Carnaval na cidade maravilhosa

Oi gente!! We are back from Rio, the cidade maravilhosa, and I am already feeling saudades. Saudades is one of the most beautiful and untranslatable words in Portuguese. An ETA’s blog I found from a few years ago did a really good job explaining it so I’m going to steal it – rather than translating to “I miss you [or something],” saudades would translate more roughly to “I have the absence of you.” You can feel saudades for something or someone you have never known. This word on it’s own is part of my argument for why Portuguese is the most beautiful language…..

Rio and Carnaval were something else. The energy of Rio is incredible; the city is vibrant, beautiful, alive, and happy. Carnaval consists of bloco’s (block parties) that happen pretty much anywhere, sometimes on actual streets or beaches, or sometimes taking over entire city landmarks. We went to a one at the Museu de Arte Moderno, which we paid R$20 for, and another at Rio’s Jardim Botânico. Most are free, and all felt very safe. Some starting as early as 7 or 8am, and they all actually end on time – the police will roll in and end the party and the vendors/people will leave. The most consistent advice we got about Carnaval was “Be careful with your stuff, and kiss everybody.”

One of the most interesting things we witnessed was at the Jardim Botânico bloco, which stretched on for probably a mile. A child (sometimes people bring their kids) got lost. The men on top of the car playing music (this happens at all of them, picture below. Brazilians only listen to live music, or recordings of live performances, so people sang from on top of the cars as well) stopped the entire bloco and had everyone get on their knees until the child was found. Everyone complied and was quiet, and when they found the child only a few minutes later, everyone cheered. I think this shows a little bit of the wonderful Brazilian spirit.

It was very easy to make Brazilian friends as many conversations start with “você não e brasileira!” Brazilians are really encouraging with the language learning – you can say one word in Portuguese and they’ll be like “You know EVERYTHING!” Ubers/taxi rides are also great opportunities for language practice – our taxi driver home from the Sambadrome had actually been a drummer in the one the night before.

On Monday night we went to the Sambadrome!!! The samba schools each have an hour to perform and 6-7 perform in one night, starting around 9:30. We didn’t know much about it going in, and they include a lot of political/social commentary. Some of the themes that we saw were religion, the Amazon burning, the architecture of Brasilia, and a circus-themed one – not sure what this one represented as by the time it came on it was already 2am and I was quite exhausted. When the dancers finish, some of them came out to join their friends and family in the stands who would bring them a change of clothes and snacks and watch the rest of the schools perform. Others head to the camarotes, which are clubs underneath the stands for each school, and special guests are able to watch the parade from there at the ground level.

On Wednesday we hiked Christ the Redeemer. This was the most fun hike I have ever done – it was about two hours up through the Tijuca forest and included lots of scrambling and parts where you had to hold on to a metal chain to get up. We saw wild monkeys and a toucan on the way down. From the top, you have a fantastic view of Rio, Sugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açucar), the beaches, hills, etc., and it was surreal to stand under Cristo since you can see him from so many parts of Rio. I would advise anyone who goes to Rio to do this hike, I’ll do it with you!

There are so many neighborhoods and places in Rio I wasn’t able to get to because of the Carnaval madness, so as I return to Curitiba I’m feeling extra grateful for my placement and having a large airport just 30 minutes away. I am sure there will be many, many other visits, but for now I’m excited to have a bit of time to settle.

Tchau!! xx