The truth about the Internet

I have a confession to make. I have been checking the blog statistics. Religiously. Well, for one, it doesn’t hurt to know who’s reading your blog and where most of the traffic source comes from. Understandably, my audience is mainly from the UK, Poland and Brazil, as I’ve got friends and family in all three of them. Thanks to a fellow blogger link, I’ve gained relative popularity in the US, which now tops the list. Two, by finding out which post are most read I get valuable insight. Or so I thought.

Obviously you can stumble across my blog just by typing in google (or some other browser) key words which I happened to include.  Hence, I wasn’t surprised that suddenly people read me in, say, Germany, Russia, India or Canada. Normal. After all, the blog is entirely searchable. But then suddenly Kuwait, Ghana, Saudi Arabia. Wow, I’m getting popular around the world, I thought naively. And don’t get me wrong, I’d be more than happy to know that residents of those and other countries have an interest in Brazil and my Brazilian adventures. You’re welcome, guys!

But somehow I failed to notice, until last night, that I can actually check by which  searchwords my blog is usually found. So here we go: “carnival 2012 boobs”, ”breasts samba”, ”sexy carnaval 2012”… True, I did write about boobs at the sambadrome (and that post is the most popular indeed), but how come typing in “miss bumbum” redirects to The Brazilian Dream??

It dawned on me. Most Internet users are interested in Brazil not as a country, but as a land of big bums and boobs, hot bodies, Brazilian bikini and ass-shaking. How sad. I think I need to drown my sorrows in a caipirinha. And in a few days’ time I’ll check if this post got the most visits. C’mon, it’s bound to. 

Ilú Obá de Min (Carnival Special 1)

So the carnival is here and it would be a sacrilege not to celebrate it. Strangely enough, not all Brazilians sport this annual revelry and, sadly, that includes my boyfriend. The main reason, according to him and many of his compatriots, is that it is not what it used to be, the highly institutionalised parade at the sambadrome topping the list. I have heard quite a few people complain about the quality of today’s enredos (samba theme songs), which actually qualifies for a separate post, as well as about extreme nudity which seems to be prevalent among the female samba dancers these days. Let’s face it, the samba costumes have never been prissy, except maybe for the allegorical fantasias*, but I have to admit that those plastic boobs sticking out a mile do ruin the whole thing. Revealing – yes, sexy – yes, slutty – no. Unfortunately, the latter has become the new chic to some.

Source: http://g1.globo.com/sao-paulo/carnaval/2012/noticia/2012/02/quero-causar-abafar-no-carnaval-vale-tudo-diz-vice-miss-bumbum.html

Despite the above mentioned downsides, I still want to experience the carnival as it is, since I can’t magically teleport myself back in time to enjoy its magnificent past. Nor do I have any comparison. I may claim to have been a Brazilian in my previous life, but that somehow doesn’t empower me to remember the original beauty of the greatest party on Earth. But if you don’t have what you want, want what you have. And what there is plenty of in São Paulo are the blocos or mini-parades not confined to the rigid concrete space of sambadrome, but allowed to freely roam the streets. Sure, they’re not as lavish or impressive as the main parade, but neither as costly (they’re free!) and way more authentic!

Last night I saw Ilú Obá de Min, a bloco devoted to exploring the Afro-Brazilian heritage, so the dancers, conveniently using stilts (conveniently – because at least you could see them from the crowd!), represented various African Orixas; deities that correspond to various forces of nature and whose archetypes are manifestations of these forces.** You could see, for example, Oxalá – the father of spiritual purity and pure light:

Good fun in a crowd that at times became too dense, but never stopped jumping and enjoying the vibe. Here’s a taste of the night and I’m off to another bloco....

There's another video here: http://youtu.be/fcKyuvBmrlg - check it out!
(can't seem to be able to include a miniature)

*the fancy costumes representing various themes
** read more about Orixas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orisha