chocos

”Jaska’s dream house
My dream house would be very big. There would be three floors, and a swimming pool in the house, and in the backyard. There would also a big plasma-tv and huge stereo speakers. The house would be in Helsinki.”

While Jaska’s dream house would be in Helsinki, mine would problably be either in Caribbean or in a ski spot, anywhere in Europe. It would’nt have to be big, just comfortable and modern, but I would choose a great localisation for it.

I spent my last Carnival holidays on the countryside, at a farm located in Sorocaba, which is about 100 km far from São Paulo (1 h 15 min by car). This farm belongs to a friend of my father and it is a quite big place. He invited many friends, so the house was full. I had a great time there: walking, riding horses, swimming, playing table tennis, soccer, etc… The only thing that bothered me was the weather: it was so hot (32 degrees), that sometimes I couldn’t even stand outside the house!

In Brazil, Carnival is one of the most important holidays: people use to drink and party a lot, all over the day. It normally lasts 5 days: from Saturday to Wednesday. Every school is in vacations during those five days. That’s why, in Carnival, traveling is very common. But it’s not everybody that drinks, celebrates this holiday, although most of people think that all Brazilians do it. I know lot of persons who prefer to stay at home and relax, instead of going to the streets to dance, for instance.
The main festivity in our Carnival takes place in Rio de Janeiro, with its samba schools (Mangueira, Portela and Beija-flor are the most famous and popular).

The Carnival as it is celebrated here has European origins. When the Portuguese colonizers arrived, in the 16th century, they bring their traditions too, and Carnival was among them. The festival was linked to the beginning of spring, and the idea behind it was to move evil spirits away. But then, obviously, the Brazilian people modified this party, according to its lifestyle (for instance, fantasies were more charged than they are now and masks were always used), and some African rituals are now present in the celebrations. So the Carnival we have here currently is more Brazilian than European.

I think Carnival is a great period. Almost everyone is happy and a good vibration can be felt. It is a cultural custom, which symbolizes our country around the world and attracts many tourists.