SA2K11 Part 1: Festas de Carnaval no Rio de Janeiro!

As soon as I knew I was going to move to South America, Melissa and Tyler decided to come visit me for Carnival. After some peer pressure we convinced Emily to join and Trip SA2K11 was born! Emily's coworker Jordan happened to be down here the same time and ended up crashing at our apartment in Rio. The 5 of us came to be known as Team Win (thanks Charlie Sheen).... and win we did!

crowds filled the strand in Ipanema

partying in the streets of Lapa

Carnival in Rio was literally one of the most amazing experiences of my life! Everywhere we went in the city was a giant party... “Sorry we party!” was our motto for the trip. The streets and beaches were completely filled with people celebrating.  We followed blocos in Ipanema and Copacabana and partied in Lapa. As always Rio did not disappoint!

aerial view of the Sambódromo

The highlight of the week was definitely the Samba Parade at the Sambódromo. The Sambódromo is the "stadium" of samba. It consists of the Parading Avenue (the samba run-way) and several independent concrete structures for the spectators (the so called sectors) along both sides of the Parading Avenue.  Made of concrete, this stadium has been a permanent resident of Rio since its inauguration in 1984.  Empty for the majority of the year, this area comes to life during Carnival! It is truly magnificent and overpowering, lit up with special effects on Samba Parade nights, filled with thousands of cheering spectators.

The Rio Samba Parade is very distinctive from all other street parades held around the world. It started as street festivities with groups of people parading through the streets playing music and dancing.  Later, the Carnival parades in Rio developed into a competition between the samba schools.  Preparation for the Samba Parade starts months in advance, as each samba school mobilizes thousands of supporters who will create the various parts of the school's display. First, the theme of the year is chosen. Then the school's samba song of the year is selected through competition, while the school's Carnival Designer creates the costumes and the floats.

It was very apparent that every school's parade requires a highly organized and designed execution. Each school has about 3,000 to 5,000 parading members all dressed in elaborate costumes.  The costumes are extremely imaginative, colorful, elaborate and detailed. Covered in mirrors, feathers, metallic cloth, silk and sometimes gems or coins, etc… the costumes are truly incredible!

We arrived at the Sambódromo around 11pm, by then our section of the grandstand was quite full. Luckily we managed to secure a spot at the top and ended up having a great view of the show! We watched five schools perform. All were incredible! We danced along with so much energy and joy (even after the rain started) until 6am! This night was definitely an incredible experience! See below for highlights:

 
Imperatriz Samba School
Theme: “A Imperatriz adeverte: Sambar faz bem a saude” (Imperatriz warns: Dancing samba is good for your health) 

Portela Samba School
Theme: “Rio, azul da cor do Mar” (Rio, blue as the sea)

Avitar float

Unidos da Tijuca Samba School 

Theme: “Esta noite levarei a sua alma” (This night I will take your soul)

This was most definitely one of our favorite schools! Their whole theme was different movies...Em and Jordan were in heaven! 

Tom Brady waving to wife Gisele

 Vila Isabel Samba School

Theme: “Mitos e Historias Entrelacadas pelos Fios de Cabelo” ( Myths and Stories Interwined by Hair)

Portraying a modern Venus with flowing tresses and a golden mini dress, Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen blew kisses to thousand of roaring fans as the featured performer of the Carnival samba club Vila Isabel.  The group's elaborate entry was sponsored by Procter & Gamble Co., whose Pantene shampoo line has Bundchen as its representative.  Tom Brady stood in the VIP section cheering on his wife. We took a lot of photos of the two!

Mangueira Samba School 
Theme: “O filho fiel, sempre Mangueira” ( The constant son, always Mangueira)

Gabe's in the upper right hand corner - count down 4 guys!

While we were waiting for this final school to being it started to rain. Had it been any other school that was going last we would have probably left. However, Mangueira was the school we came to see, therefore we were staying till the very end! The reason being Mads’ brother Gabe was performing in the in bateria (drum ensemble) for Mangueira. It was obvious that this school had several stands as the granstands were still packed with supports cheering on the school. As they began to play the rain stopped and the sun began to rise. It was quite magical! By the time the parade ended it was fully daytime.  This night/morning will definitely be a memory I always treasure!

The rain stopped just as the sun began to rise

For more photos click here. Please note: Many of the photos from the Sambódromo were taken by Tyler and Jordan on their awesome camera.

A Lil Bit of Funk... A Lil Bit of Samba with Jona

**Post written by Mads**

When my brother first started coming to Rio frequently around he was recommended by his drum professor in the U.S. someone to study with in Rio named Miguel. Miguel is famous fpr being a master at the repinique, which is the drum that leads the samba school during Carnival. My brother would make the trek out to Miguel's house in Cidade de Deus, the same place where the movie City of God was filmed. Sometimes they would practice at Miguel's girlfriend, Portela's, house. Portela soon became very fond of my brother and started calling herself his "mãe preta" or black mom. Portela has three daughters whim all live next door to one another. I became united with the whole family two years ago on New Year's Eve where we all celebrated among the masses of people on Copacabana beach. That is when I met Jonathan, one of Portela's grandsons. We became fast friends and talk online often.

