15/2 – Carnaval 3 – The Day.

Did you see me? In the parade of the second samba school of the night: Imperatriz Leopoldinense. I was there, on the right, quite far back, just after the big golden bull and before the gigantic turquoise mosque. Dressed in black and white, with a shield with feathers on my back and one camel head on each shoulder. I waved to you through all the cameras I could see so you should have been able to spot me while I was singing along to the song with my very own words and doing my very best to make the night gown looking costume swing like if I was dancing some samba underneath it. Surrounded by other gringos who were more or less as skilled as me when in came to remembering the lyrics about how the Indians pray and the Christians dance…or if it was the other way around.

We all tried though, tried to move our mouth all the time, tried to move our feet the best we could, tried to smile non-stop for the half hour we passed the stands and most of all, tried to keep the lines. Wow, I’ve got a whole new respect for soldiers, marching bands and samba dancers now. Try to get a bunch of newbies walk in lines of seven with gigantic costumes swinging everywhere and having so much to look at all around. And as that wasn’t enough, when you think we got the hang of it and the guy yelling in Portuguese looked almost happy, they gave us a 90 degrees turn to pass. Come on, that’s even supposed to be hard for professionals. How on Earth were we supposed to ever get back in line after that passage? We did our best though, lines of 3, lines of 10, someone lost in between. We had a great time anyways and I hope we didn’t lose to many points for our school.

After passing the final stands of the Sambodromo, I was up for the next challenge: Finding my friends somewhere on the stands. Ok, water first, then finding friends. Not only people to zick-zack between but also all the left over costumes. Piles and piles of costumes everywhere, a dream for someone who loves masquerades and would happen to have a truck nearby. I’m going to keep mine though, with a high risk that it will be one of these big, bulky things you keep moving from place to place and store under your bed until you give up 10 years later, when you realise that it’s falling apart and that you haven’t used it even once since you got it. But I’ll deal with that in 10 years. Thanks so much HHH, would have made a lot of enemies on the stands without your help. Oh, almost forgot, Unidos da Tijuca – WOW!
Tonight? More blocos or carnaval? Nah, think I’ll samba from the couch tonight, with my feet up to give them some well deserved rest.

To be continued…with more photos, films and music.