Betto Almeida is a 36-year-old artist in Rio de Janeiro with an unusual job—he paints naked samba dancers for annual Carnival festivities. The job pays $2,000 a day; he can only paint two women a night.MSNBC: Brazil's best job? Paint nude Carnival models (February 24, 2009)

Carnival in Rio de Janeiro takes place every year just before the Christian Lenten period begins. A wilder and older version of Mardi Gras, Carnival includes riotous parties and lavish parades. And, every Carnival for the past 12 years, artist and art director Betto Almeida has been hired by a modeling agency to paint the a few women. The women are samba dancers hired by the modeling agency to mingle with high rollers in the luxury boxes at festival events. None of the women wear clothing: Almeida paints their bodies in the place of clothes.

During the year Almeida paints a minimum of 50 women for various events. His studio at the Sambadrome at Carnival is glass-walled so that people can watch him at work, which they do, in droves.MSNBC: Brazil's best job? Paint nude Carnival models (February 24, 2009)

"I started doing it for theater and one of the samba parade officials asked if I would do it for Carnival models. How could I say no? A lot of guys are jealous of my job."—Betto AlmeidaMSNBC: Brazil's best job? Paint nude Carnival models (February 24, 2009)