I AM AN AI DIRECTOR!

I am silly drunk, need to call my mom and boyfriend nowwwwwwwwwwwwww, but meanwhile I let you know, I MADE IT!!!!

Dey, Shantanu, Mike, Marty, Chris and Brodie will me my team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Until now, VPs and other great people are on the waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!


So exited to wrote now, need to go to sleep at leat some hours to be fit for Global planning!!!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!And will come with news soon!!

ORiana


Ps. maaaaaaaaaaaan, news move fast in ths org!!!!! thanks to all of you that sent me congrats already!!!! even before me letting you knowwwwwwwwwww!

IPM so far!

Hi Guys!

I just wanted to inform you

that the announcement of the

selected directors for AI 2005 / 2006 has

been delayed till 25.05!

Many of you must be wondering if they gave the results by today, as scheduled!

AI came with a proposal for not selecting 5 directors, but 6, and assigning the strategic direction role to one of the directors, as it was two years before. So, after some discussions with MCPs, this proposal will be on the agenda tomorrow during global legislation and therefore, depending on this, only on the 25.02 the 5 of 6 directors (if motion passes) will be announced!

In general IPM has been great, a life experience! After getting the vote of confidence of the plenary wich represents such a great trust in your capabilities and your understanding of where AIESEC should had, you feel so empowered and motivated to hopefully have the chance to make part of the Global Leadership Team. Fellow candidates have been also brilliant and that completely fosters the feeling that the next team will be for sure the best choice!

Thanks for your good wishes and keep sending good energies for two more days! The best for all of us candidates and for the organization will happen! It is so much what I could tell you now about the AMAZING slection process, but will come to do it with more time, Internet acces! as soon as all is over!

Love

Oriana

I love

Love is being able to walk arm in arm...even when you don't see eye to eye.

Love is when you take away the feeling, the passion, the romance and you find out you still care for that person.

Never say goodbye when you still want to try.Never give up when you still feel you can take it.Never say you no longer love a person when you can't let go.

If you love someone, tell them...for hearts are often broken by words left unspoken.

SNAPS from my B-day!

The girls with the received flowers ... Rita, Oriana & Mariana  

My B-day was last sunday 23.01 - almost one months ago, but I just got some pics from that night (thanks Veds). It was quite crazy, that on the 22th I moved to the flat I am living now (with Mariana, one of the girsl you can see in the pics) and this same day she invited meto "party" my B-day at the closing party of the Sao Pailo Fashion week... a pretty cool kind of fancy party in the world trade center in Sao Paulo ... jejeje I just knew her, her brother and her brother's girlfriend ...

Next day, the 23dr - properly my b-day - we went out for some beers (as Sumesh would say) with the Brazilian MC team and the dominican guy!! (sorry, I still do not remember your name), who is living also with the MC.

Pretty cool night,it was in a nice bar VERY CLOSE to my flat (btw, did I tell you that I live in the bars' district) .. so cool! The "guys" gave us "girls" flowers as present ... jejejej how sweet!!

Enjoy the pics! but BTW I look quite different now! I cut my hair, have more tanned skin - and so on ... so more "updated" pics coming soon!

The group, mariana, Oriana (yes! with my randomg glasess, don'y use them anymore) Veds, rita, the Domi Guyand Sumesh 

Oriana, Mariana, Veds, Rita, the Domi guy and Sumesh 

Veds, the Dominican Guy (I forgot his name!) and Sumesh 

Quick and simple facts about Latin America

www.americaeconomia.com 

Since a couple of months I subsbribed to AMERICA ECONOMIA (America Economy), a magazine, also with a pretty fine online version. Have to say that I like,it's the kind of sites where you can find quick and simple facts around the economic reality of Latin America. Many of their articles are not really deep - many of them do not even also provide you absolutely new or unexpected info,but that's exactly why it's cool, cause it in a way gives you concrete flashes on what's going on ...

