Carnaval at the Sambódromo!

 

Last night I went to the Carnaval parades at the Sambódromo with my friend Dani and a bunch of her friends. I hadn't originally planned on going to the Sambódromo because it's usually extraordinarily expensive, but now I'm so glad I did. Thank you to Dani and everyone else who did the legwork to get us tickets!

Before last night, I had been to two street parades. The parades were great, but none of them could compare in grandeur to the parades in the Sambódromo. The extravagant costumes and stadium seating create a completely different atmosphere. While some people complain that the Sambódromo is too "commercial," the experience is still worth every penny.  

To the left is a photo of last night's cohort. The first thing you may notice is that everyone is wearing ponchos. It rained for most of the night and into the wee hours Sunday morning, but that didn't stop anyone from having a good time. 

The second thing you may notice is that one person is reading a book, which I think is actually the program booklet. Had I known about the long pauses between each of the samba school parades, and had it not been raining, I probably would have brought a book to pass the time since the parades are such a "hurry-up-and-wait" kind of affair.

Each samba school has approximately 50 minutes to perform, during which time the crowd goes wild cheering, singing, and dancing along. After each school finishes, there's another period of at least 30 minutes before the next school begins. During the breaks, people talk in the stands, get food from the vendors, and watch the occasional firework display.

Our seats were directly in front of the judges' boxes, so we had the opportunity to see some of the best performances as the schools tried to impress the judges. Each school tells a story with its performance and the first school was one of my favorites. While I don't actually know the details (my program booklet was ruined in the rain), it clearly focused on an Afro-Brazilian theme and incorporated elements of Amazon culture. 

After watching about five of the parades with topics such as "water", "love", and the ever-popular "1960s," we eventually left the Sambódromo shortly before 1am. We were probably some of the first people to leave; the celebration continued until 7 this morning. One of my last views of the Sambódromo was the sky as shown below: no stars, all glitter.

The last sound? Everyone in the stands singing along to Rio's official Carnaval song: "Explode coração" - hearts bursting with love for this city. It's contagious. 

Explode coração / Explodes the heart
Land of the samba, the mulatto, and soccer
I will be living the day-to-day
Encased in this magic
Of Rio's carnival

Heart explodes
In the greatest happiness
It's my beautiful Salgueiro
Infectious, rocking the city ...