Sao Paulo

After Carnaval I had a couple more days in Rio to relax and recover as well as visit the large Christ statue on the top of the mountain. I then headed to Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brasil.

I stayed with a friend of a friend Gustavo, an artsy hipster Peruvian living and working in SP. He and his friends spend their time filming and painting and wearing trending cloths and other artsy hipster things I don’t know about; but it was a interesting peak into what that lifestyle looks like.

If Rio is southern California, then Sampa in New York; where people work really hard all day and go out to trendy Expensive restaurants, bars, and clubs all night. The weirder the decorations on the walls (ie. Pot lids, ribbon designs, naked people) and the more expensive a place is the cooler. At least this is the side of the city I saw.

So that’s what we did. During the day when people were working I went to the Museum of Futebol, which was really well done (and artsy) and explored the city center. I must say I did not love Sao Paulo. It is big and hard to navigate to the point were if you ask directions not even the locals have a clue which way is up. I also felt less safe there where Rio I always felt very comfortable. At night I would go out with Gustavo and his friends and act as trendy as I know how…

One funny thing about these adventures is that Gustavo never really bothered to learn Portuguese. He gets by comfortably with his Spanish, throwing in Portuguese words here and there. While this made it harder for me to progress with my language skills, I still had his friends, who echoed the joke that I spoke better Portuguese after one week in brasil than he does after 2 years!

Brazil: Carnaval

Oh man what a time. It feels very hard to describe everything that is going on so I have been putting it off leading to even more anxiety about filling you all in! So I'm just gonna start and if I have to double back or get lost so be it!

First rio de janeiro and carnaval.

Carnaval in rio is a party. There are parties all over the city all through the day and of course all night. Most older and sophisticated locals flee the city to near by beaches for some peace and quiet but those who are up for it can hardly wait to get out of work. the city is flooded with foreigners but also brazilians from all over the country.

The first part of carnaval is the blocos. These are big street parties, some start at 9 in the morning while others and 6 but they are mostly a day thing. These are live bands that play on top of big trucks paneled with speakers. They usually play the same song or two over and over again, and each bloco band has its own tunes. For example a band in the neighborhood Ipanema will have a lyrics complementing the barrio and the people who live there. This band is accompanied by the bateria which is a drum line that matches in front of or behind the truck. This is the best part. I realize I have always wanted to be a part of a drum section so I got to work on that but the rhythms are complex and fun. Then everyone else just fills in ever crack possible within earshot of the band. The best (and most crowded) spot it right by the bateria, but to be perfectly honest you cant do all the blocos there, you will go deaf and crazy. So we would change it up.

In Santa Teresa we were right in the mix. It was our first bloco so at 3 in the afternoon we got right next to the bateria and fought to stay there almost the whole time. People wear all kinds of crazy costumes too that match those of the bloco theme. Santa Teresa gets its name from a convent that was there so there where many "nuns" about. It's also on a hill overlooking the beautiful city!

Ipanema is one of the older bands and goes right along the beach so we would weave in and out of the crowd starting with the bateria then falling behind to take a dip in the ocean or drink the water from a coconut and then jump back into the mess. These caravans move very slowly and last forever so to go a block can take an hour minimum. They also have sacole which are frozen caipirinha Popsicles that are sold along with beer and water by vendors along the sides and pushing though the crowd.

One of the coolest ones was the Beatles Bloco in a huge park. Not only did they cover some of the greats with portuguese accents but they also made up Portuguese words to obladi oblada. It was like they missed the repetitiveness of the more traditional bloco and couldnt help but put a song on repeat some of the time. There were so many people at this bloco that it couldn't even move. The truck just stayed still in the center.

At night there were huge balls but they cost money so we didn't go. There is Lapa which is the main drag where people go out and other parties spring up in different parks with live music and dancing. So we would just wander around and find something fun!

There is also the big parade where the samba schools show off their stuff. There are many schools that are for different neighborhoods and each has thousands of members. They spent the year picking a theme and finishing their extravagant costumes. We went one night to the sambadrome which is a long road with stadium seating. The groups go down the center to a special song they write each year as the crowd cheers them on. We went on the cheaper night with "not as good schools" ( like we could tell the difference) but much better seats. The costumes are amazing with shinnies and fathers and props. It's funny though cause on the way home you would see people carrying their costumes on the subway and it was all clearly home constructed out of Micheals Craft Store stuff. Pretty cool.

So ya it went like that 5 days of non stop.