Carnaval!

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So, with teary eyes and muitos saudades, I left beautiful Brazil!

I whiled away my days in Rio seeing more of the tourist sights - Cristo Redentor (the famous Christ Statue overlooking the town), the Tijucu Forest (the largest urban forest in the world), lazing on Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, going out in the funky suburbs of Lapa and Santa Theresa (with a gorgeous view over Rio), going to blocos and participating in Carnaval!

I was also invited to some BBQ´s (Brazilian food is always the same staple of rice, beans, meat and maioca!). A group of Bruno´s friends play in a band, so I went along to hear them practice, and they invited me to a Sunday BBQ in the outer suburbs of Rio, about 1hr from the centre. The owner of the house also played in a band, so we had live music (fantastic - he even played guitar behind his back) all afternoon with lots of dancing Although the poorer suburbs of Rio, they are definitely richer in social gatherings of music and dance! The way home through some of the more shifty areas of Rio was an experience as we took alternative combie transport which broke down halfway back so we had to get out and push start it in the rain!!

Carnaval is held during the 4 days before Lent each year, and most people recommended I go to the NE Brazilian towns rather than Rio unless I was participating in the parade... so, I thought I´d get the best of both worlds! In Rio, the main parade that is televised takes place in the Sambodromo stadium each of the four nights, and you have to pay to watch. Then there are various blocos during the days/evenings - much like the Fete de Geneve with a float blaring out music and people dancing along behind in the street, but you have to know where they are being held, as Rio isn´t a small city!

Some friends of Bruno, including a few foreigners, got me a place dancing for a samba school in the parade at the Sambodromo on the Saturday night, so, after paying 75 real (approx. $35) for a not-so-sexy cow outfit, we braved the stares and made our way to the stadium in costume (minus the headress) around 10pm. It was fun to watch all the samba schools preparing and dancers being lifted onto the floats by crane, while the cries of ´coca, agua, skol´ (Coke, water, beer) of the street vendors filled the air. We needed all three to get through the night until it was our turn to dance through the stadium at around 3am!!! About 30 minutes of fame later and it was all over! A long wait for such a short time dancing... but we peeled of our costumes (many people had left theirs lying on the side of the street) and went for a beer in Lapa to cool down until sunrise (one of many I saw in Brazil! )...

My crazy friends spent Carnaval up north in the Bahian town of Porto Seguro, so I decided to head up and join them after Carnaval finished in Rio. For those who can´t get enough, Carnaval goes on till the end of the week in the north east of Brazil so, after a 20hr bus ride from Rio (and throwing up the dodgy food I ate at the bus station), I arrived with a Japanese friend I´d made on the bus. I helped him search for cheap accommodation until I finally got onto my friends and joined them in their not-so-cheap (I found out later) hotel! We slept a few hours and then got up at 11.30pm to head to the bloco on the main street. Being a small town, the whole town is out on the street until dawn, dancing along behind the floats, drinking, and having fun!! I tried the Capeta - a local drink based on coconut milk with vodka and variations of mango, chocolate etc.. yum! We were out till dawn both nights, then spent the days at Axe Moi beach which had a stage and dancing floor for all the skimpy bikini-clad spectators... a few hrs sleep each morning and evening kept us going, and we left at 5am Sunday morning for the 12hr drive to Belo Horizonte (I decided to get a lift to BH rather than catch the bus back to Rio).

Back in Belo Horizonte I returned to Claudio´s sushi restaurant, met all the people who will be coming to work in Geneva over summer, and saw his gorgeous house in the hills just out of town... oh, and recovered! Even went to the movies for about $3 to see Secret on Brokeback Mt! Tuesday I returned to Rio via the picturesque Ouro Preto (I finally got there) mining town where I whiled away the afternoon seeing the museums and churches before hopping on the night bus, arriving in Rio 7hrs later at 5 Wednesday morning!

My last night in Rio we all went for a drink and then chatted on the beach till 4am. I arrived home with a couple of hours to get ready to catch my plane at 8am Friday morning to Santiago, Chile! zzzzzzzz

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