I'm the kind of person who does their best writing (Web editing now too) in silence without too many distractions. The environment around me is very important. This is why I am willing to spend more on lodging frequently. Writing anything in a cramped or "dingier" room with a noisy air conditioner or heater is difficult. Writing journal entries in an Internet cafe is ok - but even for such simple things I am prone to make more mistakes. I discovered that the link to the organization of Samba schools below wasn't working (March 3rd entry), it's fixed now. I've also updated the text to more accurately reflect my experience. You should consider re-reading it.
A few more updates on our Rio Carnaval experience - We did bump into a group of Americans on the way to the parade who paid good money to be in a Samba School parade, but considering that they were simply people wearing costumes in a "filler" section of the school's parade, I don't see much harm in offering a limited # of foreigners to participate more intimately. With the elaborate costumes and viewing distances - most wouldn't even be able to tell they were foreigners. The money they bring will help build better floats, etc...
Watching the awards ceremony on TV to determine the best schools, I was struck by just how serious the Brazlians take every aspect of the Samba parade. Every judges score in every judging category is announced separately. It's a several hour affair. The 3 schools we watched all placed in the top 7 (out of 14), with the highest - Grande Rio in 3rd. Not bad! Grande Rio was the best we saw - we judged that correctly. I also caught a glimpse on TV of Carnaval in other cities in Brazil. It definitely looked like more of a participative affair than watching from the sidelines. If I visit during Carnaval time again, I would likely go to another city -- just as the NY Times article mentions what many Brazilians are doing. For the first timer - going to Rio is just fine I feel.
Lastly -- as you can tell from my first journal entry in Paraguay - having high speed wireless net access in my room definitely helps in the amount I write and the # of Internet links I provide.
A few more updates on our Rio Carnaval experience - We did bump into a group of Americans on the way to the parade who paid good money to be in a Samba School parade, but considering that they were simply people wearing costumes in a "filler" section of the school's parade, I don't see much harm in offering a limited # of foreigners to participate more intimately. With the elaborate costumes and viewing distances - most wouldn't even be able to tell they were foreigners. The money they bring will help build better floats, etc...
Watching the awards ceremony on TV to determine the best schools, I was struck by just how serious the Brazlians take every aspect of the Samba parade. Every judges score in every judging category is announced separately. It's a several hour affair. The 3 schools we watched all placed in the top 7 (out of 14), with the highest - Grande Rio in 3rd. Not bad! Grande Rio was the best we saw - we judged that correctly. I also caught a glimpse on TV of Carnaval in other cities in Brazil. It definitely looked like more of a participative affair than watching from the sidelines. If I visit during Carnaval time again, I would likely go to another city -- just as the NY Times article mentions what many Brazilians are doing. For the first timer - going to Rio is just fine I feel.
Lastly -- as you can tell from my first journal entry in Paraguay - having high speed wireless net access in my room definitely helps in the amount I write and the # of Internet links I provide.
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