Brazil´d out... for one day

Fresh off my triumphant Policia Federal extension-of-stay, I had a busy busy Friday night in Rio - my last night there for a week. Saw Mocidade´s great rehearsal at the Sambodromo. They´d brought several glittery little floats, the porta-bandeira was truly incredible, and there was an entire ala of 100 choreographed robots. (their theme this year is The Future) Well, I assume they will be robots once they have their costumes! It was so fun watching the bateria go by because now I know them all, and lots of people kept smiling and waving at me, and one of my favorite directors dashed over to kiss my hand. The Queen of the Bateria had such an amazing outfit on that I actually was drawn away from the bateria for a while to go up front and take pictures of her.

But the best part was the crazy end-of-parade when the guys just didn´t want to stop playing... I´ll post a movie later.

Next day, packed my things for Salvador. The plane was, of course, delayed - Brazil´s in a perpetual airport crisis these days - and they didn´t feed us anything on teh flight, and then a pile of us waited at the airport bus station for an hour before someone wandered over to tell us the buses had already stopped running before the plane landed. No buses to the airport on Saturday and Sunday nights? And it´s a 70 real cab ride to town? So FIVE of us, PLUS LUGGAGE, piled into ONE little cab for the hour-long drive into Salvador. Yeesh. These 5- and even 6-passenger cab rides are pretty common, but this one was extra comfy with the complete layer of luggage on top of us. Since I am skinny I always seem to be the one sitting on the gearshift. It´s okay except when the driver needs to shift to second gear (when the gear shift sticks further back, right?). The Brazilian woman who had semi-adopted me on the plane flight kept scolding the taxi driver "Don´t use second gear! You don´t know her that well! You only just met her! DON´T USE SECOND GEAR!" and he kept protesting "But I have to change gears!" while the 3 guys from Minas Gerais in the back kept cracking up.

It was funny at all, but when I got in to my hostel at 11pm I was dead tired. And hungry. Went to one of the few places open, a little street bar with those inevitable cheap plastic tables and chairs, and ordered fish & chips. And then... had to start fending off the Salvador guys immediately! They just drift over and start insistently asking where you´re from, what´s your name, do you have a boyfriend, etc., and shouting mysterious things at you. They´re never scary or rude - just very flirty; it´s just the Salvador style. But suddenly I´d had enough. Didn´t want to deal with the guys, was depressed at the sight of the single women gringos tagging around with their "Brazilian boyfriends", vehemently didn´t want any company, didn´t want to see or hear any music or see another speck of rice and beans. A little group of musicians at the next table over was starting to play pagode, and I could easily have joined in on pandeiro....but... jeez... 76 nights of samba in 80 days does take its toll... I just wanted a night off! I´ve only had about four nights off (sans rehearsal, show, or escola visit) since November 2nd.

So even though it was Saturday night in Salvador, and a million parties going on everywhere, I holed up in my peaceful little private room, turned the fan and air-conditioning on, and sat up till almost 5am eating Cheetos and reading a completely ridiculous science fiction novel that I found in the lobby. In English! It´s the first English book I´ve read in months! (It was about time-travelling aliens who turn the Earth into a patchwork of different times, so - of course - inevitably - Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Rudyard Kipling, and the astronauts from the International Space Station all end up in a huge battle in Babylon.) Not a single word in Portuguese, not a whiff of Brazil all night.... I read the entire book cover to cover in one sitting. It was exactly what I needed. I chilled all Sunday too.

Sometimes you just get Brazil´d out...and need a night off, a night to just be American again. A night and a day.

Monday morning I was right back in it.