São Luiz, the day before the "Festa do Divino".

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

Reconstructing the Church (see: old church)

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  

Rain - São Luiz de Paraitinga

When I look outside the rain gushes down the windows. It doesn’t matter if you are in Brazil or in Europe. It rains. Only the temperature is different. This makes life in Brazil in general more comfortable. But when it rains there, the consequences are more serious. Landslides destroy houses. And now there are even many deaths.

 In 2009 I spend Christmas and the New Year in Brazil. Christmas was in Aparecida (the town with the huge cathedral) and on January the second (2010) we planned to go to the beach in Ubatuba.

It had started raining  after Christmas. It kept raining all the time. The road from Taubaté to Ubatuba was blocked by landslides. Paraty could not be reached. What was more serious was that the river Paraitinga had flooded São Luiz.

It took us 4 to 5 hours to get to Ubatuba by the road of Caraguatatuba. We were lucky we didn’t come back like all the people from São Paulo going home. It took the taxidriver almost 12 hours to get back.

After some days, on the normal way back to Taubaté, we passed São Luiz. The beautiful (recently restored) Church had dispeared. Only rubble. The square with the big old houses of the coffee barons and the colorful market were covered with mud. The beautiful little town was unrecognizable.

We need rain, but let’s hope it gets dry soon.

If you want to see more pictures (and larger ones) 

klick here

With abraços for my Brazilian followers.