The second fall of Império

(this is a post from sambagypsy - cc'd to the riostories blog because it's highly Rio-relevant.)

I have been too overwhelmed and sick at heart recently to write any blog entries. My job has spiralled into a nightmare of endless 16-hr days (and I don't get paid hourly). I've had terribly bad news about a family member whose metastatic cancer has taken a frightening and deadly turn for the worse, and have been terribly worried about another family member with another health problem. I forgot my sister's birthday... I haven't been able to call her any day since then to apologize, because I never get done working till 1am. I spent most of Sunday miserable over the news that one of my bands had been accused of theft of a valuable leather jacket (!) and stealing of beer (well, frankly, that one's a lot more possible) and had been banned from one of the major venues in town - after a show that we'd really worked our asses off on. (A day later came another email saying oops, sorry, we found the "stolen" jacket behind a chair. By then I'd spent a whole day stressing about it.) I got called into my boss's office today to be reprimanded for the heinous act of asking my TA to help me with the impossible pile of grading that I have - my TA being the only thing that has kept my 16-hr work days from turning into 20 -hr workdays. Apparently they don't allow TAs at this school to help with exam grading... I hadn't known. Yesterday I got a crisp email informing me that one of the classes I am due to teach next fall has been drastically changed without my knowledge (they'd forgotten that was teaching it, forgot to invite me ot any of the meetings about it); this will require another dozen hours per week of prep time per week, and will turn next semester into the same nightmare that this semester has been, and the semester before, and the one before that. The news about the phys lab should have been a minor thing, and I'd shaken it off and was puttering around my room again, and then I just started to cry.

I haven't "just started to cry" like that since my first terrible, miserable, lonely time in Brazil; in Salvador in winter; when the winter gales off the Atlantic were blowing the street signs right off their poles, and I passed out in my host family's living room one day from a bleeding ulcer. The host family could have cared less; but the wonderful, sweet, underpaid, overworked cook put me to bed and made me his mom's special chicken soup.

I've worked 72 hours from Thursday night to Monday night. I had to miss two rehearsals and am on the point of just withdrawing from all of my bands. I hate this. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.

In the middle of all this, Carnaval. I did manage to see some of it at a friend's house (while typing lecture notes on invertebrate biology and plant medicines on my laptop). The only escola that was able to crack me out of my laptop daze was Salgueiro - with an incredible parade with, guess what theme, DRUMS!!! Can you even imagine a better theme?? They had some of the most beautiful floats I've ever seen - gigantic drums with acrobats on bungee cords leaping up and down to hit them - huge drums whose drum heads stretched out into huge, mobile heads of the animals who gave their lives to make the drums - an entire ala of maculele dancers - a float crowded full of actual mestres of baterias, past and present - and a drum that must have been twenty feet across with lifesize cows running across (well, people dressed as cows).

Salgueiro was the only escola that truly grabbed my attention; the only one that made me actually CLOSE my laptop and just watch the parade.

I was also pleased to see that Imperio Serrano, my beloved escola, one of the few "poor but honest" escolas in Grupo Especial, did a beautiful parade. No broken floats like two years ago when they lost! A magnificent song (they won the best song award this year) and the whole stadium singing along. I thought it was good enought that they had a shot at finishing in the top 6 and being in the Parade of Champions. Imperio's one of the few Grupo Especial escolas that does not have the (illegal) backing of major drug cartel, so it would be pretty cool to see them in the Parade of Champions.

Poor Mocidade had a pretty sketchy parade. And Mangueira, horrors, actually had a very bad parade with several float disasters. They've had some budget problems and some of their floats were actually unfinished! This is usually the kiss of death for a Grupo Especial escola. Could it be that the great Mangueira might go down to Grupo A??

Rumors started to fly that if Mangueira or Mocidade ended up last (the escola that is ranked last is demoted to Grupo A), LIESA (the league of samba schools that runs Carnaval) was going to announce that, due to special unforeseen circumstances, no Grupo Especial escola would be sent down last year.

Rumors started to fly particularly intensely that Mangueira, the famous escola of thieves and drug dealers, was pulling strings behind the scenes.

Wednesday the results came out.

SALGUEIRO WON! I was so pleased! Good for Salgueiro - they really earned it. They haven't won in over a decade.

Mangueira finished in the top 6 in the Parade of Champions. What the ... ????

Mocidade finished second to last.

Imperio Serrano was ranked last and will go down to Grupo A.

I have always known that Grupo Especial was rigged, but the fall of Imperio this year, despite Imperio's beautiful parade, with Mangueira mysteriously in the Parade of Champions despite a terrible parade with unfinished floats, confirmed it for me beyond any further doubt. Or another way to put it is - this year it hit me where it really hurt. Carnaval is rigged. Bought and paid for. I am certain that Mangueria bribed the judges to bring Imperio down instead of Mangueira - since Imperio is politically the weakest escola and can offer no bribe money in return.

I'm reminded of the old joke about an "honest" judge in Latin America: An honest judge is one who will consider bribes equally from all offerers and will, fair and honest, take the biggest bribe. (And Imperio couldn't afford to offer anything.)

So I am sick at heart this week.

I have been waiting since then for an email from Vitor, my ala director in Imperio Serrano, Vitor of the endless enthusiastic emails, who has been slaving away all year for this parade. Usually he sends an email out right after Wednesday's results. He even did two years ago, when Imperio had their catastrophic parades with floats falling apart, and was sent down for the first time. But Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday passed... and no word from Vitor. See the next post for the update.