will spend 4 months in a closed habitat doing space-related research with 5 other space enthusiasts. Life there is an experiment itself and it's one of the "almost-on-Mars" experiences you can have nowadays. And this is not the first time she does something like this! If you are willing to know more about this mission, or you want to see more pics of lucie with a space suit, have a look at her blog, 100% recommended! And you don't have to be a space freak to read it!

We miss you, Lucie!!!

European Election 2014 : What is the European Parliament? Who is sitting there?

We are going to vote for the European Parliament. Do we know much about the Parliament? What is this parliament? Who is sitting there and where are they from?

First, let's check on Wikipedia

"The European Parliament (abbreviated as Europarl or the EP) is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union (EU). Together with the Council of the European Union (the Council) and the European Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described (by its own members) as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world.^[2] The Parliament is composed of 766 members, who represent the second largest democratic electorate in the world (after the Parliament of India) and the largest trans-national democratic electorate in the world (375 million eligible voters in 2009). There have been 766 Members of the European Parliament since Croatia joined the EU in July 2013 but this number is being scaled down at the 2014 elections to 751 and will stay at that level in future. "

So 751 members but where are they from and which party do they represent?
The seats are distributed according to "degressive proportionality", i.e., the larger the state, the more citizens are represented per MEP. As a result, Maltese and Luxembourgian voters have roughly 10x more influence per voter than citizens of the six large countries. 

Check on this map how many representative you have in your country!

European People's Party	275
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats	195
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group	85
The Greens–European Free Alliance	58
European Conservatives and Reformists	56
European United Left–Nordic Green Left	35
Europe of Freedom and Democracy	33
Non-Inscrits	30
Total	767

Do you know those Parties? I don't. So I will write about them in a next post.

Taking pictures in the Arctic Circle

Last weekend I was in Tromso. Tromso is a small city in the north of Norway. And when I say in the north, I mean in the north north, almost in the north pole!

Sometimes it's not easy to understand why three Spanish girls go sooo north just when the spring starts in the cold and rainy Bremen... But we wanted to see the polar lights or Aurora Borealis. There are three main conditions to see them:
1. go to the very north of the Earth --> check!
2. plan your holiday somewhen until April --> check!
3. It has to be cold but NOT cloudy --> yes, it was freezing, but it snowed non-stop the two nights we spent there... so it was extremely cloudy :-S

Of course you have to plan the holiday some weeks before and you cannot know when it's going to snow, rain, or be completely cloudy. That's why we decided to plan a perfect weekend with lots of activities, in case we couldn't see the lights:

We slept in a "sami" camp around a fire (which extinguished in the middle of the night...),

we tasted typical food (I'm not going to say what animal it was, just in case Santa Claus is reading this post...)

we made dog sledding,

we went into a jacuzzi in the middle of the mountains while snowing around (ok, I was so cold I couldn't make it to put out my clothes! but my friends could! )

we did sightseeing around the Norwegian fiords... yes, the clouds vanished a couple of hours before leaving... I'm sure the people who stayed an extra night could see the lights...

It was anyway an amazing holiday, you cannot miss the sami experience in the mountains!! And it's a perfect opportunity if you have a reflex and want to take amazing pics!!!

Travelling in Germany with the Train

Every one knows about the nice cars and the autobahn. You can drive very fast and enjoy your VW or Mercedes. During the years I learned to love the train. You can be flexible, relaxed. In this post, I will give you some tips to get cheaper rates and enjoy at most your rides.

1. Get to your Bahncard

 For long distance buy a Bahncard 25. You will get 25% off on all prices long distance. To start, you can get one to start which last 3 months. If you book in advance you can get very advantagous prices and time to time you get some coupons to get someone travelling with you. At last but not at least, you get the public transportation from you home to the train station and from the final trainstation to your final destination included. Very very convenient!

TIP: Always book your long distance trip online then you get the sparpreis!

2. Travel in groups as much as you want

For a spontanous getaway/city hopping, you have the Niedersachsen Ticket. With this ticket you can travel within the lander with regional trains for 22 euros as you want in one day, and for 4 euros/person more you can be up to 5 people on this ticket. Perfect if you want to go with your friends to a concert from Bremen nach Hamburg for the evenning, or if like me you have a baby shower in the afternoon in Braunschweig and you need to be in the evenning in Hamburg but you live in Bremen. You get to see the land, look outside, read books. And maybe you will end up in some of the crazy train stations of german villages like in Uelzen designed by Hundertwasser.

If you have time, book a "quer-durchs-deutschland" ticket for 44e. Same concept up to 5 people but all over germany.

TIP : Avoid the times before and after soccer games, otherwise thoses train get filled by drunken football fans. Or pay more and go in the Express Train (ICE, EC)

How to learn a language once and for all: My Tandem Experience

A couple of months ago I decided to start learning French. Well, I had French at school and I remember I was able to have a conversation but that was long long ago and I don't remember a word. Mmm that's not true, I can understand French quite good but I cannot even say a proper "oh la la!"

I bought grammar books, novels, I joined internet courses, and I guess Emma didn't see any improvement, because she found me a TANDEM.

First, what the hell is a tandem? Some people have asked me if I had bought a bike with two seats...

That would be also great, and it's somehow related to this concept, but I meant I found a French-speaking person who wants to practice Spanish while he helps me with my French! (Emma is French and she is actually learning Spanish, but why we are totally unable to speak any other language than German with each other is part from another post...)

