奧運盛事背后，里約的殘酷現(xiàn)實

Times Insider shares insights into how we work at The New York Times. In this article, Simon Romero explains how his job as Brazil bureau chief has evolved to include all sorts of additional (and unlikely) roles since friends and colleagues from around the world descended on Rio de Janeiro for the Olympic Games.

“時報內(nèi)情”(Times Insider)專欄為讀者呈現(xiàn)《紐約時報》所發(fā)報道幕后的故事。西蒙·羅梅羅(Simon Romero)在這篇文章中講述的是，自從世界各地的朋友和同事為奧運會紛紛現(xiàn)身里約之后，他作為巴西分社社長的工作如何逐漸演化，囊括了其他種種(出人意料的)職責(zé)。

Reaching the favelas at the heights of Complexo do Alemão is nothing less than breathtaking.

抵達阿萊茂住宅區(qū)(Complexo do Alemão)最高處的貧民區(qū)，絕對是一個激動人心的過程。

An awe-inspiring aerial tramway connects the densely populated hillsides, their maze of passageways a testament to resilience and ingenuity in the face of hardship. Brazil would be awash in more medals if an Olympic category existed for the young kite fighters practicing their sport at the precipice where the gondola car makes its last stop.

一條令人驚嘆的空中索道連結(jié)著一個個人口稠密的山坡，山坡上迷宮般的通道，證明著人們在困難面前有著怎樣的應(yīng)變能力和生活智慧。纜車的最后一站位于一道懸崖邊，一些年輕人正在那里練習(xí)斗風(fēng)箏，如果奧運會有這個項目，巴西一定可以拿到更多獎牌。

But I knew I had truly arrived in Alemão when I heard the spine-tingling sound of gunfire.

但當(dāng)聽到令人毛骨悚然的槍聲時，我意識到自己真的到了阿萊茂。

“It’s coming from down there,” said one of the boys, kite string in hand, pointing to the sprawling agglomeration of dwellings below. He couldn’t have been older than 10. He and his friends didn’t even flinch when the shots echoed around them, as if the sounds were as normal as the birdsong of Rio’s great kiskadees.

“槍聲是從下邊傳來的，”其中一個攥著風(fēng)箏線的男孩，指向下方的大片住宅說道。他的年紀(jì)應(yīng)該不超過10歲。槍聲在耳畔回蕩之際，他和朋友們甚至沒有表現(xiàn)出一點點畏縮，仿佛這槍聲和里約的大食蠅霸鹟的鳴叫聲一樣稀松平常。

“What are you doing in Alemão?” he asked.

“你來阿萊茂干什么?”他問。

Some of the best questions come from those who are being interviewed.

有些最出彩的問題其實來自受訪者。

The Rio Olympics were starting, and thousands of journalists from around the world were swarming around the city’s new sports venues. As the bureau chief here for The Times, I was also excited about the Games. But I felt the need to report outside the Olympic bubble, especially in Alemão, where the long war between drug gangs and the police was flaring up once again.

當(dāng)時正值里約奧運會開幕之際，來自世界各地的數(shù)以千計的記者不斷匯聚在這座城市嶄新的體育場館周圍。作為時報巴西分社的記者，我也對奧運會充滿熱情。但我覺得做報道時，有必要置身于奧運會這個大泡泡之外，尤其有必要來到阿萊茂。在這里，長期對峙的販毒團伙和警方正再度發(fā)生激烈沖突。

The actors in this conflict didn’t get the memo that Rio wasn’t supposed to be a theater for gun battles during the Olympics. The authorities had promised that the city would be safe during the Games, deploying tens of thousands of troops to patrol the streets. Still, I found entire families cowering in their hovels in Alemão as the fighting raged around them.

