Rio De Janeiro: It's the typical tale of doomed Carnival romance: Boy spots girl in the sweaty crush of a street party. Then the crowd surges, and the human tide wrenches them apart, forever.
But this Carnival, there's hope for romances thus thwarted.
A blog offers star-crossed lovers the chance to find one another again. Called ‘Little Leopard, Where Are You?' in a coy reference to the kinds of colourful costumes Carnival revellers sport, the blog compiles e-mails from heartsick revellers seeking their lost crushes.
Rio's Carnival, which jammed into high gear on Saturday, is fertile terrain for romance and heartbreak: a five-day-long Bacchanalia where the music blasts, and millions of people press together into a pulsing mass of humanity.
Popular wisdom has it that the celebrations are perilous for couples, though in truth probably as many marriages get their start during Carnival as end because of it.
The mission of ‘Little Leopard' is to tip the balance in favour of the former. The blog's postings describe foiled encounters, giving as many identifying details as possible about the sought-after would-be lover. Each gives the seeker's email address and ends with a plaintive "Where are you?"
"I wasn't drunk, but I had a vision at Boitata," reads one entry, referring to one of Rio's more than 400 street parties, where as many as two million people converge in the streets.
The brainchild of a blogger identified only as Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, ‘Little Leopard' was born last year as part of her bid to locate her own lost Carnival crush.