Here is one typical article of them (also the central article of today's newsletter - International Monetary Fund critizises the wekness of the Latin American Institutions ... see? stuff we all know,the endless story with curruption, auditing to public entities, and the stupid phrase "however we are positive about the future of Latin America". So funny, I have read this phrase like 100 times in the last 3 months ...I mean, I (Oriana) am also optimistic about the future of Latin America, that's not the point - the hoping things can be better - it's just that is so funny to see that all kind of economic analysis that are done around Latin America just describe the kind of challenges we have - and the hope that things can get better ... but anywhere you see concrete outlines or abstracts of what's being done (I am not sating nothing it's being done, to talk about this we can do it later). I am just outlining that this is such a cultural thing in LatinAmerica: we leave all to "hope" even to "dreams" but somehow we see so less committment.

Changes are slower than what they can be here. They can be faster. I get impacient ... hehehe in a way, I do not want to die in the same "things can be better" status ... what to do to revolutionize changes in the next 20 years?

=======


Miércoles 09 de febrero, 2005
FMI critica debilidad de instituciones en América Latina

(AméricaEconomía.com) América Latina requiere dar al Estado una participación más estratégica para mejorar el entorno empresarial e impulsar la productividad, según un informe del Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI) dado a conocer ayer y producido por un grupo de economistas encabezados por Anoop Singh, director de la oficina para el Hemisferio Occidental.

El documento señala que encarando "las costosas distorsiones" de corrupción, falta de gobernabilidad y pobreza, el Estado "mejoraría el clima de inversiones y crearía una base más firme para la actividad económica".

El comentario figura en "Estabilización y reformas en América Latina: Perspectiva macroeconómica sobre la experiencia desde comienzos de los 90", un informe de 116 páginas producido por economistas del FMI encabezados por Anoop Singh, director de la oficina para el Hemisferio Occidental.

"La conclusión es que estamos optimistas sobre el futuro", dijo Singh en una rueda de prensa para presentar el informe, explicando que el documento trata "sobre políticas que prevalecieron y cómo rindieron" a partir de 1990.

El estudio saca lecciones de la experiencia latinoamericana con los esfuerzos de estabilización y reformas y discute las prioridades para una futura agenda regional. También formula observaciones sobre el futuro papel de los grandes protagonistas de la vida de los países: los gobiernos, las instituciones financieras internacionales -especialmente el FMI- y los gobiernos de las naciones industrializadas.

Las reformas que siguieron a la década del 80, dijo el FMI, han sido prometedoras y redundaron en una baja inflación y un impulso inicial del crecimiento económico.

"Aun cuando las reformas adoptadas fueron importantes, con mucha frecuencia su implementación fue inarmónica e incompleta, limitando su contribución a un mejor rendimiento", dijo.

Como consecuencia, la región demostró incapacidad para evitar la continuación de sus padecimientos a partir de las crisis financieras externas.

Dijo que pese a que los países afectados se han recuperado de recientes crisis más pronto de lo esperado, la continuación de la volatilidad macroeconómica ha mantenido el desarrollo regional por debajo de su verdadero potencial.

Según el FMI, en varios países la debilidad de las instituciones ha socavado la actividad en los mercados, el apoyo a las reformas y el propio progreso económico.

El trabajo de reforma institucional parece ahora más difícil que en el pasado debido a que las instituciones regionales se han debilitado sucesivamente por una historia, común en muchos países, de crisis recurrentes, dijo.

El FMI sugiere como punto de partida emprender una lucha frontal contra la corrupción y promover una mayor supervisión del sector público a través de, entre otros mecanismos, un acceso abierto a la información pública y una amplia reforma del sistema judicial, al que considera débil y politizado.

Dijo que se requiere también de mejoras en la independencia de los bancos centrales, reducción en la deuda pública, aumento de los ahorros financieros, disminución de las tasas de interés, incremento de la apertura comercial y una reforma del mercado laboral.

Recent Posting on the AIESEC SSGN MCPs Community (thoughts aruound the Spanish Speaking Growth Network of AIESEC)

Hi Guys!

After reading Arturo's answer I also felt like sharing some thoughts around where we stand, or what we are as GN. We could analize - as everything in life - from two perspectives, stressing the positive or stressing the challenges, or what is better, considering the two of them.

