For me, New York isn’t the Big Apple everyone talks about. It’s a grand piano, an enormous trumpet, a giant book, a city full of cultural events I want to experience: lectures, exhibits, concerts, sporting events, and an endless number of other things. Besides birthdays, anniversaries, medical appointments, and other personal obligations, my calendar is full of these events and activities.

Last month, one of those events was Brazilian Day. Though I’m not from Brazil, I’ve always admired the country for its fascinating people, the sheer size of the nation, and–of course– its music. Brazilian Day has been celebrated in New York City for 26 years, and each year is bigger than the one before. For me, seeing a little piece of Río de Janeiro, Pernambuco, Ouro Preto, Espiritu Santo and other Brazilian cities in New York was an unforgettable experience.

Like Cuba (where I’m from), Brazil’s music has a strong African influence. Nevertheless, Brazilian music also has something very different from Cuban music; it incorporates rhythms and instruments with indigenous elements. The result is a mix that’s stronger for this diversity, a music that’s notable for its compexity.

Brazilian Day lasted two days and attracted more than 1.5 million people. A sea of people filled “Rua 46,” 46th Street, all the way to Central Park. Standing over the crowd, people appeared like an immense living yellow-green flag, with 1.5 million stars.

Brazilian Day doesn’t begin like other cultural parades; instead, the festivities kick off with a blessing and cleaning of the street. The samba and batucada processions will parade through this street, so the street must be cleaned of any evil spirits, ensuring that peace, pleasure, and harmony will reign. The task falls to the godfathers and godmothers of the Candomble religion, who are dressed in the white outfits typically worn by the Afro-Brazilians of Bahia. They also wear multi-colored necklaces, kerchiefs, and bels with colors reflecting both national pride and religious symbolism. Black and white Brazilians are in the procession, men and women, women dressed like men, young children and old people, and a mix of Christianity and African syncretism.

The music that pervades the celebration starts on the first day and crescendoes from there. With every step the musicians in the samba bands march in step like soldiers headed to battle. The beat of their drums are strong and violent, punctuating the air like cannons. They remind me of a passage I read once about the terror of the Roman legion as it heard, for the first time, thousands of drums beat by the troops of “Anibal the African.” Only elephants were needed to complete the scene.

The complex rhythm of Brazil’s varied regions are all represented here. There are the samba dancers whose colorful, athletic movements bring the sidewalks to life. The intersection of African, Portuguese, and American influences are impossible to imitate, but amazing to see.

There are tourists, locals, and all types of onlookers who have stumbled onto the scene. They’re filming video or shooting photos; some are shouting and dancing in step. It’s impossible to make my way to the stage, where famous singers are performing, among them Carlinhos Brown, Zeze Camargo e Luciano, Margareth Menezes, and the popular Brazilian TV host, Luciano Huck.

For “Nova-Yorki,” as Brazilians call New York City, Brazilian Day was a gift and a profound cultural exchange, filling the air with capirinha, Samba, Bossa Nova, and other Brazilian rhythms and flavors.

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Nueva York no es para mi esa Gran Manzana que todos hablan, sino, un gran piano, una gran trompeta, un libro gigante, una ciudad llena de todas esas cosas culturales que quiero y debo hacer: lecturas, exhibiciones, conciertos, eventos deportivos y un sin numero de cosas mas. Mi calendario aparte de fechas de cumpleanos, aniversario, citas medicas, y obligaciones personales, esta lleno de eventos y de actividades.

Hace un mes, uno de aquellos eventos era el dia de la Parada Brasilera o Brasileña como otros la llaman. Aunque no soy del Brasil siempre he admirado ese pais por lo interesante de su gente, por la inmensidad de esa nacion y-claro- por su musica. Esta parada se celebra en la ciudad de Nueva York por 26 años consecutivos. Cada año con mas participantes que el anterior. Ver un pedacito de Río de Janeiro, Pernambuco, Ouro Preto, Espiritu Santo y demas ciudades de Brasil en Nueva York es para mi una oportunidad inigualable. Brasil al igual que Cuba tiene una fuerte influencia africana en su cultura y en su música. Sin embargo, tiene algo muy diferente a Cuba en su musica; incorpora en sus ritmos e instrumentos elementos indigenas, haciendo una mezcla mas fuertes y complejas a la sonoridad instrumental única de ese pueblo.

Esta celebración que duro dos días consecutivos atrae a mas de un millón y medio de personas. Una inmensidad de gente llenaron ese espacio de la “Rua 46,” como le llaman ellos a la “Calle 46,” hasta el Parque Central. Todo se veia como una inmensa bandera verde-amarilla llenas de un millon y medio de estrellas.

El evento no comienza como todos los demás eventos; en este se bendicen y se limpian las calles por donde desfilaran las bandas de Sambas y Batucadas de los espíritus malos, para asegurarse que halla paz, gozo y armonía. Es un trabajo designado para los padrinos y madrinas de la religión Candomble con sus trajes blanco tipicos de los negros de Bahia, collares multicolores, panuelos, y cintas de colores patrios y religiosos. Hay negros y blancos en toda la procesion, hombres y mujeres, hombres vestido de mujer, niños y ancianos, una mezcla de cristianidad con africanidad.

