Angelica

Angelica full of energy at 73 years old is one of Vidigal’s  liveliest characters. She loves to sing and dance and loves to spend her time with friends and family. Her deep tan is the result of spending as much time as she can on the beach in Copacabana where she has a reserved chair and meets more than 20 friends of which she is the second oldest.  As long as the sun is shining Angelica is on the beach and she is in great health. Her secret is sun and beer! She is always in good spirits starting the day at 9.30 am with a glass of Antartica and continues drinking until she goes to bed. At 25 years old I don’t think I have any chance of keeping up!

 Angelica was born in 1937 and has lived in Vidigal her whole life. Her parents were married in Vidigal over 60 years ago and were well respected members of the community. She is number one of 9 siblings and has 3 siblings still living in Vidigal. Angelica married Arnaldo who came from Portugal. Arnaldo bought the land of their house in 1969 after they had been travelling. It sits on a reserve of 19 000 litres of water and so they will never run out! Their large house is now split into three apartments Angelica and Arnaldo on the ground floor, their son and grandson on the second floor and  her daughter and her husband and 7 cats in the top apartment. Angelica’s immaculate house is home to countless ornaments all beautifully showcased each one representing a memory of a time passed by . At the top of the house the huge terrace offers spectacular views of Vidigal, and the beaches of Leblon and Ipanema and is host to plenty of family parties with plently of space for Angelica to dance!

It is hard to imagine now looking at the built up patchwork of houses and roads which make up Vidigal but when Angelica was a child Vidigal only had dirt roads and had very few houses.  She would wear old shoes down to the bottom of the jungle and carry clean shoes in a bag so she could change at the bottom. One of her first boyfriends was the first to have a television in Vidigal and now she prides herself in having 3!

Even if Angelica won the lottery she wouldn’t leave the favela. Vidigal is the home of her family and the memories of her life. Happy and sad memories. Her sister sadly was a victim of police crossfire. Angelica had spent the day on the phone to her sister laughing and joking before her tragic death she was 72 years old when she died.  Even during the violent times in Vidigal Angelica has always felt safe. She tells of times when she has left the house open and no one has ever come into the house. One day the keys for the house, the cars, and even the butchers where she worked were left in the garage door but no one touched them. That is a beauty of favela life that I know could not be said for all the other places I have lived