Lost in Translation, parading the streets
Trip Start
Feb 01, 2009
1
19
28
Trip End
Mar 06, 2009
Olinda, State of Pernambuco, Brazil
Friday, February 20, 2009
I really like Manu. She is building the first earthship in Brazil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthship and is a professional dancer in Indian and classical dance. She is Brazilian, lives in London and spends 3 - 6 months a year in India training. She´s a cool chick.
I had my nana nap afterwards. Well deserved! and using my new make up, got ready for the show with Nacao Pernambuco. It was really fun. It was a two hour trip to Porto de Galinhas and then we actually had a parade through the streets culminating with a show in the round in the main mall. I~m glad it was parade format as I was nervous about it being in a five star hotel.
We had a fan club as we paraded the streets. They cheered for us and followed us. They particularly loved Manu and I. We teamed up as Bahiana florestas, and we spun a lot. The crowd loved it as the dresses look great as they spin (very hypnotic) and also the sequins make a chingling kind of ringing sound, which sounds so pretty as well. Tracy took some amazing photos which we are getting converted to CD´s today which we will give to the organisers of Chameleo. Amelia and Anderson.
Amelia and Anderson were so grateful to Tracy for taking photos they gave her a CD of the music of Nacao Pernambuco and kept offering to feed her and make sure she ate along with the rest of us. We had a full feed on the bus. Cheese rolls, softdrinks, fruit and biscuits. I got a hug and a kiss of congratulations from Anderson for the show. He said we did great.
Manu and I had one moment of near miss, which thankfully no one saw and didn´t turn up on the video either, but in our show in the round we spun up the stage and my foot hit a pot hole. This of course altered my direction, inevitably I guess, towards Manu, who graceful as all get out smiled like a princess as whirling dirvish me came towards her. We ended up laughing a lot about it after and we did a good save by spinning away from each other back up the stage so it looked like we meant to make a big V! but it was funny.
I think Tracy is finding her groove here. She has mastered about 15 very useful words and is fine miming to people, which instantly makes you friends here for the sheer guts of wanting to communicate so much you~re prepared to make an arse of yourself! LOL
The funny moment the other day was that Tracy got escorted off the beach. It does take a bit to understand that an empty beach is not a peaceful beach, its an unsafe beach. As you probably recall I had the same lesson at my favourite beach Paciencia.
Tracy loves the sun and surf so off she went to lie on the beach alone - which I had told her not to do, but anyway sometimes you gotta make your own mistakes. Ten minutes later two ´tourist police´ were asking her to leave the beach. She didn´t understand their portuguse so two more turned up - they spoke spanish. ´No´ she says ´I don´t speak spanish´.
A few more turned up - they spoke portuguese. Finally as the 10th policeman turned up and the message wasnt getting through, it turned to mime. They all actually started laughing because it got a bit monty python from there.. The police they mimed a hand across the mouth and being dragged away, or a pistol and being dragged away. They laughed not because the message was funny but because it took 10 ´tourist police´who specialise in dealing with ´tourists´and some mime to finally get across to Tracy she was not safe and she needed to go. Also Tracy gave them some schtick as she was laughing that it took ten of them and not one of them spoke english and also what were these supposed bandits going to take, her book (as that~s all she had with her). I explained it to her later that it might not be logical to her but the person might shoot first and ask questions later, or they could kidnap her and randsom me. I told her I wouldn~t pay! not if she was going to do stupid things.. I was a bit hard on her but ended up having a giggle to myself after at the thought of a busty Australian girl being escorted from the beach by 10 policemen. I do wonder if it is how fine she looks in a bikini, and that she is clearly an estrangeira that it prompted the display...
So carnaval starts tonight. It seems smaller than last year, for now. I mean last year was the 100th anniversary of Frevo so it was big. This year in salute of the passing of Mestre Salustiano they have dedicated the carnival to him. Its nice.
We´re hoping to get a dance class with Loi today but have also invited him out for the opeining of carnaval and dinner with us. We´ve invited Anderson to lunch with us as well.
Seems to be going fine. My ankles are swollen - the floors at Nacao are really hard and I´m not getting enough stretching in. Tracy is being consumed by the mossies and needs some anti itch cream and some extra strong repellent. Apart from that we are alive, well and having a blast.
mwah
sooz
Comments
The Show must go on!
Keep on enjoying.
xx