I feel like everyone should be awake, it's 10 freaking 30. The day is dwindling, folks. Get up and live it.
I am supposed to be going to the beach today, to become a Greek goddess, but the person I am waiting for is still slumbering. I do not know if I can tolerate such sloth-like behavior from a group. I am appalled.
I feel like I have not posted anything for forever, when in reality it's only been a few days. So much has gone on and I am so exhausted that I haven't had time to post an excessive blog, like I usually do. I suppose I have time because of freaking sleeping beauty over thurr.
Thursday was the Carnaval Parade. And it was fantastic. I don't really know how to properly describe it, because it was so cool but I shall try. The parade did not start until around 9, even though it was supposed to have started at 8:30, and we left at 7:30. We sat right on the street, on hard green benches that were feet away from the acts that strutted and sauntered and sang their way down 18 de Julio. These benches lined the whole of 18 de Julio, which is one of the main streets in Montevideo. After we had been sitting for a while and I had embarrased myself in front of a very rude and attractive police officer, I continued to make a fool of myself by buying about 5 pounds of paper confetti and sprinkling it on everyone for about an hour. There is paper everywhere, still. I consider that a success in my book, but others would say otherwise. It was funny how many people wanted paper and didn't buy it themselves, it was 50 cents for two big bags of it. Needless to say, there were hills of paper pieces around us before the carnaval started. Whatever. It's carnaval. No one else has to freaking get their party on. But I did. Totally partied.
Then the floats and the groups came by. There was a wonderful float made out of recycled bottles, and I know that when I say that it sounds incredibly strange, but it was really neat. There were a few floats, and there were the queens of carnaval and candombe and salsa, that smiled and waved in sparkly dresses. There were also acts of about 9 or 10 people dressed up with elaborate costumes that looked like they were from waybackwhen that came around and danced and smiled and painted our faces and things like that. There was a group of gladiators, and a group of men in very sparkly suits that sang for us. It was lovely. My favorite, however, was the drummers. We learned all about them in our candombe class, and how there are different types of drums that make different sounds, and what their constumes signify. Candombe was originated from the Afro-Uruguayans back in the 17th century. Africans were brought to south America as slaves, and in order to preserve some of their culture, they continued to play drums and have a sort of festival when they didn't have work. They would take some of their old masters clothes and bust out their drums, and bam. Candombe. Candombe is an integral part of Uruguayan culture and is commemorated every year in Carnaval. The drummers that walk down the street wear black with white shoes that tie all the way up their legs, to represent the scars. In the drumline, each drummer takes a short, calculated step, the represent the chains that were worn on their feet. Like jazz, the candome drummers have no written music, but play together by listening to each other and playing accordingly. I do not remember why, but they play with one drumstick and one hand. Their drumbeats are some of the coolest things I have ever heard, as they walked by me the rhythms permeated everything around us. It was amazing. Click this link to see a video, if you wish. This is from this year's Carnaval.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9XMLpWmzPE
No comments:
Post a Comment