Shopping for Eight

I have to stop telling people that I am going to Rio. You've heard of eating for two, right? Try shopping for eight. It always sounds easy at first - friend 1 says, oh, could you pick me up a pandeiro? Friend 2 says, maybe a tamborim baqueta? Sounds easy enough. But next thing you know it's:

Dozen emails back and forth to Friend 1 - what kind of choro pandeiro? Flat rim or round rim? I recommend Pizzott. I like the flat rim. No, not the Agenor, my Agenor warped instantly and the platinela nails actually fell out. Yeah, flat rim's lighter but cuts into your thumb a bit, but once you get a callus that doesn't matter at ALL, and really the lightness helps so much with stamina. Round rim is in stock. Flat rim is out. Oh! Flat rim shipment is coming in today!! Yes, I can go pick them up on Wednesday (sigh, another errand, another beach afternoon missed). But there's no extra platinelas. Hey, he's got those pandeiro books! They're great! Do you want them? Volume 1? Volume 2? How about some comic books to work on Portuguese? What kind of comic books? How much are they? R2.80 each. Yeah, that's about US$1.60 or so per comic book. OK, I'll get you US$20 worth of comic books, let's see, how about "Monica"? Sure, "Pato Donald" (Donald Duck) is good for variety, but really I recommend "Monica" because it's native written, by a Brazilian, not translated, and plus it's just funnier. Except you have to remember that the little Cebolinha kid can't pronounce his R's. OK, got it, 1 flat-rim Pizzott pandeiro, one each of the pandeiro books, a bunch of Monica comic books, and I'll look for some Pato Donald or Homen-Aranha (Spiderman).

Phone calls back and forth to friend 2: I'm at Casa Oliveira music shop and yes, they have tamborim baquetas with seven strands, but from a different maker than the Mocidade ones. Yes, they look pretty good, smooth tips. OK, wait, I have to ask how much - wait -
- JORGE, QUANTO A BAQUETA? - He says they're 21 - wait, did I hear that right - JORGE, VINTE-UM? - yeah, they're 21 reais.
[I add, not into the phone, "JORGE! yes, two of the cuicas - one is for me and one is for another friend - no, he's a guy - what do you mean, guys should play 10" cuicas? It's more manly to play a 10" cuica than an 8"? Ok, whatever, give him the 10", I'll take the 8" - but, he wants spare sticks too, and, I have this other friend who wants mallets for third-surdo - no, I don't know what color - red or blue? um, um, ok, how about four blue and 2 red. No no no, two green. Oh, the green are larger? Um, um, four blue, two red, two green. No, that tamborim is for my OTHER friend who wants a tamborim - OH, and he wants two replacement heads. No, the OTHER other friend." ]
[Jorge is shouting all this up to a guy on the balcony and the guy up above is literally throwing baquetas and straps and tamborins through the air down at Jorge. Instruments are raining down over my head, Jorge catching every one, while I am on the phone to friend #2.]
- What - oh - where was I - yes, they've got quad bells, oh right, that's why I was calling, to tell you they do have quad bells. No, they're not really all that good. Well, the biggest bell is a bit tinny, it sort of goes, "WHANG-EE" instead of "BONG". But at least it's a quad bell. No, sorry, I forgot to ask how much they cost....
[Jorge's interrupting to say "Sorry senhora, but we're out of the 8" case, but the 8" cuica will fit in a 10" case if you don't mind a little extra space, what do you think? We've got extra sticks but we're out of heads. Yes, we have frigideiras"]
- what? what? ok, never mind about the quad bell, I'll get you the baqueta. Right. Cool. Call you later!!!

[meanwhile I've just spotted the CUTEST little tiny toy cuica, but, c'mon I've just spent practically US$350 on big cuicas and cases, enough already!!!]

OK, all set with friend 2. Now, friend 3 asked for a tamborim. Casa Oliveira has FIFTEEN BRANDS of tamborins, all hung in a row in the wall. I look at them all and experience a moment of hopelessness. Then suddenly I'm certain which one is best for him. I'm CERTAIN. The twelfth one over. It just looks right. Artcelsior, a good brand, six lugs that fit well in the hand. I hate those 8-lug ones.

Jorge says, alarmingly: We also have that one with eight lugs. I say, "Nao, nao, seis, seis, seis, prefiro seis! Obrigada!"

And so on. I went to Casa Oliviera to buy ONE CUICA. I leave with:

One seven-strand tamborim baqueta (for friend 2)
One manly 10" cuica in a 10" case (for friend 3)
One less manly 8" cuica (for me) in a 10" case
One frigideira, for me
Tamborim and two extra heads, for friend 4
Another tamborim, so I can have one in Portland and one in Seattle
4 blue third-surdo mallets, for friend 5
2 red third-surdo mallets, replacing mine that got lost at the Lions
2 green big heavy first-surdo mallets, replacing mine that got lost in Seattle
2 black waist straps, replacing mine that got lost at the Lions (what is going ON with all these mallets going "lost"?)
1 white shoulder strap, to go with the Lions' color scheme
5 replacement cuica sticks, for friend 3
One hard-shell pandeiro case (I'm tired of having to always put my pandeiro in my carry-on)

Friend 6 really wants a BIG surdo, and friend 7 a "short timbal, but I forgot to measure the one that I like, so I'm not sure how short". I look at the timbals but don't like any of the short ones. The surdos look GREAT but there's just no way I can handle a big surdo today. Maybe a 16" third surdo but not a really big primeira. I wonder if I could at least put some extra surdo heads in with my bodyboard... no no no, what am I thinking, I don't even have a case for the bodyboard. Sorry guys!

Stagger outside with the shop assistant, who has stopped throwing instruments from the top balcony and has shovelled them all into 3 huge plastic bags for me. We hail a cab and I pile in with all my stuff and tell the driver to go to Flamengo.

As soon as we leave I remember friend 5 also asked for single-strand baquetas and I totally forgot.

Friend 8 has emailed: Can I find the dvd of the Showtime soap opera that was about Mangueira? I go ask my hostel guy about it. Have you heard of a soap opera about Mangueira? He's not sure but he says, in Portuguese "But there were two novelas about Grande Rio and Portela. The Portela one is called Portelinha, little Portela. But I don't think you can get them on dvd." I remember I saw this Portelinha thing mentioned in the newspaper, and pull it out to find, yes, a whole article about Portelinha. Then I discover the #1 telenovela (soap opera) last year was "Heroes!" It beat out "Paraiso Tropical" 24% to 22% in the annual best-novela-of-the-year poll. Apprently everybody in Brazil knows the phrase "Salve a cheerleader, salve o mundo!" honest to god.

Fascinating as this is, it does not get me any farther toward that Mangueira dvd. I rummage through one dvd store and can't find anything. But on the street outside I find a pirated dvd of "Tropa De Elite"! the scary, brutal, wonderful movie that everybody's been talking about - caused the biggest stir since City of God (and my friend Olivia was assistant director!)

Score!!! I buy the pirate dvd of Tropa de Elite for 10 reais, cheapest catch of the day.

On it goes. Salve a cheerleader, salve o mundo.