Reveillon at Copacabana
New Year's in Rio means wearing white clothes, throwing flowers in the sea in honor of Iemanjá, fireworks and champagne on the beach at midnight.
Some people, followers of the Afro-Brazilian religion of Candomblé, dig a hole in the sand and make a macumba offering of candles, flowers, alcohol, sugar.
This year the papers said there were 2.5 million people on Copacabana beach. They claimed that while the lifeguards saved 168 people from drowning, the many police on hand had very little to do. No assaults were reported and the worst offender was one bicycle thief who was promptly arrested. Even if the official story is an exaggeration, the scene was calm with lots of kids and old folks alongside the partiers. A peaceful gathering like this must be particularly significant in a city where so many people say they live with fear of violence.
I've got some other photos from my trip as well -- nothing that will put the postcard vendors out of business, but maybe you can see that I'm not lying when I say Rio is gorgeous.
