My own lil Carnival

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  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Friday, December 21, 2007

Walk around a ton today and check out more of Rio than any day prior.  I see the Seleron stairs and various cathedrals, the best being the Metrolpolitan Cathedral with it`s pyrimad-esq, I guess more of a cone, shape and the largest stain glass windows I have ever seen or probably ever will.  This is by far the oddest looking cathedral I have ever been to.  It is extremely contemporary as far as cathedral architecture goes and sitting inside the massive structure and following the stain glass windows probably 75 meters to the top with your eyes gives one a feeling of overwhelming wonderment.  I go to the cultural center at the enormous Banco do Brazil in Centro and check out their current display as it changes probably once every 4 months or so.  This dsplay was a collection of ad hoc artifacts from around the world that had a direct significance on Portuguese history.  I could go on and on about all the stuff I saw but nobody is probably overly interested.  I hit up this huge outdoor market (so big I could see someone getting lost among all the soccer jerseys, stolen electonics and pickpockets everywhere) and I actually buy a t-shirt.  I don`t really know why, but it was cheap and it said Armani on it.  I mean where else can you buy a real Armani shirt for $14USD.  I use the word real very loosely as everything here is fake.  Fake Nikes, fake cd`s, fake movies, fake gucci bags, fake everything.  It`s so fake I start to wonder if the outdoor market itself is fake and I simply just stepped into a Matrix type scenario.  I get some lunch and I find the worst napkins at a lanchonette ever.  I thought the typical Brazilian napkin was bad, lord, these were actual pieces of paper cut into like 4¨x4¨ squares (I actually used inches in this blog, weird.  I think when I return it`s going to take some getting used to inches, feet and miles again). 

I return to the hostel after about 6 hours or so of sightseeing and I meet a new roomate.  Some Isreali dude who is way to high strung for living.  I`ve known him for like 4 minutes and he`s already asking me what I want out of my life and if I`m ever going to have kids and if I want kids shouldn`t I hurry up and have them since I`m already 32.  Geez, did my mom just fly into Rio today without my knowing about it.  He asks what I`m going to do when I return and all kinds of crap I don`t want to think about as like I said before I try to only exist in the present (yesterday being an exception for a brief moment).  Slow up bro.  Lets talk about drinking or things you`ve seen on your travels or funny stories or sumin.  He was in the Army for 6 years and hasn`t worked a day in almost 2 years but his Army funds are almost dried up.  He really needs to learn how to chill and not worry about things that have no direct effect on his life right now.  He`s all worried about money and what he`s going to do when he returns.  He asks me what I will do when I return and I tell him, I just want to make sure I die before I`m 65 so I don`t have to worry if my 401K contains enough money in it or not.  He looks quite perplexed and my intention was to try to get him to chill a bit but I think it did the opposite.  He`s a good guy though and he knows about a carnival rehearsal so I decide to roll with him.  He tries to teach me some Hebrew words, but I think I forgot most of them by now.  I learn about Isreali culture and what it`s like growing up there all of which I find quite fascinating. 

The carnaval rehearsal was free which was cool and it was actually quite packed with spectators.  All of the various samba schools need to do dress rehearsals and I think there were like 5 of them there this night.  It was pretty pimp as it was just like the real carnaval without the floats.  The best part was the drumline and the samba beats originating from the vibrations of their instruments.  Three girls lead the parade who were all smoking hot and they basically danced samba as they were inching forward for about 2 hours straight.  Absolutely amazing how they can move their bodies.  What would these chicks be like in the sack, maybe better than stabbing a gymnast?  The cranaval in Rio is different then what you would think.  It is more or less a huge parade.  We were at the actual stadium where the real carnaval takes place and the structure is gigantic.  There is seating on both sides and an enormously wide path cuts between the seating sections in which the parade strolls down.  Then a semi loaded with about 100 speakers follows behind.  On top of the speakers is a platform where the singers perform.  Even though the band is quite a bit farther in front of the singers the music blends together effortlessly somehow.  So anyway, I got to see a miniature version of carnaval.  There were of course the 9 year old kid beer vendors bugging me to buy Skols, of course which I did.  I still think the carnaval in Salvador would be cooler as it is more of an enormous party in the street as opposed to a parade.  But still, I can`t even imagine what the real carnaval in Rio is like.  It has to be insane.  I guess I now have an idea though.

Later I go out for awhile.  Lapa is off the hook.  Thousands of people everywhere wandering the streets and buying food or drinks from the myriad street vendors.  I end up talking to this chick from Iceland.  I tell her the only thing I really know about Iceland is how to spell the name of Iceland`s Capital, but I don`t really know how to pronounce it correctly, and that I know and like the band Quarashi.  She tells me to my dismay (and Balls` probably) that Quarashi recently broke up.  Man, when the fuck did this happen?  I can`t believe Quarashi called it quits.  I totally feel like Michael Douglas in that scene from Romancing the Stone where he and Kathleen Turner stumble upon that plane wreckage and he finds a magazine (Rolling Stone possibly?) and he paws through it and gives a downtrodden sigh and says "Damn it Man, the Doobie Brothers broke up, shit, when did that happen" (possibly the best line in the movie).  As I am walking around Lapa I realize that I feel completely at ease and at home here, meaning Brazil.  I remember when I first got here everything was new and exciting which was cool but I was also a bit more apprehensive.  Now I just walk among the people as if I live here.  Before I would remember every insignficant detail concerning Brazil but now I have more or less built up a tolerance and I just float along with ease.  If I could just improve my Portuguese a bit more I think I could maybe not seemlessly blend in but it would be much easier. 

Fin

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