Lapa Stairs, Samba, and Festa de Jurujubu

Not many people actually know of the lapa stairs, but the other volunteers knew about it beacause Snoop Dog made a music video on these stairs. I could have spent the whole day here because these tiles were filled with mini art pieces. There were a lot of tiles designated to different countries and states. Unfortunately, there was no Colorado tile. It was full of color and it was so interesting. At the bottom there was a fascinating story about how the stairs originated and details about the project. We then decided to visit Saint Teresa, but we ended up staying on the train because we had so much fun playing on the train. This train crosses over the Lapa Bridge and goes up to Saint Teresa and even Corcovado (where the Christ is). We had plans to stop at Saint Teresa because it is suppose to be a beautiful place and is a great place for a couple, apparently. We ended up never stopping and enjoyed a train ride instead. This train is similar to San Francisco where you can just jump on the train and hang off the side.

As for the Festa de Jurujubu, it was probably one of my favorite events. It was a festival that had lots of food, dancing, games, and there were tons of people. It is a five day festival, but I went to three of the five days. The first night consisted of nmore locals and I got tons of free food because I knew one of the ladies working one of the booths. The second night all the volunteers went and it was such a fun night! All of us had a blast soaking in the culture. The third night it happened to rain, but it did not stop us. Even though eveyone was taking cover from the rain, we all stayed in the rain and kept dancing. I have decided that Brazilians don't like rain at all. I absolutely love the rain and I was drenched, but it was such a refreshing night. I love how Brazil has so many festivals!

Samba. To me this was a foreign word, and now after learning Samba it is still foreign to me. Samba is a popular dance here and it is quick shuffling feet pretty much. It is fast, but completely different then the dance style I am use to. We went to a Samba place that consisted of lots of dancers as well as stons of people playing instruments. It was great to learn how to Samba, but I don't think that I will bring Samba back to the states with me. I will gladly show off my Samba skills, but it was funnier for me to try and dance Samba.

By the way... The newspaper came out on Sunday with the article about Jins and me. I bought a copy, but I did not have enough money to buy more, so I will make lots of copies when I get home. They got a great picture of Jins, Gerson, and I. :)

Lapa Stairs:

Samba Night:

This costume below costs about 3,000 to 4,000 Reais per costume. That just shows you how important the festival really is to Brazil. It weighs (I forgot the exact amount of kilos), but a lot, and they have to wear this costume for an hour and a half at least walking through the parade.

Festa de Jurujubu: (I have more pictures I will add another time)