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Showing posts from February 23, 2013

The Spirit of Brazil: Carnaval!

In a country where beer is cheaper and more accessible than water, they've learned a thing or two about throwing parties. How to host Carnaval, the largest party on the planet, may just have been one of them. Carnaval is a Pre-Lenten celebration, an expansion of Mardi Gras if "expansion" really encompasses the transformation from a walk in the park into a marathon.  Before I can actually get into my experiences from Carnaval, I'll touch on some terminology and context, because it really is a whole new ballgame.  Salvador plays host to a six-day specialty with about four million party-goers in which you can celebrate in one of three ways: pipoca, bloco, or camarote. Pipoca literally means popcorn. If you do pipoca during Carnaval, it means that you're just dancing on the street- one of the millions of little pieces that make up the batch, popping up and down with the music and the movements of those around you. Buying a bloco is similar to pipoca in