(ill add pics and vid to this one later)
...soo funk party was the best night ever.. and then comes the best day ever... possibly.. at least until the next one, allthough this one would be hard to beat..it even made me shed some tears..
I was having a drink with some of my newest and very dear friends, amongst others Layla whom had very very kindly let me stay on hwe sofa for 5 nights and generously introduced me to all her friends who immediately treated me as one of their own.. they are funny, clever, lively everything you would expect from a brazillian to be - plus a hundred times more..... Its a joy to meet people.. i dont know how else to describe it, but i have yet to meet a person who have not almost immeditately become a friend...
Anyway that same night, i get chatting to this rather tipsy gentleman called Marvio.. a Carioca by birth i beleive, we have a rather long conversation, where i dont get a word in egdeways, but he is entertaining so i let it pass and enjoy the speech.. A few days later Tee and I ran into him again, and we end up at a beach bar watching the sun rise (again) beer in hand and engaging in what is a Carioca favorite past time of swapping stories.. so this goes on for a few hours and Marvio tells us about the leblon bloco..Leblon is one of the most affluent areas of Rio, just next to ipanema, but they also according to Marveo, have the best samba band or bloco - bloco is the street party, where the local samba school, will do a procession, the drum band, usually consiting of 20-40 drummers by my
guesstimate , some very talented and usually stunning samba queens and a bus with singers on the top belting out the locals songs and the popular ones ... whereever the bloco is it is LOUD its euphoric and the atmosphere is electric.. its a cliche.. but oh so true.. its impossible not to get involved!! Oh and i should mention that the drummers are all from the kid next door to his grandmother.. its all ages, all colours, both sex, all everything.. and they all love it.. they are bloody fantastic!!! its community in perfection!!!
Anyway, so D&M and I have had another long night... cant remember exactly what went on, but im sure it was fun, so we get up late.. we hear the drums through the wall.. we have a festive breakfast, in our underwear, party hats and feathers.. its carnval after all... and head down to the beach.. i bring my carneval hat just in case.. i was pretty sure this was the day of the leblon bloco..but not entirly.. plus after 2 weeks of samba dancing and being happy as Larry, allthough I doubt Larry has every been this happy, i join D&M at the beach for a relaxing afternoon.. only for 20 minutes and then im pretty sure i can hear drums in the distance.. I stand up and look over the Leblon but cant see anything.. but too scared to miss out, I tell D&M that i have to go and look just in case..
If i dont come back soon, dont worry, its because im having too much fun.. In Rio this is perfectly plausible, so they tell me to enjoy, they sit back and enjoy the view (the beach life deserves a chapter to itself.. its happiness... its all people of all ages.. in Ipeanema.. the people of all ages are also usually very beatiful people.. the sit on the beach and they talk and they laugh, the kids play unsupervised, the old women laugh in the waves, the youngster smokes joints and play the guitar, the boys..and the girls play football at the water edge, the hotties pose and check out other posers.. all in perfect harmony.. ).. moving on..
Now it is a pretty long walk from Ipanema to Leblon... at last 2-3 kms if you are at the far end.. so i walk and walk, i pick up a beer, i laugh at the people who are all dressed up and look delirously happy (im not overdoing any of this), i think as tourist you do become deliriously happy, cause its so free and so friendly and so so much life everywhere.. after im sure is a 15 to 20 minute walk i finally start hearing the drums properly and its getting harder and harder to walk as the beach side pavement and road is becoming full of people.. another thing i should mention, is that during carneval it is perfectly acceptable for the guys to kiss girls and the girls happily oblige.. but only if they like the guy, these are strong willed girls.. but also free and young and in the spirit of carnval most things go... and im not talking a peck on the cheek, but a full on deep kiss in all its glory..
When i finally get to the actual bloco, suddenly they start and the drums are so loud and so rythmic it gets into your body wether you want to or not, but i really really want it.. Everybody is dancing, most people have got rythm so its another great speactacle.. Encircling the procession is a big rope and men every couple of metres ensuring that no one gets in to the procession.. Its about 3 or 4 people deep on my side with people watching and then after that the street is full of people dancing (oh this is in the middle of the day i should add).. And then low and behold.. i spot Marvio.. in the procession.. i didnt know he was in it.. So i push my way through the 3 or 4 people.. if you do it with a smile, you can get away with alot of things here.. I manage to get Marvios attention... and he shouts at me to meet him further up... So i make my way further up and push through again.. and OH MYYYY GOOOOD.. so he has spoken to the bloco general, who has agreed that i can join... what the fuxk.. are you kidding me? Do i Want to? Tell me when you are tired and we will let you out? haha they will have to carry me out!!! So the men lifts the rope, people are looking at me wondering who I am, and then Im right in the thick of it... hahahah.. i could not stop laughing.. ive got the best seat in town... First im told to keep to the side as i dont have the Tshirt (they all have the same tshirts), but then one of the women... all welcoming me as one of their own.. pulls out a spare one, i buy it... and im free to roam.. so i dance at the back, i dance between the drums, i dance with the samba queen at the front.. and i even have to cry a little bit.. cause i think life can not possibly be any better than this... its a gorgous day, its Rio De Janeiro, its carneval, and whilst 1000s of people are watching the procession.. im in it... dancing with my amigo Marvio..
I really should end it here, but the day does not end.. so after 3 or 4 hours of dancing away, i am soaking wet again... and the procession stops... Marvio and myself make our way to the local bar where the people from the processoion meet up for a beer.. Im beeing greeted with big smiles all around, kissed on the cheek.. asked if i enjoyed it.. and i can only thank them all from the deepest pit of the bottom of my heart for allowing me to join them.. They look happy, im stupide happy I have a beer, Marveo and I exchange emails so he can send me the pics and off i go to find D&M who are off to Buenos Aires in the morning.. Im staying put for a few more days. How can i ever leave this place.. I feel like a proper carioca now that ive danced in the bloco and i got the Tshirt to prove it..
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