welcome to rio, and to our carnaval experience. this experience was a dream come true for me: to parade with a big samba school - escola de samba - in the rio carnaval, marching down the main sambodramo avenue, with thousands up on the stands, and millions watching around the country and possibly the world. and the sound. mate, the sound is amazing! when the drum section passes by you it is like being in the biggest loudest rave imaginable. but im getting ahead of myself here.

as a kid i had participated in small carnaval parades in lagoa santa, a small town in minas gerais where i spent every weekend and many holidays. some of my happiest memories are of me and my sisters getting ready to parade with our families samba school 'gulosao'. it was the most fun one can ever imagine, the whole family together, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, grandkids, everyone in a different costume representing their age group, all in the same colours of the school. but lagoa santa is small, intimate, and over the years that atmosphere of family feast gave way as many of us moved away and the town grew with new imports who lacked the same connection. but always, in every year, we would watch with awe and envy the absurd and decadent highlights of the rio carnaval. that was the real thing, the biggest spectacle imaginable, with the prettiest women on earth parading in perfect tans and showing it all! but it was more than that. the week after the event we would consume the magazines with all the photos from the public event, and from the private parties! sex orgies really. it was my first taste of pornography. carnaval in brasil is something else. its really about all the excesses one can ever wish for: flesh, booze, sound, feast, colour, a week of little sleep and virtually nonstop partying. everywhere.

so how did i get here? well, in 2001 i spent almost the entire year in brasil travelling, and around carnaval time a really good mate of mine, markus, propsed that he and other friends, aj and his crew, come out and meet me in rio and that we find a way to participate in the actual rio parade.... what a dream!

and so we did. 7 of us got hooked up with a guy who knew the people who ran one of the big samba schools, salgueiro, and for $200 dollars each, could get us costumes. the costumes are the 'ticket'to participate. if you ever decide to do something completely decadent, bonkers and outrageous, try to participate in the rio carnaval. its not as difficult as you'd imagine. any hotel in rio will put you in touch with someone who knows someone, who knows how to get you a uniform. thats it. once you have that contact, and put up a bit of money, the rest is fun.

these shots are of us hanging out, and of us getting ready in our costumes, and of us being in the parade and of some of the prettier facets of rio.