- POSITIVE: We as GN ran the risk of pioneering the existence of having a 3 people GN Board with a high stability and level of activity. TO THINK ABOUT: How much are countries allowing this Board to have a possitive impact in their activities and futhermore, in their results? Are Board "sucesses" also GN sucesses? How formal are GN processes?

- POSITIVE: We have a country that is considered a Growth Center, in all senses, Brazil- followed by high potential economies as Mexico, Colombia and Peru. Chile as territory is considered to have one of the most stables economies in the world.TO THINK ABOUT: How big however is the gap between Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and the rest of the countries, the carribean, Central America? Are we acting indifferently about this gap, or are we consiously trying to make it smaller?

- POSITIVE: We are prioneering two structural integrations, CAS and S. Cone, AIESEC CAS was No.1 country in 2004 according to XDAQ, as one of the territories with highest Realization and Retention Rate. TO THINK ABOUT: How much are we "learning" from CAS and the overall process, besides knowing that they migrated?

- POSITIVE: We have two countries on the TN TOP 10, Mexico with 99 TNs and Brazil with 77 during 2004. TO THINK ABOUT: Why we have only 9 % of the realized MT SNs in the world as GN? Where is our strengh to attract top talent? Why we have only 8 % of the realized MT TNs in the world?

- POSITIVE: We have a branded DT Program EXPLORA that is every day becoming more mature and competitive, with a 60.000 USD subproject (Artemisia) included. TO THINK ABOUT: From 2003 to 2004 we raised our DT TNs numbers in only 26 TNs, despite the existence of Explora. By the end of 2004 we realized just 11 % of the global DTs (AP realized 51%), what is missing? How does Explora fit into the LN or/and PBOX models?

- POSITIVE: We have progressive fortified regional external relationships, we have already partners in concrete GN products (Awards,AXLDS/Explora Day and Talent Development) as MC Graw Hill, Phillips, E&Y. TO THINK ABOUT: Do we have the capacity,are we ready as countries to respond to the committments givento these stakeholders (SNs, high quality processes...)?

- POSITIVE: As territory, we are enthusiastic and hard partying people, full of energy and passion. TO THINK ABOUT: How much we translate this spirit into LEADERSHIP, high quality MC team management, and constant participation(forums, chats, even just BCP sharing and strong networking at international conferences)?

Even if everyone talks about it at the moment, I am also a FAN of Culture of Excellence as an entry point to leverage our results. I know that our challenges to perform our roles as MC (infrastructure,full time people, experience) seem to be harder than any STRATEGY, but I believe that it's possible to brake this "vicious circle" (I have no capacity to perform my role->I can't fully adopt strategies->I do not grow->I have no capacity to perform my role-> by just changing our attitude and COMMITTING, reality only forms around the committments we make ...

IN GENERAL - a GN (as I read recently)is like a neighbourhood, everybody has it's own house, where problems seem to be bigger than anything else, and finally the "own" problems are the ones that matter, and we completely forget to come together and try to make this common environment BETTER for each other. But what happens? If you have a FANCY, COOL house and your neighbourhood as a whole is crappy, it makes no sense, also the other way around, if you have a small, not that facy house, but if your neighborhood is very nice, very inviting, clean - be sure everytime you pass by to enter your house, you will get energy and ambition, greetings and help from your neighbours, and this be sure, is the best way to gain strengh to better your own house.

This were my two cents, sure is much more to discuss about SSGN and in a most specific way - we can keep doing it together!

Oriana

AI ...

I never imagined that running for AI (AIESEC International) would be such an intense self-reflection process -

AIESEC - Oriana - vision - future - dreams- fear - challenge - Javier - Colombia - mother -sisters - money - weather - passion - committment - continuity - excellence - love - hate -ambition - attraction - examples - models - music - God - beauty - jelous - inconformity - war - peace - expansion - TRUST - CONTRIBUTION - company - respect - marketing - sex - sustainability - Brazil - Colombia - Austria - Holland - newies - love - and more love - sense - responsiblity - intelligence - health - life quality - network - mistakes - risks - pressure - people - arts- learning - friends - entrepreneurship - disaster - chaos?- rationale - reality - CHANGE - EVOLUTION?

