La Vida es un Carnaval

Não sou covarde, já tô pronta pro combate
Keep Calm e deixa de recalque
O meu sensor de periguete explodiu
Pega sua inveja e vai pra… 

-Valesca Popouzuda, Beijinho no Ombro

Quick, think of an image of Brazil. If it wasn't the Amazon rainforest or a really big statue of Jesus, it was probably a bunch of attractive women in a parade wearing inexplicably elaborate headdresses and not much else from the neck down. Something like this or this (the first and fourth images you get when you search "Brazil Carnaval" on Google, sort of NSFW). I had at least a vague concept before getting here that that's pretty strictly a custom of Rio de Janeiro, and that the rest of the country has its own set of traditions. I know that in New Orleans it means lots of parades, silly costumes, and creative ways of getting bead necklaces, while in Bolivia it's mostly an excuse to party on the street on weekdays and throw paint at complete strangers (except in Oruro). And I knew about the diverse Carnaval traditions in other Brazilian cities, such as Salvador. However, somewhere in the back of my mind I think I was still expecting Carnaval in Belo Horizonte to be basically the same as Rio. Surprise of surprises, it wasn't.

I had originally planned to travel to Rio de Janeiro or Salvador to see the "typical" Brazilian Carnavals, but as it turns out being world-famous here is associated with being jaw-droppingly expensive. I didn't really feel like spending half of my housing money on one night in a hotel room, so I decided instead to stay here in my own city and save money for later adventures. Most Mineiros (residents of BH) leave the city for Carnaval, either for crazier places or to the beach to escape the mess, and most of my fellow exchange students in the university decided to travel. However, I was able to find a group of friends who were staying along with me. 
After doing a little bit of research, we figured out that the main attraction of the Carnaval in Belo Horizonte is lots of different palcos (open-air stages) set up in various parts of the city, with live music and dancing. So, for the first three nights of the holiday, we headed to the Savassi neighborhood, the best party district of BH, where they had the largest gathering of people. One of the great things about Brazil is the lack of an open container law, which definitely came in handy for this event. This particular palco was in the middle of a rather large plaza, and the entire square, as well as the streets surrounding it, was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with Carnaval revelers. Interspersed in the crowds were carts and coolers where small-time entrepreneurs sold everything from alcohol to surprisingly elaborate snacks (did you know you can put raisins on a burger? I didn't). Mostly the former. Unfortunately, most of the drinks available consisted of Brahma and Skol, which are sort of the Budweiser and Natty Lite of Brazil. Since they're pretty much on the level of ditch water in terms of alcohol content and quality, I mostly chose not to drink. Honestly I ended up preferring at least moderate levels of sobriety, since it allowed me to better appreciate the music and the goings-on in the crowd. 

And trust me, they're worth appreciating.

While most of the party music I'd gotten used to in Brazil ranges from bad to really bad, I found that Carnaval music is surprisingly classy. The band above might look like they're fresh out of Willy Wonka's nightmares, but they ended up playing an awesome mix of classic rock like The Beatles, Queen, or the Rolling Stones, and Brazilian Samba music. Samba is a style of music originally derived from West African traditions that were brought over to Brazil in the era of the slave trade. It's since been influenced a little by American jazz, and is mostly sung in Portuguese, but it still retains lots of the original African tradition. I really, really like it. 

The audience, as I mentioned, was absolutely packed with carnaval-goers. Even without the band, people-watching would have been enough entertainment. I was warned by a couple Brazilians that, since carnaval parties in BH are open to everyone, the crowd could get rowdy and dangerous. Honestly, I've seen enough rowdiness and danger at street parties oriented towards rich Brazilians, and I'm pretty sure alcohol and large amounts of people have way more to do with it than social class or other factors. I actually loved the diversity of the crowd- while it was mostly younger folks, people of all ages, from too young (in my opinion) to surprisingly old, all races, all classes, and all sexual orientations were gathered together in one place just having fun with the music. 

As one of the only sober people in the crowd, there were, of course, lots of eyebrow-raising things to be seen as well, and lots of unanswered questions. Things like: "Is that a kiss or mutual face-licking?" "Is that supposed to be on fire? I'm 95% sure it's not supposed to be on fire." "He is about TEN years too young to be drinking that." "Wasn't he making out with a girl 5 minutes ago?" "Are they really holding up what I think they are?"

Answer: yes.

Nonetheless, I ended up greatly enjoying myself; the music was great, the crowd was happy, and I eventually ended up just putting my camera away and dancing along. 

All three of them are my friends- I just had the wrong aperture setting on my camera.

The last day of Carnaval (Monday) is always the one with the biggest and craziest parties. For that day, my friend Davide and I decided to visit Ouro Preto, a famous small city outside of Belo Horizonte. Ouro Preto was the center of the gold rush that made Minas Gerais (it literally means "general mines" one of the wealthiest states in Brazil, and is the showcase of an incredible amount of beautiful classical Brazilian architecture. I'm going to visit for a longer period of time next month, so I'll leave off further historical tidbits until then. However, I should mention that it's also home to one of the most well-known Carnavals in Brazil; very traditional, and VERY energetic. 

We arrived early in the day, and decided to walk around the city for a while before joining the festivities. It's rather hilly, but the buildings are beautiful, and the weather was mercifully cool compared to what I'm used to in BH.

As we neared the center of the town, the streets got fuller, and the music louder. Soon, there were partygoers everywhere, and delicious street food on every corner; it was another great opportunity for me to practice my people photography (an area where I still consider myself fairly weak).

And also to try delicious street food.

In the central square, everyone was gathered waiting for the parade, the main event of the day. There were lots of people dressed in silly costumes, and kids everywhere spraying people indiscriminately with foam.

Some enjoyed it more than others.

The parade: each bloco (special Carnaval group) had its own style, and there were lots of really cool giant puppets being waved about.

And still lots of foam.

Some people tell me I don't put up enough pictures of myself, so here's a picture with Davide. Don't get used to it.

The ever-popular zombie theme.

After lots of hill climbing (and a couple of surprisingly strong caipirinhas), we were definitely ready to head home by the time the parade was finished. However, I'm definitely looking forward to returning to Ouro Preto later when it's not overrun with partiers, and I can better experience the incredibly interesting architecture and history. Overall I'd say Carnaval was a great success- no silly headdresses and skimpy outfits witnessed (well, may a bit of the latter), but still a great look at Brazilian culture and traditions. Life is good.