Fear and loving in Brasilia

The title of this post is a bit of a trick, because I'm not actually to write about loving, though I am loving my time here so I guess in a roundabout way, I'll be writing about it.  But if you think this post will be rich with details of my love life here, you are dead wrong!! 

 In any case, it has been a long time since I had time to write. On Saturday, I spent another day lounging around at the club.  After all of my zooando (messing with) Nagi for having an easy job, someone almost drowned in the pool and he and Dudu had to put their skills to work to rescue her  I missed it all because I was absorbed in my reading of Assata Shakur's autobiography, but I take back everything I said.  Their job is serious, serio.   After the club, we met up with some of Nagi and Dudu's students for a street roda, which was lots of fun.  Dudu's group is different than Raizes, but the people are great, play beautiful games and challenge me to be faster, more precise and ....well better.  I guess this is one of the first fears I'm facing here -- the fear of playing with people whose games I don't know and whose training background I don't know. Playing with people from Dudu's group really doesn't invoke much fear for me at all, but the general idea always has so I'm glad for this chance to see that as long as I take the time to watch everyone and understand the nature and temperment of their games, I am able to participate, be safe and have fun.

On Sunday, Beija Flor called and came over to take me out. We picked up Vampira and spent the day at two of Brasilia's museums; the Museo de Indios and the Museo Nacional.  We were able to go inside the Catetral Metropolitana de Brasilia just before they closed to see the sunlight beaming in through the starbusrt windows. Then we went to the fancy schmancy Pontao shopping and dining area on Lake Paranoa to have a bowl of acai and watch sunset.  I had a great time with these ladies and we talked a lot about race and class differences and similarities between the US and Brasil.  I love that I am able to have meaningful conversations in Portuguese, though sometimes someone asks me my age and for the life of my I don't understand the question. (Though now that I know that idade means age, I'm catching on.)

Monday was another great day of water.  We went to Alt Plano Leste to visit an amazing series of waterfalls there.  I had to face many of my fears on Monday.  Most of these fears are very silly and I'm glad to be confronting them to see just how silly they are. We rode by motorcycle for about 25 minutes; I was with Jad on his bike and Nagi had Karita on his.  The last part of the ride was over a very bumpy dirt path the type of which terrified me when Nagi and I rode in Jamaica, but by now I have figured out how to go with the bumps and hold on tight at the same time. Jad was being a very cautious driver because he had once had a bad crash on a bicycle, so I felt safe.  When we got there, I saw that there was a series of rocks and boulders that we'd have to climb over to get to the waterfall itself.  I hate rocks and boulders.  Well, I don't hatet them, I love them, but I prefer to walk next to them rather than on them.  I seem to have trouble determining the slope and am always unsure of my steps.  And of course, one slip results in a very hard landing. As I walked in, I realized that there was nothing at all to fear.  My balance and awareness and strength is so improved (clearly as a result of capoeira), and I found myself moving slowly but with surety all the way.  The waterfall isn't very steep but it meanders for a while before falling into a deep pool, perfect for swimming, surrounded by large flat rocks, perfect for sunning.

I did both and even explored the area behind this main pool to see another series of waterfalls -- steeper and without swimable pools at their end.

 When it was time to go I was bummed because I could have spent the whole week there. The hike out (I really shouldn't call it a hike -- it only took about five minutes) was much easier because most of it was on an incline so I had gravity working with me.  Whenever I got scared, I went into carangeijo and crawled my way through.  In my head I was singing, "Olho sapo-o, e urso-o, tem kangaroo-oo-oo, e carangeijo."

The other great part of Monday was that we drove over the Ponte JK two times and this time, on the motorcycle, I was really able to enjoy the view of the bridge cables passing overhead. Supercool.

Monday night I trained at the academy and took the bus there for the first time.  It was so easy. And cheap ($2 Reals).  Zezinho's class was really fun.  We worked on meia lua de compasso rasteira and some floreios.  Ralil drove me home and on the way back told me that my game has gotten better and that he sees me able to do a lot more because I am lighter. It was so nice to hear this encouragement, and I feel the same.  But especially here, I feel lighter and bouncier.  It's amazing what 2 weeks of vacation can do!

