Festa Festa Festa!

Brazil is the land of parties, and I’ve been learning about this part of the culture this week. On Wednesday night we had two going away parties for Salamão, because he flew to the US yesterday to spend a semester at Gonzaga, and we’ve gotten to be really close with him. First he came over to Bea’s house and we ate pão de queijo and cake that Carolina made, and I gave him a hat I’d crocheted for him (apparently it snows in Spokane, so I think it should come in handy). Then we went to the moradia and had a bigger party there, with all the Argentines and Italians and Americans and Canadians and Chilean and Uruguayan and Brazilians too. We started out on the lawn, one of the Brazilians had a guitar and sheet music so we had a little sing-along, and then when it got cold we moved inside. Salamão made a maracujá mousse, which was really good, and someone bought some more cakes, so we ate those too, and we danced and everyone practiced their Portuguese and said a little something to Salamão. It was a little cramped because we were in a dorm room and there were at least 20 people, but it was a lot of fun. I’m sad to see Salamão go, but I know he’ll have a good time at Gonzaga, and he’s staying in the US until January, so I think I’ll be able to see him again there.

Thursday night I went to Savassi (which the section of town where all the nightlife is) with Barbara and Marlieke, and we met up with Jess and Selina and Anika and Tom (who’re English) and Elijio (who’s from Texas) and Abu and Nelly (who are from São Tomás Principe, which is an island off the coast of Africa, I’m pretty sure). We hung out at one place until it closed, and then went to another, and I got home about 4:30AM. At the second place we went we had mandioquinha, which is pieces of mandioca the size of tater tots, fried, and they’re especially delicious with salt and ketchup... mmmm... I like hanging out with the Brits because, while they obviously speak English, it’s a different English, and they’ve been teaching me some of their slang, like for example if someone is attractive they’re called “boff” (I think that’s how you’d spell it). It was also fun to talk to Abu and Nelly, because in their country they speak Portuguese and their native dialect, but their Portuguese accent is very different from Brazilian Portguese. They’re both here for their whole time in college, they’ve been in Belo for two years already.

Friday night we went to hear Fernando sing again, in the same bar as last time, and we also said goodbye to him because he’s in the US now too. We met some of his friends and his parents, and the people we met last time were there again. I had cheese on a stick, which was good, but very salty, and I gave the last of it to Bea because I couldn’t finish it. Fernando sang a song in English dedicated to us, and we all left by 11:30 because he had a flight at 10AM Saturday and we were all tired. The bar isn’t in Belo, it’s in a city right next door, and Bea got good and lost on the way there and back. I think we spent more time traveling than actually at the bar. It was nice though, and it was good to have an opportunity to see Fernando again before he left.

Saturday we went to a barbecue that was put on by the chemistry department - Bea didn’t organize it, but a lot of her friends did. It started at 1PM, and we were there until 11. It was held at a house, but I don’t think anyone lived there - they have houses here that people rent out for parties, and I think it was one of those. It had a little pool, and a big outside area, and room to play soccer, and tirolesa, which is a zip line. That wasn’t quite as impressive as it sounds, it was two tires and some rope, but I did it a couple of times, it was pretty fun. The tickets were totally sold out, Bea said that almost 200 of them had been sold - I don’t think there were quite that many people there, but almost. There was a ton of meat, of course, and they also had rice and salsa and garlic bread, which I ate quite a bit of, especially the garlic bread. My mouth still tastes a little garlicky, but it was worth it. There was music, and we did some dancing, and I met a couple of Brazilian guys who wanted to practice their English with me. One of them was speaking German to Niels and then started speaking German to me, and didn’t really understand that I didn’t speak German, so I told him “ich bin ein haus frau,” which Jen taught me and which means “I’m a house wife” because that’s the only thing I can say in German. He thought that was pretty funny, and then switched to English, which I understood better. About 6PM whoever was picking the music got in the mood for the sounds of the US, and we heard every hit by Michael Jackson, the YMCA, and some Beach Boys, it was pretty funny. When we got back to Bea’s house the neighbors were having a party, so I didn’t sleep very well, but it was a nice way to end my week of celebrations. Tonight I’m going to sleep a lot.

On Friday at noon I went to my first capoeira class. I wasn’t really sure I was going to try capoeira, because it looks (and is!) hard, but Niels and Paola went on Wednesday and told us about it, so Barbara and Marlieke and I tried it out on Friday. The class was an hour and a half long, we started out with warming up and then stretched and then started doing capoeira stuff. Most of the people in the class were really good, so Barbara and Marlieke and I and one other new person stood off to the side and practiced basics while the rest of the class did exciting tricky things. At the end, we got in a circle and everyone took turns going in the middle and “fighting,” including Marlieke, Barbara, Niels, and I! I didn’t expect to do it at my first class, but the teacher insisted. I felt very un-graceful, especially after watching the other students, but it was a lot of fun and I’m going to stick with it. My legs are still sore, and I’m hoping that by the end of the semester I’ll have a lovely little six-pack like everyone else in the class who wasn’t new. After capoeira we went to CEU, the sports center, and I ate açai and watched everyone else swim.

That’s all for now, see you later alligators!