Well ...I did imagine theprocess would be great, of course, it's just that confirming it has been just amazing. On the 15th I head for Bucharest, to experience one of the moment I've expected more during my whole AIESEC carreer.

I really can't believe that I doubted for a season about doing it (NOW) ... but it all was so crazy. Sometimes this "nomadlife" life intensity can also kill you, and shows you so many options that you run into the risk of revaluate your personal vision so often (how bad is that btw?)

Actually I just realized it will be 3 years since I kind of left home (if my mom reads this, she will cry ;) for her I still live home, I am just on work travels!)... actually all my AIESEC path has been so intense ... LCVP after 4 months in the organization, I fall in love with one of the best AIESECers (and currently Alumni) ever, I become after 1,5 years LCP having one of the hardest years of my life, I have to deal with oposition, I become MCVP in Colombia (after not being elected as MCP) and become so mature AIESECwise - and in this moment I never came back home ... One year in Bogota as MC Colombia was the platform to head for Vienna, as MCVP in Austria for another year - MAN! The year I went out of the "comfort zone" ... ATTITUDE,was the key word. In this moment I also wanted to run for AI! - but ... university called! I had to come back to Colombia - at lest for 6 months - graduate - but became SSGN Coordinator - that's historical MAN! cool feeling to prioneer a GN BOard. I am happy it happened like this, without being Spanish Speaking Growth Network Coordinator, I would not have reinforced so much my desire to be in AI.

Graduated last December 04, between bunch travels and fears, i was in Colombia, but missed the ones that I even had close to me - cause I know that would leave soon again. I was so close but so far from them. I expected so much. However felt happy, I could see them, touch them, smell them, I could energize me from them.

Now I am in Brazil - i thank God so much that I get so much energy of this country itself. I love this country, as territory, as race of people.

WHAT I AM WRITTING THIS?
I just realized I wanted to write something completely different!
Today is a good day!


By the way I created a weblog, where I was suposed to post my whole Director application, however I have posted less than 20 % - will do it (at least for the good memories) - http://www.ai0506directorapplication.blogspot.com

SAO PAULO 

UN MUNDO LLAMADO SAO PAULO

SAO PAULO PARA MI! PERCEPCIONES MIXTAS!

- ME ENCANTA. Es una gran ciudad para vivir! A pesar de ser Tan Tan Tan grande por lo menos yo siento calidez,esperaba que una ciudad de estas dimensiones fuera mas fria, pero no es asi!

- BELIEVE IT or NOT, Sao Paulo se parece a MANIZALES! HEHEHEHE, que faldas tan absurdas! tanto asi que los carros cuando los coje el semaforo en rojo tienen que poner el freno de mano para que no se les vaya el carro! las calles son super empinadas, tanto asi que estoy endureciendo mi cola mas que nunca de subirlas, jejejeje!

- NECESITAS CARRO para pasarla mas comoda en Sao Paulo! A mi que me he tocado tener un buen numero de citas, mis pobres pies estan sufriendo las consecuencias! el metro y el bus ayuda, ayuda muchisimo, pero hay que tener mucha suerte para que la direccion a donde una vaya queda bien cerca al sitio donde el metro o bus lo deja ... asi que toca a PIE! Te puedes pasar 1 hora en metro y te das cuenta viendo el mapa que nada mas recorristeun pedacitico de la ciudad!

- JEJEJE, hay mucha tienda, y se cervecea (se toma cerveza en grupo) entiendas,esto pasa mas que todo en barrios que no quedan muy cerca a la zona de bares o discos. Ah! la cerveza se vende en botella de litro y se toma en vasito de vidrio! q tal? nada de cerveza en botella personal por aca!

- CARROS DE PERRO!!! literalmente CARROS particulares (no carros de perro, carros normales y hasta bonitos!) se rebuscan! simplemente abren la puerta de atras, y esta ahi el tipo o la senora, sirviendo y vendiendo perros, perritos de 1500 (1,50 reales)como llamariamos en Colombia!

- Mucho deporte hace la gente aca ... quiza tambien se debe a que estamos en verano!

