5 things to do in the rainy Bremen

I have to apologize, I haven't writen a post for ages. I don't want to look for excuses, but... Ok, I've found one excuse! It's been raining sooooo much in Bremen!!! How is the expression in English? It's been raining cats and dogs! and mice, and tigers, and elephants! and I'm not one of those who say (with a cheesy voice): "Oh, I love it when it rains and I'm at home with a hot tee and a warm blanket and I see raining through the window... so romantic...." NOPE!!!! When I see it's raining outside I just feel like crying and yelling because I think of all the awesome activities I could be doing if it was sunny and warm!!!! I hate everyone and everything on TV, I want to eat anything I don't have in the fridge, so I must go outside to buy it, I feel ugly and fat, and sad, and angry, and and and.... you know what I mean, right?

So I could only think of depressive topics for the blog like: 10 reasons why not to come to Bremen, the trendiest rain boots spring/summer 2014... and then Emma showed me her amazing and colourful post about the favelas in Rio, and I decided to wait a couple of days until it stops raining, so I could feel a little bit more optimistic. And of course it hasn't stopped raining. But the clouds have given me a break today (10min?) and I would like to give some ideas of what to do if the weather is so disgusting as it was the last days here, and how to forget the rain outside. In my case, I don't feel like doing sport, or cleaning up my apartment, or doing my taxes but:

1. Go to a sauna-spa with your girlfriends. I did it last Friday after work, and it was an awesome idea!! It was warm, fun, we chated, we laughed (I guess we aren't used to nudist spas yet... ;) )

It doesn't seem it's rainy outside, does it? 

2. Meet your friends to plan a trip to a sunny country. The way to the cafeteria/restaurant/apartment where you meet will be rainy, but you will forget about it once you start planning and choosing the bikini you're going to wear in a couple of weeks!

3. Organize a wine & cheese event at your place. Everybody loves wine and cheese, it will start early in the evening and you will have a great time with no need of discos, expensive restaurants and fancy cocktails. And it's at your place, so no need to move!

4. Go buy ingredients and bake cakes the whole weekend!!! Sweets make people happier, and you can go for dark chocolate and light quark if you want to reduce calories.

5. Make some online shopping! If I would go shopping personally, I would get depressed because I would think nothing suits me and my mood would get worse, but if you buy online, you will see pretty clothes on pretty girls in sunny environments, and you just have to click and wait at your place!

My flatmate Eva makes everything much easier for me, since we can get angry together when it rains, and she loves saunas, sun, wine, cheese, healthy cakes and online shopping! And she gave me the idea for this post! And since rain makes me a little bit emotional, I share a pic of her because she's awesome :)

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!