Carnaval

Foi. LOUCO.

I had no idea what to expect going in except the bits and pieces seasoned veterans had told me. Words like "war," "absolutely insane," and "a marathon" had come up in conversations prior to the event. Turns out, Carnaval in Salvador is actually just a huge street party with copious amounts of light beer and really good music. I will recount what I remember.

Day 1 : The Intro

We took the 12:45 am bus to Salvador, arrived in Salvador at 5:00 am. Passed the day napping, reading, rejuvenating (I WENT TO THE BEACH WITH NOAH!) for our first night in Pelourinho and Campo Grande. Our pousada was located on the perfect street in Pelourinho, so we got to see parades pass by our window. The night began slow, with a few parades and small blocos here and there.... and then. The samba bloco happened. IT WAS SO CRAZY. I got the first kiss of the night when someone asked, "are you married?" Shocked (do I look married??! I thought), I said "OF COURSE NOT!" and got a whiskery, slobbery kiss from a 50+ year old. Lesson learned: the answer is always, ALWAYS, married.

Vilma and I got seperated from the group in a very, very black samba bloco. We spent 45 minutes basically fighting our way down the street, and because Vilma sticks out SO MUCH with her PLATINUM BLONDE EFFING HAIR, we were admired (read: touched, kissed, tugged, pulled) all the way. It was a fight, but we got out, watched some samba dancing, made some friends, got a free t-shirt, and called it a night.

Day 2 : The Solitude

Spent the day recuperating and eating Acai. Went to Noah's 5 star apartment with a view of the ocean and commenced the night with his roomates. Any sense of time during Carnaval has eluded me, but we went out, us two and his friend from last semester, and we lost Noah literally within the first fifteen minutes. We danced our way into Barra, Ondina, made friends with the most kind, fun, phenomenal Brazillian couple and spent a good part of the night with them.

AND THEN I WAS SEPERATED FROM MY NEW FRIENDS!!! Totally alone, in the middle of a street party of 2 million, and it was the best part of my Carnaval. Dancing, singing, jumping, being alone but actually surrounded by hundreds of friends, it was perfect, and as the sun was rising I took a moto taxi back to the hostel... I have no idea where in the city I was, but judging by the moto taxi ride, I was reeeealll far.

Day 3 : The Marathon

Since it was our last night, we had a goal: 6 pm to 6 am. Met up with Noah again, ventured into Barra, and repeated the previous nights with different happenings here and there.

We ventured onto the streets at around five o clock. The walk to Noah's was 45 minutes, but it took us two hours. Why, you ask? BECAUSE WE HAD TO FIGHT OUR WAY THROUGH A PARADE OF A THOUSAND MEN IN EGYPTIAN DRAG OUTFITS WITH WATER GUNS. What?! Why is this happening?? And unfortunately we were going the opposite direction of the parade. And it was just madness. We exited Campo Grande crying and laughing and soaking wet and confused and excited and exhausted and maddened. All because Vilmas stupid hair catches so much attention.

And, I am happy to say, we made the marathon. 6 til 6, boom, accomplished. Made more and more new friends and danced our little hearts out.

It was perfect, in all seriousness. I sincerely regret not staying four, five, six nights, but I have a funny feeling this won't be my last Carnaval in Salvador.

(As far as pictures go, it is highly advised to not take a camera out due to massive amounts of theft, so the few pictures and videos I got were from the hostel). The beach photos are from our days in Imbassai, post Carnaval.

shoes, pre-Carnaval

shoes post-Carnaval (may they rest in peace)