- Mucha ratica ... jejeje no se si exagero,pero es visto mas de una rata zumbando por ahi por la calle (tampoco exagero que es tipo India,pero si las hay)! Me refiero a rata animal! no a ladrones, aunque esos tambien los hay! hay que estar con 4 hojos, pero particularmente no me ha pasado nada!

- VILA MADALENA ES UN BARRIO LINDO!! yo vivo alli! :) Rua Joao Miguel Jarra 75, Apto 11.

- LOS CENTROS COMERCIALES son espectaculares ... y la verdad, nada, NADA que envidiarle a Centros Comerciales Europeos, aca encuentras CHANEL, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Christian Dior, Max Mara y Armani ... y mas ... SAO PAULO es un OASIS de consumo - yo estoy fascinada viendo las practicas de mercadeo tan bacanas de las que uno puede aprender aca. Es un gran mercado en todos los segmentos.

Los dejo con un mini articulo! Espero contarles mas detalles de SP una vez pase el tiempo!!

FUENTE: http://www.saopaulo.sp.gov.br

Cuando se habla del Estado de São Paulo siempre háblase de forma superlativa. Es el Estado con la mayor población, el mayor parque industrial, la mayor producción económica, el mayor registro de inmigrantes y, como también no sería posible dejar de ser, con toda la complejidad del Estado más cosmopolita de la América del Sur.

Fue construido con el sudor y el trabajo duro de pueblos de todas las partes de Brasil y del mundo, manteniendo arraigada en cada pedazo de tierra la vocación para el trabajo. Son 645 municipios y una población que ultrapasa 36 millones de habitantes. Con la mejor infraestructura y mano de obra calificada, São Paulo se conoce como la "Locomotora de Brasil".

El Estado produce de todo, principalmente productos de alta tecnología. Pero la distinción no es solamente en la industria. El paulista también hizo de la agricultura y de la pecuaria una potencia. En la economía, són más de 250 centros comerciales (malls) y una amplia red de comercios de ventas al por mayor y al menudeo distribuida por todo el Estado, y la participación de São Paulo en el sistema bancario brasileño llega a casi 50% de todo el volumen en circulación. Es en la capital que está la mayor bolsa de valores de la America Latina.


São Paulo dispone también de la más amplia red de instituciones que agitan la vida cultural del país: más de 270 museos, 168 espacios escénicos y más de mil institutos culturales que ofrecen espectáculos que van de lo popular al erudito.

HOW DOES A TYPICAL BRAZILIAN LOOK LIKE?

LIKE THIS?

Brazilian style 

OR LIKE THIS?

Not really typical Brazilians! belive it or not! 

I am quite sure that the past images are the first highlights that come to our minds (and when I say our minds, I mean mainly the minds of other latinamericans, let's say exactly colombians) when we think of brazilians. We girls think of hot boys, with golden skin, even blue eyes, perfect bodies ... and guys,of course think in hot girls, blondies, perfect bodies etc ... However let me tell you it's not like this!

There are a lot of beautiful people in Brazil, no doubt! but absolutely not the majority of them, are as publicity shows. Or even not of themlook as the brazilian AIESECer look like!

HOW ARE THEY THEN? Well,these are my impressions so far!

- BRAZIL is very african! I love this! You can see quite sexy dark skin people, you can really see african blood, this rythm, and passion! even if I live in Sao Paulo, I can feel this, cause I've been told that the biggest part of afro-brazlians are supposed to live in the north! In general the south of Brazil has a strong influence of foreigners (italians, dutch people, germans ...) so these white blond boys and girls that we all believe Brazil is full of, have mostly foreign ancestors.

- You can really see a lot of men with long hair, rastas,well and in general "hippie style". It suits to many of them, makes them look sexy,to others not much!

- Brazilians ... no matter how they look like are very friendly, I love this! it can be from the guy that sells ice-creamon the street, over the taxi driver to a company CeO - of course there are and will be allways exceptions, but all of them I have known, are simply wonderful! Beleza!

- Sorry if this is a random comment and please don't think bad! But "mature brazilian men", like over 40 years old, are very very attractive! It really impressed me, cause you can see that despite the age, they care a lot for their apparience. I actually think it's the same with women.