La música que marca las celebraciones empiezan desde el primer día y aumenta en crecendo y sonoridad. A cada paso con su marcha los musicos de las bandas de Sambas parecen por su coreografia y sus uniformes como si fueran soldados de otra nacion que marchan a una pelea. Los gemidos de sus tambores son fuertes y violentos, ensordeciendo como cañones las calles de Nueva York; estos me recuerdan un pasaje que lei sobre el terror de las legiones romanos al escuchar por primera vez a miles de tambores rugiendo al unisono al frente de las tropas de Anibal “El Africano,” donde solo les faltaban los elefantes para completar la escena. Los complejos ritmos de todas sus regiones están representados aquí. Por un lado los bailadores de Samba arrollaban en las aceras que dan a cada paso un movimiento colorido y atletico al ritmo de la musica, una mezcla de africano-portugues- americano un poco complejo de imitar, pero maravilloso de ver.

Por el otro lado, turistas, locales, y curiosos de todo tipo que filman, gritan, y marchan lado a lado con la tropa. Me fue dificil llegar hasta la tarima donde artistas y celebridades la tomaban por asalto: Carlinhos Brown, Zeze Camargo e Luciano, Margareth Menezes, incluyendo el muy conocido y popular presentador de la television brasilena Luciano Huck. Para “Nova-Yorki,” como los brasileros le llaman a la ciudad de Nueva York, como para los neoyorquinos fue un regalo muy especial y un intercambio cultural de gran profundidad, esta celebracion nos dejo el aire lleno de Capirinha, Samba, Bossa Nova y de otros ritmos, sabores y olores tipicos del Brasil que salian bailando desde todos los rincones, bares y restaurantes en la parte de esta ciudad conocida como “Pequeño Brasil.”

Aun me cada mas por hacer; las paginas de mi calendario esta llena de eventos para este mes. Fue algo muy especial que me dejo profundas huellas en mi experiencia, no queria terminar esta fiesta; esta me dejo muy contento de vivir en esta isla y me preparo para las proximas celebraciones.

Muito obrigado Brasil por dejarnos a todos con tu musica ese dia! Que lindo!

To see all of Francisco’s Brazil Day photos, view the portfolio here.

Since returning home from celebrating Carnaval in three of Brazil’s cities, I’ve written about Carnaval Beyond Rio and the darker side of this national celebration.

One of my favorite Carnaval memories, though, is of the kids of Pelourinho.

In Pelourinho, the Carnaval celebrations are by the people and for the people, and kids are an important part of the party.

It seems like they get started early!

I could have spent the whole afternoon watching and photographing these precious, precocious toddlers.

Parents may not be wearing costumes, but, like Halloween in the U.S., they take the time to dress their little ones in special outfits.

Some of the costumes I saw were Indians, clowns, queens, princesses, pirates, witches.

So many of the kids seemed naturally photogenic, not yet touched by self-consciousness that creeps into all of us at some point, no matter where we were born. When I aimed the camera at the little boy above, he reached into his pouch and pulled out a handful of confetti…extending his hand towards me.

The kids would dance with each other or alone, with music or without. Later, I’d notice many of them asleep on the shoulders of their parents, exhausted from the day’s fun.

There’s a reason I wasn’t born Brazilian, I realized last night in my sleep and food-deprived delirium:

I simply do not have the constitution to spend six days partying frenetically without stopping.

Hard-core Carnaval goers (read: Brazilians) would likely scoff that I haven’t had the “true” Carnaval experience, and they’re right. I’m not on the street at 10 AM, dancing non-stop until 4 AM. I just don’t have what it takes.

While “Carnaval lite” is pushing me to my limits, I can’t imagine what it would be like to perform in Carnaval.

Singers and dancers who give it their all atop moving platforms 20 feet above the street for hours on end amaze me. I’d be good for about 30 minutes… then I’d throw the microphone down, pull the platform heels off, collapse in a sweating heap, and declare myself spent.

There are so many other observations to make regarding Carnaval– and I’ll get to them… after I’ve recovered from a week of Carnaval in Recife and Salvador, Brazil.

A few weeks before I arrived in Brazil, Francisco and I watched a fantastic short documentary, “The Obama Samba*.”

From the synopsis of the documentary:

“At least eight candidates across [Brazil] have chosen to identify themselves with the U.S. presidential hopeful. Using names that sound like welterweight champions, there is the “Brazilian Obama,” and the “Obama of the Savannah.” Outside of Rio, in the region known as the Baixada, or “Lowlands,” there is Claudio Henrique, also known as the ‘Obama of the Baixada.’

Hoping to become the first black mayor of his hometown of Belford Roxo, Henrique sees the senator from Illinois as an inspiration, who has been able to break boundaries and overcome obstacles — many of which stand in Henrique’s way.”

I won’t ruin the fascinating story by telling you how it ends– you’ve got to see it yourself.

What I will say is that I can now confirm first-hand just how profound an impression President Obama has made on many Brazilians.

There are some, like artist Francisco Brennand, who display their political admiration proudly even though they couldn’t vote for Obama.

This banner hangs on the old ceramic factory Brennand bought in 1971 and which now serves as a repository and museum for the vast collection of his own ceramics. I took the photo today while visiting with Brennand.

And then there are entrepreneurs who see the value of Brand Obama… this is the second bar I’ve seen sporting a new name. Formerly “Bar Brahma” (named after one of Brazil’s beers), Brazilians can now down a cold one at “BARack OBrAhMA.”

*(the producer of “The Obama Samba” also co-produced the compelling documentary “The Judge and the General,” which is a must-see for anyone interested in Chilean history, human rights, and social justice.)