A Childhood Fear
Every time I take too long in between posts I feel I'm being enveloped by the overthinking of writing. It's become a sort of fear I've been trying to deal with. So here goes another post without a lot of thought behind it, just to make my fingers move across the keyboard for my own sake. I got a few updates and a little childhood story to share today.
I've started translating a new book. This time, it's a romantasy. It's not my cup of tea but I've been having fun coming up with the glossary for this one. The schedule is tighter than what I would've liked, but it is what it is. When it's published, I hope to share here links to both the original and my translation.
Another piece of news is that I've started playing Pixel Cat's End. It's a lovely browser pet sim about, well, not-cats. The art is absolutely right up my alley (faded color palette and cute pixel art?? Sign me up!) and most importantly, the lore behind it is fascinating. What really hooked me was the sign up story and the daily scenarios! Absolutely adorable stuff. I've never been keen on pet sims sites; their art was never very appealing to me, it all felt like too much work and money for very little reward. But lo and behold, apparently there really is a game for every person, we just have to find the right one for us.
Lastly, it's carnival in Brazil. I mean, it's carnival in other parts of the world too I guess, but this is our thing. Moreover, it's something that is ingrained in my city's culture and lifestyle. Brazil is very big and very diverse, there are states/cities/regions that merely acknowledge carnival as a holiday, but where I live, it's absolutely hardcore carnival for five days straight.
Today is the official opening night, though pre-carnival celebrations start to happen here on September 7th (Brazil's Independence Day holiday).
I've always had a complicated relationship with this time of the year. In the past years, it's been more stable, I guess -- I've gone out to dance, drink, watch the festivities and follow street carnival groups up and down the hills. I've stayed up late and gone to bed in the early morning; I've taken naps at the beach while waiting for the bus, I've lost myself in the crowd and met friends I didn't even know were in town. Carnival is all about this beautiful chaos; you plan just enough to know you won't be able to fully follow it through.
But when I was a teen, I hated it. And when I was a kid, I was kind of scared of it. It's traditional of families to take their little ones to the celebrations during the day, and in the chaos that the city becomes, you get to see all sorts of people and costumes and traditions. It can be overwhelming if you're a sensitive kid, which I happened to be.
There are, for instance, the cablocos de lança. I was simultaneously fascinated and scared shitless of them. They perform in groups, and in-between performances you can find them walking down the streets with this huge bell tolling on their backs. Funnily enough, they were much less scary to me when they were walking in groups. But more often than not you'll see a lonesome caboclo walking around or arriving to dance with the group, and you'll hear him long before you can see him. That felt so ominous to me as a kid, but at the same time I couldn't look away. The fanciful, sparkly costumes draw you in, and the maracatu rural groups they're a part of are beautiful to see and hear.
The only thing that scared me more than the caboclo de lança was the papangús. Thankfully they were a little less prominent in my city, being more common in the nearby towns.
The past couple of years though, my willingness to go out during carnival season has dwindled significantly. I'm lucky to be living very close to the main celebration hub, so I get to hear and witness everything from my window. The only downside is that late at night, and in the very early morning, I can hear from my bed the sound the caboclo's bells make as they go on home. And in those times, it still unnerves me.
That's it for this one, I guess. See you in the future.
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