The People Make the Carnaval

(Feb 14, 2013)

Oh my goodness! The adventures I have had and wonderful people I have met!

After an incredibly inefficient and unnecessary combination of air and bus transit (I won’t be attempting that again) I arrived in Belo Horizonte 2 days after leaving bonito Bonito!

While I was tempted to buy a few, it just
didn't seem practical to carry gems around
with me...

My time in Belo Horizonte can be succinctly summed up as an art and fine dining bonanza – all thanks to my wonderful host, Cessa. On our first day in the city we charted an ambitious sightseeing course right across town, ending at the city art gallery, steps from her centrally located apartment! On my second day I ventured out to the picturesque village of Ouro Preto, nestled into the mineral rich hills that give the province its name (Minas Gerais = ‘General Miner’). The highlight of the day was certainly the visit to the rock market, which sold smoothed rock items and precious stones cut and in the rough, and my coffee break with Lidi, a couchsurfer who owns a hostel in the city. The next day we headed out for the day to the vast art garden of Inhotim. Stretched over 5,000 acres of the beautiful mixed tropical/hilly landscape of Minas Gerais, Inhotim is a labyrinth of interactive visual and performance art galleries with a spattering of massive statue installations and vibrant gardens. Words, nor pictures, can describe the wonders of this space and it is worth making a stop-over in Belo Horizonte just to visit! Another day we ventured out into a torrential downpour to enjoy Belo Horizonte’s Carnaval wind-up festival, which turned out to be very wet and dramatic due to the weather conditions! I thought it was fun to see everyone dancing in the rain with their garish Carnaval makeup (men and women, alike!) streaming down their faces! On our final day in the city we wandered through the stalls of the Sunday Street Market and I had to restrain myself from purchasing a number of beautiful but very impractical items (a briefcase at the bottom of my backpack?). And throughout this entire time in Belo Horizonte, Cessa pampered me with her to-die-for cooking. I did try to dazzle her with my spinach smoothie (it has dazzled before!) and a Mediterranean meal, though they certainly fell short of her contributions.

Welcome to Rio! (New couchsurfing
friends singing upon my arrival)

The madness of Carnaval and banking barriers started once I left for Rio... I spent a panicked 3 hours in the Rio bus terminal unable to access my money until I gave in and used my emergency American $ to take a taxi to the safety of my couchsurfer’s house. My anxiety over money troubles was slated by the wonderfully welcoming scene that greeted me! My couchsurfer, Raphael, had a house full of energetic and excited couchsurfers, all in town to celebrate Carnaval! (After visiting a number of banks and finally accessing my money) I spent the first day strolling through Rio’s downtown centre with a group of couchsurfers also staying with Raphael. The next day I went off on my own and dashed across the city in wonder – taking note of the extensive recreation infrastructure stationed along Copacabana and Ipanema beaches; Winding through the lush, tree lined streets of the inner city; And dashing up the steps to take in the famous view (and crowds) at Christ the Redeemer.

On day three I visited the Prefectura de Rio de Janeiro (the municipal building) for a meeting with city architect and urban planner Sr. Antonio Veríssimo, to learn about the favela upgrading projects underway in the city. In the final year of my undergraduate degree I had written a report on Rio’s progressive Favela Bairro Program, which acted to upgrade and integrate favelas and their residents into the formal urban fabric through infrastructure upgrades and social service provision. After winning the contracts for the World Cup and 2016 Olympics, large sums of money had since been injected into the program, expanding it to the prospective development of the city’s 1,000 favelas by 2020, and changing the name to the Morar Carioca program. Sr. Veríssimo was very enthusiastic in his explanation of the dimensions of the program and the environmental, social, and economic challenges to be overcome in the upcoming years. As I was eager to see the initial work of the program first hand, Sr. Veríssimo recommended a few favelas that I could visit that afternoon. I wound my way up to the upper bounds of the Babilônia community, taking notes on the water, electricity, pathway, housing, recreation and drainage infrastructure that had been put in place through the Morar Carioca program. I was further impressed by the fact that many of the construction workers proudly wearing the Morar Carioca workman shirts, had been born and raised within the community. All of the residents that I spoke with were happy with the program up until that point and were optimistic about how this structural development would contribute to a safer, healthier neighbourhood that would support the economic and social development of its residents. The largest message that I took away from my time in Rio's favelas is that, if their development and gentrification is inevitable (as private developers salivate over the views occupied by favelados in Rio's heated housing market), programs like Morar Carioca offer a more inclusive process for the development of the people along with the place. And while skepticism persists about the ability of the program to live up to its lofty goals, that development which does occur seems to offer important structural solutions to improve the lives of the people living in Rio's favelas. The real question is: how will these programs and structures be maintained in the aftermath of upcoming mega events?

Skirts and bathrobes in the colourful Lapa neighbourhood.
This is Street Carnaval!

The days following my inspiring favela experience involved wandering through the street parties and parades that make up Carnaval in Rio. It seems to me that Carnaval, celebrated to some capacity in every city across the country, is the largest party in the world. For one week Rio’s citizens take to the streets: girls in kitschy costumes, men in dresses and shirtless, and children dressed as pirates and princesses. I found the line of sparkling and colourful floats waiting to enter the Sambódromo parade grounds and was invited to view the main event with a free ticket! Carnaval in Rio has so much to offer and I think I did a pretty good job participating in most of it!

I left Rio in the middle of Carnaval, stopping off in the colonial beach town of Paraty. While the city was smaller, the crowd was more festive, with 75% of attendees sporting costumes when the night party started. I have to admit – the guys certainly did seem to be having fun dressed as women. We should have an event like this in Canada! It is fun for everyone involved to see middle aged men dressed in bedazzled snow white costumes, shooting water from a giant dragon into the crowd (I wish I had a picture)!

I have now arrived in Paulínia, a small town about two hours outside of the São Paulo metropolis, to enjoy the final days of Carnaval with Daniel and his beautiful family. Daniel was an English student who stayed at 2674 a few years ago and, though I was away at school during his stay, he has been incredibly kind in inviting me to spend time with his family! I have been so comfortable here and again have been pampered with fantastic home cooking. A well-needed respite after my fast-paced visit to Rio! Yesterday the whole extended family came over and we played Charades (well – this is how I speak here in Brazil) and laughed all afternoon while enjoying a delicious churrasco lunch, which involves round after round of meat right off the grill! After lunch we headed out to the Carnaval family-fun event at the local country club and danced the evening away!

If I could sum up Brazil in two words it would be: Beautiful people (inside and out)

(OK, that’s 5 words the words in parentheses don’t count)

I will spend a day in São Paulo, the weekend exploring the famously planned city of Curitiba, and then head South for a week in Uruguay.

BUENOS AIRES HERE *WE* COME!