About two months before Vans and I left on our trip, Jona told me that he was going to have a big 18th birthday party and asked if I could come.I wasn't sure of our plans because we only had a ticket into Fortaleza and out of Buenos Aires, but I told him I would do my best to make it to Rio in time. It turned out that because it was raining so much in Salvador we arrived to Rio before we had planned and were able to attend the party. After the two hour bus ride in the rain to Anil, the town in which Jona lives, we made it. Jone was so delighted! We had a great time dancing to samba and watching the local boys put on a show dancing to funk. Funk is a type of music that originated in the favelas (the slums) at the baile funks and is now popular among the upper class Cariocas. Funk is kind of like Brazilian rap with a common beat that plays in every song. The lyrics are really crude and the dance is like freaking but choreographed. (For more info see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk_carioca). Funk is pretty funny to watch... Vans is obsessed! The young boys at the party has choreographed full routines and did some really incredible things with their stomach muscles. See videos of some of their dances below.

Jona invited us to come back to his neighbor-hood two weeks later for a concert by Bom Gosto. He offered for us to stay the night at his house since it would be too dangerous for us to go back to the city in the wee hours of the morning alone (my dad had accompanied us to/from the birthday party). Although Vans and I had gotten very little sleep the night before, we rallied and made it out there. We started the night eating at a local festa that reminded Vans of a carnival. Drinking beer to merely stay awake, we held out until 1am when the band finally took the stage.

Once they began to play the concert was awesome and well worth the trip! I was pleasantly surprised because we got to be in VIP with plenty of room to dance. After the show Vandria's new favorite music began to play.... baile funk!!! The next day we had Jona make us a CD full of the new songs we have discovered, both samba and funk. Thanks to one of his DJ friends we were finally able to discover the name of the anthem of our summer (winter) "Stereo Love" by Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-Z3YrHJ1sU). This song has literrally been playing EVERYWHERE.

Our last night in Rio, Jona came out to Lapa to join us for our Wednesday weekly tradition of Grupo Revelação. The show tonight was AMAZING! It's like they knew it was our last night in Rio. They played such a long set and performed all of our favorite songs. We didn't want the night to end after the band was done, so we stayed a bit and danced to a little funk!

After a while we had to leave as the music starts to get very repetitive. As we were leaving the club Jona pointed out the tãtã (hand held base drum) player (who happens to be Vans favorite musician of the group). So excited to see her boyfriend in person Vans ran up to him and asked to take a photo. Such a perfect way to end the perfect last night of the perfect trip to Rio!

SAMBA!!

Considered one of the most popular Brazilian cultural expressions, the samba has become an icon of Brazilian national identity. Traditionally, the samba is played by strings (cavaquinho and various types of guitar) and various percussion instruments. Since arriving to Rio, Mads and I have seen A LOT of Samba shows. There is essentially samba playing every night of the week. In addition to attending the local Samba houses we have gone to some shows with pretty big names (see below).

The other night she asked me if I was getting sick of it and to her delight I said no. While I have still not learned the dance, I can still appreciate the music and sway along to the rhythms. Mads on the other hand not only loves the music but loves to dance to it. She is very good and always gets compliments from the locals. Her friend Ananda (see pic to left) promises to teach me how to dance, as she is an instructor. Hopefully by the time we leave Rio I will be a pro! Below is a video of Mads and Ananda sambaing at a local rooftop pagode. (Sorry it's a little dark!)

Shows we've been to:

• Grupo Revelação
• Arlindo Cruz
• Jeito Moleque
• Samba pra Gente
• Grupo Bom Gosto
• Grupo Exaltasamba

Some of our fave Songs:

MADELENA DO JUCU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH4bMuiKc1U)

MADELENA , MADELENA
Madeline, Madeline

VOCÊ É MEU BEM QUERER

You, are my one true love

EU VOU FALAR PRA TODO MUNDO
I'm going to tell everyone

VOU FALAR PRA TODO MUNDO
I'm going to tell everyone

QUE EU SÓ QUERO É VOCÊ

That I only want you

EU VOU FALAR PRA TODO MUNDO
I'm going to tell everyone

VOU FALAR PRA TODO MUNDO
I'm going to tell everyone

QUE EU SÓ QUERO É VOCÊ
That I only want you

BATUCADA BOA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-jXKWOVzxA)

BATUCADA BOA

Good batucada (refers to a drum beat in Samba)

CERVEJA GELADA
Cold beer

E MULHER BONITA QUEM É QUE NãO GOSTA

and a beautiful woman who does not like it

A ESCOLHA É SUA, ACEITA O REJEITA A MINHA PROPOSTA

The choice is yours, accept or reject my offer

Paparazzo Vandria

It started raining last week in Rio which left Mads and I with little to do. Most of the sites are outdoors and the malls have very little to offer as we had had already been to all of the same stores in Salvador. We made the best of it by doing a little shopping, a little inside sightseeing and a lot of lounging around the apartment. On Wednesday night we decided to brave the rain and go out to Lapa 40 Graus to see Grupo Revelação in their weekly appearance. We did not have high expectations as the week before was hard to beat (with our Ronaldinho sighting) slash we didn't know if there would be a good crowd as it was raining quite hard, but we had not gone out in 3 nights and we were starting to get cabin fever!

