On March 9, Ash Wednesday, an end came to the Carnaval celebration that began the prior Thursday. I was fortunate to escape and relax at a friend’s beach house on the island of Itaprica for the initial three days of Carnaval. But after returning to Salvador, I joined a few million others in the streets for Carnaval’s final three nights to revel in the sights and the sounds of live music emanating from stages set atop tractor trailers that inched along three parade routes. The energy of the crowds and their ability to consume beer and other fluids is amazing. People from all around the globe must have brought their germs with them, because immediately after Carnaval many fell victim to a virus that is being called “criptonita,” Portuguese for the substance that made Superman weak. That seems a fitting epilog to a Carnaval with the theme of superheroes.