What Is Rio?
In a few weeks Rio de Janieiro will host the greatest party on Earth—carnival (carneval, in Portuguese). Beginning this week BlackNotBlack will offer an overview of this majestic event, written from firsthand experience by myself and guest poster Ari Sawyer.
What is Rio? A lush and exotic paradise filled with sunbaked cariocas swaying in ecstasy to the throb of the samba? A hellish urban maze where the elite flaunt their treasures while turning a blind eye to the sufferings of the impoverished? Perhaps it’s both—golden city and dystopian slum; Brigadoon and Bladerunner. One thing is certain—carnival galvanizes the city each year. It is a ceasefire-as-worldwide-party, with more than a million travelers arriving to satiate themselves in a seething bacchanal of food, music, dance, sun, and sex. It is all of humanity in orgiastic release, and when the four day weekend passes, Rio becomes itself once more, whatever that may be.
posted by Egan Ehlers @ 1:12 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home