Boats at the public market

Just before leaving Porto Alegre today, I made a point of wandering downtown for just a few moments, including a quick stop at the Mercado Público, the public market. The town is empty, as people have gone to the beach to greet the new year, but the market was full of people buying things to offer to Iemanjá and other Afro-brazilian deities at midnight tomorrow. Lots of people put things (food, sweets, beauty supplies) in these little styrofoam boats and set them off on the Rio Guaíba hoping to please the gods.