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.