For everything that happened after Fuzuê and Furdanço, you will have to take my word for it or accept a few awful phone pics (send donations and I will upgrade from my 2018 refurbished Android I can no longer find cases for).

There are places where cameras, phones and, ahem, wallets don’t go.

But I did go with nothing but a lighter and a single cigarette stashed in my bra.

On Monday, after a weekend of pré-Carnival parties, Salvador rested quietly.

Just kidding. Xanddy Harmonia was offering the city “a melhor segunda-feira do mundo,” i.e., the best Monday in the world—this meant yet another sound truck and yet another parade on the Ondina-Barra circuit starting at 6 p.m.

I had a pretty normal Monday because, unlike many locals, I wasn’t busy boarding up businesses or rewiring street lights. At 6 p.m., I showed up in Ondina, where, sure enough, a giant sound truck was parked in the middle of the road. Xanddy Harmonia, I assumed.

But the truck wasn’t moving yet and most people seemed to be watching the sunset. I walked down Avenida Oceânica and to the mall, mostly because it has some air con. I must have spent an hour inside “Shopping Barra.” I took the parade street again—busy, tons of people wandering around, but no music or giant trucks.

I figured I had missed the event and that it was over. No big deal, I was tired anyway.

I kept on walking towards my Airnbn but strangely enough, everybody was going the opposite way. This is when I understood that the “best Monday in the world” was just starting, ah ah, who shows up at 6 p.m., really?

Since I couldn’t hear the music, the truck must be still uphill. I figured I had the time to go back, cook, maybe even take a shower—and this is exactly what I did.

I went out again to have the full pré-Carnival crowd experience, which is why I didn’t take anything with me. I would dive and follow the trios elétrico for a while. I had nothing to lose, literally.

Oh, my God. This time, I found Xanddy Harmonia and the sea of revellers easily. You just couldn’t miss the flood of people walking down to the lighthouse.

I joined them. It felt like catching a wave and riding it.

Imagine being surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people in a street that probably wasn’t designed for Carnival back in the day. You’re not just listening to the music, you’re expressing it, performing in a way. Standing still isn’t an option—the crowd only makes room for small groups of military police who somehow manage to get through in a single file.

I danced for about an hour, then I got out, somehow. Enough for me. Best Monday party ever, for sure.

On Tuesday, I wanted to escape Carnival, so I walked to the Pelourinho… where I bumped into a bloco and visited the Salvador Carnival Museum—okay, you just can’t escape from Carnival at this time of the year.

Then I watched a lovely sunset in Barra surrounded by people who were getting ready for yet another pré-Carnival event.

I skipped it; I had to pack.

I won’t spend Carnival in Salvador—I have to fly somewhere to meet someone. Yes, I have a date in Brazil!