Carnaval: Part I

We’ve only been in Brazil for a couple weeks, but we figured it was time for a vacation. After all, the whole country pretty much shuts down for Carnaval. So on Saturday we headed off to Rio de Janeiro, which is the epicenter of the Carnaval celebrations.

Carnaval, in case you’re unfamiliar, is the same thing as Mardi Gras. In other words, everyone is on their worst behavior. When we arrived in Rio, the streets were packed with people who were dancing, singing, yelling, drinking… and urinating. Carnaval isn’t the best time to experience pleasant aromas.

Street party outside our hotel

On Sunday we decided to spend the afternoon in a neighborhood called Copacabana, which is known for its famous beach. Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones with that idea. The beach was super-crowded, but we somehow managed to claim a patch of sand big enough for six people. (In addition to Kim and me, our group consisted of two guys from Holland, a guy from Finland, and a girl from Texas.)

Copacabana beach

The weather was perfect: 80 degrees and sunny. With all that sun, however, comes the risk of sunburn. As it turns out, sunscreen works extremely well in all the places you apply it. However, it’s completely ineffective in the places you don’t apply it. Crazy, I know. So by the end of the afternoon, I had a bunch of oddly shaped red marks on my skin.

That night we attended the famous samba parade. I had always assumed the parade was on a regular street, but it actually takes place in the Sambadrome—a specially built venue, about half a mile long, with bleachers on one side and luxury boxes on the other. Here’s how it works: 12 of Brazil’s best samba schools compete for the prize. Six schools perform on Sunday night, and six perform on Monday night. Each school gets 90 minutes to go from one end of the Sambadrome to the other.

Samba parade

The floats were really elaborate, and the costumes were quite a spectacle. Samba music was blasting from the speakers, and everyone was dancing. After about 15 minutes, though, we realized that they kept playing the same song over and over. By the time the first school finished, the song was ingrained into our heads.

On the way to Rio, our bus driver had encouraged us to arrive to the Sambadrome early so that we could get good seats. Five o’clock would be best, he said. So when the first samba school went on at 9:00, we were already a bit worn out. By the time the fourth school went on (sometime around 3:00 in the morning), we were completely exhausted. Kim and I wimped out and skipped the last two schools. Nobody had told us that attending the samba parade required rigorous training! The other people in our group stuck around until the end, and they didn’t get back to the hotel until about 6:30.

Needless to say, we took it easy on Monday.

Stay tuned for Part II.