- They kiss a lot, it can be a person that you just meet for the first time, you get a kiss! Actually, I was remembering and some people in Austria (I lived one year there) did the same ... however a latino kiss feels so much warmer, cause it comes always together with a NICE SMILE!

- FASHION!!!! is very important! and I clarify,when I say fashion, I mean "expensive fashion" as "street fashion", people no matter how much money and which class they belong to, you see they care for their looking - I also like this so much! Guys and girls with beautiful hair, make up, and clothes combination ... they are very authentich!

- They sing a lot!! Man I also love this! Hehehe you can see people on the street just singing, tralalaing, mother with kids, two kids together, a singleold woman ... it is such a nice sound, andmaybe it sounds nicer to me being spanish speaker, since it's in portuguese, and for me it's such a nice cultural expression.

- LAST BUT NOT LEAST!!!! WE HAVE A SMALL JAPAN in Brazil, specially in Sao Paulo! There are soooo many japanese people! And I am serious! MANY! However you seethem very integrated and value a lot this wave of asian migration in Sao Paulo!

LOOK AT THE PIC! THIS IS ALSO BRAZIL!

Brazilian President Lula com criancas :) 

CONSEJOS PARA APRENDER PORTUGUES PARA HISPANOPARLANTES

Si alguien es Nativo en espanol, la verdad no tiene excusa para no alcanzar un nivel basico e incluso bueno de portugues,si vive por algun tiempo en Brazil. Al llegar, la verdad entendia solo por el simple hecho de hablar espanol, una 50 - 60 %, y eso por no hacer el esfuerzo de concentrarme en entender!

Hoy, un mes despues de estar en Sao Paulo, felizmente puedo decir que - eu posso falar portugues muito melhor que antes! Isso hace que eu fique muito feliz!


That's the country! 

Mis consejos sin embargo son:

1. Ve mucha television los primeros dias, y si es TV en ingles,con subtitulos en portugues, bueno tambien, aprendes asi mucho vocabulario

2. No te de pena hablar!! y mucho menos te de pena ponerle el acentico brasilero! siiii, entre maaaaaaas cantadito mejooooorrr.... si,los primeros dias uno se siente medio extrano,se siente como hablando espanol con acento brasilero, pero la verdad es mas o menos asi!

3. Si tienes la opcion de vivir con una brasilero/a, hazlo! es un super beneficio contar con estas personas, no solo por tener su amistad, sino por hablar mucho portugues! y dile que te corrija!

4. Compra un libro de conjugacion de verbos - realmente es lo unico que si valalapena estudiar formalmente. Estos libros son muy baratos

5. OYE MUCHA MUSICA, baja las canciones (o compra el CD) o simplemente oyelas de radio y busca la letra en Internet, aparte de la que musica es espectacular, no hay mejor manera de aprender a pronunciar BIEN y memorizar palabras o expresiones, que con las canciones

ADVERTENCIA: El espanol y portugues son tan parecidos, que esto puede ser un arma de doble filo! EL punto es: NO cometas el error de nunca llegara hablar bien portugues por hablar "portunol"- ya que que hablando en portunol,aca en Brazil casi todo el mundo te entiende, y si a uno le entrase la flojera, pues tecnicamente nunca se esmeraria por perfeccionar su portugues!

MI META ES PODER PONER PORTUGUES B en mi CV muy pronto!

BRAZILIAN CARNIVAL

In Brazil there are two types of carnival. Street Carnival (Carnaval de Rua) and Parade Carnival. There is something really cool about the carnival in Brazil, and it's the fact that it is a NATIONAL EVENT, which means that carnival takes place in almost all the cities. It is not like in Colombia orother countriesof the world, that itis only in one city where carnival takes place. However, here in Brazil,even if many cities have carnival, only couple of them are worldwide known, and these are the carnival of RIO DE JANEIRO and the carnival of SALVADOR, in the state of Bahia in the North of Brazil...

PARADE CARNIVAL - Rio, Sao Paulo

In Sao Paulo (where I live) there is also a carnival ... and also quite big, people also say that it's getting as big as the one of Rio. So, the carnival of Rio de Janeiro, is ann example of Parade Carnival. One of the most representative events of this type of carnival is going to the "SAMBODROMO" (word comes from Samba - place of Samba). It's a long street that is built only for canival parades. So on both side you have chairs and you can get delighted with the performance of the SAMBA SCHOOLS!


