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00:00Brazil is a country of 204 million people. 16 million of those people live inside of what's
00:12called a favelas. If you've seen Rio de Janeiro before, you probably recognize it by the fancy
00:17beaches and cute cafes. There's a whole different side to Brazil. For decades, many of Rio's favelas
00:24existed almost as a separate world to the rest of the city, and it's still that way. The government
00:29historically neglected them, from fear, or the crime rates, or just over-policing. No regular
00:36schools, hospitals, sanitation, or even regular policing. This left a huge gap of power. In the
00:431980s, the drug trafficking gangs stepped in to fill that vacuum. They provided jobs, protection,
00:49and even some services to the community, but all under their own rules. The favelas still exist
00:55today, not governed by any government, but by themselves. The drug traffickers run this
01:00city. They run the housing and the schools. It's quite interesting. I was very, very intrigued
01:06to visit this place. It's a bit of a drive outside of Rio. You have to get on a motorbike. That's
01:10the only way to get up to the top of the favelas. And you get up there, and it's its own little
01:15world. The favela I visited is called Ruxina. Ran by Rio's biggest gang that I'm not allowed
01:21to say the name of. We had so much fun, and were actually very welcomed by these people.
01:26We had a chance to dance with them, eat with them, and see their local practices and ways
01:32that they like to have fun living in the favelas of Brazil. I'd like to show you guys around what
01:39I've experienced visiting these people. So come along.
01:54Ruxina, the favela is a bit of a drive outside of Centurio, where I was staying in Copacabana. It's far
02:02away for a reason. So you have to get on a motorbike. I got a motorbike. It took about 25,000
02:0830 minutes, because the motorbikes can go through traffic to get to Ruxina. I hired a local guide.
02:15This is very important. You do not want to go to the favelas by yourself. Don't do it.
02:20Do not go here by yourself. You will get yourself in serious trouble. Hire a guide, like I did
02:27as well, and the guide will take you on a motorbike. The motorbikes are specific motorbikes that
02:33only go up to the favelas, so you have to switch motorbikes, because the regular Uber driver
02:38or the regular motorbike drivers in the city will not go to the favelas. So you have to
02:43get the favela motorbikes, so two different motorbikes, to get up to the top of the Ruxina
02:49or any favela in Brazil. Honestly, the ride was so steep, I thought I was going to fall off
02:55the back. I was like, I'm going to fall off of this motorbike. And my motorbike driver
03:00was busy texting, so he wasn't worried at all because he does it every day of his life.
03:06But when we finally got up, oh my gosh, the views of Rio de Janeiro were just insane. So beautiful
03:12to look down. And it's a little bit sad because the people who live in the favelas, they look down
03:18at Rio and they see a place that they can't afford, a place that is unattainable to them. That's where
03:23all the rich people live. It's down by the beach, down by the water. They live on top. And it's so
03:28interesting that the people at the top are the less privileged. But absolutely beautiful. And
03:36the interesting thing is only the rich people or tourists can afford to get motorbikes. So if you live
03:43in the favelas, you have to walk up and down these streets every day of your life. But hey,
03:49they're probably used to it at this point, right? But yeah, even the motorbikes being $1 each ride
03:54is too expensive for them.
04:00In the favelas, if you're not a drug dealer or you're not working, there's not a whole lot for
04:05you to do besides get in trouble. So there is an Afro-Brazilian practice called Caporia.
04:11Caporia. We were on our way to see a Caporia performance. I was so excited because I've
04:17heard about it, but never seen it before. Caporia is very popular for the kiddies and for the teens.
04:24Like I said, parents here in the favelas will put their kids in Caporia because it'll keep them out
04:29of the streets, keep them out of trouble. It also teaches them discipline and it teaches them, it gives
04:35them a good thing to do to wear out their energy so that they're not in the streets. So we saw
04:41and watched a Caporia performance. It was so beautiful.
04:44a Caporia performance. It was so beautiful. So what's going on is that, what's going on is this,
04:45a match of a whole story. We want to see a Caporia performance. We are going to come in the
05:02place, so we're going to visit our country. We're going to go back to the city and we're going to
05:33She didn't want to dance, you were shy, but no, you cannot be shy in Rio de Janeiro.
06:03She didn't want to dance, you were shy, but no, you didn't want to dance, you were shy.
