Today is the first day for about a month where it has been clear most of the day. Somehow that seems impressive. It is still hot and humid, though, so that seems oppressive...
Anyway, Carnival is what I want to talk about. After asking a few questions I figured out that the answers were (as I originally thought) right in front of me. This is the second year I have been in Brazil for Carnival. Last year I watched a bit on TV. It was not really worth my time-I was bored.
The root words of the celebration's name explain a lot of what the whole thing is all about: Carne, and festa/festival. If one pulls the two apart and translates them, this is the result: Flesh party, or you could also translate it meat party (both apply, as I will explain).
Catholics fast from red meat for the 40 days before Easter. So, somewhere back in time someone decided it would be fun to have a meat feast right before the fast. Somehow that also "progressed" into having samba dancers without 98% of their body covered doing their thing in the street, and on national television.
The big events are in Rio de Janeiro, and Sao Paulo. They are televised, and basically each samba school gets 90 minutes to parade floats and battalions of dancers past the judges, cameras, and crowds. The winning school gets money.
The government gives a day-and-a-half of holiday for the event. And while Monday was not a holiday, N‡dya got the day off, and many of the stores in the area were closed. Today at 1 PM she had to be back at the daily grind.
[If you are interested in more information, check out Wikipedia]
This year I have not really seen any of the various carnival things around the country (a few snippets on the news, but not much more). We have had Allan, Herika, and Yluscka here. It has been one of the most relaxing weekends in memory for most all of us. Good food, sleep, and conversations. No time for television. I like weekends like that.
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