Brasil

Observations of Brasil:

Brasilians drink coffee like the Indians drink chai; small, hot, strong and wonderfully/awfully sweet.

Whilst Brasilian women are beautiful, they are also normal. Believe it or not there is cellulite on their stunning beaches!

The language is loud and expressive, tonal, almost like singing, cute but not beautiful.

The country is full of the most amazing natural beauty - waterfalls, jungles, mountains, beaches. If there is somewhere on Earth where paradise exists, it is somewhere in Brasil.

A highlight of my time here was visiting a Samba rehearsal. The samba schools are usually closed to public, they are close-knit communities of people who often have been attending these events their whole lives. I was very lucky to have the opportunity to visit the samba school which won the Carnival competitions in Sao Paulo this year.

The percussion section must have had over 100 people with all sorts of instruments. A late start built the anticipation so that when drumming broke the silence the energy and noise were unbelievable. An older black woman belted out songs backed by electric guitars, trumpets and the percussion section. Beautiful girls danced the fast-paced Samba and shook their booties in a truly Brasilian way, accompanied by stylish men in white trousers, hats and braces. The hall rang with noise and vibrancy for almost 2 hours and left us feeling completely high on life, despite our awful attempts at samba dancing. And this was only a rehearsal. I can only imagine whole city blocks filled with these scenes during Carnival.