The Samba Schools are almost communities,they are much more than just "music or dance groups". They are active, train and do activities the whole year and they finance themselves through the awards/prices they win performing, as well through other secundary activities like their samba trainnings (you can go there to see them trainning,and it's a complete party) and also selling carnival costums. I have been for exampleto the trainningof the VAI VAI samba school in Sao Paulo and it was just great. To hear "life Samba" makes you have chicken skin! Coming back to the parades at the SAMBODROMO, each samba school then has their own musicians (who are the one that play the "beterias" that is the soul of the samba and the ones that make the samba characteristic sound!), their own dancers, all of them with their great costums, that are normally related to the topic of the parade float/carriage. In the front, you always will see the two best dancers (sambistas) leading the group of the samba school and carrying the flag of the school. In the highest part of the parade float/carriage you will always also see a person that they call "DESTAQUE" (destacar means "stand out"), this person is normally a representative person, that could be a singer, an actor, a public person, etc.

And in the middle of all this show,is where you see the famous samba girls/dancers, the "garotas", that are women with perfect bodies and really small but very nice manufactured costums,many of them ofdark skin, that dance samba like crazy on their extremely high shoes! This is something that seriously we need to recognize, this women have such an hability to dance such a fast rythm assamba on such shoes! The entrance fee to the Sambodromo is not that cheap ;-), that's also true!

STREET CARNIVAL - Salvador Bahia

The Street Carnival is a real craziness! but it is the one that is typical for Salvador. Salvador is in the coast, that's why it reminds meso much my home city Barranquilla. The Street carnival works under the concept of the so called "BLOCOS" (blocks) - this is no more than buying the right of dancing/being in one the street long around a big truck, that has its own music band on the top. People so pay to be there, dance along the street, they get a representative T-shirt for the bloco they are in (normaly a coulored T-shirt with the same stamp/logo of the bloco).

I have heard that some blocos can be very expensive, but also the other ones are more affordable, this depends of the musician that is on the truck plus other factors as tradition, etc.

In the blocos "eveyone kisses everyone",everyone hugs everyone, it's a heavy party! In Brazil people say that "you should brake up with your boy/grilfriend before going to the carnival in Salvador, and as soon a the carnival is over, you can comeback to him/her" ;-)

The other BIG difference between the carnival in SALVADOR and the carnival in Rio or Sao Paulo, is that in the street carnival you do not hear/dance samba! but other types of music as Ache, and MPB (Musica Popular Brasilera=Brasilian Popular Music) - really nice music as well and better for -long time dancing- than samba! BTW, did you know that the Minster of Culture of Brazil,Gilberto Gil, is a MPB singer? The guy sings on a truck in carnival and stuff! he looks like anything but like the minister he is!

Well ... coming to the end, it's important to tell you that carnival, specially the one of Salvador, Rio and Sao Paulo is 100 % shown LIFE on TV - thanks to this and to some parades and samba school trainnings I've been in Sao Paulo is that I have been ableto write this article! BOM CARNAVAL!


I could tell you much more details about the brazilian carnival, but I don't want you toget bored with such a long writting ;-) ! If any time you havethe chance to come,do not hesitate! I really have to admit that when brazilians say that they have one of the best carnivals in the world (if not the best!), they are not far away from reality!

CARNAVAL EN BRASIL

En Brasil hay dos tipos de carnaval! Carnaval de Calle (Carnaval de Rua) y Carnaval de Desfile. Algo muy bacano del Carnaval en Brasil, es que es una fiesta NACIONAL, es decir hay carnaval en casi todas las ciudades,por no decir en todas. No es como en Colombia o en otros paises del mundo donde generalmente es solo una ciudad la que tiene carnaval (comoenel caso de mi ciudad en Colombia, Barranquilla!). Entonces hay carnaval en todas las ciudades, sin embargo los mas famosos (porlo particulares que son, son el de Rio de Janeiro y el de Salvador, al norte,en el estado de Bahia.

