Reveillon

Copacabana beach, pre-fireworks, 2 million people

Yeah, New Year's was a while ago, wasn't it? Kinda feels like...last year. And for me in many ways it was, as I have had to learn a new way of living since then. One that doesn't take for granted the most simple of things many of us carry with us every day and wholly rely on.

But before we get to that, a few words on Brazilian New Year, or Reveillon. The name itself sounds to me like a pagan ceremony to awaken an ancient sea-beast like a kraken or something, and indeed there is an idea similar to that behind it.

So basically there are remnants of African religions in Brazil, Rio especially, like Macumba (of which I am terrified) and Candomble. Spooky voodoo/wichcraft shit to my gingo sensibilities. Wiki says, Macumba "is secretly practiced all over the world where there are Brazilian communities. Many Brazilians continue to practice their traditional religions (Christianity, Judaism, etc) but also practice Macumba secretly, usually at night or the weekends." They kill chickens and dance around and use special herbs and become possessed.

Iemanja

Anyway so Candomble is more like a real religion with priests and temples and whatnot. One of its goddesses, Iemanjá, is the protector of the ocean and closely associated with Rio. Kinda like a patron saint. This informs many traditions, practiced all around Brazil, that people perform on New Year's eve to please Iemanjá so she might bring them luck and fortune. Off the top of my head these are:

1) Wearing white. This rule is far more strict than wearing green on St. Patrick's day and is more about symbolic purity than anything else.

2) Throwing shit into the ocean. Iemanjá, being a woman, likes flowers. She likes other "objects of female vanity" as well, however toxic for the waters.


3) Floating candles. Little boats with offerings and candles, floated out to sea. Neat.

4) Eating grapes whole. Not sure what the deal is with this one, but they say you're supposed to do it and make a wish for each one you swallow. Could pose a health risk.

5) Jumping over incoming waves 7 times. My friend told me to do this with no explanation so I just did it.

6) Wearing certain color underwear. Yeah, apparently white is for luck, red for love, yellow for money, green for something else, probably health, and other things people wish for in the new year.

So that's all nice, but what most people go for is the fireworks and massive party. I got to Copacabana with some friends about 5 hours early, encountered a mostly empty beach, drunk people, and some sweet airplanes, then shacked up in a nearby apartment to load up. At around 9PM we headed to the beach. The streets were packed, busses and taxis whizzing people to their destinations, revelers crowding the sidewalks and singing, gringos awkwardly dressed in white trying to make their way to the beach. We found a good spot to set up camp next to a bunch of passed out fat people who made holes in the sand to pee in.

This story should be prefaced with a note that two years ago I had reveillon in another part of Brazil and it was a blast. I expected as much and more from Rio. As with many such expectations of the city, they where not totally fulfilled. In any case when the fireworks started we were blown away. Best fireworks ever. 20-minute show from 5-6 synchronized barges off shore, massive finale, lots of colors and sparkling. I wish I could remember more of it, but everyone said it was great and my video (almost 1,200 views!) proves as much:

Yeah! Woo! 2011! Time for drinks and doing traditional Brazilian things, like making out. I looked around and realized I was in a proverbial desert, surrounded by gringas not privy to the Brazilian way and couples already way into it. Hmm...the RedBull jamming hard in my brain, I said, 'Let's go swimming!' Not the best idea.

Imagine 2 million people on a beach, drinking. Where do they go to the bathroom? It was relatively easy for me, as I had to just saunter in and go, but the girls had less options. My suggestion to go swimming was for them a chance to relieve themselves, and the drinks worked well to help us forget that we were walking into a sea of frothy, salty urine. I was up to my knees and happy, totally not wearing clothes appropriate for the water, bringing in the new year with cheer and good will.

Until disaster struck. At least it didn't rain!

I had given all my pockets' content to a friend to hold while I waded in. I forgot to safeguard the most important thing, what I cannot live without. My glasses. A wave came out of nowhere, hit me in the back and sent me tumbling. Adenir told me these are called 'jaca' waves, alligator waves that snatch things away, but I'm pretty sure he made that up. Underwater, my hand immediately went to my face to discover my loss. Upon emerging from the break, I notified the girls, who were pointedly disinterested and unsympathetic. Unfriend!

Despair and aguish rolled over me harder than any wave. The loss of my glasses rendered me functionally blind, unable to see detail a meter past my face. Imagine wearing a scuba mask greased with a centimeter of Vaseline in the visor, all the time. Night=ruined.

pew pew pew! I don't have any pictures of what happened after.

Or was it? I thought to myself, "well, pretty much the worst thing of 2011 already happened, so it can only get better! Reveillon in Brazil is no time to be emo!" I set out to party my way deep into the the night, which I did, leading my friends along the path to fun. At points I was the most festive, dancing and singing and running about.

At around 4, once we had our fair share of avoiding people having sex on the beach, we decided to head back. We went to the metro, me leading the way since no one else knew. At the nearest station, my friends said that about 10,000 people were lining up to get in. It looked like a giant snake to me. "Let's walk home!"

And we did, about 7km through spooky tunnels and empty streets, soaking wet, unable to see, burdening my wonderful friends who took great care of me. I would have been doomed without them, they stuck by me while all others left. Here is their blog.

I got home at 5:45 or so, too tired to take a shower. The next day I put on my prescription sunglasses and have been wearing them ever since. Blessing in disguise? Adenir dubbed me 'BatNestor' in honor of my excursion, but someone else told me a 'batman' is slang for a drug trafficker. So I dunno what he meant, kinda like how an ex-boss of mine recently complemented me as 'energetic.'