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Published: March 11th 2006
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Me & Giora in the Camaroche
They gave us a shirt of the camaroche Finally - The Carnaval! One of the highlights of my trip was supposed to be the carnaval.
Having really high expectations, I was afraid of being disappointed, but the reality more than met my expectations (Except the photos - it is not safe to take a camera to the carnaval, so I used a disposable one only form the Camroche, and the quality is disposable also).
One thing that surprised me most was the variety - in each region of Brazil Carnaval is celebrated in a different way, and more than that - in Salvador itself there are 3 regions in which the Carnaval takes place - Barra, Pelorinhio and Campo Grande.
The image of the Carnaval many people have from TV - an arrayed parade of people in customs of feathers - is of the carnaval in Rio De Janeiro, not Salvador.
In Salvador, in some way it is similar to the 'Mizad Ha Ahava' (not the 'Gaava' :-) ) in Tel Aviv -
All the famous bands in Brazil that have any connection to AXE music come here for the carnaval, each on a different bloco (bloco is composed of 2 trucks on which the bands are,
View
from the Camaroche and ropes that separate the trucks from the crowds on the street. If you want to be inside the ropes - you must buy an appropriate shirt).
For the carnaval time I rented a room with a couple of Israelis, in the Barra region.
On the first night we decided to go to a Camoroche in Barra, to understand what's going on.
(Camoroches are kinds of big balconies, located on the street where the carnaval goes, and are usually built for the carnaval time.
The simpler ones are just balconies and the more expensive include a bar, restaurant, discoteck, and even a Barber (In case you have a sudden and unexplainable urge to cut your hair)).
What stunned me the most was the number of the people.
In the bigger blocks we estimated something like 10,000! All dancing with their favorite band and just truly enjoying themselves and having absolutely no restrictions. And of course many many many people on the street between the blocks. And some like us in the Camaroches.
Something like 2.5 million in total. Small numbers.
The locals really partied, unwinding from their problems and troubles, and it was obvious that the carnaval here
Timbalada
one of the popular bands is really for them, and not for the tourists like in some other places.
I had allot of fun dancing in our camoroche, but it felt like watching from the side, not really participating in the celebration.
The ugly side was the violence - a few people, really not many, were just looking for a fight.
They were concentrated for some reason around 2 or 3 bands, known to be violent, and their 'dance' sometimes was composed of just hitting random people that passed by.
The police arrested most of them, not with less violence, as they use clubs here.
The next day we went to the Pelorinhio region.
The carnaval here was absolutely different - it was some kind of a strange mix between 'Purim', 'Yom haazmaut', and African traditions - small bands of drummers strolled the streets, each playing a different tune, dancing African dances, with different customs. The crowd here just watched them like a show, didn't join them, and there were much less people here. It was definitely less impressive than in Barra, and much more tranquillo.
On the following evening we bought a shirt to a band called O'RRAPA in Barra.
The
Timbalada
The second truck bend was supposed to start the parade at about 8 o'clock, but they actually began only at 1 am (tranquillo is tranquillo).
So we waited for them on the street, mixing with the local crowd, dancing with each band that passed, simply being one of the 'popcorn', and it was so great!
When our band finally came, we realized that they don't specialize in AXE music (I think the only band here that doesn't), but instead in a kind of Rock that I think is between heavy and metal (don't trust me here), and they tried to mix it with AXE, so it was a really interesting combination.
They even spoiled us with 2 songs in English!
It was really amazing to dance with the entire blocko, all as one person.
It felt as if you are part of the band, part of the show.
I had a blast there!
On our last night there we were so tired, we went to a camoroche again, but it was less exciting, as most of the bends were from the previous days, recycling their songs.
I also met that day Rafael and his girlfriend Amanda, and we went to a mall
The crowd
just between the ropes in Salvador.
They told me many interesting things about Brazil.
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