 |
Head of the Bloco (carnival group)
Juca Teles in São Luiz. |
São Luiz do Paraitinga is a small village in de Serra do Mar, some 30 kilometers east of the highway between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. São Luiz is famous for its Carnival and the music festival some time before (the Marchinha) and other festivities, firmly anchored in religion. The musical element is always very important. Tradition here is alive.
This year we were able to visit São Luiz on the Saturday before the "Festa do Divino". The village was already very lively with music, Capoeira, Pipoca (popcorn) and many kinds of other foods. One of the main things on this Saturday is the
"Prato da Casa". More about this what is calld "afogado" (drowned dish) in my next blog.
Three years ago on New Years Eve the village was hit by a disastrous flooding of the Paraitinga river. The water came extremely high. The old church, that was never flooded before, went down. Also many of the beautiful houses of the former Coffee Barons were severely damaged. There are gaps in the streets (behind red boards) where the damage is still not repaired.
But São Luiz doesn't give up easily. Life goes on and the festivals attract many people. Even on days without a festival São Luiz is very much worth a visit.
For more pictures of São Luiz (before the flood / and the flood damage) see
São Luiz do Paraitinga on Flickr.
 |
| Damage of the flood behind the red boards.... |
 |
| Structure of the walls |
 |
| The river Paraitinga |
 |
| Cavalhada - procession on horses |
 |
| Many people in the streets.... but tomorrow it will be many many more! |
 |
| Capoeira. Almost ready to begin. |
 |
| Country music and dancing |
 |
| Pipoca com queijo - popcorn with cheese |
 |
| A bar in the market |
 |
| A procession |
 |
| Another procession |
 |
| Till late; many people enjoy the festivity in the streets |
No comments:
Post a Comment