5.2.08

Carnival Cold...again

I spoke too soon. On Saturday night I started to feel the sore throat and brushed it off as screaming, drinking, and partying too much, but on Monday it became all too clear that yet again, I got the Carnival cold at the beginning of Carnival. I can't quite understand it. I could explain the first two years of the Carnival Cold because I had been in the US during January and could blame the difference in temperature, new germs, etc. This year I have no excuse except that I am allergic to Carnival. Yes, this could also be a very intense allergy attack. It feels like allergies, like Juniper allergies in New Mexico at their very worst. The force of the sneezing actually shakes my body and resembles something out of the Exorcist.

I have often said that I am allergic to Recife, and this just proves the point. While traveling the last month along the coast, I was fine, no problems, and as soon as I get back to Recife the allergies come and I feel horrible. My allergies have been getting worse since I got here; I think that it could be the super chlorinated water that makes your eyes burn in the shower, the air pollution, the dust that seems to coat every surface with fine black powder, or just general city living.

There is also the option of psychosomatically induced sickness to Carnival, but who would do that to themselves? This has been listed as an option, but I am going to overrule it.

So, I have been sitting in the hammock reading Love in the Time of Cholera (again), drinking coffee, and generally enjoying the complete silence of normal city noises. It is almost eerie how quiet it is. The entire city outside of the Carnival areas is shut down; I haven't even heard a car pass by in the past few hours. If you don't like Carnival (a surprisingly big population), you go to the beach or the country, and if you do like Carnival you are in the folia day and night when not sleeping so the rest of the city is a ghost town. It is like being on a retreat from the chaos in the middle of it all. I have said before how my house is a little oasis in the madness--full of birds and flowers with a great hammock on the porch, and now it really is, complete with the silence of the city sleeping.

2 comments:

Zack said...

Sorry about the cold, or Recifeitis, or whatever it is. Enjoy the solitude amidst the storm.
I confess I have never been to a Carnaval. I will experience it someday, and I am sure it will be Olinda's, but it's not a burning desire. It's not on my top ten of must things yet to experience in Brazil. I think I am a little phobic of really big crowds congested in a space. without room to breath. Take care and be safe.

Catron said...

Thanks Zach,
I think Carnival is a little overrated, but I probably would have loved it at age 18. If I had a choice I would definitely see other things--Chapada de Diamantina, Lencois Maranheses, etc.

Most people here go to Oinda during the day and Recife Antigo at night. Olinda has a reputation for being dangerous at night. We spend Saturday night in Olinda and it is always great, but all you have to do is look at the photos to imagine the heat and all of the people...definitely a claustrophobic experience--especially when everyone starts pushing. However, all that said, it is amazingly calm considering the amount of people and alcohol involved. It would never work in the US--it would be an instant brawl.