Sore feet and feathers - my experience as a mexican fruit

A gringo's guide to joining in Carnival

Taking part in the parade.....
1. Order the craziest costume you can find on the internet and have it delivered to your hotel along with the words to the samba song (in portugese) and instructions that you must learn it

2. Spend an hour getting dressed from head to toe in outlandish feathers, sequins and exploding orange colour

3. Adorn a massive and heavy headress, enourmous shoulder lapels and a hoop skirt and then try and fit two of you in an elevator

4. Fall out of the elevator much to the delight of the smirking doorman and try to regain your compusure as you tumble onto the street (in daylight)

5. Try and catch a cab on one of the biggest nights of carnival where the streets are full of revellers and you only have half an hour to get to your meeting point which is most likely an hour away

6. Be amazed by the locals interest in what school you are representing. Smile at the calls of bonito and good luck and pretend you know what they are saying

7. Be pushed into a cab, hooped skirt and feathers akimbo by helpful braziliians laughing at the crazy gringos

8. Get a cab driver who speaks no english, is highly animated and determined to get you there on time. Hope that you get a cabbie that is prepared to do a u-turn down a one way street and leave his cab on the footpath in the care of the militia to walk you to where you need to go to joing your group

9. Be amazed at the thousands of people hurrying along the streets in a mess of colour, sequins and feathers and amidst vendors selling beer, popcorn, charcoal meat and agua.

10. Find your school by looking for the other 1000 people dressed like you and your giant float (in our case an elephant - we were celebrating a fruit from mexico)

11. Be prepared for a mix of frivolity and seriousness as you are poked and prodded into place, stray costume parts sewn up and regimented orders to sing even if you don't know the words - death to those who don't stay in line or pretend to sing. (All brazilians know the words and the schools are judged on members looking like they know what they are doing)

12. Get those feet moving, hips swaying and arms waving to the sounds of the samba drums and the 30,000 thousand people cheering you on

13. Watch with awe all the smiling faces and cameras directed at you and try not to fall over, lag behind or allow your headress to topple off

14. Cheer as the fireworks explode overhead and you triumphantly reach the finish line (65 minutes later) dripping with sweat in the 35 degree heat (at 11pm) and grab a drink from a six year old cycling a giant esky and selling vodka, water and beer

16. Trudge exhausted but jubilant along the road outside the sambodrome (next to the shanty towns) and watch as still more costumed people and new floats arrive (the parade continues until early hours of the morning)

It seems extraordinary the amount of money that is obviously poured into the parade when there is apparent poverty barely a street away. However it is a celebration of life, particularly for those in the favelas (shanty towns) and an honour to be a part of it. I wonder what costumes they will have next year......

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