Travel Tips

I couldn't take my camera with my for security so these picture came from a brasilian blog. Thanks to the owner.

This year I spent only 2 days in the Carnival cause I was sick.
In the past Salvador Carnival wasen't made in the road, but in big parties; after the band started to play outside and in the 1950 Osmar e Dodò introduced the Trio Eletrico: a simple truck with a littlr band on, playing music in the road.
Today they are huge moving stages on a big truck (long veichle) with massive sound systems on the lower level and the band and singers performing on top.
Bands playing their own hit songs and the other popular songs of the Carnaval: the 'bloco' is rounded by ropes holded by 'cordeiros' that protected from the surging masses of spectators outside (pipoca), the people inside the ropes have to wear the abadà, a simple t -shirt of the Trio that u have to buy to partecipate inside.
The abadà are expensive, from 100 to 180 reais ( 30/60 us dollars): a minimum salary are 260 reais!
Outside there are the 'pipoca', the people that follow the blocos or stay in a place to wait the differents group pass trough this point of the circuits.
In Salvador There are 3 cicuits: Batatinha (Pelourinho) only brass band in the square, Ondina e Campo Garnde with Trio Eletricos.
Trios play differents kind of music, more commerisl like Pagode or Axè music, more tarditional with african percussion like Afro Blocos.
The first night we stay in the Pipoca cause the other friends bought abadà for Ara Ketu blocos. We stay in the street dancing with the music of Rapazolla, a new Salvador group with the singer Tomate. In Brasil the singer are more then stars, are divos cause the people love them a lot, like a dream of telenovelas, cause they sing about the dream and the happyness and they rappresent 'the dream', famouse and rich, like football player.
But the Carnival is for all.....for the rich that can buy a abadà, for the poor that stay in the pipoca, but can see and meet the eyes of the idols on the top of the truck, only 20th mets from their...it's the opportunity to enjoy yourself without pay a ticket for a concert or similar........
Pipoca is the best for me, it's a little bit more dengerouse, there are thives, drinked people, but also a lot of militar police.....so this year I leaved the camera at home....the picure are in my mind: carnival is also the litte children that collect cans for alluminium, the young boys from the favelast that sell bears in the crowd to make some money.....the old couple that dance until morning like they were young, a couple of gays dancing and kissing in the crowd and a pregnant girl that with, is 'baby' is dancing in a fance....the city change...the shoes shop became a seller of bear and water, the flats at the first floors offer clean toilets for 1 reais, a bahiana cook acarajè in the fuel station developed in a drugstore.....'locura total'... I love this carnival, not only the circuits, but also the big life around that!