BONFIM.

Thursday was perhaps one of the greatest days EVER! Most of us went to Lavagem do Bonfim, a festival that is held every second Thursday of January. The festival has been around forever – for hundreds of years, and thousands upon thousands of people go each year to celebrate. The general idea of the festival is that everyone meets near the harbor, at a church, and walks 10 kilometers to the Church of Bonfim, where women dressed in all white (Baianas) wash the church steps.

Most of us got up early and made it to the Mercado Modelo – a huge building with shops etc near the harbor – by 8:30 am. We thought that the parade started at 8:00 or so but it actually started at 10 so we were there a bit early. We enjoyed it though – a few drum groups played and stuff, and we got to see everyone getting ready for the parade. Most of us were wearing white (as most people do for the festival) and we got these necklaces with blue and white beads that everyone wears.

Many people take part in the parade – including the Baianas, whom I’ve already mentioned. They wear these huge white dresses with wide-brimmed skirts (think Gone with the Wind) and carry pots of flowers on their heads. There was also a group called Filhos de Gandhy (Sons of Gandhi). They are kind of a big deal because they’re big at Carnival. They wear all white and blue and turbans etc. and drove this huge truck, on top of which a few stood, throwing rice at everyone in the crowd and releasing doves. Another large crowd of the Filhos surround the truck, holding hands the entire time (for 10 kilometers!). Many government officials were there too, as well as various groups celebrating (and protesting) different occasions/issues. Most groups in the parade though, no matter their cause for joining, were so joyous and played music etc. There were a bunch of Afro-drum groups, which were our favorite.

So to sum up the parade, there are many groups, MANY people, so much music, so many colors, beads, etc., so much white, so much dancing, a lot of people drinking beer and other drinks, many donkey-pulled carts, many palm leaves, just so much of everything.

So the parade started at 10 and we stuck around a while to watch all of the groups go by in the parade, and we started walking a bit later (prob 10:30). We walked (and occasionally danced!) for a while, and then as we started getting closer to the front we hit some of the big Afro-drum groups. The music was so amazing! Everyone liked dancing, but Andreas and I LOVED the dancing. We all were dancing for a while, and then during one particular song that everyone LOVED and knew all of the words to, the beat sped up and everyone kind of started running, so Andreas and I started running through the crowd (while dancing, of course) and got up towards the front where all of the really happy/joyous/festive people were. We were with the PMDR band and seriously oh it was SO much fun! At one point we were dancing and someone accidentally stepped on my flip flop and it FELL OFF. I seriously thought it was a goner! The man behind me (and the man behind him) noticed though, and the latter braved the ever-forwarding crowd and grabbed for it and passed it forward. So I DID manage to get my flip flop back (thank goodness... those remaining miles would NOT have been fun!)

Anyways so we kept dancing and it was great! Although then Andreas got pickpocketed which was kind of weird slash scary etc. We were dancing with the band and all of a sudden these four guys were way near him and then surrounded him, dancing (they were VERY close to him…all over him) and he kind of noticed too and was hitting them away, as did the man behind us (same guy who helped me during the shoe debacle!) who also began hitting them away. They quickly dispersed, and luckily, none of Andreas’s stuff was actually stolen, but it was very weird to watch and as I imagine, very weird for Andreas to have happened to him. He said they first all got really close and kind of were touching him (like grazing their hands on his shoulders and waist etc.) to get him “used” to it (that sort of touching happened a lot during the day, as we were in a parade with a gazillion people and it’s hot and sometimes it got really crowded at particular spots – so it’s kind of like you don’t think much of it). Then one of them would dance around and unzip his pant pocket and then he realized what they were doing when he felt one of them reaching down in the pant pocket. He only had a few reis and luckily they didn’t make it to that pocket. So no real harm except for Andreas feeling violated.

We continued to walk and dance with the crowd. Our group eventually made it up to the area with the Filhos do Gandhy, but their area was SO crowded and everyone was touching everyone etc. So Andreas and I decided to wait back for the band and get back at that part of the parade. We did, and we spent the rest of our time dancing our hearts out and laughing so much. With 1.2 miles left (I think?) we decided we would dance the whole way to the church. Which we pretty much did! We literally danced for miles and miles that day. One of the drummers in the band really liked us, too, and he offered to let me play his drum! Ah it was so much fun. We ended up talking to him as we walked and he was so friendly – his name was Luis and he LOVED America.

The day was so great. Everywhere our band went, people went crazy because they played these great songs that people loved (and knew all of the words to!). As we passed by, everyone watching from the sidewalk and even from the balconies of their houses would just break out in smiles and dance and song.

Four hours (and much dancing and walking!) later, we made it to the Church of Bonfim. We missed the traditional washing of the steps (at least I think we did – we couldn’t make it all the way to the front because it was so crowded) but we saw a priest giving a sermon out of the second floor window to the crowd. We took a taxi home and an hour later, had samba lessons (even more dancing!). It was a great day!

PICS




one of the drumming bands before the parade!





sarah and i before the parade!




people before the parade started (so many people!)





sarah and i with a couple of the Baiana women!




Filhos do Gandhy! (throwing rice at the crowd.... also releasing doves!)




we saw a lot of these in the parade




cool car!




band in the parade!




mime




women dancing




another band (notice the crazy hair!)





crowd at one point during the walk





onlooking crowd




policemen hosing people down (slash wet tshirt contest? haha). it did feel really really nice!!




andreas and our band!




me drumming with luis!!!



funniest picture... these girls were sambaing on the side of the road next to these cool stands, and andreas told me to take a pic, and i jokingly told him to go dance with them and he did and they were DEF laughing at him.



crowd getting to the church (in the top right corner)



SO MANY PEOPLE



bonfim church



view from the church of the parade




walking down from the church - another shot of the crowd