這場沖突的參與者沒有收到備忘錄，不知道奧運會期間的里約不該有槍戰(zhàn)上演。當(dāng)局此前已經(jīng)承諾保障這座城市在奧運會期間的安全，并調(diào)動了數(shù)萬名軍人在街上巡邏。不過，當(dāng)槍戰(zhàn)在身邊激烈進行的時候，我發(fā)現(xiàn)阿萊茂德的許多人家都躲在自己的小屋里。

This disconnect — Olympic festivities alongside Rio’s brutal drug war — reflects the city’s fault lines. Of course, many of the journalists parachuting in for the Games are expressing awe about what they see. The city, with its teeming beaches and soaring granite peaks, remains as enchanting as ever. Television crews couldn’t ask for a better backdrop.

這種脫節(jié)——一邊是奧運慶祝活動，一邊是里約殘酷的毒品戰(zhàn)爭——折射出了這座城市的裂痕。當(dāng)然，許多為了奧運會空降到這里的記者都在說，自己見到的一切是多么動人。里約有著熙熙攘攘的海灘和高聳的花崗巖山峰，一如既往地散發(fā)著迷人的氣息。電視工作者很難找到比這更好的拍攝背景。

At the same time, some of the impressions I’ve come across remind me of that oldie but goody from The Onion, “Woman Who ‘Loves Brazil’ Has Only Seen Four Square Miles of It,” about a dental hygienist from the United States who is enthralled after soaking up the atmosphere at a luxury resort on Rio’s outskirts without ever making it into the city proper.

與此同時， 對這個國家的一些印象讓我想起了洋蔥網(wǎng)(The Onion)上的一篇文章——《“熱愛巴西”的女人只看到四平方英里之內(nèi)的巴西》(Woman Who ‘Loves Brazil’ Has Only Seen Four Square Miles of It)，說的是一位來自美國的牙科工作者，完全沉侵在里約郊區(qū)一個奢華度假村所制造的氛圍之中，連市區(qū)都沒去過，卻已深深地愛上了巴西。文章是很早以前發(fā)的，但其中的一些說法至今依然適用。

I’m also still enthralled with Brazil after covering the country for more than a decade, based in Rio for much of that time. The Olympics have been thrilling. The opening ceremony, sublimely choreographed by Deborah Colker, was uplifting. I’ve cheered for Brazil’s volleyball teams in Maracanãzinho alongside my wife and kids, who are proud Brazilian citizens.

我報道巴西新聞已有十多年之久——很多時候是以里約為根據(jù)地——至今卻也依然對這個國家感到著迷。奧運會一直都是激動人心的。由德博拉·庫克爾(Deborah Colker)精心編排的開幕舞蹈令人振奮。我曾在馬拉卡納齊諾體育場(Maracanãzinho)內(nèi)為巴西排球隊歡呼，以身為巴西公民為榮的妻子和孩子當(dāng)時就坐在我身旁。

But it’s been surreal to see Rio, a place normally on the global news back burner, turn into something of a media circus during the Olympics.

但看到里約這樣一個通常難以貢獻頭條國際新聞的地方，在奧運會期間突然成為媒體關(guān)注的焦點，還是有種超現(xiàn)實之感。

As friends and colleagues descend on the city, my own job of bureau chief has evolved to include additional roles like ticket procurer, restaurant critic, translator, security adviser and consultant on the attributes of Rio’s pés-sujos, the great unkempt neighborhood watering holes that Cariocas call “dirty feet.”

隨著朋友和同事紛紛在這座城市現(xiàn)身，我本人作為分社社長的工作逐漸囊括了許多額外的職責(zé)，比如門票掮客、餐廳評論家、翻譯、安全顧問，以及對里約各個“pés-sujos”的特色了如指掌的咨詢師。“pés-sujos”指的是雖不甚整潔卻令人愉悅的社區(qū)小酒館，里約人稱之為“臟腳館子”。

I’ve relished the coverage of the Games by visiting colleagues from The Times, some of whom are seeing Rio for the first time. Now I know how Belize cheers for Simone Biles; what synchronized divers say to one another before the plunge; how easily table tennis balls crumple; how Brazil’s judo champion, Rafaela Silva, emerged from Rio’s favelas.

