Bus and part 1 of CARNAVAL!!

  The disappointing thing about this blog post is that I really don't have that many pictures, as taking photos of buses is wholly dissatisfying and taking pictures of Carnaval, which perhaps would make for better pictures, is not quite safe (for the camera, for me, for most parties involved). Plus, sometimes you just want to be in the experience, rather than behind a lens.

      With that brief preface, I can go into cataloguing experiences up to and through carnaval. First I had to get there. Carnaval had been the only tangible dates of my entire trip, with the exception of Machu Picchu. That meant that to fully enjoy it, I needed to get there on time. I got out of the Pantanal on the 6th, booked a bus to Campo Grande, I mostly talked with the Russian couple I mentioned earlier, who had the most adorable accents (think verrry strong russian accent). When I realized that there was space on the bus from campo grande to Brasilia, I jumped on that and went straight, never really leaving the Campo Grande bus station. 

Two initial impressions of Brazil. One, after coming off of traveling in Bolivia for a week and a half, it is hard to get used to the prices. Well, actually the prices are pretty similar. 10 Bolivianos for a sandwhich, and maybe 10 reals for the same sandwich. The problem is that I convert back to dollars, and you divide bolivianos by 7 and reales by 2, which makes bolivianos much more friendly. Other thing: no one speaks english (or at least the lowest amount of English speakers I have ever seen in my travels) Even the tourist agency doesn't speak english, so trying to ask for information is a bit more of an ordeal. My Portuguese, although virtually non existent compared to my spanish, can get by, with the addition of a hearty amount of waving and miming. 

In Brasilia, the capital, I had an overpriced taxi to an overpriced hotel where I then had an overpriced dinner. (I am still really used to my old prices). I caught up on fb, blog, etc while I was there -- the wonders of the modern world-- and then the next morning caught yet another 24 hour bus ride to Salvador. There was an annoying drip that came from the ceiling, and every 10 seconds, another drop would come down---not conducive to sleeping. 

I was slightly worried about meeting up with the people I were staying with, Natalie and Andres, because all I knew was the address. I hadn't even informed them about when I was getting in, because with the 24 hour bus rides, the arrival is not a fixed 24 hours but can range from 22 to 26 or 27. We did meet up, and then it was time for Carnaval. I will do my best in describing it, but really, Carnaval is summed up in a series of moments and images, although unfortunately, given the high number of thefts that occur, it was not quite worth it for me to bring my camera (so I don't have the images).

We had to get there first. The bus station was packed; it was evident that we were not the only people going to carnaval. There are two main circuits of carnaval, and for day one, we decided to go to Barra. It was quite the discouraging feeling to see multiple buses pass, all marked Barra, and all completely full. We eventually found a bus that would take us on, even though it was quite full as well which meant a crammed bus ride.

People people people... there were a lot of people, a thing that remained common across all of Carnaval. I suppose that makes sense though, as a few years ago Guinness book of world records declared the Carnaval in Salvador to be the largest street party in the world with 2 million people flocking to carnaval each year. So, everywhere associated with Carnaval was packed.

I am first going to lay out the basic organization of Carnaval in Salvador.bThere are different options you can do, from camarotes which are watching the parade go by (it didn't sound as fun and you pay exorbitant sums) to pipoca, popcorn, which is just be in the crowd along the side, and constantly be in a crowd, or blocos (identified by a special t shirt), which are associated with a specific truck people who hold up the rope to keep the popcorn out of the bloco.

One of the best things to me about carnaval is the people watching. The variety in costumes is crazy. Some people are covered in clothing, some people go with a bra and shorts. By far the most entertaining, and surprisingly prevalent, was the large amount of cross dressing. Men would wear by female standards fairly scandalous clothing, basically a skirt and a bra, and would be covered in makeup and mascara. One group of these men was carrying a large foam dick, using it to clear a way through the crowd. There was a coordination across all 4 days for many men to wear a mixture of sultan/ bathrobe attire ( although they are basically the same thing), and lots of beads. These men would try to lasso women with their beads, trying to kiss random strangers. One thing that I saw more than once was a condom earring, where the condom was in its wrapper, and a stud sandwiched it to the ear, as if to advertise to the world that they were ready if need be (although I hope that the condom wasn't punctured...).

As we witnessed this spectacle, we (Natalie, Andres and I) were walking along the sides, dancing in the front, and in general, making merry. We ate street food as we got hungry, and the street food was delicious, everything from meat kabobs to grilled corn. We had to dodge puddles along the way and trust me---you don't want to step in the puddles, you have no idea what they are and you don't really want to know. There was one grassy area along the main strip, and there was just a solid wall of men urinating. In the actual crowd, you would sometimes be sprayed by liquid, and you would always pray, please let it be water, please let it be water. Sometimes it was, and sometimes some guy thought it would be entertaining to dance very hard with a beer.

The other very notable thing was the military police. They walked in a line, with stern expressions on their faces and night sticks in their hands. You didn't want to get in the way of these guys, and sometimes, they would have men cuffed up, sullenly walking between them, or they would be carrying extremely drunk women.

At some point during the night, I acquired a yellow hat,  and we continued to dance until about 2. As our collective feet were quite sore, we decided to call it a night, and found a taxi to conclude the first night of carnaval.

I realized as I wrote this post that I am going to have to split it up, because there is still a lot to share about the rest of carnaval. Look for my next blog post hopefully soon.