"Saudade" - my favorite word that I have learned in all my travels. While it has no direct translation from Portuguese to English, it has been described as "the recollection of feelings, experiences, places or events that once brought excitement, pleasure, or well-being. And which now triggers the senses and makes one live again." Perhaps some of my Brazilian friends for whom I have Saudade will chime in to further enlighten us...
Amidst all the hedonistic revelry of Carnival I found time to sit, converse (in a mix of Spanish, Portuguese and sing language), and pass the camera around with a few different groups of kids. Why? I don't know. Maybe because kids like to play as much as I do. Maybe because I'm still stuck somewhere between a 'kid' and a 'grownup'. Maybe because their eyes reflect a world devoid of the cynicism with which I sometimes see it (see last post). Or maybe it's their curiosity that I find most refreshing.
"For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."
While all the revelry of Carnival certainly didn't create a negative reaction of equal proportions, it did throw the daily lives of the homeless into stark contrast with the joyously carefree world surrounding them.
Days bleed into night, bleed into days, bleed into nights...laughter fills the street and bodies move in tireless rythms fueled by wandering bands, casasha and the mysterious spirit of carnival...
