Rio Gringa

The American Carnival?

On Sunday night, I found myself flipping between the Carnival parade in Rio's Sambodrome and the Oscars on TNT. As I switched between the two, a strange thought occurred to me: Are the Oscars the American Carnival?

The Truth about Carnival

It's Carnival in Rio and I am honestly not that excited about it. I did the whole Rio experience last year with a bunch of blocos, performing in the Children's Parade, and going to two nights at the Sambodrome (one night of the Special Groups, the other the Champion's Parade). My experience at the Sambodrome was amazing, an incredible opportunity, one I felt no need to repeat this year.

The blocos were an interesting cultural experience, but after I had a claustrophobia-induced panic attack at one of them, I wasn't so crazy about them. Though I love dancing, I hate being in the sun and heat in huge groups of people, especially drunk ones. Plus, though the music is great, it's the same short song played over and over and over again and I find it a little tedious after awhile. I do regret not going to any samba school rehearsals this year though; they're held indoors and are a lot of fun, where people seem more interested in dancing than in getting wasted. Another factor this year has been Eli, who was very sick for most of the week and isn't quite better yet, so I've been taking care of him and helping him take it easy. It's not that I don't like Carnival; I'm completely fascinated by it, but this year I prefer to take a step back and watch it from the sidelines. (However, I did have a fantasy that by now I'd have become a blogging celebrity in Rio and a local celebrity would invite me to his/her box seats at the Sambodrome. I have a very vivid imagination.)

But I digress, because the real point of this post is aimed at my gringo readers who haven't yet experienced Rio's Carnival, as well as the hordes of horny Googlers accessing my blogs in hopes of finding naked pictures of Carnival queens and videos of sex in the streets of Rio. There's a great deal of mystique and a wealth of misinformation when it comes to Carnival, so I'd like to clear up a few misconceptions.

I. Nudity & Sex

First of all, nudity is not omnipresent at Carnival in Rio. Though a number of women in the parade at the Sambodrome wear very little clothing, the rest of the participants wear elaborate, heavy costumes, and those are the dancers and musicians that make up the bulk of the parade.  At the street parties (blocos), which are the second great pride of Rio's Carnival, revelers dress up in costumes or put on silly hats or accessories, but most certainly do not go half naked. You're more likely to find men in drag than women in thongs at the blocos.

Though nudity is not nearly as widespread at Rio's Carnival than people think, it is unfortunately one of the most commonly projected images of Carnival, Rio, and Brazil to the rest of the world. As a result, many foreigners incorrectly link nudity to promiscuity, assuming that Carnival is some sort of sexual free-for-all, an all out orgy.

But I have bad news for you: it's not.

There is no sex in the Sambodrome parade, there is no sex on the streets during the blocos, and there is no sex in public in general (there are, however, copious amounts of men peeing in public). The only instance of semi-public promiscuity I've heard about is at the Scala club's tacky Carnival parties, but I'm not sure how bad it really is. Due to heavy drinking, some people certainly hook up and some make out in public, but it's not much different from meeting someone at a club or a party. The same rules apply--there is no special sex loophole for Carnival.

For more on the misconception of linking nudity to sexuality, see my post on it here.

II. Lifestyle

Some gringos believe that Rio is like Carnival all year long. Though you can find a few blocos and plenty of samba school rehearsals during the year, Rio is definitely not a perpetual Carnival. Though the work culture isn't like Sao Paulo, people work long hours and go about their daily lives without partying daily. I've noticed a certain something in the air during Carnival, a skip in people's steps, a definite weight lifted and a feeling of relaxation. Carnival is different from the rest of the year, a time when people let go and transform into something different. Carnival is, after all, a social pressure valve, especially in Rio.

Since people assume that Rio is a party city, it attracts some gringos to visit or move here. It didn't for me. I think the nightlife is far better in Buenos Aires and New York, but aside from that, Rio is an incredibly cosmopolitan city with museums, galleries, cafes, restaurants, movie theaters, shows, outdoor activities, and cultural centers. There's a lot more to Rio than its nightlife.

III. Authentic Experience

Some tourists come to see Carnival in Rio because they think it's the "authentic" Brazilian cultural experience. Though it's internationally one of the most famous manifestations of Brazilian culture, there are so many other celebrations and representations of Brazilian culture. There are Carnival celebrations in hundreds of other Brazilian cities and a huge wealth of holidays and traditions you can experience year-round.

Also, Rio life during Carnival is different from Rio life during the rest of the year. Few people work (with the exception of restaurants, hotels, malls, etc), the city slows down, and many Cariocas leave the city, while the tourists pour in. Seeing Rio outside of the Carnival season is just as authentic, if not more so.

Bom Carnaval!

Carnival Crimes

This week in Rio, forty tourists were mugged, some beaten, and some held captive while the robbers went through their bags. I don't remember anything quite like it since I've lived here, not even last year during Carnival.

First, a hostel was invaded by men at gunpoint with grenades in Copacabana, who looted the place and took money, passports, and electronics. Just a day later, more men with guns and grenades took over a hostel in Lapa (incidentally, where Eli worked for a bit before his other hostel job), roughing up some of the guests, tying them up, and locking them into a room while they robbed their possessions. A girl was beaten up and robbed in Santa Teresa when she arrived at her hostel, and another guy was mugged in Copacabana Thursday night. Ten tourists were mugged in Sao Conrado.

