Carnaval (in Salvador).

For the last day of Carnaval, I headed up to Salvador with a friend. I had some research work to do up there, and it coincided with the last day of the biggest festival in Brasil.

I had heard a lot of stories about Carnaval in Salvador prior to going-- that it would be crazy, the most intense experience of your life, and unlike anything you had seen before. People were right. It's not like Rio, where you can pick and choose the street parties you want to go to. There are specific places that you go (say, for example, like Barra) where are the parties are concentrated onto one street. And it's a bit like a parade. The music is blasted from a float, and the float keeps moving down the street. The float is surrounded by people all wearing the "party t-shirt" called an abada. You have to buy these shirts ahead of time for an incredible price, and then wear them in order to enter the confines of the bloco. What I mean by confines is that there are people that surround these "tshirt" partiers and the float and form a barricade with rope. Kind of like a corral. I'm not kidding. Only those who have the t-shirt can enter, and the rest of the population stands outside, partying, and doing what's called "fazendo pipoca" (making popcorn).

We were told the popcorn crowd gets pretty wild and isn't exactly safe, so after a couple bus trips to malls that were sold out of the t-shirts, we ended up buying our shirts on the street, after being tipped off by a Brazilian girl which blocos were the best ones to go to. She did us well. Not only did we buy the shirt for significantly cheaper than in the stores, we ended up going to a bloco that was just as insane as you can imagine a party. I've never been to Coachella, but it must be something similar. The bloco was DJ'd by Will.iam and was a big mess of sweat, dancing, bodies, dancing, kissing, dancing. It's hard to piece together everything, but I came away alive, my body intact, and not a single thing stolen.

A word to those who end up in Salvador-- most of the blocos play pagode, which is a type of Brazilian music that not everyone may be interested in (say, for example, like me). I highly suggest checking all the lists before you go so you have an idea of what is good and bad out there. And you'll probably be able to buy your shirt on the street, especially if you speak Portuguese.