So Carnaval was great=)

Getting up at 7 in the morgning to go to the first bloco, which are like bands playing in the streets, some of them moving, others staying at only one spot. Some only with drums and stuff, others also with people singing or horns and things like that. some smaller, some bigger, one playing beatles, others playing carnaval songs... Each lasting for about 4 hours and around the whole city they have heaps of different ones playing at the same time. A lot of people go dressed up, one can see anything, from people carrying a bath tub or a toilet to people dressed up as superheroes or cavemen, even some guys dressed up as tampons=D Beer is drunken like water, Caipirinha is sold normal, frozen or in bags, people selling limes, salt and Tequila, really there are plenty of ways to get drunk around here.

If it's the alcohol or just the culture I couldn´t figure out, but making out is normal for Carnaval=D
Like for example: There is a girl walking in front of us, some random guy just walks towards her, they exchange a look, he grabs her, they make out for maybe 5 til 10 seconds, in a way as if they were really hungry and wanted to eat each other up, and then the releases her and walks off. They didn´t even exchange one word!!! I don´t know, I thought it was odd, but since I didn´t only see this once I guess it´s just the way it is=D

But there are also the guys that try to have a conversation with you before they try to stick their tongue in your mouth. The conversation usually starts with the very special words: voce e muito bonita. You're really beautiful. If they have really thought of something interesting to say it´s: your eyes are really beautiful. They seem to believe their very creative and unique compliment gives them the right to do with your mouth as they please, if a girl, for some strange reason, doesn´t agree with that the poor guy will ask: Why? With a very bewildered look on his face.

Speaking of guys, at the start I'd always been honest if someone asked me if i had a boyfriend, but I figured out very quickly, if i didn't wanted to get with that guy it was better to make up some story about my jealous boyfriend who is waiting for me at home (at home here in Brazil, because if he were in Europe obviously that wouldn´t count around here...=D). Anyway, the guys around here haven't convinced me yet with their innovative compliments, that they only say to everyone who isn't completely ugly.

Very creative were also all the guys who told me I was their princess when we all went dressed up with crowns. Not knowing what to say when I told them that any woman around here could be their princess... Only costs 3 Reais at Uruguayana (a market that sells anything one can imagine).

I had a great time at Carnaval, eventhough I didn't make it to the Sambodromo, maybe next time=) Well I did go to the Sambodromo, but not on one of the big nights. I just went when the little kids had their show, which was really cute. Also very impressive, how little 5 year old girls, that seem as if they weren't even able to walk properly, dance Samba so fast your eyes can't even follow. I spent my Carnaval on the streets, dancing, being with various great people, learning to speak portuguese from Brazil and Portugal, loving people that stood in their gardens with buckets of water to pour over the crowd passing by. Very impressive were also the mountains of trash lying around everywhere, getting bigger and bigger as Carnaval went on. The great smells everywhere and puddles of pee not to mention. But I guess not every city can have their cleaners working 24 hours a day as Zurich does. I wonder what Zurich would look like if the cleaners were to strike on a Zurifaeschd=D

Really amazing was also to see how the ocean had changed it's colour after it rained the first time after Carnaval. Where it had been nice and blue before it had now changed into a green-brown colour with heaps of trash pieces floating around. Maybe it was also just some current that let all of the waste drift towards shore, but it was really quite disgusting. Luckily the water's changed now and the trash is somewhere else, floating out of sight.

There were blocos pretty much all the time for nearly two weeks, music everywhere, people on the streets celebrating, drinking, making out, chaos with the public transport... It was great=)

I didn't really learn all the Carnaval songs, since it was difficult to understand all the drunk people singing around me, but I got some of them and could scream along=) Usually we were really tired at about 7 til 10 at night when we went back home to sleep, in order to get up the next morning for the next bloco. It was really a great experience, but after a few days the blocos do start to seem a bit repetitive and one isn´t sad to trade another bloco for the beach and a bath in the refreshing water=)

Well, that was my experience of Carnaval=) Had a great time with great people=)