Carnaval

Carnaval is finally over here and judging by the faces of people I've been passing on the street, this may be the only time of the year when Brazilians generally have an unpleasant demeanor. Carnaval should really be two weeks: one for fun and one for recovery. I had a great week celebrating Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro but can easily say that I am glad to have a chance to sleep more than a few hours a night. Sanity has been restored.

Cities all across Brazil celebrate Carnaval in a variety of ways, and certainly the most well-known celebration in the world takes place in Rio. On the topic of Carnaval, the first thing that comes to mind is usually the extravagant parade at the Sambodromo in Rio, but what most people don't realize is that the majority of Carnaval-goers never set foot even remotely near that area of town. If you were to ask what Brazilians like most about Carnaval, odds are they wouldn't tell you it's the parade but rather the blocos.


Before taking off for Rio everyone I spoke with asked me if I was planning on going to the parade or just doing "street Carnaval." At first I didn't know what to make of the expression but quickly came to realize that they were referring to blocos, or massive gatherings on the streets of the city. When we first arrived in Rio it was pretty easy to see that the blocos take place in almost every neighborhood. So if we were at one bloco and wanted to listen to a different type of music, we could simply walk a few blocks in any direction and find something completely different going on. One of the funny things about this type of Carnaval is that some blocos are planned ahead of time, so they take place in nice parks, have live music and huge crowds, but most just pop up out of nowhere when someone turns their car stereo or where there's a collection of street vendors. This is a picture of one of the planned blocos which had a Beatles cover band. The crowd was enormous.

Besides going to blocos, I had the chance to go up the the top of Corcovado to see Cristo Redentor and some great views of Rio. We also took a trip to the historical center of the city to see the Metropolitan Cathedral, National Library, the Opera House and the Monastery. I'll leave you with a picture of the beach I went to every day in Rio, Ipanema. It should give you a good idea of the crowds during Carnaval. Though at times a hastle, 'twas small price to pay for staying two blocks away from the ocean.

It's been a little more than a week since I posted and the last of my sunburn from the trip to the beach is finally peeling off my back. I can leave the apartment in shorts now without a crippling fear of adding a second layer of burn to my bright red legs. Things are looking up in Brasil. 

As I left off I was heading out to  enjoy some of activities to commemorate São Paulo's anniversary. It was considered a city holiday so classes were cancelled and nearly everyone in the city had the day off from work. There were tons of events going on throughout the entire city, most of which were free. In the morning I headed to the Museum of Image and Sound where there was a new photography exhibit of varying perspectives of the city. Afterwards we headed to a place off of Paulista to try a black dog: two hot dogs, mashed potatoes, tomato, mayonnaise, corn and cheese. Pure genius. Paulistanos know how to make a dog.

After a quick subway ride - which, I'm sure, only seemed quick due to my food induced comatose - we went to Parque da Juventude (Park of the Youth) for a concert. The park was constructed on the plot of an old prison that was demolished in 2002, Carandiru. Now the area is home to a public park, a prestigious high school and a museum for the prison.

Later on that week we took a trip to the Football Museum at the Municipal Stadium in Pacaembu, home to the best soccer team in the city, Corinthian Football Club. You can probably already ascertain the bias I've received from my host family. Everyone in the city has a team and, whether or not they actually enjoy watching the game, are willing to strike up a verbal brawl to defend their allegiance. I went to a game later on in the week and the experience was awesome. At this stage in the season Brazilian teams are in exhibition phase but the crowd couldn't care less. Nobody sits down for the game and everyone follows along to the team's chants. Most importantly, that day I significantly beefed up my Brazilian vernacular after listening to the crowd's jeers directed towards the ref.


That weekend some of the students headed to the beach in Guarujá about an hour's bus ride from the city. Before leaving, I kept hearing from various Brazilians about how the beaches there aren't all too great and that you really have to travel up to the state's northern coast to get the true, Brazilian beach experience. Maybe this is my low expectations talking, being from a state with no access to the beach, but when we got there, the it seemed pretty fantastic to me. 


The scenery was amazing and the water was perfect. Another awesome element of the Brazilian beach experience is the food stands. When we first walked towards the beach, people working at the stands brought out folding chairs and umbrellas for us to use for the day. Unofficially, each vendor has their own section of the beach and provides the chairs to beachgoers with the understanding that they will buy only from that stand. In theory, you could go to the beach and never get up all day because there's a constant flow of people asking you if you want drinks, ice cream, fish, coconut, or pasteis. The only downside of my day at the beach was the massive patches of sunburn I gathered on top of my Iowa winter tan. 


Back in São Paulo, I had another busy week of Portuguese language and Brazilian culture classes with the study abroad center. We took a side trip to the Museu de Arte de São Pauo on Paulista. Currently they're showing an exhibit on ancient Rome. Definitely going back to take a second look. Then this weekend I went on a bike ride with Roberto all around the city. Some highlights: Parque Villa Lobos, Universidade de São Paulo, Parque Ibirapuera. I've been adding up the distances of all of my runs, bikes and walks and as of this weekend I've gone a total of 138 kilometers. By the time I get back to the States I'll be a machine.