samba school rehearsal, sambadrome

this weekend we visited the sambadrome, home of rio's carnaval, for the samba school rehearsals. it's free to attend, and we were able to get front row seats, which cost hundreds of dollars for the real thing. in fact, events at the sambadrome tend to be a gringo thing, as the are locals priced out. instead, the carioca carnaval takes place at dozens of street parties called blocos, which take place across the city. our neighbourhood seems to be one of the carnaval epicentres (which officially starts next weekend but has been gearing up with street parties for a couple of weeks now), so I'm sure photos will be forthcoming.