Welcome Back Warriors,
The Adventurous Dynamic Duo is overjoyed to have you back with us. Today, the "Dynamic Duo Inspired Journey," is coming to you with an unforgettable experience, we had on our second full day in Brazil. Warriors, come along for the experience and have a little fun, as we take you to the largest Carnival in the World - “Muvuca,” meaning, just madness, y’all. 😳🥺🤫🤯🤩
Warriors, it's Friday, and we have another jam-packed schedule. Now that we are a little more familiar with the area, we want to get out early to shop. There's nothing like exploring and purchasing a few items, we know, we can't get back home.!!! Well..some of our items, we could have purchased back home, but we would have paid much more $$. 💸💵💰 Remember, Sidney is all about breaking his fast...my Mr. Breakfast! 😎 So prior to heading out to the cobblestone streets to see what we can get into, we get our free breakfast at the hotel. A few others from the travel group decided to go out shopping with us.
Jackie and her niece are the wheelers and dealers of our group. 🥰😍🤗 They love to shop. More importantly, they love to buy incredible pieces, at incredible prices. Sidney isn't thinking about purchasing much, other than a few t-shirts and a couple mementos. Jackie and her niece are looking for a few Brazilian leather goods. "It's nothing like Brazilian Leather." There are several shops with leather, but for us, we spend our money where we feel, comfortable. We found this one Brazilian shop - full of leather goods; a family-owned business (Father & Son), where they make all of their products. (They were so courteous to us, so we stayed there for hours lol.) We are looking at leather goods: sandals, computer bags, book bags, carry bags, purses, belts, and fanny packs. As well as, Bull fur rugs! Oh my goodness, bags that would have cost $1,000 to $3,000 US, were under $100 US. Yes, we shopped until we dropped! I looked at Sidney and asked him, "Baby, don't you see anything that you want in here?" Well, ole Sid decided to buy himself a small fanny pack, just like his Girl!!! "Get it baby, We match!!! " As we left this shop, our hands full of great stuff. However, we didn't stop with these items. We ended up getting several hand painted t-shirts by this one talented Brazilian Artist, out on the streets. He was so happy we purchased his tees, that he wanted all of us, to take a selfie picture with him. Smile!!!!!😂🤣😂
Now, It's time to get back so we can prepare for tonight's Bloco party. Yes, Warriors, we are participating in the Carnival tonight. What is a Bloco? "It's a group where one joins to "parade" through the streets of Salvador behind a trio eletrico, an enormous amplified truck - complete with a band on top." We had to purchase tickets to join a Bloco, which happened to be our t-shirts. The t-shirts allowed us to enter the protected corded area, roped off around the trio eletrico. Our hotel is about 30 - 40 minutes away from where the "Main" portion of the Carnival was held and where all of the Nationally-Known Brazilian stars would be headlining on their own trucks. We had to figure out how we were going to get there, so picture this - almost 30 beautiful folks, all dressed in our matching t-shirts, heading out to get a Cab or Uber.
The Adventurous Dynamic Duo hung with Jackie's niece and one young lady from our tour group. We decided to take an Uber because it would be much cheaper. Man alive, the streets were solidly packed and traffic was moving very slow. From inside of our Uber, we are seeing these motorbikes moving in and out of the traffic, jumping in front of cars: but not getting hit. Jackie whispers to Sidney, "They must be crazy, jumping in front of these cars." He moves his head up and down, agreeing with me. The Uber driver keeps going, but suddenly, he pulls over and says, "This is far as I can take you. "What?????? We still have a 30-minute walk!
We proceed to look around and see a bunch of guys on motorbikes, holding helmets. What we going to do y'all? Jackie's niece looks at us and says, “Y'all want to ride with them?” We asked the bikers how much to take us to our party, and they tell us, 10 Real each. We, all, hop on a bike with a driver, put on a helmet, and head down the street for about 15 minutes. Warriors, this is crazy - zooming around cars and buses, while, weaving in and out of heavy traffic. We are all watching out for our legs, because the bikers would narrowly squeeze between cars. Jackie is the last one to get dropped off and sees Sid and her group at a Gas Station. Finally, on solid ground, we are, all, back together again: belly laughing at what we just did! It was a blast, and we had such a rush! At that moment, we are living our best lives, and our bucket list desires were being accomplished, without us even thinking about it. Only, in Brazil, we must be crazy, y'all!