When you meet: whenever you have time for a coffee/beer
Where you meet: wherever, but I recommend a pub or cafeteria
How long you meet: so long as you like (2 hours?)
Price: for free!!! (or a couple of euros if you want something to drink)
How it works: you start a normal conversation or you prepare some topics, but it's important that you speak 50% of the time in one language and 50% in the other

It's a great method for learning a language and you may find good friends! I am really looking forward to meeting David (my tandem) again and see our improvements after some weeks!

Of course this tandem thing makes even more sense if you move to a new country and you need to learn the language and get to know people. You can easily find people looking for tandem partners in Facebook or language academies of your city.

What you need to know if you plan to move to Germany in 11 Steps (Part 1)

I´ve been living in Germany since 2010 and Emma since 2008. It has been a while, but I still remember well how the first days in Germany were (I wished I had stayed home!). As you see, we have survived, but some help would have been useful, because I'm sure this stressy experience costed me a couple of years of my life...

In Bremen, next to the Stadt Musikanter

If you really plan to move to Germany, you must have already read thousands of posts and articles about the topic. I won't say they are wrong, because they aren't! But every experience is different and can contribute somehow to make you things easier.

In Berlin at the Branderburger Tor

These are the steps you will have to follow if you don't want to get mad because of the paper work. Follow these steps in this order, don't try to rearrange this list! Some tried it before and are still regretting it:

1. Find a job ;) (now It's 99% sure you are moving to Germany and staying)

2. Get a map of the city

3. Look for an apartment

4. Go to the "Statsamt" and do the "Anmeldung" or registration in the city you'll be living and never loose the paper they will give to you!

5. Open a bank account

6. In the bank you will be told to get two insurances, a personal one and one in case your washing machine breaks down and your neighbour's flat becomes a swimming pool. Get both!!!

7. Buy a mobile phone, I guess you will start with a prepaid card

8. Get information about the public transport rates and buy a month-ticket if you don't want to run out of money after a week (Emma would tell you : buy a bike at the flee market!)

9. Go to the "Finanzamt" and ask for a Steuernummer (To pay taxes)

10. Ask your colleagues at work what medical insurance they have, and contract the same one

11. Look for a good German course!!!

Now you are a legal citicien in the German city and you can start with the funny tasks of working, furnishing your apartment, contracting internet at home and getting information about the garbage disposal! I wish you the best!



I am sure you think "Easy to say! But how do I really manage this?" You will see, it is totally worth it!

In Munich at the Beer Festival

On the following weeks we will post about the topics on the list and prepare a complete SOS- Germany guide with useful links. For the moment, we recommend a link for french-speaking readers:

http://www.femmexpat.com/destination/europe/allemagne/etudier-a-breme-allemagne/

My Travelling experience with Airbnb (Air Bed and Breakfast)

While studying, I would travel and stay in cheap hostels, shared dorms. I had some good and bad experience sharing rooms with strangers. I also splett on couches using the website couchsurfing. I met some amazing people, got some local flairs and main of all, it was free!

Now that I am earning my life, I want more comfort, privacy without losing the possibility to stay at a cheap place, meet some local people and get out of the tourist hubs. This year I discovered airbnb. The principle is easy, people like you and I rent a room or an apartment. All the transactions are made through the website. I pay before I go. The host get the money 24 hours after I came.

Until now I had two amazing experiences: in Berlin staying in 100m², three bedrooms, for 70 euros a night with my friends for a girly week-end; Istanbul, a nice studio in the trendy area for only 60 euros a night for a romantic escape with my boyfriend. The places are nice, bigger than a hotel, cheaper, well equipped usually with Internet, access to a kitchen. The host are there for you if you need and give you the best tips to go out. Therefore I would highly recommand it to you!

One room of the place in Berlin

View of the Studio in Istanbul

The company has been created in 2008 from three entrepreneurs in California as hotels where sold out in San Francisco during a conference. I invite you to watch the video from Joe Gebbia one of the founders telling about the beginning of Airbnb. In 2008 it had reached the million guests served, 4 million in 2012 and 9 million in 2013 since its creation. Are you going to join the adventure?

For more information about airbnb:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbnb

https://www.airbnb.fr/annual

http://vimeo.com/23275754

Christmas Market in Bremen

Our first post will be about one of the most beautiful events in Germany: the Christmas Market. Emma and I live in Germany and we are surprised this market isn't within the top 5. Bremen has a gorgeous market in the city center and a magic medieval one on the Schlachte, next to the river.

I love the Christmas market! In Winter, when it is not rainy, it is dark and this from 16:00 to 08:00. So when you are out in the street you don't recognize anyone, you just see shades of people. You best friends could walk you by, you would not see her/him.

Every year it's worth it to pass by (several times) and see groups of grandmas that meet up once a year to get completely drunk with Glühwein, with their red noses and loud laughs. Because this is the Christmas spirit, at least in Germany. And you can join the grandmas and accompany this hot sangria with high caloric food like sausages, fried Schmalzkuchen, fruit with chocolate cover... This makes you forget that you're freezing and that the humidity is penetrating until your bones. You will hate this beverage the first time you try it, but after the third cup you will open your jacket and won't care that you've poured half a cup on your expensive leather gloves or your new snowwhite coat. This is a picture with my parents (freezing before the first cup of Glühwein), who visited me on the weekend.

At the Christmas market, there is light! People! Faces! Smile! All the best diet German Food! And warm drinks to help you survive the winter!!! Just go out and enjoy breathing the lovely & sweet & salty & spicy & alcoholic German Christmas atmosphere!!