But here is the kicker. Though police claim the two hostel invasions are unrelated, despite several similarities (the weapons used, the time of night), they have suspects for the first crime that are supposedly all middle class.

This I find difficult to process. These kinds of crimes, so I thought, are usually committed by criminals from favelas or very poor suburbs, some of which work for traffickers. Though it's difficult to reason, at least it makes a little more sense: they have almost nothing and little to lose, and maybe some of them try to justify their crimes in a Robin Hood sort of way. What would motivate someone who has money and security to do something like this? Power? Adventure? Drug addiction? It boggles my mind.

Undoubtedly, this sort of thing gives Rio very bad press, as well it should. I would have happily left town for the holiday had I had more money and no deadline for a project. It seems to me that an unfortunate few use Carnival as an excuse to do whatever they want, even if it means breaking the law (see the controversial "Call the police" post as well). No holiday or time of year is an excuse to apologize for crime, however big or small it may be. It only makes it ok to commit the same crime year-round. Morality doesn't go on vacation. Or at least it shouldn't.

Rio Gringa's Guide to Carnival 2009

Eli and I have put together the ultimate guide to Carnival in Rio, now available from Rio Gringa Consulting!

It includes:

•  Insider tips about where to go and how to get the bang for your buck
• The complete schedule of street parties (blocos) & Carnival shows
• Samba school rehearsal schedule -- at the schools and at the Sambodrome
• Info on how to get tickets to the Sambodrome & seeing the parade
• How to perform in the Carnival Parade
• and much more!

The guide costs US$35, payable through PayPal. The first five people to purchase the guide are qualified for a discounted, personalized tourist consult!

For more information, email riogringaconsult at gmail dot com.

post carnival news

Here is the latest tapa sexo news about Sao Clemente's queen of Carnival.

Last night on the news, Globo went over to the workshop of the guy who designed the "crotch cover" (tapa sexo) for Sao Clemente's queen for Rio's carnival. As you all know, Sao Clemente got demoted because they lost points due to their "completely naked" queen. But the queen and her crotch cover designer set the record straight: the queen's crotch cover did not in fact fall off, leaving her totally naked, but was glued firmly to her crotch the whole time. Made of a hard, flexible material, it was painted the same color as her skin, with a gold body paint, and was a whole three centimeters wide. Too late guys. A little too late.

And hey, here's a video I took of Portela's global warming float from Saturday.

Also, I am currently watching heat lightning light up the Corcovado. No fork lightning yet, but some lucky photog got this picture yesterday:

 

Some Photos from the Champion's Parade

Here are some of my photos from the parade last night. You can find the complete set in the Champions Parade album on the right.

the last night of Carnaval

Technically, last night was the last night of Carnival, since it was the Champion's Parade at the Sambodrome with the top 6 groups from last week's 2 parades.

We got there earlier than we did last time and I'm not sure if it's possible but I think last night was MORE crowded than the parade last week. There were definitely more Brazilians, and a lot more Brazilians from the lower social classes. In a valiant attempt to get into the better section next to the parade route, Eliseu tried to sweet talk, and even bribe the guards, who were not budging. It was Eli's idea and playing the gringa card always kind of irks me, so we didn't succeed, and headed back to the bleachers. It was unbelievably crowded and in order to stay sane I am best off hanging over the railing, especially in a crowd like last night.

For most of the night, I wound up shoving my way back and forth between an obnoxious woman on my left and another obnoxious woman on my right. The one on the right was worse, since she was smoking, literally in my face, half the night. I wanted to punch her. Anyway, we only stayed for 4 samba schools, 3 of which were new to us. They were awesome, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as last time; between the shoving and smoke and hordes, I guess the magic had worn off.

There were less performers last night, but since they don't have to perform for the judges people are more wild and fun, and the queens and destaques were kissing people in the crowds in between mad amounts of samba-ing. We saw a bunch of them, actresses and models and what not. Also, Portela's handicapped group was back and the Down's kids performed for the crowd all night. They were so sweet.

So, watching Portela again, with everyone screaming "CHAMPIONS!" (even though they came in 4th), I still thought they should have won. The beauty of Carnival is transforming the shit of every day life into something so gorgeous that it seems unworldly, so everyone can escape from the violence and misery for a little while. And I really think that of all the groups, Portela achieved that. The dancers in the front were painted white, blue and silver and looked like sea creatures, and their other costumes and floats were so beautiful and life-like. It is really ridiculous they didn't win (though we didn't make it to see the #1 group, Beija-Flor).

The other groups were good fun too--Imperatriz did different monarchs in history and the French revolution, and Unidos da Tijuca did different "collections" of stuff, though their coolest float, I thought, was a huge golden peacock, with people emerging as the feathers, though I also did enjoy their people dressed as books. Grande Rio, which came in third, had what I thought was a totally dumb theme--the natural gas of the Amazon. Their first two floats were really cool though--these weird metallic spheres with performers flipping and floating around inside. I told Eli jokingly they should have just dressed some people up as Indians and had them fart down the parade route. He was like, "Did they really do that?" Sometimes American humor doesn't translate.

Anyway, I left with a bad taste in my mouth, also after all the cabs seemed to be charging based on "distance charts" (almost like DC), which they never do.

Nevertheless, everyone should experience Carnival in the Sambodrome. But perhaps one night is enough.