Confirmation of my Survival

I survived Carnaval! Yet, not without a nasty sore throat and fever. It is five days past, and I am starting to see what the city looks like all year round without its insane party facade. The whole event was an incredibly elongated short sprint of partying, and definitely earned its renewed distinction of largest street party in the world! It just got bigger and bigger each day until you could barely walk from one point to another. You just had to settle for the man selling beer next to you, the music from the closest band, and the attractive girls within a ten foot radius. The event did not only come with dangers of over-exertion, but also robbery(7 students), pepper spray(3 students), and punches to the face resulting in stitches(1 student). I luckily emerged only with the effects of too much partying! The days I paid to be in the safer madness of the groups, following the bands on huge trucks roped off by hundreds of gaurds, were definitely the most fun, but none of my previous experiences could really top any of the days of Carnaval 2010!

Had to write this fast. Forgive my many errors!

CARNAVAL!! Two Days Down, FOUR to go!

Carnaval is absolutely insane! I don't know how i am going to make it six days! The first two have been so much fun and taken all my energy! I haven't made it past 4:30 yet, but I'm working on it. Bob Sinclair tonight ("Love Generation")! I am so close to the bands and the singers it is crazy, and everyone is jumping and dancing and singing the whole time (Sorry Patrick, I forget the Groundhog Day quote)! It's unbelievable! SO MANY PEOPLE! More energy than I have ever seen in my life! I just need to find some for myself!

Lovin Salvador!

Classes officially started this week at UCSal, but no one shows up until the end of February! I am thoroughly enjoying Salvador right now! I am living in a really cool area, and I am a short walk from two beaches! The vibe here is way different than São Paulo, and it is way easier to explore and know where you are because everything is not so enormous. I can hop on a bus and go up the coast to cleaner less crowded beaches like Sean and I did the other day. There are so many little beaches and beach towns to explore that it looks like I will be able to fill my four-day weekends with plenty of adventures. It is just tentative, but there is a very good chance I may have class only Tuesday through Thursday. If that ‘s the case I will definitely be spending some time on Samba lessons, but right now all I need to know is how jump up and down like “pipoca.” That means popcorn, and that is what they call the hectic masses of people during Carnaval because they are jumping up and down to the music starting at sunset and lasting until sunrise.

I have been getting very excited, and this city is about to explode tomorrow. Carnaval starts Thursday at 5:00pm when they key to the city is handed over to the King of the festa and it continues until sunrise Ash Wednesday morning. Everyone has been preparing for it since I have been here. Enormous temporary party structures have been going up everywhere along the party circuits. Every inch of the circuits are being used to build these camarotes and have crazy all-inclusive parties to add to over-the-top aspect of everything that is going on. On these circuits huge trucks with stadium sized speakers will crawl along with famous singers and bands playing on top, surrounded by the thousands of people who paid to party with their favorite artists on the street. I could talk about everything I have heard or read about Carnaval, but one prevailing theme has been that the craziness will far exceed all my expectations. Wish me luck!

São Paulo Ends and Salvador Begins!

So, São Paulo... A little overwhelming being so huge and all, meanwhile sharing it with 22million other people didn't help. So what to like? Well, like any other city it has its charming nooks and crannies everywhere you go, but three weeks during intensive portuguese class is definitely not long enough to get a hold of your surroundings in a crazy hodge podge like SP. It is for sure a very unique mix of everything in the world that is transformed to make something distinctly Brazilian. One perspective I am missing is a familiarity with the people there which is a main component. All in all, SP is a city with a distinct rhythm that is hard for the outsider to get a hold of, but once you find the beat of the Paulistanos it looks as if there is endless possibilities.

Salvador is awesome! But I have much less access to internet here and have to go now, so I will bring "Part II: Salvador Begins" to you in a little bit.