Apparently today is Easter (or Páscoa if you are in Brazil).
I did not see any egg hunts going on, and I did not see any large rabbits rampaging through the streets scaring the daylights out of children. So it was not truly Easter I suppose, but it appeared that people were having a good time nonetheless.
Why was it that “people were having a good time”? I will tell you.
It is because here in Rio de Janeiro (and likely the rest of Brazil) everyone gives everyone large flamboyant chocolate eggs (apparently, as I didn't get any). Like as big as your head chocolate eggs.
It is rumored some of them have toys, some have smaller chocolate eggs, some have golden tickets, and some have happiness inside (read, smaller chocolate eggs with even more things inside of them).
If you find yourself walking into a supermarket or a “Lojas Americanas” (the mini Wal-Marts of Brazil), in the weeks leading up to Páscoa you will literally be ducking to avoid the eggs strewn about the ceiling (careful, some cost R$30+).
However, you cannot forget what they are there for: to pressure you into spending money and then trading chocolate with friends as a tribute to the fairytale bible story of Giant Stone Jesus coming back from the dead.
