Carnaval is getting closer and closer now. Musicians
are playing and practicing everywhere. Last night we
went to a open-aired club on the beach and saw
Margareth Menezes. I have never heard of this person
before but a few other students from our school had
mentioned her name and invited us along to the
concert. It turns out that she extremely popular
around here. There were a couple of thousand people in
this club, and most of them were singing every word to
every song. It was hard to hear Margareth sing because
the crowd was singing over her. It was almost too much
for us. After being close to the stage for the first
hour or so, we had to escape and watch the show from
the back of the club where less people are.
At 3am we were woken up by a huge band of about 20
brass players and 20 drummers in the street outside
our apartment. The music woke me up out of my sleep
when they were a few blocks away. By the time the band
was below our window, it was unbelievably loud.
Apparently 40 person bands playing throughout the
streets at 3am is common this time of year.
Today we walked around Pelhourinho for the first time
during the day. Stages are being setup and the
camarotes are being built everywhere we turn.
Camarotes are stages setup along the route of
Carnaval. People can buy tickets to watch the parade
pass by. The street parades are very crowded, so the
carmarote gives people the chance to watch Carnaval
from above the streets. We will spend two days in the
camarotes next week.
You can also pay to be in a bloco. Bands play through
the streets of Salvador during carnival. You can buy
tickets to walk and dance alongside the band in the
streets. This is called a bloco. We are joining the
bloco of a band called Timbalada. This is another
famous band from the city of Salvador.