A Sign of the "Times"

So I'm just sitting around in my living room right now watching day time television on Globo. The city's Carnaval glow has certainly worn off, and about half of everyone I know here is a under the weather from last week's festivities.

I'm going over a few ideas for my next video and browsing the internet...and guess what I come across. In the New York Times today, the featured travel story is "36 Hours in Salvador, Brazil." Well, Mr. Seth Kugel, your 1.5 days better have been well spent, because tomorrow I will be writing a scathing critique or offering a glowing review of your article. Boa sorte, sir. But really, I'm just curious to see where he ended up going in Salvador.

Hosing Down the Streets

Carnaval officially ended for me the way it began. After returning home a few hours before daybreak, I was up again at ten in the morning to celebrate the last event of the weeklong festival. The sun was scorching, but two American friends and I made our way to the Barra Carnaval circuit, Avenida Oceanica, where much of the past week’s party had taken place. The entire city was calm, mellowed by a mass hangover - fatigue induced by six straight days of pre-lenten celebration. Finally we began to hear the booming bass of the final performance and positioned ourselves behind the trio-electrico of Timbalada, the same band we saw perform on Carnaval’s opening day.

This performance was open. There were no cords and entrance fees. The frenetic dancing that typically followed the trio was replaced by what could be characterized as a festive procession. Hundreds of people making the most of the last bit of the week’s revelry, but also saying farewell to a week’s worth of memories and welcoming the slow end of summer in the southern hemisphere.

As the procession continued, we slowly started to lag farther behind the trio carrying the band. My half-hearted samba shuffle slowed to a slight skip in my step. Then I assented to just nodding my head with the music as I walked along with the hundreds of other Bahians, Brazilians, and foreigners in the streets.

The sun continued to sear down on the pavement and I wrapped my shirt around my head and neck to protect the slight sunburns I had from previous days on the beach. Instead of the typical light Brazilian beer, I opted to buy a pop and bottled water from the vendor on the street. On the side of the road, the camarotes, the temporary structures lining the streets that had housed private parties with prime views of the Carnaval circuits, were literally being dismantled. A few of the camarotes were still partly filled with small groups of onlookers, but most were now only inhabited by construction workers, unscrewing nuts and bolts, jump-starting the city’s transformation back to normality.

The sun was starting to become unbearable when a slight mist began to rain down. It rained almost everyday over the past week, sometimes drenching everyone and everything, but today the drizzle remained light and refreshing. Some members of the procession raised their arms to the sky, thanking God or the spirits of Carnaval, for the rain or Carnaval – perhaps both. The trio continued to outpace my continually slowing steps, and the music, like Carnaval, faded away. After the trio finally finished, an army of city employees with rakes and brooms flooded the streets and began to sweep away the garbage in the streets. Municipal cars and trucks followed with tanks of soap and high-powered water hoses. The streets were cleansed and in a matter of minutes the remnants of Carnaval had been washed away. The music was over. The crowds dispersed.

At the End of the Rainbow

Today is the last day of Carnaval. One more evening of festivities. And once things die down I expect to have more time to continue blogging and video making.

First Night Festivities

Carnaval has officially begun. First night festivities are fairly low key compared to the following days. But "low key" in Carnaval terms is still quite a scene to behold. My brother’s band was able to play on a trio in the Campo Grande circuit while my sister and her friends all dressed up like Minnie Mouse and paraded in the Os Mascarados. Os Mascarados was a group that anyone could join if they were wearing a costume. I went out with a group of about eight Americans for what was planned to be a relaxed night, everyone content to observe the first hours of Carnaval from the sidelines . But once we were out and saw all the costumes we knew we had to partake in the first night festivities. We all made make-shift Mascarados outfits by buying multi-colored Indian feathers, synthetic fluorescent afros and pink and/or rainbow ties from vendors on the street.

Unfortunately there will not be much filming of actual Carnaval in the street. A camcorder would make for a pretty tempting target for a thief in crowds. Last week my brother played a show in the city’s historic center, the Pelourinho. It was a lot of fun and the crowd’s energy was much like that during Carnaval – but on a much smaller scale.



Today our group is going out with the Timbalada bloco, a very popular group that mixes axe rhythms and African style percussion. It promises to be a lot of fun. I’m hoping to focus more on writing more about Carnaval to make up for the inability to take quality video. But if you would like a quick introduction to better understand what the size and scope of the trio and blocos and the craziness of the pipoca read here to get a brief explanation of what Carnaval is really all about.

Gringos on the Beach

Carnaval starts tomorrow!!! But everyone is on pins and needles - it looks as though there may be a little less sun then usual. But the party will continue - rain or shine. A few days ago I spent a couple of hours with a good friend of mine on the beach at Porto da Barra. He has been here in Salvador for a few months now, and I wanted to get his perspective on the terra de magia e alegria.

My life, my love, my pride...Bahia

Traveling to Brazil without experiencing the beautiful game is unforgivable. Here in Bahia, like the rest of the country, everyone has their favorite team. In the Northeast of Brazil, the most popular team is Esporte Clube Bahia. Almost everyone in Salvador is either a die hard Bahia fan, or they support the crosstown rival, Vitoria.

Bahia fans are proud of their club’s history. Founded in 1931, the team won their first national championship in 1959 by beating Pele’s Santos and were also crowned Brazilian champions in 1988.

Unfortunately the team has come under some hard times and a few years ago was relegated down to Brazil’s third division for the first time in the club's history. But even in the third division, the team still averaged attendance of over 40,000 people per match.

In 2007 during the third division championship match, a section of Bahia’s stadium, the Fonte Nova collapsed. Bahia won the title and were promoted to the 2nd division but 40 people were injured and seven fans died in the accident. The state government announced that the stadium would be partly demolished and a new multiuse arena will be constructed in its place. Bahia now plays it’s games at the Estadio Pituacu.

Yesterday Davidinho and I went with my brother, father and uncle to Bahia's state tournament match against Feirense, a small town team from the interior.

I tried my best to do my best monotone PBS narration impression in the video. Make sure to watch it in high quality - without that it is super blurry.



Bahia started off slowly, and Feirense scored the first goal. However, Bahia began to control the game and equalized. After that, things only got worse for Feirense. After all was said and done, Bahia were victorious, winning handily, 4 to 1. After a few cervezas, everyone felt compelled to let the world know their true love for their club, the famous Bahia!

Drugs Are Bad!

My favorite commenter sent me an interesting article from the New York Times. It is about how the drug trade is starting to affect the upper-class of Brazil more and more. Fortunately, the company that I keep here in Brazil stays completely drug free. But I was especially interested in this story after watching Tropa de Elite.

In other news, filming is going well, and I should have some interesting videos up by tomorrow.