Had my first experience of Carnival last night and boy was it good... Headed up to Santa Teresa, a very bouji district of Rio - all the artists live there, it's very bohemian and beautiful being at the top of a hill with lovely gated houses and cobbled streets. We started with an informal street party playing Baile Funk - think DJ & speakers by the side of the road, lots of crazy dancing, drink stalls, bbq'd meat and whistles. Stopped off for a really tasty dinner at a relatively upmarket and atmospheric restaurant on the edge of the hill - we ate steak overlooking the backgardens of some of the houses on the hill to a chorus of dog barks! Then we walked down to Lapa and just turned the corner into a massive bloco - loads and loads of people, drumming, dancing, drinking, vibing... after a Caipirinha we moved into the central square of Lapa and took an hour or so out sitting on the grass and talking to some beautiful Favela girls - real ghetto but real lovely - I ended up giving one of them my lip gloss and she was so so happy! Walked through the crowd and stumbled across an amazing drummer with full set. Finished the night at Circo Voador where Gringo had sorted out guest list (so glad otherwise we would have paid $R140 each!) and boogied to a bit of Baile Funk and Drum n Bass - loving the MCing in Portuguese by the way.

The last few days I have mostly learnt the words:
Pipa - Kite (number one national sport of the favelas, loads of different coloured kites constantly circle the favela which looks beautiful)
Espelho - Mirror (what the lovely Favela girl wanted to see her lip gloss)
Fiesta - Party (as in Carnival!)