Carnival. Phil gets in the parade.

Posted by .murph.

So carnival is fast approaching here. In Rio, Carnival started at the beginning of February. I just came back from a weekend in Rio, and people are going out dressed up in a variety of costumes. Every weekend there are street parties in different parts of the city.
But the REAL carnival will begin this weekend. From Friday until Tuesday, the entire city will turn into one massive party zone. Every hour of the day there will be something happening somewhere.
And of course, there is the famous parades by different Samba schools competing in the Sambódromo. Some 30,000 people gather to watch these samba schools who have an hour each to dazzle both the audience and judges. Huge elaborate floats, beautiful costumes, pounding drums, singing and dancing are all part of the parade.
Thanks to my aunt, I'll be participating in the parade of one of the samba schools. It's been my aunt's dream to get into a parade with one of the schools, and hers managed to get her, me and her two sons in on the Rocinha's Samba School parade...I have to say, that I never in my life thought I'd be doing this!
I will be dressed as a beggar...but the costume is quite elaborate for a beggar. I've memorized the theme song...and so on Saturday I'll be dancing and singing for an hour straight as the school walks down the Sambódromo.
I went to a practice sessions over the weekend. It was a blast, the energy of just being with a huge group of people singing the same song and dancing was amazing! Although, I do have to say that at some points, it was getting tiring singing the same song over and over again for over an hour!
But when Saturday comes...everyone dressed up, and a crowd of 30,000 people...I really don't think I can run out of energy!
Wish my school luck! Below you can watch the school's performance last year!