Live Blogging from Carnaval

So, despite that fact that Matt and I are holed up in Belo Horizonte during Carnaval, as far away from the craziness of Rio as we could get, we were still really excited being in Brazil during this time. No, we weren't planning on going out and doing anything crazy, we're still total nerds. But we were really excited about getting to watch the parades on TV.

If you've never seen footage of the Carnaval parades in Rio before, I suggest you check out the clip below immediately. It honestly makes the Macy Day's Parade look like it was produced by a 2nd grader. Here's how it works: There are 12 samba schools in the main parade, each with between 3600-4100 people in them. They have 82 minutes to traverse the 1/4 mile length of the Sambadome, during which all of those 4000 people dance and sing while carrying what looks like 50 extra pounds in costume weight. Every school has a theme which their costumes and floats revolve around loosely. First comes the commisao da frente, which are a small group of dancers who have a very precise, choreographed dance they perform. Then the flag carriers, a man and a woman, and trust me you haven't seen a hoop skirt like the one she's got on since Gone with the Wind. Eventually, the bateria appears, which is the huge collection of percussionists that keep the beat for the entire parade.

I wondered why Carnaval is never really broadcast on television in the United States. And trust me it's not because of lewdness, because I've seen worse on cable. I think it might have something to with the enormous liberty that these schools take with history, nations, and people. For instance, the following is a list of all the characters that I saw samba last night: Wizards, Dick Tracy, Pancho Villa, Aliens, Jack Sparrow, Buddha, Batman, Moses, Flappers, Pharoahs, Michael Jackson, Marines (I think my favorite), Druids, Conquistadors, and the Flames of the Inquisition (I kid you not). They seem to be equal opportunity offenders at least.
Still, I don't think I've ever seen that many happy people, even at Disney World.

Sometimes, while in Latin America, you often find yourself critquing the organization, bureaucracy, and just the general togetherness of the people here. But no more. Perhaps they don't believe in informational dissemination quite the way we do, but one thing's for sure: they can sure as hell put on a parade.

Congonhas

About an hour outside of BH, in the middle of an otherwise ugly, industrial town lies the magnum opus of one of Brazil’s most famous artists, Aleijadinho. The artist, whose name literally translates to “little cripple,” suffered from leprosy and eventually had his hands and feet amputated. While the traditional biography of Aleijadinho has been recently disputed, it is believed that the sculptures of the 12 prophets surrounding the church were carved by Aleijadinho after having lost the use of his hands. True or not, the story of Aleijadinho and his sculptures at the Church of Bom Jesus de Matozinhos remains inspirational for many mineiros and is the most important site for Christian pilgrimage in Brazil.

Inhotim

About a two hour bus ride outside of Belo Horizonte, across the mountains, past an industrial wasteland, and through too many tiny villages to count lies a jewel of the modern art world: Inhotim. Imagine a place landscaped within an inch of its life, dotted with seating straight out of a Crate and Barrel catalogue, and then scattered with oversized art installations. Like all wonderful things in the world, it is the result of more money than someone knew what to do with. And even though you constantly have the painfully guilty feeling that this wealth could have been better spent alleviating other, more pressing problems in Brazil, it is still truly an amazing place to behold.
My favorite ‘work’ was called the Sonic Pavillion (pictured above) by an American artist. This was a large, circular building that crouched upon a hill overlooking a beautiful landscape below. Microphones had been dropped 200 meters into the earth, and then the vague sounds of the shifting earth were broadcast into the building. The glass walls were glazed so that the viewer could only see directly in front of themselves, unless they were standing in the center of the room; then they could see the full 360 degrees. It was an amazing experience: You are rooted to the earth, inescapably so, but your vision of the path ahead is clear and far, though hampered by tunnel vision. Unless you center yourself, and then...then everything becomes possible.

Click here to see all our pics from Inhotim.

