Travel Plans

Hello friends!

Just wanted to let you know, those of you who have been checking here daily in hopes of news from me (which is probably no one, but we can pretend), that tonight (sep. 28) I'm going to Chapada da Diamantina, which is a national park in the interior of Bahia, I'm coming back to Belo Horizonte on October 7, I'm going to Buenos Aires October 12-16, and I'm probably going to Barbacena October 19-21 for some sort of English teacher/language thing - I don't know too many details about this one yet, but they want me because I speak American and they're going to pay for everything, so I'm stoked.

I'll try to find some time in there somewhere to post more on here, especially about how all my travels are going, so you all don't get too lonely.

Last night after Portuguese class I went with Marlieke to Bruna's house for dinner. Bruna is another capoeira student, she's Brazilian but she started capoeira at the same time as we did. She's working on her master's in Biology, and she's really friendly. At her house, we met her brother Alan, who's studying to be a judge, and her sister Tatiana, who's in her first year of residency on her way to becoming a doctor. They're a very well educated bunch, and super friendly too. Dinner was really good, it was a spanish tortilla-style thing, I'm not really sure what it had in it but I think it was even vegetarian, and a really good chocolate cake.

After dinner Bruna and Marlieke went to a capoeira academy in Savassi because every Thursday night they have a roda there, and Cris, our teacher, always encourages the people in our class to go. There were a couple of other people from our class there, and Cris, and a lot of really amazing people who study at the academy. There were also 6 or 8 kids, some of whom were not that good, but a couple of them were amazing, way better than I am and they were like 9! One of the really good kids was Cris's nephew, and the two of them "fought" and it was really cute watching them show off for each other. A lot of the kids "fought" each other, and then the mestre, who's the big cheese, "fought" with all the kids, which was funny to watch because he's probably 50, and he's obviously really good at capoeira but it would be hard for anyone to duck low enough to avoid a kick delivered by a 7 year old who's probably two and a half feet tall. After the kids went, the more experienced adults made all the new adults go in, I didn't do very well, but I don't feel too bad about it. After the new adults, the really good people started "fighting," which was really exciting to watch. The music sped up, and I'm not sure how they avoided knocking each other's heads off sometimes, especially since a lot of them were wearing shoes. Some of the really good people started incorporating some contact into their moves, usually in capoeira you don't touch each other, but I guess sometimes people like to give their opponent a playful swat on the head or something. However, two of the guys who were getting sort of touchy with each other started to really fight, and one of them ended up with a bloody nose. The mestre broke them up, which took some doing, and then stopped the music and gave them a lecture about how capoeira does have an element of fighting, but that it's not ok to actually hurt someone, and that both of them showed a lack of respect for him as the mestre when they didn't let go of each other right away when he told them too. He also explained that they guy with the bloodied nose was a visitor, and that the guy who had done the bloodying liked to pick fights with outsiders, but that if you want to fight to injure, don't do it in the roda.

After that, some more people "fought," and then the mestre and some other guy did this really weird REALLY slow version of capoeira, and sometimes they stood up and joined hands and looked like they were doing a traditional Austrian dance or something (Austrian because I just watched the Sound of Music and it sort of reminded me of the party they have). He didn't explain that, and Bruna and Marlieke and I are going to ask Cris today what that was all about.

After the roda was done, the three of us went to Sushi Beer to meet up with Bruna's sister and some of her friends, and I had a little bit of sushi and a glass of pineapple juice with mint, which is officially my new favorite drink. It's so refreshing and unexpected, I love it. The sushi was really good too, I'd like to go back there when I'm hungrier.

Well, I've got to go, it's almost time to leave for capoeira, but I'll let you know how my trip was when I get back!

abraços,
sarah