I got off the plane in search of a taxi. When I landed, I knew very little: I knew to meet Greg at an address in Campo Grande and I knew that the address was on a circuit. I didn't know where I would be staying, I didn't have a phone number where I could reach Greg, and I didn't know a taxi would cost me 100 reais! (~$62 yikes!) I acquire a completely useless map (in French nonetheless!) from the information desk and arrange for a taxi to take me to Campo Grande. So far, so good enough. Greg had told me that the apartment is on a circuit, but I didn't fully understand what that meant. I thought it was like when they have a street fair in SF - they close down a couple blocks of the street, but you can access your destination from another street. I was so so wrong.
After about 45 minutes in the taxi, the driver explains to me in Portuguese (which I don't understand) that he cannot access the road I need to be on. He drops me off on a random street and points up - I have to go upstairs to get on the street I need to be on. That sounds easy enough. But the taxi driver doesn't know exactly which street is Sete de Setembro. He was super nice though, and stopped a lady to ask her where I should go. She took me by the arm, led me upstairs, and told me to go two blocks to the right. Now I'm on my own. I start to push through a ridiculous crowd because the blocos are going in full force. I'm still optimistic though... two blocks, and I'll be fine, right?
Wrong again.
Two blocks later, the street is definitely not Sete de Setembro. My map, btw, didn't show any streets, just areas - like a map of San Francisco showing you only "The Mission," "Downtown," "Lower Haight," etc. I stop at an information booth and a lady makes a loop sign and says that I have to get past the plaza and go the other way. (There is no plaza in sight, just thousands and thousands of people.) I try to go around where the bloco action is not happening, but it's everywhere. I had no choice but to get right back in the thick of it... being pushed and jostled by everyone and their mother, literally. I had people pushing me in every direction.... I had people pounding on my backpack... I heard people calling me "japones" or "loca" or yelling other things i didn't understand in Portuguese. It was awful... I never had to fight so hard not to cry.
(imagine fighting your way through this crowd...!)
It was pretty much the single most terrifying experience of my life. Here I was, wandering amidst carnaval blocos, lost for two hours, and with no way of getting in touch with Greg to tell him I'm lost. I was also a big target amongst drunk people everywhere and to top it all off, I had everything valuable to me on my person...passport, netbook, credit cards, etc. Every now and then I'd stop and ask someone where the street is and they kept telling me to go straight. I had no choice but to keep going.
Eventually, these people stop me and I didn't understand much, but a lady was scolding me in Portuguese and shaking her finger at me. I showed her the address I was looking for, and she tells me to wait. I understand that she wants to help. One of their friends tries to flag down one of the military police so that maybe he can escort me to where I need to be. No luck. (People btw do not mess witht he military police, they jump out of their way as soon as they seem them coming down the street.)
So I stood there with these people for a while, meawhile the blocos kept continuing on. I was still getting pushed and justled, but not as much. Every now and then, someone would look at my pathetic piece of paper (that was now crumpled and starting to tear) with the address, and then hold up a hand to tell me to wait a few minutes. After maybe ten minutes or so, one of the guys talked to another guy who works at a nearby hotel. That guy comes over, assesses the situation, then gives me the hand to wait. He disappears with my piece of paper, but comes back and leads me through the crowd to a hotel. I got to put my stuff down... this felt really really good. No one spoke English though ... they just understood that I was a stupid girl with all my stuff on me, stuck in the carnaval crowd. I'm not able to explain why I'm in this situation, and they are not able to figure out what's wrong with me. I point to a sign that says Wi-Fi, get confirmation that it's okay to use, and pull out my computer - I was thinking I could use a translation website. Wi-Fi didn't work, but the hotel security guard let me into the backroom so I could use the hotel's computer. I open up a translation site and explain what happened, get permission to leave my stuff overnight (since everyone keeps telling me how dangerous it is to have it all there), and send an e-mail to Greg. Greg says he will come meet me. Thank God! When he showed up about twenty minutes later, I burst into tears (Sorry, Greg!)... It was relief and joy and just finally feeling like I was going to be okay. *big sigh* Apparently, I had arrived on the big night for Campo Grande, so it was the most crowded it could possibly be.
Onto the fun stuff. Carnaval in Salvador, now this is the carnaval I remember!! I think, for me, Salvador > Rio in terms of music, street food, and overall carnaval atmosphere. Hearing Samba music is nice and all, but hearing Axe just makes you want to dance! You feel the music move you... you feel it in your heart! It makes you feel alive! In terms of street food, I mostly saw salsichao and tapioca (a crepe-like thing) in Rio but Salvador had the churrascos (meat sticks) that were really amazing! They also do this cheese-on-a-stick in Brazil that they heat up over hot coals - it doesn't melt, it just burns. It's awesome!!
I love getting to compare my experience in 2007 to my experience this year... Last time I arrived on a ship and went back to it every night. This year, I as staying with Greg's friends in an awesome apartment in probably the best location possible! Not sure if it was a good or bad thing, but you heard Carnaval out the window 24/7. Another change is that the experience has gotten a lot more commercial, with the trucks are much more pimped out with sponsor logos. The people on the trucks also toss slap bracelets and inflatable batons from sponsors into the crowd. Some things haven't changed which was kind of nice to see... the kissing, for example, is still in full force. There are people making out everywhere! There is a bloco called Filhos de Gandi; they wear a lot of bead necklaces and give them to girls in exchange for kisses. I have four necklaces but only because I bought them. No kisses for me until March 18th :)
So pretty much Carnaval in Salvador is unlike any other Carnaval in the world. (so i've heard...) Whereas in Brazil, one bloco would come and go, in Salvador, 20-30 trucks would line up and if you wanted to, you could stay put in one spot and see them all. In Salvador, each trio electrico (truck with a stage on top) has a a crowd both on top and surrounding the truck. People who pay for the abadas (special shirts that designate your belonging to a bloco) have access to a roped off area around the truck. Everyone else dances around them. It goes on for hours and hours. It's so fun!! Each song has its own dance and when you don't know it, the music is so energizing that you can jump around and have fun anyway. You can follow your favorite bloco throughout the entire circuit for probably 8 hours if you wanted to. Twice, Greg and I stayed up until the sun came out.
Random moments:
- The only Asian most people know is Japanese, and they yell "ey, Japones" (ya-pohn-nays) and they do a bow sometimes...
- One guy was asked, Japanese (with a bow accompanying the question)? And he said no, Vietnam. And the asker says, "Oohhh" (while making the gun symbol with both hands and firing it into the air!
- People liked me and Greg most when they thought we were Japanese. When we told them we were American we got a "Oh, American..." and they'd turn around and ignore us
- Greg and I did our best to dispel stereotypes of uptight Asian people. We danced to cheers and applause in the middle of a dance circle :)
- The last night, David Guetta played the Black Eyed Peas' remix of "Time of My Life.." Yeah, that's about right.
- Greg was handed a flyer for a "California Cantina." The guy handing him the flyer is the son of Greg's Aunt's best friend. So random!
Best Quote: "Everyone's always dancing in Brazil, that's why I love it" - Greg Low <3
Carnaval is an amazing experience, but probably one I don't need to have again for a long while. It's exhausting to dance for seven days straight... I mean in the US, we do Bay to Breakers for like a couple hours, ONCE a year. This is seven+ days straight of drinking, dancing, and debauchery. So I'm very happy that I went... I'm very happy to have survived it, and it's definitely a relief that it's over =)
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