Dias perfeito

So far, so good! After a delightful flight from New York to Brasilia (I had three seats all to myself -- can you say SLEEP?), I arrived here to find my friend Bahia waiting for me at the airport in his slick business suit, ready for work. He brought me to Nagi's house where I met Nagi's big brother, Jad, and his best friend, Dudu. These guys are so nice! We talked all morning, drank suco de caja (caja juice), and began what I hope will be a tradition of laughing a lot. Nagi came home from work a few hours later with his girlfriend, Karita, who is very sweet. He rolled up on his motorcycle, saw my through the open door and said, in his sing-song way, "Abobora!!!!!!" as loud as he could. Many hugs later, we settled in for the delicious pasta lunch made by Dudu. I was a bit worried that I'd be on meat overload like I was last year, but luckily, Dudu is a vegetarian and cooks the most delicious things! (More on that later...) I gave Mestre Ralil a suprise call and he told me to carry his # with me in case I ever need anything. So nice.

Lots of stores are right across the street from Nagi's house, and after lunch we went to the market, then came back and took a great nap. I had the funniest dream during this nap! I was at the market with Nagi and Tapioca and we were waiting in line at a machine to fill bottles with fresh water. I was next in line but a woman came and cut in front of me. I tried to explain to her politely that I was next, but she began screaming at me and causing a scene. Then she called the police! They arrived and questioned us both separately and called in the Cheif of Police. He noticed that Tapioca was wearing a maid's uniform and understood that she was here on a tourist visa but was working as someone's housekeeper here. Knowing he now had us on a real charge, he threatened to take us in. I called Nagi over for help, but though he tried, he got frustrated with the police and the woman causing the trouble and started yelling, making things worse. I was seated next to the Cheif so I whispered in his ear, "Voce conhece Ralil Salomao? Do you know Ralil?" All of a sudden, the dream cut to later and, sure enough, name-dropping Ralil was enough for the police to lift the charges and set us free. Phew!

After waking, I went with Nagi to his class. It was great. I wore my ankle brace and sneakers and didn't feel any pain at all (though I was winded from being so tired). His students are great --very talented and fun to play with. We did a combination of 1. Armada 2. Armada 1. Martelo datrais 2. ponteira 1. bande em pe. It was great. My old friend, Sinistro, who I met in Santa Cruz, came to class and I got to play with him a lot in the roda.

We stopped for pizza and juice on the way home at Dom Bosco, where Coelho is famous for having eaten there every day when he was here last year. They serve two small pieces of pieces folded on top of eachother so that the bottom of the crust is outside and the cheesy part is inside (kind of like when we get a big piece of pizza and fold it in half). Yummmmmy.

We came home, drank a beer and went to bed.

So far today, I spent the day with Dudu. He is a great cook! Our lunch today was massive and amazing. Tomato stew with carrots, potatoes and soy protein, Abobora Italiano (specially bought for me, the Italiana Abobora), which is zucchini, cooked with farofa, onion and a little bit of sausage, rice with corn in it, beans and tomato salad. Yummmmm. But more satisfying than the food was the conversation. I'm pretty amazed at how much I am able to understand in Portugese, and pleasantly suprised that so many people know at least a few words in English. It's nice to have a break from always thinking in Portuguese. Though I have learned two new words already -- roncar (to snore) and zooando (to mess with someone).

Tonight I think we're going to Mestre Ralil's class. That's all for now. Oh -- even though everyone here is very cold, I think it's perfect. 70ish degrees during the day, 60ish at night....ahhhhh! Perfeito!