Days 64-66 Street Carnaval and Olympics by CS

  Cabo Frio, Brazil
Sunday, February 3, 2008

  We arrived in Cabo Frio after 11 pm, nearly 2 hours late due to the influx of traffic from Rio to the smaller coastal cities for Carnaval. Although tired, my dear aunt and uncle (technically great aunt and great uncle but my great uncle is only 2 years older than my mother) were up and awaiting us with drinks and delicious home made pizza. After catching up for a bit, we all went to bed.


The next morning, we slept in a bit and were treated to a wonderful breakfast before hitting the beach. My uncle knowingly warned us about the hot sun, but we cheerfully put on our 30 SPF sun screen and hit the waves. The waves were perfect, the water was a clear aqua blue and the sun was shining brightly on the fluffy white sand. But man oh man, was the beach packed. After all this time body boarding, Erin and I have gotten pretty good and can maneuver around people and obstacles with relative ease. The water was so full of people though! I picked what looked to be a great wave, and the perfect timing for me to ride it. As soon as I caught the wave (for those body boarders out there, as soon as the wave breaks, you get a huge accelerated rush forward), I saw 4 new swimmers that were not there 30 seconds earlier. Anyway, it was during that surge that you don't have much control and can only move forward as the powerful wave is breaking. I'm sure I looked panicked as I headed for them, but they looked down right scared as they dove left and right out of my way. I ended up bumping a couple of them, but it was by far the most embarrassing body boarding experience to date. Four hours later, feeling a bit hungry, we headed back to their apartment (only 2 blocks from the beach) and ate a wonderful chicken dish. Lizz was unknowingly taunting my aunt by saying that she really enjoyed the first pepper sauce that she brought out and dousing her food with it. My aunt took this as a challenge, and brought out the "medium" sauce (apparently she thought the gringoes could only handle mild). Both Lizz and Erin handled the medium well, although they admitted it was a little strong. My aunt, still not satisfied, asked the maid to pick a pepper from the bush in the varanda, and warned Lizz to slice only a tiny sliver of it. Lizz politely refused, as she was wary of the fresh pepper, and my aunt gleefully declared herself the winner of the pepper challange :)

Best Place to Feed the Fishes

Lizz, Erin & Carolyn at Park

After a nice nap, we woke up to find Lizz different shades of pink and red from the hasty sunblock re-application on the beach. The poor girl was fried. But, like a trooper, she came out to her first Carnaval "block". Different samba schools gather at different parts of the city with their percussion section and the huge truck with huge speakers and a huge stage (the same one Erin and I had seen in Lençois, called a trio eletrico) that crawls at 1 mph as people dance in front of it, behind it, and all around it as it goes around the block. We partied with my uncle from 7 until after midnight, when we came home exhausted after a long day.

Erin, Uncle Betinho, Lizz and Carolyn

The next morning, we headed for the beach again, where we had our first event of the day's Olympic Challenge. We set up body boarding races where 2 of us would race and the 3rd would referee. The first racer with 5 wins won the challenge. Lizz beat Erin (I was a little embarrassed after all of the training we had done together), I beat Lizz, then I beat Erin.


1st Place: Carolyn
2nd Place: Lizz
3rd Place: Erin


That evening, we all went out to the Canal where most of Cabo Frio's bars and nightclubs can be found. We found a second story bar with a nice view, pool tables, foozball, and dominoes... the perfect way to cap off the day's Olympics.


After a game of Mexican Train Dominoes, the event's rankings were:


1st Place: Lizz
2nd Place: Erin
3rd Place: Carolyn


For the 3rd event, Lizz proposed Foozball. I should have known better when she offered to go up against both me and Erin at once. But in the spirit of the Olympics, we chose to do the same round robin that we had done on the body boarding races. Lizz beat Erin, then she spanked me, then Erin beat me, event rankings:


1st Place: Lizz
2nd Place: Erin
3rd Place: Carolyn


For the final Olympic rankings of:


1st Place: Lizz
2nd Place (tie): Erin and Carolyn


We actually let her win because she was a guest, but we'll let that slide.


Sunday we did a little shopping, which was difficult since everything was closed due to Carnaval, then hit the beach one last time. We rushed home at 4 to shower, pack, and catch our 6 pm bus back to Rio. After our showers, my cousin Simone's family (who had arrived the previous night) had made a delicious barbecue with Erin and Lizz's favorite... vinegrette. We couldn't resist but eat a bit before our trip. At 5:30, we panicked due to all of the traffic outside (Cabo Frio, a city of 150,000 triples in size during Carnaval). My aunt was able to steer us away from all of the traffic, as the wise woman magically knew where everybody was headed and how to do a giant loop around it all. Anyway, we got to the station just in time to blow kisses and wave goodbye from the bus to Rio.

Lizz!  Send us your pictures to upload too!