Carnival

(Sorry to say but the videos are not posting at the moment. I'll see what I can do.)

No one moved as the last of the beer floats boomed by.

That gave me a clue that the locals knew something more would be coming. Cool. I made my way back to my old spot but it was now occupied by a man so old and frail that he looked like he was made of paper. How the hell could I ask that dude to move his bony ass?

The grandmother waved at me and I waved back. I thought I might head a bit south but the police had massed and were giving everyone a thorough patting down and I wasn’t too keen on having to haul everything out of my pockets so I decided to find a different spot, one between my taxi meeting point and my perfect spot.

I found myself by the diving rock just as the sun was setting. It was a holy hell moment. So incredibly beautiful, such amazing colors, such an incredible picture opportunity. I took pictures and watched the world fade into a fiery glow, the sea catching fire then cooling to a dark night blue.

Margot would have loved that moment. We would have locked arms and held each other close (after taking butt loads of pictures.) I sure wish she could have been her to see it. But instead it was just me and I was grateful for that moment. No tears.

Maybe that was my reward for not being a dink and leaving the taxi driver hanging. I’ve been really down on Karma since Margot’s passing but maybe there is something to it. It felt good to do right and felt great to see such a stunning sunset.

I kept my eyes open for the parade to restart but wandered around a bit more. I was now really hungry and my feet hurt like hell but it was better to see everything rather than just sitting still.

Then I found what I had been looking for, yet didn’t realize I had been looking for it. A churro stand.

Mmmm.

Yummy, deep fried donut dough coated with lumps of sugar. One of Margot’s most favourite foods. In fact, 10 days before she passed, we went with her dad to see a Seahawks game and, when I went for a drink and asked if she wanted anything, she said a churro and I spent 20 min trying to get one. I did and it made her so vrey happy. I paid $2 for a BAG of churros. OMG good.

Maybe it was my hunger or maybe they were simply the greatest churros ever made but they were fabulous. I sat down to eat them at 7:00. I was a little worried that if the parade didn’t start soon, I would have to go and deal with the taxi dude again and that was likely to cost me even more.

Then the parade started.

7:10.

The real marde gras parade, the real carnival.

Oh sure there were pretty girls but the beer ads were gone. There were dancers and singers and just plain folk walking and waving. There were fantastic floats of all colors, some religious, some with farming themes, others celebrating the revolution. One was filled with superheroes, one with raindeer but no santa, one with mayan/incan temples and plenty with some form of Jesus.

It was incredible.

A gang of men marched in front of a firetruck and shot fireworks into the sky. There were cowboys riding horses, riding clubs showing off their dancing horses and shaggy hoofed ones. Cars drove by with people in the back waving. Ordinary folk dressed up for the occasion. Farmers drove their shiny new tractors. Regular people walked beside the floats, kids, families, all waving, some dancing, all happy to be a part of the celebration.

My goodness, there were buses filled with little kids who waved out the windows. Other buses stopped to pick up little old ladies and give them a drive in the parade. I shit you not. There were peacock floats and corn floats and every person on the float was throwing something into the crowd. The air smelled of fireworks smoke and diesel fumes and charred meat. Loud music played from the back of pick-ups boomed by.

I ate my churros and took so many pictures, I ran out of battery space (almost at the last float but not quite.) It was what I had hoped and more. So much more. I will have to see marde gras in Rio one day. This was impressive but what would the world’s best be like?

The parade ended about 7:45 but people took the place of the floats and filled the street marching northward. I wanted to see if they were going somewhere, maybe a bon fire or grand party in a square or something but I had promised to meet the taxi drive and, frankly,my poor blistered feet were not up to much more marching around.

I went out past all the security dudes and headed for the street where I would met the taxi guy. I was sure he would be there.

Instead, I found something very odd and not a little disturbing.