Rio de Janeiro and the Queen of Santa Teresa

• No matter how big the city we always turn it into a village. I arrived in Rio de Janeiro and moved into the Santa Teresa neighbourhood.  I immediately felt at home even though I didn't speak the language.  Santa Teresa sits uphill and north of the beaches.  It is a neighbourhood that is clearly being gentrified but at the moment it still has enough rough edges to keep it interesting.  It's Bohemian and hip but it is still the barrio.  It's a nice mix of old timers, art types and European travellers.  The streets wind up and downhill and provide occasional views letting you know you are indeed still in a big modern city. The city views belie the fact that your immediate surroundings feel decidedly like a much smaller place.

One constant in Santa Teresa became the daily greeting from a girl I saw as the face of the neighbourhood.  She was 7 or 8 years old and I saw her every day.  I noticed that everyone else on the street would greet her with a friendliness that conveyed a great deal of respect.  I never did figure out who her parents were.  She was on the street day and night, always alert, always happy.
Every day on the street you would encounter the usual people who indeed spent more time on the street than in their homes.  The weather and general neighbourliness made the street more living room than stretch of car ready pavement.

There was once a street car servicing Santa Teresa but no longer.  People tell me it is being rebuilt but I see no evidence of this.
I was here as Carnaval was beginning and many nights the local Samba school would practice at my corner.  I'd see them arrive in small gathering waves and watch as the carefully orchestrated chaos unfolded.  Within a short time the whole Barrio was a pounding sea of sweating, gyrating unabashed cheer.

I stayed in a guest house in Santa Teresa called Casalegre.  It was a perfect spot to get to know the Neighbourhood. The people at Casalegre would always invite to events and were generous with their knowledge of the neighbourhood.  

In Cinelandia I met the woman in the picture below. She had a cart that she shared with her dogs. I talked to her a while in my fumbling Portuguese. She was taking care of street dogs. People donated food and local business provided water.

Carnaval seemed to break out spontaneously throughout the city.

Rio de Janeiro is as amazing as it's myth. Barrio Santa teresa was the perfect neighbourhood to base out of.  After a day of Rio beach and metro travel it was a nice place to come home to.