{"id":7906,"date":"2018-03-12T10:00:35","date_gmt":"2018-03-12T10:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/?p=7906"},"modified":"2018-03-11T17:52:11","modified_gmt":"2018-03-11T17:52:11","slug":"celebrating-carnaval-in-brazil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/celebrating-carnaval-in-brazil\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Carnaval in Brazil"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bom dia a todos!\u00a0Meu nome \u00e9 Sasha.\u00a0Eu sou dos Estados Unidos. Sorry but I don’t have much more Portuguese in my arsenal. I’m an English teacher and a blogger on the Spanish<\/a> and Chinese<\/a> pages. I also run Grateful Gypsies<\/a> with my lovely wife. I recently had my first experience with the Portuguese-speaking world as I traveled to Brazil for Carnaval and to visit a few other places such as\u00a0Florian\u00f3polis and\u00a0Foz do Igua\u00e7u. I’m just dropping by the blog here to share my experience celebrating Carnaval in Brazil. I was fortunate enough to partake in the festivities in three different cities. Here’s a little taste of what it’s like at the biggest party in the world.<\/p>\n

Olinda<\/h2>\n
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A drone’s-eye-view of Olinda.<\/p><\/div>\n

To begin our Carnaval adventure, we traveled to the northeast coast to the state of Pernambuco. First up, we spent three days in the historic town of Olinda. Founded in the 16th century by the Portuguese, Olinda grew rapidly thanks to the sugar cane industry. The Dutch pillaged the town and it was later rebuilt by the Portuguese in the 18th century. Olinda’s historic center is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site thanks to buildings such as the\u00a0Catedral Alto da S\u00e9<\/em>\u00a0and the church of\u00a0Nossa Senhora da Gra\u00e7a<\/em>. Here’s a great description of Olinda from the poet Carlos Pena Filho:<\/p>\n

Olinda \u00e9 s\u00f3 para os olhos, <\/em>
\nn\u00e3o se apalpa, \u00e9 s\u00f3 desejo. <\/em>
\nNingu\u00e9m diz: \u00e9 l\u00e1 que eu moro. <\/em>
\nDiz somente: \u00e9 l\u00e1 que eu vejo.<\/em><\/p>\n

Olinda is only for the eyes,
\nit’s not tangible, it’s just desire.
\nNo one says: that’s where I live.
\nThey just say: that’s what I see.<\/p>\n

-“Olinda” by Carlos Pena Filho<\/p>\n

In addition to its historic architecture and gorgeous landscape, Olinda is famous for its traditional Carnaval celebrations. As is the case all over Brazil, the party starts well before the official Carnaval days. We arrived on the Monday before the big weekend to find lively blocos<\/em> already underway. People aren’t dancing to samba<\/em> here, as the main styles of music are f<\/em>revo<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0maracatu<\/i>.<\/p>\n

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A few of the bonecos gigantes.<\/p><\/div>\n

The biggest stars of Carnaval in Olinda are definitely the bonecos gigantes<\/em>. These giant dolls have been a part of the celebrations here since way back in 1919. They’re made from\u00a0paper mach\u00e9 and fabric and can be upwards of 15 feet tall. There are a few workshops in town where you can pay a few reals to see them up close. The most famous is the Midnight Man, who comes out to kick off\u00a0S\u00e1bado de Z\u00e9 Pereira<\/em> (Carnaval Saturday).<\/p>\n

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One of the many blocos we attended.<\/p><\/div>\n

We had a great couple of days exploring Olinda and enjoying the pre-Carnaval festivities. During the main weekend, everyone says that it’s best to party in Olinda during the day and Recife at night. We came back on Saturday to find the town had seemingly tripled in size. It definitely gets wild here during the actual Carnaval days!<\/p>\n

Recife<\/h2>\n
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Biggest Carnaval parade on Earth!<\/p><\/div>\n

From the colonial town, we headed down the road a few kilometers to the big city of Recife.\u00a0The Carnaval of Recife is famed for its parade that begins early on Saturday morning. It’s appropriately named\u00a0Galo da Madrugada\u00a0<\/em>(Rooster of Early Hours) as it gets going around 8 AM. With over 2 million people lining the streets, it has the Guinness Book of World Records designation as the biggest Carnaval parade in the world. If you’re going to the parade, you’ll want to learn the song “Hino do Galo da Madrugada<\/em>” first:<\/p>\n