Unidos da Tijuca

Uh-oh, I am falling way, way, way behind on my blog entries! Let's see - just so I don't forget:
Thurs: the hike to Praca Maua and the Unidos da Tijua street rehearsal
Fri: Cubango street rehearsal. Stranded in Niteroi. Packs of wild hogs.
Sat: Choro! Drag queens! Odilon Costa! Running in circles round the Sambodromo! JORGE BEN JOR with Ben!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sun: CUBANGO STREET REHEARSAL blows my mind. (and my feet). Flamengo beats Fluminense 5-3 and I see the last 2 goals with a frenzied crowd at a street bar while the entire Viradouro bateria is thundering away fifty feet behind us.

OK. So. Thursday.
Thursday I spent a long time trying to figure out how to get to the brilliant escola Beija-Flor, which is a million miles away in a place called Nilópolis. I knew the buses to Nilópolis leave from a plaza called Praça Mauá, so I walked all the way from my apartment to the little bus station at Praça Mauá to try to figure out the bus schedule. I know it's only a mile walk or so, but in the burning summer heat of Rio it started to seem a lot farther. Once I got there, everybody I asked was completely certain where the bus to Nilópolis was, and they all pointed me accurately toward a bus that was, indeed, going to Nilópolis. But what I want to know is how late the buses run, and nobody, NOBODY knew the schedule. Not even the bus driver knew the bus schedule. (He knew the schedule of his own personal bus, but had no idea how late buses run on that route, or how late they return.) Dang. Nilópolis is a long haul away, and I've had 3 previous experiences of getting stranded at Beija-Flor late at night, and though I do really love Beija-Flor, I don't really want to spend a night at the Nilópolis bus station curled up on a concrete floor.

I hovered around Praça Mauá for a while, hoping the attendant would return, and had even gotten bold enough to step into the attendant's booth and start rifling through all the incomprehensible bus schedules that were all wedged in a clipboard together. When it suddenly occurred to me that I was not all that far from the Cidade do Samba. That's the huge ring of big, new warehouses where the 12 Grupo Especial escolas build their floats. Beija-Flor is a Grupo Especial escola, right? So - I suddenly had the bright idea "I bet the Beija-Flor guys who are building the floats could tell me how to get to Beija-Flor tonight!" I asked a street vendor which way to the Cidade do Samba, and off I started on another long walk up a long, long street.

Halfway there I passed a huge open doorway and got a glimpse of... what are those... are those parade floats??? It wasn't one of the classy new warehouses of Grupo Especial - I wasn't anywhere near the Cidade do Samba yet. So I thought it must be one of the tiny, cramped, run-down warehouses that the Grupo A escolas have to put up with. I spotted a banner outside, a big red and white banner with a regal lion's head, and I realized it must be Estacio de Sá!

I love Estácio de Sá! So I stopped to talk to a guy who was standing just outside the doors gazing at a half-built metal framework. He seemed pleased that I've heard of Estacio, and further pleased that I'm interested in their floats. He showed me around a little bit, and I got to go inside and peek at some of the finished floats. (There's an amazing one that's all covered with pieces of mirror, and that's all I'm gonna say about that. Ya gotta wait till Carnaval Saturday to see it!)

I asked him "So, is everything ready?" (For Carnaval two weeks away. They've been preparing for it all year - they've probably been building the floats since May or June.) He said "Yes! Almost! Welllll, there's just a few "coisinhas" (little things) left to do," One of the "coisinhas" seemed to be the enormous metal framework that was sticking out of the front door, obviously a completely un-built float that they are only just starting on today. I can't imagine how they'll get it done in just two weeks.





I said thanks, and start walking on when I got distracted again: There's Imperatriz's old warehouse! I also notice there seem to be a lot of beer vendors trundling up the street, including the vendor that I asked for directions.

Hm... something about this all seems familiar.... Estacio, Imperatriz, and beer vendors... and a big street lined with old brick warehouses....

The fuzzy memory clicks. A dark street years ago, crowded with people. Thousands and thousands of people, singing and parading in the dim street lights. Night time. Seeing the huge dim "IMPERATRIZ" sign on the warehouse in the distance, seeing the Estacio lion, of seeing lots of beer vendors.... memories of.... THE UNIDOS DA TIJUCA STREET REHEARSAL!

WAIT a minute! Am I on THAT street? Is today the day of the Unidos da Tijuca street rehearsal? Am I on the Avenida Venezuela? I've never spent much time in this part of Rio and my mental map of the area has never been too good. I ask a beer seller ( who is carefully stacking hundreds of beer cans in neat rows in a vast styrofoam cooler the size of a coffin) and he says, yup, I'm about to start chilling all these beers to sell tonight at the Tijuca street rehearsal that's just ten hours from now, yup, right here. yes it's the street, I'm on the Avenida Venezuela, and yes, today is Thursday. How could I possibly have forgotten that Thursday is not just Beija-Flor day, it's also Unidos da Tijuca Street Rehearsal Day?!

New plan! Forget Beija-Flor, I'll get there next week when I've had more time to figure out the buses. Tonight is Tijuca night!

I scoot on back home, and at 9pm I walk allllll the way back over from Lapa to the Praca Maua, meet up with my friend JP, promptly run into my Germans too, and we all have a fabulous time at Unidos da Tijuca. I don't have time right now to upload the videos, but here's some pix:

Drummer guys spotted my camera:




... no, I'd never met them before.

Hey, there's Tanit! I'll put this one in my increasingly large file of "Tanit playing chocalho in every escola in Rio":


I love this pic of the drums. Think I will make it my desktop pic.


... I love this one of the porta-bandeira (flag-bearer) and her escort whirling around in their fancy dance. Look at her smile!


.... and, one more little detail. Remember that half-built Estacio float? The big metal framework? Well, two days later, Saturday, I was at the Sambodromo for the last full weekend of technical rehearsals. The first escola to go was Estacio de Sa. Like many escolas these days, they'd made a special little float just for the technical rehearsal, not because they had to, but just for fun and make the whole evening more festive. So check out the float:

Recognize it? That's the float they were welding together on Thursday! (The reason I am certain is that by late Thursday night, in the Tijuca street rehearsal, they had the "ESTACIO" letters on it - JP got a pic of it at that stage.)



Yes, they put that float together in TWO DAYS. In Seattle that would have taken us nine months and I don't know how many weekend work parties and months of committee meetings! But for these Rio guys a "little" float like that is literally two days' work