Funk Carioca

On Saturday night I went out for Thais', a friend from work, birthday. We started the evening in a Catalan themed bar called "Gràcia". 

Thais had bought a table and when we arrived there was vodka and lychee juice laid out for us, great combo! Like usual, I arrived too early, will I ever learn?! However by around 10, the place was heaving and there was a great party atmosphere. No wonder it is considered one of the best in São Paulo. Thais' friends were all so sweet and very patient with my Portuguese; I did feel it improved during the night though, I wonder why?!

After the obligatory queue to pay we left the bar and drove to what we thought was a PUC University party. We arrived at around 1:30 and were met with the customary huge queue. It moved quickly though and after being thoroughly frisked for drugs, we headed inside! It was one of the weirdest clubs I have ever been to. It was more like a warehouse than a club with no decoration and it had obviously been taken over by non PUC students as Thais and her friends didn't know many people there. We were determined to have a good time though and the fact it was an open bar made it a little easier!!

When we first arrived the DJ was playing standard house music which I could just about cope with. However after a while a women and a man took to the stage and gave out lots of free alcohol including packets of pre-made caipiroska which landed by my foot(we chucked it back!). Then the funk began! Yeah favela funk was new to me too... it's hard to explain so I've uploaded some videos below. 

Funk Carioca or just funk(pronounced funk-y!)began in the favelas of Rio in the 1980s and is now popular all over Brazil. It's normally an electric drum loop with a man and a woman rapping to each other using some pretty explicit lyrics. All I can say is that it was insanely difficult to dance to; some of Thais' friends were so good at it and tried to teach me but it just didn't work! It was a lot of fun as an experience but i'm afraid it's not going to be my music of choice any time soon!

 

Although it isn't funk Anita was also played a lot, again not my favourite, but fun to dance to and made a change from David Guetta!

At around 4 most of us called it a night and took a taxi home, Thais and her friends partied on until the end! I had a great night, even if I hadn't realised that dancing to favela funk was on my to-do list! 

On Sunday morning, after a solid 10 hour sleep, I woke up to this...

...Much more my cup of tea!!!

All part of life's rich experiences! Thanks so much Thais, I had an awesome time!