- Carnaval

As traditional, Brazil always has this huge party called Carnaval. For most people, it is time to have a break from school, work or whatever you are doing... But for other people, it is the time to work hard, really hard ! Our so called Escolas de Samba always have this time to present many and many "alegorias", which I frankly don't understand why the hell they do that, portraying something, which I also don't understand how/why they choose it, historical, or not. For instance, if the Escola decides the theme to be the discovery of Brazil, each alegoria would be something remarkable, as the natives, the ships and etc... It is also kind of nice to watch all the colors, the costumes, the dances... On the other hand, these communities spend loads and loads of money just to compete for a prize... nice! I wonder how the government feels about it... Anyway, this years winner was Unidos da Tijuca, which had quite of a good presentation (I really don't know how to judge this or even how the judges judge it!) with many surprises... I don't understand the theme at all, but when watching the desfile, I could see an alegoria of super-heros such as Spiderman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and another alegoria of magicians, which I believe was the cause for the success of the group. In this category, there were some women dressed in dresses, but then, when "purpurina" was thrown over them, their dresses changed color and style ! From the beginning to end, people were trying to figure out how they did that, and the dresses and styles continue changing ! It was really amazing/awkward/frustrating to watch that ! (You can check it out in the video below) Finally, from my very basic understanding, I believe that they have deserved the title... Don't forget to check the video =)