The night started out like any other night, i.e. drinking cheap beer outside the night club followed by "expensive" (~$2USD) beer inside. We were pleasantly surprised with the crowd as we mingled and danced a little to the DJ music while waiting for the samba band to begin playing. The the band began its set with no special introduction of guests, etc... The week before they had pointed to the VIP section where soccer, movie, and musical starts were sitting.

While the weather gods were not smiling down upon us, the music and sports gods sure were! All of a sudden in the middle of one song Ronaldinho appeared on the stage again!! Unlike last week we had NO clue he was there. But this time I had my camera to capture it! I became HARD CORE paparazzo. No joke I think I took over 50 pictures and 10 videos. I was on a mission (slash I was drunk)... Once he started playing I glued myself to the front of the stage to get the perfect shot. Not going to lie I think I did quite well! In addition to being an AMAZING soccer player the man can sure get down on the pandeiro (see video). So now Mads and I are spoiled as we have now seen him two weeks in a row. I don't know if we try our luck again next week or just leave it as is. All I can say is in Rio (esp. Lapa) you can always have an awesome night even when it rains. Enjoy the pics!! ( these are just the highlights... I wasn't kidding when I said I went a lil crazy).

UPDATE: After 6 days the rain finally stopped and (fingers crossed) it is supposed to maybe be beach weather again tomorrow!!!

Weekends in Lapa

Lapa (the neighborhood where Mads' dad lives) is the center of a vibrant bohemian scene in Rio, with dozens of music clubs, bars and restaurants scattered along its streets. On weekends the

neighborhood becomes packed, with people spilling out of samba clubs, onto the streets and plaza in fornt of the Arcos da Lapa. Kiosks in the middle of the streets sell beer for like $1. Mads and I managed to go out both Friday and Saturday nights and only spend around R$6-10 each night (equivalent to $3-5 USD). Friday night we hit up a local samaba house where Mads tore up the floor and got some unwanted attention from a sapatão (brazilian for lesbian- literally a big shoe). We then walked around what Mads affectionately calls "pee alley" a back street full of hole in the wall bars with live music playing in every spot and people hanging in the street drinking and dancing. On our walk home we stopped to listen to some samba musicians as they jammed under the arches we finally got home at 6am exhausted fro msuch a fun night.

Saturday night we decided to go out in Lapa again. It was so cheap and there is so much energy in the streets that you don't really need a plan to have a good night. We met up with Brad (a four degrees of separation connection through Anna). We went to dinner for us to get to know each other. It was pretty crazy how much Brad's life paralleled ours. Like Mads he is half American and half Brazilian and like both of us he recently quit his job and is thinking of moving down here. After some good conversation and amazing pizza we decided to hit the streets and see where the night took us. We started out at a little pe sujo (literally dirty foot) a hole in the wall bar. Mads' new found friend from the night before was playing samba there. (Sidenote: he is identical to Blair Underwood! and even though we know his real name Rafael I now only call him Blair).

While watching the band I was intrigued by this percussion instrument called the cuica. It is the weirdest instrument I've ever seen! By watching the musician play, it looks as if the man was fisting the drum. That alone makes it look very sexual/dirty- but it gets worse... The way the music is made is by rubbing a wooden rod inside the drum with a damp cloth (see video to see what I am talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqh2wWIMDAA).

Sexual no?!?

Later that night we ran into the cuica player

from earlier and I asked him to show me how to play it. He then handed it to me and right off the bat I rocked! Everyone around me started laughing and jamming along with me. It was def beginner's luck though, because I stopped and tried to start again but was very unsuccessful on the second try.

After the jam sesh we were looking for something to do that didn't include cover as it was close to 4am. Blair and his friend had their instruments and suggested making our own party on the nearest street corner. So I requested the first song be Madalena, a gem that everybody knows and everyone always sings to Mads when they first meet her. I get a kick out of it every time! So they started playing and walking and ended up in front of a bar on the corner of Mem de Sa and Rua do Lavaro. The pagode started attracting more and more people it was great! Next thing we knew there were like 30 people spilling into the street around us singing and dancing. (See videos below) As time went on the restaurant had to ask us to leave so they could shut down the place as it was now 6am. We walked home as the sun was rising, it was a great end to a memorable night!

Ronaldinho!!!!!!!

Our fist night in Rio we went to a local night club in Lapa (right around the corner from Mads' dad's place) to watch Grupo Revelação - a samba band that Mads loves. A few songs into their performance they called out to Ronaldinho Gaucho who was watching from the VIP area above. EEEEKKKK!!!! Mads and I both almost died (she actually came super close to crying... no joke!). He then came down on stage and started playing the pandeiro (a sort of tambourine drum thing) literally 2 feet in front of us! We were so sad we didn't have our cameras with us- but decided if we had this probably would not have happened.

What an AH-MAZING first night in Rio!!!!