Post-carnival depression

Not mine...but the city is still sleeping its hangover...
My samba school didn't win...in fact it only made 5th!

I am starting to get worried...Prof-PUC is supposed to be arriving any time soon...and should be full of energy to work. More worryingly, I was briefly notified I had to help him giving a course this term...I still don't know what I would be talking about or when we start!

I seem to live in a permanent state of Mathematical frustration...been trying to prove the same thing for days now...
During Carnival , the local bloco (accompanied by live drums) was singing non-stop their repetitive songs, while walking slowly through the long straight road visible from my window.
One day the noise started here at 5pm...it only finished at 11pm. I was trying to work (a proof with epsilons and deltas) and ended up having nightmares about dancing deltas!

Now, the deltas are as tired as the rest of the Carnival dancers, and they are, as the blocos were before, giving me headaches!

Bom Carnaval!

Happy Shrove Tuesday, Pancake day or Carnival day.
Those of you in European lands, please make the most of the pancakes!
Those of you in Greece or of Greek origin, enjoy the Meat festival...
Those of you who are religious and will start fasting and avoiding red meat for the next 40 days: enjoy the last of them...
Mexicanos que se encuentren en el ultimo caso: comanse unos taquitos de carne, chorizo, pastor o lo que mas se les antoje.
Los que anden en Veracruz o Mazatlan, ahi me cuentan que tal se pusieron las celebraciones por alla...
Aqui, ya las escuelas de samba pasaron en el sambodromo, sin mi...
Tal vez el proximo anio...si el proyecto Gym va viento en popa, hasta me anime a desfilar con poca ropa, al mas puro estilo carioca...
Aunque debo confesar que mientras escribo esto, estoy esperandio a PhD girl, para ir a comer un helado...sin crepas, la tradicion europea de las crepas el dia de hoy la voy a dispensar...hace mucho calor aqui.
El domingo nos juntamos y cocine el platillo mas carioca que conozco: frijoles negros con carne de puerco, acompanados de sus verduras (tipo col) su naranja en gajos y su farofa (hecha de harina de mandioca y parece como a las migajas de pan tostado). Nos bebimos unas buenas caipirinhas mientras veiamos en la tele el desfile.
Mi casi-escuela la Viradouro de Niteroi estuvo genial...espero ganen, pues cuando fuimos a verlos enseyar hace casi dos semanas mas o menos me comprometi con la secretaria del instituto de matematicas que si aun estoy en tierras cariocas para el proximo carnaval, vamos a desfilar.

En fin, hoy hay un ultimo bloco cerca de casa. Dr. O y yo lo hemos visto volverse mas popular al pasar de los anios...nuestra primera visita en 2004 era uno de sus primeros carnavales...les tengo carinho...
Ya lo convenci de ir aunque sea un poquito...

Y el domingo, vamos a Copacabana a ver al bloco mas numeroso de todos: Monobloco.

Ayer y hoy por lo menos ha hecho un sol hermoso, pues no hay nada mas que hacer...todo esta cerrado, asi que a aprovechar playa y comer helado.

The day after tomorrow.

I am happy to have enjoyed what may be my last week on earth.
If the weather forecast that appeared on the local newspaper is correct, unless my air conditioning units are in top gear I may find myself melting forever into unrecognisable shape as temperatures reach almost 100 degrees Celsius! (look at the forecast for segunda which is Monday in Portuguese).

Had I known the fate that awaited me before, I could have dispensed the skin care and enjoy the beach on Saturday (when I felt like I was melting, but the temperature was only about 37). Of course, every single Carioca in town had already had the same idea -sun protection or not- and the beach was fully packed before I had even got up -admittedly quite late: midday.

On Friday, I went to a Roda de Samba bar, in the centre of Town, own by a friend of Profa. Niteroi (she is the professor I am working with and lives in Niteroi). She was dancing and singing all night! I danced a little: my samba is still in its infancy. Probably it was a good thing I didn't buy a suit to parade with any samba school this year. (Actually I am quite disappointed!)

So after the night out, I was woken up by the noise of hundreds of fireworks, followed by some loud unintelligible music: a bloco had assembled in a square near home. They stayed singing and shouting there most of the day, in the relentless heat, until they decided to start parading, through the roads of the neighbourhood, eventually passing right on my road (this was at about 6pm!) on their way to the beach.

Some time much later, after we had long set head to pillow, we overheard through a microphone a feminine voice still chanting and leading thousands of people through the streets.
Now, that is stamina and love of Carnival and party.

