Where Is Ron?
Latin America, 10 November 2008 - 3 March 2009
Ron in Sipascancha, Peru, November 2008
Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, February 2009
DATE
Afton, Virginia, USADear family and friends,
Carnival in Rio! -- here is Ron's report, written from São Paulo. He'll be bringing photos home (less than a week!), and after we process them and post them on our Web page I'll send out a message to let everyone know the photos are there.
Love to all,
Ellen
To see the first set of Carnival photos (parade route, floats, parade marchers), click on the thumbnail at the left.
Carnival in Rio
To see the second set of Carnival photos (individual marchers in costume), click on the thumbnail at the left.
26 February 2009
São Paulo, BrazilHello, my dear,
Perhaps others knew what to expect at Carnival in Rio - but I was most surprised to discover the main event.
For two nights (and I mean all night long) there were about 8 bands each night playing their song and putting on a parade that must have taken an hour to approach and pass by where I was sitting. That is an hour per band!
The setting is difficult to describe. It is far more complex than just a stadium. It is much longer and there is a wide street preceding the bleachers on which the groups form and march down to the main pavilion. Perhaps my pictures will explain better than my words.
I sat at the end, section 13, which is the cheaper and more public section that had easier to acquire scalped tickets. This section was large and further back from the road. Down on the flat area next to the road were reserved VIP seats, perhaps for people involved in the event. The next sections were closer to the road.
There were two very large TV screens on the end of this section, one on each side of the road, which showed the groups passing by the judging section. There were a lot of special effects, dances, and other acts that I could only see on the screens, and by the time they got to my section it was more like a parade than an act.
The same song played over and over the whole time the band was approaching and passing by.
At the end, the floats went to the right and the people went to the left (the side I was sitting on). The second night, after one of the later bands, I left my seat in the bleachers and went outside and around to where all the people were leaving and took lots of pictures of the various people and their costumes as they "flowed" by me, and was surprised by the number of older men and women involved. Of course I only did this with one band and I don't know if it was typical.
Getting to the event the first night, our bus left the beach at Barra de Tijura (where I was staying) and passed through the famous beaches of Leblon, Ipanema, and Copacabana on the way to the metro. It must have taken two hours because of the crowds of people having a party in the streets - I mean thousands of people.
When we reached the Metro station we were joined by many people in costumes going to the event to march with their band. Quite a sight - again the pictures will be worth 10 thousand words. Arriving at the Central Metro station we had to cross the road that the bands were gathering on, with people everywhere in all their costumes getting in line with all the gigantic elaborate floats. We walked along this route for a ways and then lost it as we approached the bleachers. During this part of the walk I was not willing to bring out my camera because I might be targeted and lose it. But once inside I felt safe. I noticed that others acted similarly.
After daylight when the last band had passed it was quite an experience to wander with the crowd to the Metro with the audience and the people in partial costumes or carrying parts. And along the way some of the piles of abandoned costumes (parts) make quite a sight.
I found the whole town to be a wonderful friendly party and enjoyed the wonderful experience.
So many people told me to watch myself and my things, that Rio was a very dangerous city, but I did not experience anything bad. Most of the time I felt secure - but I was cautious. There are some stories I picked up that could be true or not, but I believe them.
At the house I was staying, one night a group of people were driving to the airport to change some flights and when they came back I was told they didn't get to the airport. On one of the main highways there was a traffic jam and then people were turning around and coming back in the lanes the wrong way. They stopped one car and asked what was blocking the road and were told that a group of robbers with guns had blocked the highway and were robbing the people in the stopped cars, and people were turning around to avoid the robbers. On one of my bus rides I was talking to a young theatrical student preparing for a career as an actress. I asked about the theater in Rio and she said there wasn't much because it was too dangerous at night. When we were going from the Central Metro and crossed the road where the groups were forming for the parade, there was a young guy running very fast through the crowd and some others yelling and chasing at a slower pace. The assumption was the guy had just stolen something, perhaps a camera or a wallet. The day before I arrived there was an newspaper report published on the Internet which reported that a group of robbers with guns and hand grenades had taken over a hostel and held all the guests hostage while they stole all the backpacks, money, etc. One guy was just arriving and was knocking on the closed door and was greeted by a guy with a gun and hand grenade who pulled him inside and took his backpack and money pouch. The guys gave all the travelers their passports back. Nice of them. The report said that this was the second hostel captured and robbed in this period. One time there were a couple of guys behind me and I was aware that they were checking me out. I couldn't understand all the conversation but I think the one was telling the other that it was just a bottle of water (agua) in my side pouch, and perhaps that indicated I didn't have anything of value. But ..... I felt safe. Perhaps it is the numbers - a few incidents out of the millions of people attending Carnival as well as the millions that live here. I would love to come back and stay longer. [Note from Ellen: In today's Charlottesville newspaper there is an article about two recent incidents in Charlottesville where men posing as hotel maintenance checking the heating unit have entered occupied hotel rooms and robbed the occupants, so Rio de Janeiro isn't the only place these things happen!]
I went to Rio because I met Walter on the bus from Belem to Brasilia and he invited me to stay at his house in Rio for Carnival and talked me into going. Then he couldn't come but told me to go anyway. In his house there were too many people staying and there were some family dynamics going on that I just couldn't understand, so I finally moved to a motel on the beach close to Walter's house, the only place I could find. One of the guys staying at the house knew about the place. Fairly expensive - a motel for lovers. They rented the rooms by 12 hour periods. There were two wings with a gate leading to a driveway between the two wings. Each unit had a garage and an entry to the room from inside the garage. The room had mirrors on most walls, including the ceiling with colored lights that could be dimmed around the ceiling mirror. And quite a bathroom also.
One night I went out with a couple of Walter, Jr's friends, in their late 20s. My impressions were they were rich kids, both studying law, I think. One of the guys was really kind, could speak English and took very good care of me. We went to some place in the center of town where there were large crowds of young people and changing bands playing salsa music, the kind that the bands played in the parade competitions. I think, but am only guessing, that one of the bands was the same as one of the bands in the parades which the audience thought was one of the best. As the night got later I retreated to the second level overlooking the dance floor and watched the hundreds of people crowded together dancing. Wished I had my camera.
I am now in São Paulo and today I had lunch with the pediatrician I met in Boipeba. Tomorrow I am going to the hospital where he works for a tour of the public clinics. Sunday I have been invited to his house. In the afternoon we will play soccer at his club and I will spend the night at his house. He invited me to go visit his farm (without him) which he said was over 400 hectares. I just don't have the time to follow this adventure. But I am liking São Paulo so far. Wish I had a couple of more weeks to explore it. But only 4 days left.
Love and miss you - see you soon!
Ron
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Last updated: 11 April 2009
