Carnaval: Day 3, Part 2

When we got back from our site seeing on Monday afternoon, there was a Bloco just starting not far from our pousada. It was raining like crazy by this time, but we decided to go join the party and just get wet...we'd need showers before going out that night anyway. This one had a beach theme, so the rain really just added to it! We got absolutely drenched before going back and getting ready for the evening. Neither of us had played in the rain for quite a few years, so it was a lot of fun!

After getting cleaned up, we met up with the other two couples and we walked over to where another Bloco was just beginning to gather and get ready to party through the streets.

(I tried to get Eric's hair up in a mini-mohawk, but all the hair glue in the world didn't want to hold it...we just went for the 'crazy party hair' instead. hehehe)

I'm fairly certain Eric and I were the only ones concerned about the power lines these guys were really close to!


After dancing through the streets for a while, we went down to the parade route and watched several great samba school parades. We have lots of pictures...

Not sure what this guy was supposed to be, but I do know that his fingernails and toenails were painted bright red.

This little one was adorable. She did the cutest samba too!

At the end of each parade a group of the city's street sweepers walked along right behind the last float and swept up any trash, feathers, and other costume pieces that might have been dropped along the route. They were dancing to the beat of the samba drums and having a blast. Every so often they would all raise their brooms over their heads and do this little dance routine-it was hilarious! They were having fun and really enjoying their job. It was so refreshing to see that!
The fella (YES, fella) was quite the character and enjoyed hamming it up for the camera (or maybe for my husband..hard to say which. HA!)

The samba parades at Carnaval include everyone: rich, poor, young, old. . .






This next picture illustrates the back , or rather lack of a back, on the costume bottoms! A little fringe is all that's needed (and sometimes not even that much!)
There isn't much to some of the tops either!



And on those days you just can't decide which top to wear...paint yourself gold and strategically throw some hair over your shoulders!

In case you were wondering how the floats here in the small cities were powered: MANpower.
The samba drums... these guys were awesome on some drums!


No gender discrimination here! There were girls playing samba drums, guys wearing... (but doesn't he have great legs! Oh, so jealous... And would you believe he didn't fall in those heels!)

Each day the parades got better and better. We had to leave Tuesday to get home so Eric could work Wednesday, but I can't imagine how incredible they must have been on Tuesday for the actual day of Carnaval!

Coming up Monday: A few final thoughts on our first Carnaval.