Blogs from Lapa, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 6

So last time I wrote, you may recall that Chris and I totally lost Brad, Ben and the others...but we managed to turn the situation around and have a great night and following morning, getting to bed around 9am! (after finishing me brekkie of course!) Well you can imagine how happy we were to see them when they called at our hotel at 11am. This is Rio baby....who needs more than 2 hours sleep! Obviously first things first, we told them how awesome our night had been and how we were better off without the pair of them...losers! Still I suppose everyone deserves a second chance, so we decided to be friends again (only after they begged though!) In any case, there´s no time for sleep as tonight is the first night of the Carnaval parade ... read more

Watching the Carnival Parade After an exciting evening of taking part in the Carnival, and going down the Sambadrome with the Samba School, GRES Portela tonight we get to watch the second day of the Carnival Parade from Section 9, the tourist stands. Sector 9 has predefined seating / standing places which are yours, and also the police have a greater presence to protect everyone. Most of the day we stayed in bed, recovering from the night before, had a quick bite to eat and then headed to Lapa and the Sambadrome. This was the second time in Brazil that we felt like we were tourists, lots of security to get in to the Sambadrome. The first security gate takes a small credit card, but does not return it to you, so once you are in ... read more

Amigos queridos e leitores curiosos... Chegou a hora, mais uma vez, de eu largar nosso país e correr atrás dos meus sonhos... Acho que o espírito nômade que estava adormecido em mim - por falta de criatividade pra bolar meios de viajar sem gastar dinheiro - resolveu tomar conta da minha pessoa ultimamente! Depois de morar em Reno, viajar a California inteirinha, trabalhar com o Relay por 10 cidades brasileiras, conhecer a Argentina e o Uruguay... Tudo isso nesse ano que passou, acho que descobri minha vocação! Felizmente, muitas oportunidades apareceram no meu caminho e só deixaram mais claro o quanto eu gosto de fzr o que faço! O quê que eu faço? "Faço qualquer coisa, é só me ensinar. Sou muito simpática, tenho um sorriso cativante e conquisto as pessoas muito fácil" - foi a ... read more

Fri 12th Oct: The Candomble experience I went to on Wednesday night was very strange. It was held in a specially built hall on the outskirts of the city. The inside was ornately decorated with a wooden structure in the centre with wooden statues inside it. All participants were dreseed up for the occasion; the males were one side of the room and females on the other. The women were dressed mainly in white hooped dresses and also had finely laced shawls. The ceremony went on for three and a half hours and was composed of drum beating, chanting and fireworks. A guide gave us the background to this Afro-Brazilian Religion, which was brought across by the African slaves who practised it in secret for many years, as it was banned by the Portugese. During the ... read more