Visiting Beto Abrantes in Osasco

on the inter-municipal bus going west to Carapicuiba, Sunday 2:00 PM.

going past ex-Cine Estoril on Avenida dos Autonomistas.

getting off on Estação General Miguel Costa aka Estação Km 21.

Estação Km 21.

one has to go all the way up Ave. Luiz Henrique de Oliveira to the top of the hill then turn right into rua São Bento.

Osasco é cultura.

Rua São Bento... one can see São Paulo's beltway (Rodo-anel) in the back with trucks galore trundling down... this beltway is only half-way through completion...

Carapicuiba's Conjunto Habitacional seen from this side of the Rodo-anel with the sun shining brightly.

Carapicuiba seen from Osasco... see Congregação Cristã no Brasil on top of the hill...

a typical old house in Osasco...

if you look really hard you'll see there's a bird on the back of this horse.

a horse grazing on Beto's street...

I have finally got to Beto's house...

Beto, Myself and Claudia Passoni on Sunday afternoon - 12 August 2012.

We spent a very pleasant afternoon talking about all kinds of subjects while Beto played his favourite records on the record player. Nilo Amaro & Seus Cantores de Ébano singing 'Ô leva eu, minha saudade', 'Greenfields', 'Fiz a cama na varanda'; Dilú Melo's original recording of 'Fiz a cama na varanda'; Estelinha Egg and her folk records; early Angela Maria singing Ivon Curi's 'Orgulho' and other gems; Laila Curi's first album which is good through and through; Agnaldo Rayol's first album for Copacabana where he does a very good rendition of 'Serenata do adeus'; Trio Surdina's 10" playing Ary Barroso... and a little Italian music with a touch of Michel Polnareff.

We drank a marvellous coffee with home-made bread baked by Beto's mother, Ana... and 'bolinho de chuva'. Oh, what a lovely afternoon...

Jaraguá's Peak as seen from Osasco. This is the highest peak in the São Paulo metropolitan area. 

Spring time in Rio Pequeno 2012.

An ypê tree blooms by the side of the football field - July 2012.

Joãozinho by the shade of the Ypê tree.

Ypê tree in July 2012.

One of the many one-block streets shooting off Avenida do Rio Pequeno.

A street washed up with  rain... leading up to Avenida Politécnica.

This is what became of Rio Pequeno (Little River) after it's been put on a concrete bed. It is polluted to the hilt. I planted this pitanga tree by it to make a little difference.

Guava trees, pitanga  and jack-fruit trees were planted by common citizens along the way the brook rolls on. Avenida Escola Politécnica runs on both sides of the brook. 

An avocado tree tries its best to flourish in such a harsh environment. The orange tree puts up a similiar struggle.

a little foul water-fall... pardon my pun!!! 

see those 3 cherry trees around the bend on Avenida Politecnica? It's August 2012.

Cherry tree blosoming straight out of Avenida Politecnica in Rio Pequeno.

three cherry trees grow in Rio Pequeno...

graffitti are everywhere...

graffitti galore!

Rio Pequeno bus getting near Cinco Quinas (Five Ways) stop on its outbound trip...


next to Cinco Quinas (Five Ways)

Trying desperately to get away from Rio Pequeno... look at glorious  San Remo favela!

slums looming over... San Remo seen from Rio Pequeno.

new-fagled busses serving Rio Pequeno as of June 2012.

USP & Favela São Remo

This is University of São Paulo's 'official' map... Favela São Remo is non-existent if you go by the map... 16o. Batalhão is the nearest 'official' place you can see in the map. 'Favela' is an 'ugly' word that doesn't exist in the USP dictionary.

Favela São Remo seen from above. It is big enough not to be missed in any official USP map. São Remo is not available at Google maps either. It is non-existent for the Google crowd too...

'Vista assim do alto mais parece um céu no chão... sei lá...' lyrics from 'Sei lá, Mangueira' written by Paulinho da Viola. São Remo ain't no Mangueira though it is so close to the (supposedly) highest seat of learning in the country...

This is not the Berlin Wall... this is only the USP Wall built by the PSDB, the Brazilian 'Social-Democrat' Party. Democracy is only for the rich... and the word 'social' is maybe for a socialite's afternoon tea inmured in some far-away leafy 'bairro nobre'.

This is the main gate to enter USP campus from Favela São Remo... the USP Administration actually acknowledges the existence of São Remo... even though this sign is not there any more.

inside the USP campus even though is outside the USP walls...

the latest USP technology applied to social living in Brazilian society.

San Remo ain't in the Italian Riviera... it is right inside University of São Paulo campus...

Graffitti in Rio Pequeno

 graffitto on Avenida Escola Politécnica.

this is one of my favourite graffitti in Rio Pequeno.

these graffitti are probably from the same author... I wonder who he/she is.

carefully elaborated graffitti on Avenida Politécnica.

For some mysterious reasons some places are chosen by people for the dumping of rubbish... This is one of those on Avenida Politécnica... it ain't a pretty sight. August 2012.

Paiol sells rustic furniture... on Avenida Politécnica.

the short side-strees off Avenida Rio Pequeno can be pretty colourful...

Garden-nursery in the stretch that runs along the electricity-pylons from Bonfiglioli to Osasco.

Pylon conducting high-voltage electricity current crossing Avenida Rio Pequeno.

high walls with added barbed-wire protect private property near Av. Coripheu...

Estrada Rio Pequeno near Av. Coripheu... it means: 'All those coward bastards will die!'

Dalai-Lama, Andy Warhol and rock'n'roll live side by side in Rio Pequeno.

it looks like this particular orange hue is Rio Pequeno's official colour...

Universidade de São Paulo has been walled up against the local population... They must have taken a course in Segregation & Apartheid with the old South Africa ancient regime.

Favela San Remo is probably the only shanty-town inside the campus of a major university in the whole-wide world. That's no mean distinction.. Universidade de São Paulo should be proud of such a feat.

Love Thy Neighbour! All photos on this post were taken on 7 August 2012 - a sunny Tuesday morning - around Avenidas Politécnica, Rio Pequeno & Coripheu de Azevedo Marques, in Rio Pequeno.

a few houses belonging to Favela San Remo... Rio Pequeno is just around the corner...

a look at San Remo from Rio Pequeno.

With the advent of China's cheap import products and the steadily-growing purchase-power of the lower-income-population due to Lula's Workers Party government, Rio Pequeno was flooded with these shops selling popular cleaning products.

tea-towels galore...

a riot of colours...

This is Zozô, a young rooster who was probably meant as a sacrifice in an Afro-religious worship. He was found roaming Rio Pequeno's streets and given to us by some boys who were playing and found the poor bird completely lost. Today Zozô lives a fairly comfortable life in our back-yard where he found a permanent home.