到訪的時報同事對奧運會的報道讓我讀得津津有味，他們中的一些人是首次來到里約?，F(xiàn)在我知道了中美洲國家伯利茲如何為西蒙·拜爾斯(Simone Biles)歡呼;知道了雙人跳水運動員縱身一躍之前會跟對方說些什么;知道了乒乓球有多容易會變癟;知道了巴西的拉斐拉·席爾瓦(Rafaela Silva)如何走出貧民區(qū)，成為柔道冠軍。

When Brazil’s Olympic moment is finished, Rio, like some cities in the United States, will still be grappling with vexing levels of inequality and bloodshed. Certain favelas, the urban areas here that largely coalesced as squatter settlements, are festering with ire over the Games — especially those that were literally torn apart to make way for the Olympic overhaul.

等到巴西的奧運時刻畫上句號的時候，里約像美國的一些城市一樣，仍然要竭力應(yīng)對令其備受困擾的不平等問題和流血事件。在某些貧民區(qū)，也就是基本已經(jīng)聚合為棚戶區(qū)的城市地帶，人們對奧運會怒恨滿腔——尤其是在那些為了給奧運會改造工程讓路而變得支離破碎的地方。

Long before the Olympics began, I started chronicling the complex war for control over Complexo de Alemão, the vast maze of favelas thought to be named for Leonard Kaczmarkiewicz, a Polish immigrant who once owned the land in Rio’s north zone where squatters put down stakes. (A light-skinned foreigner in Brazil is still often called “alemão,” or German.)

在奧運會開幕很久之前，我就已經(jīng)逐年記錄對阿萊茂住宅區(qū)控制權(quán)的爭奪所引發(fā)的復(fù)雜沖突。這是一片巨大的迷宮般的貧民區(qū)，其名字被認為取自波蘭移民萊昂納德·卡茨馬基維奇(Leonard Kaczmarkiewic)，此人一度擁有里約北部這片供棚戶區(qū)居民安營扎寨的土地。(在巴西，膚色較淺的外國人至今依然常常被稱作“alemão”，意為“德國人”。 )

Some of the stories I’ve covered in Alemão have been heartbreaking, like that of Alda Rafael Castilho, a young police officer who dreamed of being a psychologist. At the age of 27, she was fatally shot when gunmen stormed her police outpost. I still shudder when remembering how hard it was to interview the parents of Eduardo de Jesus Ferreira, the 10-year-old boy who was shot dead last year by the police in Alemão.

我報道過一些關(guān)于阿萊茂的令人心碎的故事，有一篇文章寫的是阿爾達·拉斐爾·卡斯蒂略(Alda Rafael Castilho)，一名曾夢想成為心理學(xué)家的年輕警察。27歲那年，她被沖進她所在的警察哨所的槍手射殺。而每當(dāng)回想起10歲男孩愛德華多·德熱蘇斯·費雷拉(Eduardo de Jesus Ferreira)去年被阿萊茂的警察槍殺后，采訪他的父母有多艱難，我仍然感到不寒而栗。

Someday, I hope to take the tramway in Alemão again all the way to the last stop, to visit friends who live in the Favela das Palmeiras. If they tell me that the echo of gun battles has become a distant memory, as peace finally breaks out, that would be a triumph to rival all the stunning feats I’ve witnessed during the Rio Olympics.

我希望有一天再度乘坐阿萊茂的纜車，一直到最后一站，去拜訪住在達斯帕爾梅拉斯貧民窟的朋友們。如果他們告訴我，隨著和平終于到來，回蕩在耳畔的槍戰(zhàn)聲已經(jīng)成為了遙遠的回憶，那將是一場媲美我在里約奧運會期間見證的所有驚世偉績的勝利。