Rio de Janeiro - Carnaval 2010 (PG)

Carnaval in Rio is one of the biggest parties on planet earth. Nearly 4 million people converged on the city for the 4 days of fantasy and festivities.
The next week is kind of a blur. Carnaval will do that to you..
Here is a brief recap…

8 horas da manha sai embora pra o Rio! The best beaches in Rio are Praia Barra, Recreio, Ipanema, Copacabana, Flamengo and Tijuca. Tijuca is prolly my favorite since it is actually ocean water with waves and such, not like Copacabana which is a dirty bay with weak waves. I arrived in Rio to 100 degree heat. Already drenched in swet I knew my friend Daniela lived in a hood called Valquiere, far up in Northern Rio. Zone Sur is where the action is, Ipanema, Leblon, Botafogo, Lapa, Santa Teresa, Gloria, Copacabana….The further north you go in the city, the more residential is gets, in other terms…the more dangerous it gets. During my last visit I lived in Bairro Ramos, a neighborhood at the foot of a favela. Its funny, every time I tell someone from Rio (Carioca) that I live in Ramos they look at me wide eyed and shutter….They don’t even dare go there…

So I finally make my way to Valquiere and Daniela told me to get off at Colegio Pedagono…I basically ask the entire bus to help me keep a look out for el Pedagono since I had no idea where I was going…
It was so nice to see my old friend. Daniela lives with her parents in a small apt and works like no other. She doesn’t drink, smoke or party….but is not an ´evangilica´ because she likes to use palavrão….curse words..lol
Rio is just as massive as SP, but I know it far better. I quickly get a grip on the buses I need to take to get into town….678 to praca seca, 455 barra shopping or Praca VX to get to the center…then either a 30 min walk or another combi…in all close to 1.5 hours to get from Danielas apt to the center. Nossa, que saco.
The buses drive as if they are competing in a destruction derby NASC AR video game. If you are not securely holding on to something, your ass is going out the window or into the lap of the shirtless man drinking a beer.

SO carnaval is basically broken down into two main parts…it took me a while and lots of questions to figure all this out. There is the sambodromo, or the famous desfile where all the floats and fantasia and sambistas and action goes down. Tickets to the sambodromo should be bought in advance and run btwn 400 and 2000 reals. In other words, not my bag baby. As you may have guessed not many people can afford this. The best desfiles are Sat, Sun and Monday nights from 8pm to 8 am…ALL NIGHT LONG!
The top samba schools are Sangueiro, Mangueira, Tijuca, Beija Flor and I´ll throw Padre Miguel in there cause they make a good feijoada…there are tons though.
They invest millions of reals and prepare the entire year for their hour and a half of desfile in front of an enchanted crowd and a line of judges.
As Tom Ze said, Tristeza nao tem fim, felicidade sim.
They are scored based on samba, alegoria, fantasia, bateria, unity, spirit..etc…Each school draws a category (anything from city life to the Spanish conquest) and are supposed to represent various themes from that subject.
9 out of 10 people you ask will say that the title is bought months in advance but its pretty obvious that the best performance usually wins. Tijuca won this year. Their topic was magic and mystery. I suggest you you tube their desfile…Impressive stuff…
So the Sambodromo is the main attraction, but what do the other 4 million people in Rio for carnaval do for fun???BLOCOS!!!
A Bloco is basically a traveling bloc party that can start up anywhere and at anytime. There is always a double decker bus, wagon, or float with huge speakers, a mic and drums….always gotta have the bateria.
So you basically form a conga line, sometimes a couple hundred people, sometimes a million, and surround the floats with dance, booze and energy and cruise through the city streets singing your heart out and stopping to samba along the way. Enough caipirinhas and ANYONE can samba… trust me.
The biggest and most famous bloco is called Bola Preta and starts on Av Rio Branco. Nossa!, Monte de gente. Acredita que eu chegei sozinho e conheci uma galera de Niteroi, depois uma galera de Leblon, and finally a dude from MTP columbia heights joined my crew!!
Being the loner that I was for carnaval, Daniela isn’t into that crazy stuff and did what most of Rio does, watch the carnaval from the comfort and safety of home, I added straglers and gangs of people alike to my torcida and usually ended the day with tons of new friends and drunken exchanges of emails.
Not that the “day” persay ever ended. Carnaval is 24 hours. I made the treck home a few times to shower, sleep and rest up, but most of the time you are boiling from the 100 degree heat (and quenching your thirst with latão after latão - giant beer cans) …Personally, being the white guy that I am, I enjoyed the late night and early morning blocos most. Cool ocean breeze, you take a dip in the water, go back to the bloco, escape for a nap in the sand….
Mulher, voce vai gostar, tou levando ums amigo pra conversar - Chico Buarque is the man

I got some pretty good shots of Bola Preta Bloco the one time I took my camera with me. I never really brought it out though, preferred to simply enjoy the moment instead of trying to take pictures of all the crazy shit going on around me. Beware public pissers, the cops were arresting people left and right for public urination. Brother David would be in trouble since he likes to piss on Government Buildings.


So in short, I made some pretty good friends, have an open invitation to kick it in Copacabana now which is always a blessing. Did you know Copacabana is the most densely populated 3 mile radius on EARTH! Hard to imagine. But once you step foot into one of those apt you understand why. $500,000 for a studio apt with 3 ppl living in it….crazy crazy. Got fried on the beaches, rode wayyyy to much public transportation with insane people and basked in the sweet rhythm of Bossanova.
Side note - Was taking the Meier bus back to Valquiere one afternoon and there was a group of favela guys dominating the back section of the bus. Shirts off, hair bleached, drunk and hanging out the windows harassing any and everyone we drove by. I was near the bus driver and he was talking to an old man about who they were…They yelled…”Eai piloto! Para ai!” and the bus driver, with a bus full of people had to stop so one of them could buy something to drink. Everyone rolled their eyes…no one said a word.
It should be noted that Carnaval tradition is for men to dress as women in homage to the beautiful Brasilian morena. Seriously, Bandidos who have probably robbed enough banks and killed enough people to equal a small war, leave their homes in skirts and bikini tops and walk around laughing and hugging. There is something to be said about the Brasilian…The ability to NEVER take life too seriously. They probably do so to a fault in rio though. Clothing is always optional and the smaller the swimsuit the better (man or woman). It is not uncommon for a guy to walk through downtown and into the metro train in nothing but a speedo, with a bill for beer money tucked into his waist.
Probably why Paulistas and Cariocas hate each other. Existe uma briga eterna entre eles.

I bid Daniela and her wonderfuly family goodbye and headed for the rodoviaria - bus station for the trip back to São Paulo. I cant wait to sleep in my bead tonight...I had been sleeping in a closet next to storage boxes in her apt.
I start work on Monday so it gives me a few days to clear my head and get amped for my first day at Instituto Akatu.
Valeu! Ate a proxima.