ISP Member Arlene:

To kick off our adventure on this trip we began by exploring the favelas. The favelas was a humbling experience but also a eye opening one. To see the similarities and the differences from the favelas and New York was humbling because to see how much we take for granted was eye opening. When I found out that in the favelas there wasn’t any water for 2 months it broke my heart. We take water for granted. For example, leaving the water on while brushing your teeth. We are wasting that water when people around the world need it more. Seeing how the houses were built and how the government doesn’t believe that there people are important and need better really showed the similarities in New York.Secondly the favelas we headed over to the samba where they design the floats for the carnival. It was an interesting trip seeing how everything was made from scratch. All of the colors,details, and different looks were beautiful. After we went to see the Christ the Redeemer statue. It was really calming looking at Brazil from such a high place with a beautiful horizon. I love spending time with everyone in ISP. I hope this month continues to be as amazing as it should.