The Chronicles of a “Gringa” Passista ptII

Vila Isabel in the Sambadrome from 2012

Guys, I am exhausted.

These past couple of weeks, I have mostly been not sleeping.

I am teaching English here in Rio, which I enjoy very much, but irregular working hours to coincide with students' regular working hours means lots of travelling, useless hours missing from my day and very little time for effective daytime napping.

But mostly to blame is samba. Carnaval is soon approaching and boy don't we know it. Before Christmas, rehearsals were Wednesday and Saturdays. Now there has now been a Sunday rehearsal added into the mix. Last week, Tuesday evening was for rehearsing in Sapucai, aka the Sambadrome aka the passarela (catwalk). The hallowed Avenida that sambistas sing about all year round in the run up to this one time of year they are able to show the world what they've got. They are able to be whoever they want to be. The Avenida is where dreams are made, and in my case, come true.

Edson, the Director of the Passistas 

So one Sunday after a street rehearsal (my favourite kind), the Director Edson (left) told us all we needed to be at the Sambadrome at 19:00 in our blue and white to practice with the bateria (drumsssss). I don't know if you know, but dancing with a bateria is maybe one of my favourite things to do in the whole world. And I was about to practice with this school I loved, on the same ground I've seen from the stands and on YouTube and on pirate Carnaval DVDs. And when I stepped onto it in my heels, I felt overcome with emotion and pride.