CARNAVAL DE DESFILE - Rio, Sao Paulo

En Sao Paulo, tambien hay carnaval ... y bien grande tambien! mucha gente este ano dice que llega a ser tan grande como el de Rio. El carnaval de Rio es un ejemplo de Carnaval de Desfile. Uno de los eventos mas representativos es la ida al sambodromo! que es pues una calle que existe para desfiles de carnaval,es larga - imaginense (para los Quilleros) una Via 40, pero solo para carnaval.Hay especie de palcos de lado a lado, y pues los que desfilan son las famosas ESCUELAS DE SAMBA!

Las Escuelas de Samba son casi que comunidades, van mas a alla de ser una simple comparsa. Ellas existen, entrenan, hacen actividades todo el ano, y pues se financian por los premios que ganan, por otra actividades secundarias (ejemplo dejando a la gente asistir a sus ensayos) y tambien vendiendo deifraces! Yo fui a un ensayo de la Escuela de Samba VAI VAI en Sao Paulo! excelente, realmente las samba asi en vivo le hace poner la piel de gallina a uno! Volviendo al tema de el desfile en el sambodromo, cada escuela tiene entonces sus musicos- que son las baterias! el alma de la samba y las que hacen que suene como suena, sus bailarines todos con sus fantasias que concuerdan con una carroza! alusiva a algun tema! Cada escuela abre su aparicion con una par de sambistas, que van al inicio que llevan la bandera de la escuela y son los mejores.En la parte mas alta de cada carroza hay tambien una persona, que baila sola, que sele llama "el destaque" - que puede ser una personalidad (actor,cantante) o simplemente un bailarin especial! Y en medio detodo ese espectaculo es donde estan las famosas sambistas, garotas,que son viejas con cuerpos perfectos y fantasias diminutas, pero bien trabajadas, la mayoria de veces de raices morenas, bailando con TACONES ALTISIMOS!!! esto la verdad el algo que hay que destacar,la habilidad de bailar samba con esos tacones ... es todo un arte! La entrada al sambodromo supondran que NO es muy barata que digamos!

CARNAVAL DE CALLE - Salvador Bahia

El Carnaval de Calle - si es la locura y es el que caracteriza a Salvador! Salvador es costa, litoral por eso me recuerda mucho a Barranquilla! EL carnaval de Calle trabaja con la figura de "Blocos" - que no es mas que uno comprar el derecho/entrada a estar al rededor de una camio grandisimo que tiene un grupo musical. La gente entonces al pagar porel bloco, recibe la fantasia del bloco (que para el carnaval de calle no es tan espectacular, no es tipo disfraz como en el carnaval de desfile, sino una camiseta de color o estampado que distingue a ese bloco) y entonces la gente se baila todo el desfile al rededor de su camion. Algunos Blocos son muy MUY caros ;), otros mas accesibles, y pues depende de quien es el musico que va en el camion y otros factores como tradicion, etc!

En los blocos la gente se besa con todos, se abrazacon todos, baila, canta ... es una senora rumba! En Brasil dicen que la gente que tiene novio/a y va al carnaval de Salvador, termina antes de ir con el novio/a y al final del carnaval vuelven!

Otra diferencia es que el el Carnaval de Salvador, los desfiles no son de o con SAMBA! sino con Ache y en general otros tipo de MPB (Musica Popular Brasilera). Btw, sabian que el Ministro de la Cultura de Brasil -Gilberto Gil - es cantante de MPB??? El mancito sale tocando en camion y tal!


Cabe resaltar que el carnaval, principalmente el de Sao Paulo, Rio, y Salvador es televisado :), gracias a eso,y a estar en SP en algunos desfiles es que leshe podido contar lo que les he contado hasta ahora! BOM CARNAVAL!

Les podria contar mas detalles pero 1.no los voy a aburrir :) y 2. quien lo vive es quien lo goza!! asi que no duden si alguna vez en la vida pueden, vivir esta experiencia de el carnaval en Brasil, que la verdad ... NO LE QUEDA GRANDE A LOS BRASILEROS DECIR QUE ES UNO DE LOS MEJORES CARNAVALES DEL MUNDO!