Carnavale!!!

When you go to Carnival every year, you bounce to, you-know the different music that make it to Carnival in Trinidad. It don't matter about the country you're from. ~ Wyclef Jean

Yesterday I headed to the city with my good friend Rhia for the SF South American Carnavale (yes, it's spelled this way;) I have never been to a carnival before, the closest I've been was Naija Fest a few years ago and so wasn't expecting the teeming mass of people who were more excited for the event than I was. It's sponsored by the Art Association and modelled after the Carnavale held in Rio de Janeiro every year. Except it's in SF. With everyone from all other South American countries including Brazil participating and represented.

I looked around until my eyes nearly rolled out of my head. I was stunned by the dizzying array of color, the costumes, the food, the language, the music...everything was just very energetic, very bright, very authentic and presented such a colorful display of South American heritage and culture that made me definitely want to add somewhere in South America on my top 10 places to visit list.

It's a shame I didn't speak a lick of Spanish, I think I would have gotten more in the zone. Everyone spoke it, the MC, the musicians, all the music was in Spanish. They were many women dressed in Carnavalesque costumes with lots of feathers, beads and shiny ornaments. Some had the Fantasia on, while others had skimpy halter top, short skirt and feathered hats that looked like her.

There were Copeira dancers who performed in constant rotation, a dance that consisted of martial arts moves. I saw a dog that was as large as a small pony, got to play a set on authentic Cuban drums, bought some lovely trinkets, encouraged Rhia to get a knockoff Coach purse for 25 bucks and ate so many churros that I almost got a headache. There were tons of people listening to the different bands from different parts of Latin America playing authentic live music on the stages. Several people took to the dance floor and there was a Rumba competition in which the couple that won stunned us all with their acrobatic ability. There was all kinds of sponsors, free product sampling and I even flirted with some cute firemen at the fireman's booth to get me some Mardi Gras beads. Hehehe.

All in all it was a very fun affair, and the perfect place to have it. At the end of the day noone wanted to leave and the cops had to start shutting the event down just to get everyone to leave, we were all having so much fun. If you ever have a chance to hit a South American Carnavale, take it---they know how to throw a festival!