Boi-Bumbá!
December 30, 2019, Parintins, Brazil — Parintins — say ‘pahr-een-chintz’ — is named for the original tribe of indigenous people who lived here. Located on a group of four islands called Tupinambarana, it was founded in 1796 and became a mission shortly after. The population today is around 115,000. I think most of them work in Boi-Bumbá.
There was only one reason to stop in Parintins: a chance to see a just-for-us version of the town’s famous springtime festival, Brazil’s second largest celebration after Carnival in Rio. Aside from a 60-second intro in English, the entire show was in Portuguese and I think I understood one word — if vaca is, in fact, Portuguese for cow. I’ll let Wiki tell you about it:
Often called Festival do Boi-Bumbá, Bumba Meu Boi, or simply Festival, the event takes place during three days in late June. The festival celebrates a local legend about a resurrected ox. It is also a competition where two teams, Garantido and Caprichoso, compete in extended retellings of the story, each team attempting to outdo the other with flamboyant dances, singing, and parade floats... Each nightly performance is largely based on local Amazonian folklore and indigenous culture, but also incorporates contemporary Brazilian rhythms and themes.
After seeing the show at their river-side convention center (I wonder how many conventions come to town), I was not inclined to walk up the slope into town to see their church and their market... there was a definite seedy feel to the place.
What must this riverfront have been like a hundred years ago? I can only imagine — actually, I can’t.
Our cruise director told us in his ‘port talk’ that Brazilians strive to be ‘body beautiful,’ and 10% of all the plastic surgery in the world happens in Brazil. Unless they’ve already had the work done, I don’t think any of the dancers today needed a single nip or tuck. And they didn’t need to diet — each one of them must have burned thousands of calories in the 45-minute show. The story was told by two singers, who sang for 45 minutes straight — from memory.
From where I was sitting, with only my iPhone, it was hard to capture the sheer flamboyance and enthusiasm of the performers and their extravagant costumes...
Scene by scene, beautiful, be-feathered women appeared, popping out of huge set constructions or suspended from the ceiling. All part of the two-team competition to outdo one another.
Many of us wondered: Are all the feather real, or synthetic? Over the years, bird species have become endangered or extinct due to fashion’s demand for feathers. The be-feathered and -furred men were more fearsome than beautiful.
It was a visually exciting show — but I don’t feel the need to arrange a trip to Rio for Carnival. This will do.
A few after-the-show shots... Vendors had set up a small market outside the convention center. We were warned — more like ordered — not to bring souvenir dried piranha back on the ship.
Modes of transport...
Umbrellas at the ready...
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts greeted us as we got off and back on the ship. They were fundraising, and many Vikings contributed. We asked one another, how do their shirts stay so white and so well pressed in this climate?
This last shot was not an accident. Those of you who’ve traveled with me before have seen my bare feet in, for example, the Indian Ocean. These are my shod feet in Parintins on the Amazon. Shod in closed shoes, not my customary sandals. A woman sitting next to me on the ship a week or so ago saw that I was going off on an excursion (on some Caribbean island) wearing sandals. She said, ‘When we get to the Amazon, wear closed shoes. I know a woman who was wearing sandals and stepped in a puddle: she got hookworm.’ I took her advice.
Next stop: The big city of Manaus. #
