Rio combines beach, favelas, Christ statue

Latitude: 28 degrees 22.9 minutes south; longitude: 6 degrees 29 minutes west, sailing at… Latitude: 28 degrees 22.9 minutes south; longitude: 6 degrees 29 minutes west, sailing at 15.6 knots, 1322.5 miles from Cape Town, South Africa — Standing on the summit of Corcovado, I gazed down at a visual wonderland both idyllic and urban. The labors of both man and nature exist side by side here in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where skyscrapers lie in the shadows of massive mountains and lush mists from the rainforest spread out over the hillside neighborhoods.

Corcovado provides the perfect panoramic view of Rio’s size, topographical diversity and sheer beauty. You can see the fingers of the rainforest stretching out in all directions and the neighborhoods that have sprung up in its valleys; the modern buildings of the various business districts; the clear bays and beaches, and the grottos rising out of them. Rio should be many cities, and seeing it as a visitor feels a lot like looking down into a magical kingdom.

Did I mention Jesus was standing behind me?

The Christ the Redeemer statue, a 115-foot-high soapstone monument built in 1931, stands facing east with outstretched arms, welcoming visitors to the region. It’s quite an imposing sight, but the real attraction is watching all the tourists trying to get a picture with him in the background. They line up five-wide across the steps leading down from the statue and mimic the famous pose while a companion snaps a picture. But since there’s no official method to the madness, everybody gets in other people’s way — and pictures.

The Semester at Sea students who made the journey to Rio de Janeiro from Salvador, where the ship was docked, were pleased to find themselves in a city that made little fuss about their arrival. While Havana seemed to have been waiting for us with open, state-sponsored arms, Rio did not alter its frenetic pace of life one bit. We spent most of our time there trying to catch up.

Or rather, to lie out.

When the sightseeing was through, it was off for a taste of a summer in Rio at two of the world’s most famous beaches, Copacabana, which coincidentally seems to be shaped like a “C,” and Ipanema.

Ipanema lived up to the cool and sexy swagger of its musical namesake, while Copacabana failed to deliver the sort of party promised by Barry Manilow — perhaps not surprising, considering the song was Manilow’s. With its long, curvy swath of white sand and massive waves, Ipanema was where the kids came out to play. A couple bucks can get you a beach chair, enough ice-cold Skol, the local brew, to have you dancing the samba in the sand, and a front-row seat at the world’s best beach party.

Throngs of beautiful Brazilians bake in the sun and play soccer, while vendors peddle their wares from shoulder bags. The air is filled with the smell of sand and grilled meats, and the sounds of laughter and giddy Portuguese. Say what you will about “wasting” your day away on the beach when in a foreign country — it has to be one of the best ways to get an authentic taste of local culture. I learned more about Rio on the beach at Ipanema than at any tourist-trap monument or gift shop.

But the beaches are only one facet of this city. The romance of the sand directs attention away from some of the more socially sobering features of Rio de Janeiro. The ghettos, or favelas, of Rio stand as reminders of the staggering division of wealth that exists in this metropolis. They are hard to miss. The favelas leer at you from the hillsides as you make your way to the beach or market. They cower on the outskirts of the wealthiest neighborhoods and sprout up around the highways like weeds. They are breeding grounds for drugs, prostitution and general misery, and one-third of Rio’s population lives in them. Not the people we saw at the beach, presumably.

The history is too complicated to recount, but a lasting colonial legacy, migrant labor from the countryside, political corruption and the drug trade have all had a hand in creating these communities of social strife. And while Brazilians will tell you that steps are being taken to improve the quality of life in the favelas, it is difficult to imagine what sort of measures could be taken to eradicate such sweeping and densely concentrated poverty.

It will also be interesting to see what the Brazilian government plans to do with the shantytowns when the Olympic Games come to Rio in 10 years. Stray glimpses of these neighborhoods will not be good for the city’s image.

How do you spend three days in one of the world’s largest and most dynamic cities? However you do, you’ll leave with a heavy heart, feeling like you’ve only scratched its surface — feeling like you’ve only grasped a fraction of its mystery.

Jonathan Check is the foreign correspondent for The Pitt News. In an effort to appear more Brazilian, he forsook all sunscreen while on the beach at Ipanema. He then spent two full days in bed with the worst sunburn of his life. He reminds you to use SPF 30 when trudging through the snow and to e-mail him at Jonnycman@hotmail.com.