06:13favela life might be tough but you know what's not tough my edges and possibly yours about a
06:25year and a half ago i went to live with the huanglu tribe of guaylin these are the red yao
06:31women and they have the world's longest hair their hair never turns gray and it grows over
06:35seven feet long these women have the longest hair recorded on the planet and it is all from their
06:43secret recipe they learned that rice water makes their hair grow like weeds keeps their hair from
06:49turning gray keeps their hair silky so i went there so i could learn everything i possibly could from
06:55them like i said i went there for three months and they even have a hair museum and i studied under
07:01the hair ogs of the world they taught me everything from how to never have damage or reverse dandruff
07:08and i made my own hair products from everything that i learned from them as i travel the world i
07:15try to pick up knowledge from every one of the cultures but these women influenced me the most
07:20before i came out with my own hair brand these women have a wealth of knowledge that's been passed
07:26down from centuries to centuries and centuries and it was passed down to good old mj your girl mj
07:32made her own rice water i have the angel hair blueberry vanilla rice water that i came out with
07:39and our vanilla growth oil that i came out with that have completely transformed my hair my hair
07:46almost never breaks off it's so shiny it grows like weeds and i don't use a single or barely any
07:52chemicals in my hair we have a website angel hair by maryjane.com where you can get these items
07:58i think that they work they're going to work amazing for you for they are for all hair types
08:04whether you're white or chinese or black or whoever it's a scalp product and you should visit our
08:10website angel hair by maryjane.com and you can use code brazil to get 15 off your entire purchase
08:15now back to the video for about 30 minutes of our tour we were told to turn off all cameras and
08:23any recording devices because we were going to go past the headquarters of the gang so i can't show
08:29you guys that it would have gotten me in a lot of trouble it would have gotten my tour guide who lives
08:33there in a lot of trouble and so we weren't allowed to film the gang members um but we did meet them we
08:40did see them face to face and i got to look at them but again not allowed to film them but we were
08:46uh we rerouted to this rooftop bar which is a popular hangout spot for people who live in the
08:53favelas if you have a little money which these people really do not have extra money but the
08:59people who do you can kind of come to these rooftop bars all the bars here are rooftop because the view
09:04is so beautiful and you can have a beer you can have a capriina you can have a coffee you can have some
09:10even just water and just look at the view it's absolutely insane roxina has one of the best
09:16views of all of brazil so i highly recommend coming to roxina if you're going to visit
09:22a favela at all not all favelas are like safe enough to visit but this one is there's beautiful
09:31art all over roxina because a famous artist came here and painted over some of the walls because there
09:38were so many bullet holes and blood all over the streets and all of the walls that an artist came
09:44and uh painted and also sells his paintings um in a shop nearby which is super cool because
09:52i absolutely love the art here it kind of lives it with the streets without the paintings look
09:58really dark and really really sad and depressing so i really really like the art it kind of brightens up
10:04the city and makes it more fun and inviting um but like i said i wasn't scared at all to come here
10:11because i was told that the gang members run such a tight ship that they don't play with crime and
10:16uh and i trusted it um they really do a good job of making sure that this place is safe
10:23there's also this basketball court if the kids want to come shoot around
10:28and maracujá do you know maracujá is a food fashion fruit yes how much um five you have two
10:34okay i'll take two although i don't know if i have five
10:37coconut well one of each
10:40you just bite into it yes
11:00so good i feel good oh my god it's so good okay yes brazilian sweets
11:07coconuts and uh
11:10uh
11:12maracujá
11:13oh that's so tasty
11:15the other ones they proud protestant people what's that we call evangelists
11:20or
11:21africa
11:21and soda
11:24but the essence is too the same
11:25if you just pretend it's in the room
11:28something like that
11:29i like it
11:31so
11:33i got a brazil jersey
11:44i'll show you guys later i'm gonna go back now to
11:47the city
11:49i gotta get on the other side
11:53you guys
11:55these favelas are beautiful don't let anyone scare you
12:00yes this is ran by drug dealers but there's no crime they keep they run a tight ship
12:06it's gorgeous here and the people are just so so so kind
12:11ridiculously client kind
12:14and like i said it is ran by a gang
12:17this favela is ran by a gang but the game doesn't the gang doesn't play any games
12:22they won't have any crime here look how beautiful
12:32they won't have any crime or stealing nothing battle oh look at this beautiful painting of jesus
12:41rosina this is the name of this favela
12:44oh look how beautiful
12:45oh my gosh
13:07now i'm going back to copacabana
13:15it's
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