Pampulha

Pampulha is a ritzy suburb of Belo Horizonte about 20 minutes outside the city center. Normally planned developments aren't really our thing, but this particular one was built by one of Brazil's foremost architects, Oscar Niemayer, in collaboration with one of Brazil's most well-known visionaries, Juscelino Kubitschek (yes, that's a Brazilian name). The result was a man-made lake with a 12 mile circumference dotted by little gems of modernist architecture. The building to the left is actually a church, believe it or not, and one of the most distinctive buildings in Brazil. Visiting it was actually a little shocking, even for the non-religious. Realizing that it was built almost 60 years ago makes it impressive. All in all, it was a nice break from the overly ornate churches of baroque Portugal and colonial Brazil.

Another Niemeyer building on the lake was the Casa do Baile. Now used as an architectual museum of Belo Horizonte, it was originally created to host dances and parties. Overall, Pampulha provided a refreshing, if strange, contrast to the omnipresent skyscrapers of Brazil and serves to remind you that this country can be about so much more then beaches and soccer.

Ouro Preto

Yesterday we decided to take a trip outside the city of Belo Horizonte to the village of Ouro Preto, a small colonial mining town from the 17th century nestled in the mountains. Once the epicenter of the gold and diamond boom in Brazil, it now plays host to tourists attracted by its many churches and gorgeous vistas.
Not only does it have breathtaking views, but somehow the town has managed to achieve that perfect state of charming ruin. The churches are crumbling and mildewed, grass grows out of every crevice, and the interiors are thick with dust and shadows, and yet somehow they are the better for it.

My favorite part was the old opera house. It has the distincion of being the oldest running opera house in the Americas, still in use today after its creation in 1740. Click here to see the rest of our pics.

The Top 10 Reasons to Travel with a Historian

10) It could be worse: they could be an –ologist. You know, anthropologist, biologist, etc.
9) Historians sometimes answer the question “And how was your day honey?” with a “Oh, pretty normal, just reading some letters written by a king from the 17th century.”
8) They get to go on awesome trips like this one.
7) It’s really funny when they don’t know some really simple historical fact, and it can be used to embarrass them for years.
6) Even though historians lie and say that they know more languages than they really do, they still know more than the average person, and it can be pretty useful.
5) They all like to drink...a lot.
4) What other profession can be symbolized by pocket protectors and elbow patches?
3) Usually historians can actually answer those pesky, rhetorical questions that you ask yourself in a new place, like “When was this city founded?” and “Why do they like to eat that funky stuff?”*
2) Watching their attempts at assimilation can be pretty amusing. One word: Speedo.
1) Historians are important!
Okay, once you’re done laughing, keep reading.
Let me explain. To plagiarize heavily from a common economics lecture, take a Taco Bell meal. No one person on the earth knows everything there is to know about how to make that meal. No one knows at what time the tomatoes ripen best, at what temperature to cook the tortilla shells, and the marketing ploys behind the color of the wrapper. It takes a lot of different people.

History is like that. The next time you say to someone, “Yeah Brazil, don’t they speak Portuguese?” you should go out and hug a historian. Because hundreds of people have worked for centuries on thousands of different issues so that the very big and complex issue of world history can filter down into a textbook and then into our little pea brains. Just like a meal from Taco Bell, except not quite as tasty and much more educational.

So go on, hug your nearest historian. Oh, not too closely...remember that pocket protector...

Monkeys, Quatis, and Mountains, Oh My!

Today we went out to the Parque das Mangabeiras, which is a beautiful nature park only about a 15 minture drive from our apartment. Though this place was rife with views of the verdant mountains and the urban sprawl below, the best thing of all was the wildlife.

About 10 minutes after we were there, Matt and I were walking down a trail, when all the sudden we were surrounded by a pack of wild monkeys that were playing in the trees. These small little creatures are very common in Brazil (think squirrels) but I was fascinated with their cute litte faces and obvious intelligence. And, of course, monkeys are very photogenic.

This litte guy is called a quati (kwa-chee) and is also apparently pretty common in Brazil. He was very curious, mostly about the food that people were trying to feed him with, but he seemed comfortable in front of the camera.