My sole Carnival activity this week was the visit to the home of the Samba school Viradouro. The people there were really enthusiastic, full of energy and charm...although their song seemed a bit poor...
I have to apologise: I had taken my camera, but last minute, I decided to live my backpack inside a friend's car...and the camera stayed inside. In the event, I had my mobile phone with camera with me, and took some photos and even some videos, but I don't know how I can extract such info from phone and put it into PC (anybody: help!)

The only thing to drink was beer (which I don't drink) and a dodgy version of the well-loved alcoho-pop: A little bottle containing some (extremely artificial) lemonade with cachaca. I paid my 4 reais to take one sip of that awful concoction, before deciding to stick to soft drinks for the night- just about right, my female friend went to the toilet, and came back, between amused and horrified, baring news of toilets with no doors!

Despite my sober condition, I managed to forget my phone inside the car of the friend that took home (luckily, I didn't take a taxi!) and was incommunicado until Friday, when I went back to Niteroi.

Now I will enjoy from the distance (from my window) the wet performance of tonight's bloco under the rain and wait for Global warming to come.

A Banda de Ipanema

Last Saturday, after a relaxing afternoon at the beach, eating biscoitos Globo and drinking agua de Coco, Dr. O and I set off to meet the parade of the Banda de Ipanema considered here as an immaterial treasure of the city. The Band was founded in 1965 and it became very popular during the Dictatorship years. Nowadays is famous for the drag queens that lend some glamour and fun to this parade.
After reassembling at a well known square at the far end of Ipanema, they stop the traffic by the beaches of Ipanema and Leblon, with the colourful Drag Queens leading the way, followed by the band itself (lots of brass: tubas, trumpets, very different from the traditional Carnival bloco, which is mostly percussions) and around 5000 people trying to dance to the music, but certainly enjoying the freedom of expression felt at Carnival.

We didn't know the music nor the lyrics, and somehow didn't feel to involved with their demonstration, but it was fun all the same to watch them, as outsiders we were.

Today I'm off to Niteroi, to attend a Maths conference, but by night I shall visit the home of Samba School Viradouro, to sample one of their traditional rehearsals and that invariably degenerates in a party. I shall tell you later how that went.

Al son del tambor

La ciudad entera va llenandose con los sonidos de los tambores y las guitarras, las cuicas y los agogos (instrumentos tipicos de la samba) y los cantos de las marchinhas que tanto llegan al corazon carioca.
Afuera de los bares de la calle, se estacionan por algunos minutos las bandas de musicos de variado tamanio y calidad, para alegrar (y de paso imposibilitarles la conversacion) a los clientes a cambio de unas monedas.
Falta menos de un mes para el carnaval.
Aun no he comprado mi traje para desfilar...talvez no pueda desfilar, mi amiga de aventura ha tenido un accidente a bordo de un autobus en la ciudad y no se encuentra con animos de ir a comprar las chucherias...pero ya veremos, todo puede suceder.
Ya el domingo pasado, me toco ver el primer bloco (agrupacion de personas que marchan por la calle tocando samba, hay muchas percusiones). La gente los sigue, baila con ellos a lo largo de la playa, los observa desde lejos.
Los cariocas estan contentos, el sol ha vuelto a salir, bien que ha llovido por las tardes, por lo menos aquellos de nosotros con tal don, hemos tenido la fortuna de adquirir una ligera tonalidad de bronceado.
Los cariocas bromean, cantan, bailan...
Comienzan a buscar en las tiendas los accesorios que utilizaran para fantasearse los dias que decidan salir a sambar en las calles, (collares de flores, pestanias metalicas, narices postizas, pelucas ridiculas, trajes de arabe). Todo se vale durante el reinado de Momo (senior del Carnaval) en Rio de Janeiro.
Y la ciudad va preparandose.
Aquellos que son alergicos al Carnaval, deben tomar precausiones y reservar unas vacaciones para escapar de la locura multitudinaria.
Los periodicos ya tienen una seccion especial dedicada al carnaval, y se habla de las escuelas de samba, como si fuesen equipos de futbol. A cual le vas? de que liga es?
Ya no hay boletos para las zonas medianamente economicas del sambodromo. Solo las super caras, especiales para los gringos estan aun en venta.
Mi mejor opcion es ir a los ensanios gratuitos en el Sambodromo.
O por que no? Desfilar!