Capoeria: another reason why Brazil is the Sh*t

Capoeria is an Afro-Brazilian art form which is a combination of dance, music and martial arts. 3 of my favourite forms of exercise! I tried it here in Ecuador for the first time last night and it was really challenging and really fun! Although it is Brazilian it is still pretty popular in other parts of South America, which is why I managed to find it. The intructor was definetely Brazilian, he had a prominent Portuguese accent when he was speaking Spanish which sounded really nice. During the class I learned the basic steps, and watched the more advanced people do crazy cartwheels and hand stands combined with kicks and ducking all in a sort of dance routine. It was so cool to watch, one of the coolest things i´ve seen in a while. So on top of beautiful women, fashion, and beaches, Brazil also has Capoeira as a claim to fame, its not fair. Capoeira was created in Brazil by slaves from Africa, some time after the 16th century, so this isn´t a new trend people! In capoeira, music sets the rhythym and the style of play. Because it´s routes are African, the music has an awesome afro-latino vibe to it. It combines many of the things in life that i consider beautiful, and you get a work out at the same time, i´ll definetely be keeping this up while im still here.

Let me just start off by saying how challenging it has been to find wireless that works on my computer. AND even when there is wireless something always goes wrong while im trying to make these posts and thats why they have been few and far between. Nonetheless Ive been looking forward to posting this one for a while and its taken me a few tries at a few different places. These photos are from a parade that I had the priveledge to attend in Bolivia. It was a national parade that happens once a year to commemorate traditional Bolivian culture. Its a huge deal and there were thousands upon thousands of people in attendance as the parade ran throughout the entire city of La Paz. All of the seats were packed! it was hard for us to find a place to watch but when theres a will theres a way, and we eventually did manage to get our way in. The parade was an authentic cultural experience, and the costumes were absolutely stunning! so intricate and detailed! i could tell how much labour had gone into making them, and how proud the people in the parade were to be wearing them. The indigenous people in attendance at the parade were wearing clothes that they only wear once for that specific occasion, and put a lot of time and money into them. The ultimate purpose of the parade is as a competition. The parade consists of seperate groups of people, who design their costumes and coordinate their own music and dancing in order to impress the president of the country, in attendace at the parade, who ultimately chooses the winner. This is why when they go past him they dance the hardest and sing the loudest! All in all it really was unbelievable, i've never seen such a rich cultural parade so full of gorgeous costumes.