After our bike ride, we still have a 15-minute walk, and the crowds are starting to thicken. When are we going to get to our destination?? Now, we are looking for a big group with the same type of t-shirts that we are wearing. Yes, we are hot and sweating, y'all, but we are still following Jackie's niece, who is using her phone’s GPS as our guide. Lol. Wow! We are getting thirsty, tired, and more sweaty, but we look around and finally arrive to our Bloco, one of many for the parade. As we look around, we see people dancing and jumping up and down to the sound of Leo Santana, the headliner for our Bloco. We go under the ropes and into the crowd. We are now experiencing, a Bloco, like never before. Bucket-list accomplishment, Carnival..... check.....check. ✔️✔️
Leo Santana is a 31-year-old, very handsome, Brazilian singer and songwriter. He started his career back in 2014 after a Carnival. Previously, he was with the band, Parangole, who was together for 16 years. Well, Warriors, here we are in another country, not understanding a word he is singing, but dancing to his music. We could tell when Leo was singing a big hit, because the crowd would start jumping up and down, and so would we! You see, the Bloco consist of us dancing down the street, in front of, on the sides of, and behind, this big truck where Leo is on top, singing and dancing! This truck would stop, and Leo would get interviewed for television. It is really a cool experience. We are having the time of our lives. We are dancing for hours. Lol. 😍😎 But, Warriors, we just wanted to know when this walking/dancing/and jumping is going to end. How long is this parade? We have been walking and dancing for over 4 hours! The Adventurous Dynamic Duo is tired, and we aren't thinking about being adventurous, anymore. We, just, want to sit down and CHILL. Lol. 🤪🤣🤣😂So, we decide to get from under the ropes, stand on the sidelines, and watch the party happening in front of us. After a bit of rest, Sidney looks at Jackie and ask, "Are you ready to get back in there?" She looks at him and says, "I'm ready to go, I'm beat!" Sidney laughs 😂😂 and Jackie starts leading us out through the crowd.
Warriors, we have never seen crowds like this - ever in our lives. We don’t know where we’re going, but we are just trying to head out of here. Our legs and feet are numb from all of the day’s activity. We finally get out of the gate, and we start looking around for a cab. Yay!!!!!! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 We see a cab driver standing by his car. We have to go through trying to communicate, using our phone - where we need to go. Mind you, we are exhausted; so after numerous communication attempts, the driver finally understands, and he gives us a price to consider. At this point of exhaustion, (Warriors, did we tell you, we are TIRED?), we, both, are like forget about doing our usual negotiating; whatever he’s charging, he can have it! We just want to get back to our hotel, eat, shower, and chill. All we can say is, we were so happy to see our hotel, because we had walked about a total of 10 miles that day; we are beat. Will we do another Bloco again? Probably not; but we did have a blast. It was interesting to see people from all over the world, coming together to celebrate and party.
Tips:
1. Wear very comfortable clothing. Maybe, a swimsuit top under your t-shirt, ladies.
2. Leave anything of value at home or at the hotel – locked away.
3. Do not carry a bag or purse to the Carnival.
4. Hide your money; but not in your pockets.
5. Practice tolerance. Do not get upset with people bumping, pushing, and shoving you. It is the norm. You do not want to get into a fight, as you do not know, "who is with who."
6. Be aware of local police force. The Brazilians seem to have a fear of their police officers, and we kinda experienced, why! They weren't very friendly at all, but we understand. It’s a tough job!
7. Take money with you, so you can purchase some of the nice Brazilian leather pieces. You can get some really great buys, for the low-low, lol.
8. Take a few bottles of water with you, to stay hydrated. It was hot, crowded, and again, HOT and CROWDED.
9. Stay in prayer at all times, because the crowds are not like the crowds in the USA. We have never seen so many people in all of our lives!
The book, "More of You God," states on page 97, "Today is a day of letting go of the past and stepping onto my future." Warriors, as you can see, the Adventurous Dynamic Duo, is stepping into our future, daily. We are out seeing the World. Our bucket-list’s goals are constantly being checked off, one by one. Y’all, We are making it happen!!! All by the grace of God. Yes! !t is so exciting! Yes! It is fun! Yes! We are living our best lives!
Warriors, we just want to motivate you to live your life, intentionally. Yes! If you want to do something, you must plan and make it happen. Thank you for checking in with us. It is always fun to spend time with you – intentionally!!!
Please come back for the final leg of this Brazil trip. That’s right, the Carnival isn't over yet…. the best is yet to come. As usual, "Dynamic Duo Inspired Journey," will be back next Sunday for our weekly blog. However, before you leave us, don't forget to sign in with your email address and use the code: ZEJFNW to join our weekly Blog Family. This way, Warriors, you can stay connected to/with the Adventurous Dynamic Duo!
Love You Much!
Sidney and Jackie
Your Adventurous Dynamic Duo
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