I wanted to self punch myself right in the ear

February 19, 2012:  This year I chose to celebrate Carnival in the Amazonian metropolis of Manaus. I ended up inviting myself and joined a nice group of 10 or so backpackers plus two Brazilians for the evening.  I didn’t expect a gigantic celebration here due to being in the Amazon, but it was huge to my standards.

Our first stop took us to a stage where I was mesmerized watching one of the main samba dancers who was loaded with so much energy.  She was there to help keep the general public in step to the samba line dance, which seemed to be much more faster and 1,344,595,302 times better than the line dance to the gosh forsaken song, “Achy Breaky Heart” by Billy Ray Cyrus .  Even the tattooed gangsters were line dancing samba and they still somehow maintained a tuff look about them – it was hilarious.  I myself did not have much physical energy tonight to learn the steps in 2 minutes. 

Our next and last stop was at the parade grounds to see a gargantuan parade.  It started at 8pm and didn’t finish till about 5am.  Some of the floats were unbelievably large, complex and expensive.  I may never look at a parade in the same way ever again after this.  By the time we left, there was still many families watching the floats go by as they were putting their kids through homeless school, having them practice making a temporarily bed out of a wooden bench seat. 

While at the parade, I wanted to self punch myself right in the ear because I didn’t bring my good camera do to fear that it was going to get stolen.  I need to loosen up a bit…if not, I will continue to miss great opportunities for some decent urban photos.

Now who said carnival rides are not safe?

August 21st, 2009: Standing in a dusty field next to the Pacific Ocean, my eyes rested on a rusty metal ride called the Ring of Fire. The metal was bent, twisted and seemed to be held together by some plastic bolts that were apparently made by Fisher Price. At the top of the ride, flaps a tattered U.S. flag, resembling the one that the Marines and Navy Corpsman famously raised during the battle of Iwo Jima. Clearly, the U.S. safety standards for carnival rides must have displaced this vehicle of entertainment to our southern neighbor years ago.

Walking around the carnival, I felt as if I jumped in my DeLorean with a flux capacitor and was taken back in time. Noticing the Toboggan ride, artistically this could resemble an expensive piece of modern art which has not yet been discovered. Until this happens, it is merely an antique seeming to be more terrifying now, than when it was new and fully functional. I am not sure if it was because of the eerie sounds that the ride made when the people were being lifted to great heights or if it was when the cart spun down the rusty metal rails, failing to make it up the last dip without the assistance of the operator…needing to push it up before the trialing cart collided into the other ones, creating a pile up or possible derailment.

To me, it seemed that there was a lot of potential work for a highly skilled carny mechanic. Never the less, I was proud to see that the U.S. companies who sold the rides were being conscience about the need to recycle in addition to helping…curb overpopulation in selected cities of Ecuador by the convenience of, accidents. Who said Corporate America is not doing its part to making this world a better place?