Top 5 tips for Carnival costume

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Having had a little time to think about it, I realised that the one thing I didn’t do in yesterday’s post is differentiate between blocos and the main procession thing that everyone thinks of when they hear “Carnival in Rio”. The big procession thing is called Desfile das Escolas de Samba (Procession of the Samba Schools). It’s the thing you see on the news each year, held in the Sambadrome – a big long street, lined with masses of tiered seating:

 

The main procession, as seen here in the film Rio

 

I haven’t been to this thing – tickets are really expensive and to be honest, I’m not that keen. Don’t get me wrong, it looks spectacular and I definitely want to see it one day, but just sitting there watching from the side seems a bit passive, you know? Maybe I’ll go in a few years when I’m older and richer.

So if you’re not at the Sambadrome, you should be at a bloco, and if you’re at a bloco then you should have an outfit!

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What’s a ‘Bloco’ and what should I expect?

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Hooray! Carnaval (that’s the Portuguese spelling) season is well and truly under way! I’ve been posting up a few photos from the bloco I went to last Sunday on the Eat Rio Facebook page, but I think it’s time I said a little more about this quintessentially Brazilian festival.

Timoneiras da Viola – the bloco I visited last Sunday. It was great!

 

The main days of Carnaval are from Saturday to Wednesday – the exact date changes each year (the closing Wednesday is Ash Wednesday). This year it will run from 17th-21st February. I say “main days” because Carnaval actually kicked off weeks ago!

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Racial Makeup

Brazil – a melting pot, not a salad.

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This post follows on from my previous post in which I waffled about that Suárez/Evra incident and then waffled some more on the subject of language related to race in Brazil. Now I want to continue in my Belgian breakfast-style discussion by telling you a little more about some things I’ve noticed in relation to race here in Brazil.

The races in Brazil have mixed far more thoroughly than in Britain. Six months ago I attended a big get together of my mother-in-law’s family. There must have been at least 100 people there and I was struck by the variation in skin colour and features – there were some very black people, some very white people and every colour in between.

Figures from the 2010 census indicating the distribution of race (people were asked how they would describe themselves). Amarela, “yellow” in portuguese, is a term for people of East Asian origin apparently; Parda is a mix that covered both Morena and Mulata; Indígena means indigenous (Amerindian). 

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Race, language and the word ‘negro’ in Brazil.

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I’ve been wanting to write something about race in Brazil for a while. There have been quite a few things floating around in my head on the subject because there are so many differences between the UK and Brazil: history, population demographics, language and attitudes. So, it’s been on my ‘To Do’ list for a while and then recent events in England made me think again about the situation here in Brazil.

Left, Patrice Evra for Manchester United; Right, Luis Suárez for Liverpool.

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Language pitfalls. So many language pitfalls.

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Ah Portuguese! It’s a constant source of both frustration and fascination. Lindsey put it very nicely in a recent post:

“It’s what will paralyze you on your weaker days, and give you the biggest sense of accomplishment on your strong ones.”

So true. The simplest victories will put a spring in my step for the whole day – the failures can make me feel utterly defeated. Mistakes and misunderstandings are common and occasionally your mistake will cause everyone to fall about laughing. In such situations they say that it’s better to laugh along with everyone but I find it difficult not to scowl. Sometimes I throw in a little sulking as well for good measure.

And the pitfalls are many. First of all there are gender issues – I will describe this using one of my famous animations. Those of you who speak Portuguese should be able to work this one out just from the imagery:

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