World Cup USA ’94 / Semifinals : Fan-tastic Semifinals : For Brazilians, a Samba of Celebration
The Burgos sisters have transplanted a little bit of Rio to Venice Boulevard, and their compatriots have embraced their Zabumba restaurant in West Los Angeles as “the Brazilian party place in L.A.”
“Carnival is once a year in Brazil,” said Monica Burgos. “Here, it’s every day.”
Five months ago, Monica, 26, and her sisters Carla, 30, and Jeane, 28, took over what was then a moribund Zabumba, turning it into a restaurant so popular that fire marshals ordered it closed during Brazil’s World Cup victory over Russia after the crowd swelled seriously beyond capacity.
For Brazil’s match with Sweden at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday, the crowd returned--confident and ready to party--but only 100 could get inside. No matter, at least 100 more partied outside, where police had cordoned off the area with yellow crime-scene tape.
More than an hour before game time, the music and its infectious beat already had begun with the crowd singing, Ole, ole, ole, ole. Brasil. Brasil.
One woman brought the crowd to its feet as she moved through a samba warm-up. A friend of hers smiled and observed: “In Rio she would be topless, but that would be a little too much here.”
Joked another Brazilian: “There is no word for inhibition in Brazilian Portuguese.”
Eli Pereira arrived at Zabumba laden with instruments. The music and instruments are absolutely necessary because “Brazil’s soccer team attacks in samba rhythm,” said Pereira, who publishes an investment newsletter and heads a prize-winning samba school in Los Angeles.
As the game began, Zabumba was well into its rhythm, with conga drums, maracas, whistles and cowbells keeping the beat.
The restaurant was a sea of green and yellow, not the least of which were the Brazilian flags and messages that Carla Burgos had painted on customers. Her sister Monica sported the name of the restaurant on her exposed midriff and “Brasil” on her back.
Hearing the game announcers on Spanish-language television was impossible over the noise, and the crowd broke into several premature explosive celebrations when they mistakenly thought Brazil had scored.
“Sweden is playing Russian roulette,” Pereira said, “and the loaded chamber is next.”
The Swedes dodged several bullets before Brazil finally scored the match’s only goal in the second half and sparked a celebration at Zabumba that left passersby stunned.
As the game wound down to its final minutes, Brazilian fans began singing the traditional song with which they close carnival--a tune with the same melody as the Mexican folk song “Cielito Lindo.”
The eruption when the game ended showed that everything before had been merely a prelude. Dancers wrapped themselves in Brazilian flags and poured out to Venice Boulevard, where passing motorists honked their horns in celebration.
The World Cup has brought a stronger identity to the estimated 20,000 Brazilians in Southern California, said Rodney Mello, editor and publisher of News from Brazil, a monthly magazine.
“I’ve never seen so many Brazilians in the 14 years I’ve been here,” he said.
As far as the Burgos sisters are concerned, much more is yet to come.
For Sunday’s final with Italy, they’ve won city permission to close off a side street. Win or lose, the entire neighborhood will get a chance to see how the Brazilians party.
