Brazil Carnival winds down

The winning samba school has been chosen — Beija Flor, for those who follow such things — the costumes have been put away, and the streets of this seaside city are being cleared of trash. The newspaper O Globo reported that four hundred tons of garbage were collected just in Rio’s Sambadrome following the city’s world-famous Carnival parade. Scattered rain showers have drenched Rio all week and they’ve been doing their part in the clean-up, too, as Carnival is a veritable orgy of public urination. (The blog Rio Real pointed out that police this year arrested 700 people for pissing where they shouldn’t, double last year’s tally). And as the rain keeps falling on the empty beer cans and empty streets, this correspondent can report firsthand that the smell is finally starting to fade.