February 25, 2007

• Carnival

  Carnival is the most famous holiday in Brazil. It is not about a big moment in history or about a famous person, but it is important for the people because it’s a time of camaraderie, freedom, and almost a whole week without work. People can choose between parties or rest, and most people choose parties, day after day, night after night.

  It starts forty days before Easter. It’s based on the Christian calendar, but it isn’t approved by the Church very well. It lasts four days and four nights. It starts on Saturday and finishes on a Thursday. People put on their costumes and go out into the streets or to clubs. There are also the Samba schools which make a parade showing their music, fantasies, and allegorical cars. They are followed by the people. Every year the parade tell a different story. Each city has one or more schools like this.

  Carnival is celebrated in the south where by Wednesday everything comes back to normal. The problem is that it is not approved by the church in the Northwest where carnival is more traditional. There people don’t respect its end and continue to party until the next Sunday.

  I like Carnival, but I am that kind of a  party person. I respect this holiday though. And, like at every other popular party, people drive, dance and have fun. Unfortunately, some people aren’t conscientious and give it a bad name, leaving a bad impression of this holiday, but it is the only national holiday that moves all the country and its different kinds of people and cultures together.

  I decided to rest. And at the same time visit some old friends. They live in Rio city, and some of them have a house in the north part of Rio state, a region named “Região dos Lagos”, in “Rio das Ostras” to be specific. They have this new house by the beach which I had never been till this holiday. I could rest, get a tan, have lots of fun, feel flattered after making ice cream and everyone fighting for it. Below are some pics and some brief description.

  Below is the front of the house. The sea is a few meters behind me.

    

     

  Here are some spots from inside and around the house.

   

     

     

  Here is most of the guys behind the house where the pool is. After the larger one, are some more spots from the pool and around it.

  

   

  

  This is the beach in front of the house. Unfortunatelly I could not enter the sea due to the fact that it is too wavy and… I don’t swim… This first pic below, I wanted to show the bird.. and the ski.

     

     

     

  I did like to take the kids to the beach to catch some shells. They loved it!

  

  Below is “Costa Azul” beach. Just 3 or 4 miles away from where I was staying.  Below you can see the beaches, people walking on the large sidewalk and the whale square. Those beaches have dark sand, so they are called “Coca-Cola beaches”.

  

    

    

    

    

     

  This “truck” below is named Trio Elétrico. Musicians get on the top playing and singing while the crowd follows it.

  

  Here are some of the old and new friends I met.

  

  

       

  Below there is Zeca, the dog of the house. The other pic is Cristina, the owner of the house, and Zeca.

   

  That’s all for now. Take care, you Xanga people!

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  • 12:03 pm
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