Tuesday was mellow.  I cooked a delicious pasta bolognese for the house and everyone enjoyed it a lot. We had to go on a search for a wine opener by knocking on neighbor's doors but I kept telling Jad that the sauce can't be made without wine. It's true, and after he ate it, he agreed.  Trained in Nagi's class on Tuesday night where we worked on vingativa and a very beautiful combination that involves bananeira.  During the training I was partnered with Coru who kept me on my toes my defending my vingativas with foot sweeps, going in for quedas on my martelos, and trying to escala my forehead whenever I was close.  When I began returning the favor (with a queda that sent him to the floor), he was happily surprised and we spent most of the rest of the class practicing our malandragem in addition to the movements Nagi gave. Mutley came for the roda and we got to talk for a while -- it was great to see him finally.

Wednesday was laundry day.  Yes, even on vacation there must be a laundry day. But now all of my clothes are clean and fresh.  Even though I packed as minimally as possible, I realize now that I still overpacked.  I've been wearing the same five items over and over and have a stack of tank tops that are as of yet untouched. I'll have to go shopping for a dress to wear to Jad's wedding at the end of next month, which I am looking forward to.  But I am not looking forward to the shoe shopping.  Shoes are very epxensive here. 

Last night I participated in a presentation of Brazilian arts for the military school here.  About 20 of us from Raizes held a roda for the audience, with some people doing solos first.  I played a couple of games which were fun.  But the most enjoyable part of the night was the roda we held backstage before the show.  The energy was great and the games were fast.  See?

Someone offered to take some pictures of me playing, but my camera was moving kind of slow, so it was hard for him to get good shots.  But here is one of me playing with Beija Flor and one with another guy whose name I forget because in my mind I call him young Tom Cruise (because...err..he looks like a young Tom Cruise).

The speedy scissors -- ignore this post if you aren't interested in capoeira

When I finally learned how to do the slow Tesoura (scissor) move, it pretty much transformed my Angola game, opening up a whole set of movements beyond the slow meia lua de compasso and urso crawl. Last year while watchng the more advanced players in the jogos, I saw that almost everyone applied the tesoura move in their fast Sao Bento Grande games.  (And of course, I had seen Foca pull this move in Santa Cruz in 2008 to take down a huge guy by flying across the room Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon style.) On Wednesday night at the academy, in Zezinho's class, I learned how to do this movement in a fast game.  I understand now why it is such a cool/powerful dangerous move, and why it is executed by more advanced students. It'll be a while before I try it in the roda because one false move, one inch too far, causes a knee landing which results in a nasty bruise on the patella. (Yes, say hello to my bruised left knee.  In case I forgot it was there, I'll be reminded of it for the next few days.)  The bruise is not a big deal, but it's a great reminder that if I plan to leap at someone on my hands and grab them with my legs to force them to fall on me before climbing over them to get up in time to knee them in the face, I should really get my technique down very well first.

We also trained another move, which I'll keep secret for now, that I was able to execute perfectly and have added to my repetoire of sneaky attacks.  I pulled it off twice in that night's roda and again last night at Nagi's class. I also got to do my au to peao de mao (spelled wrong, but I'm referring to the handspin move we'd been training a lot back in Brooklyn) in the roda front of Nagi for the first time and he got so excited!  I was playing a really fast game with Coru (a blue/green cord) and totally held my own.  Nagi kept yelling "Olha Abobora  Look at Abobora!!"  The rodas in Nagi's classes are very lively, with people almost constantly yelling out commendations and cheers of excitement at what's going on with the players.

What Tataruga wrote about players in Brazil is true, everyone gets so happy when a move is well-exectued, even if it means they are the recipient of a rasteira or a well placed kick.  For example, last night I was training 2 by 2 with Cachinho, a girl who I had played with at last year's jogos and who has a great game.  I've been wearing my sneakers to train because it helps support my ankle, but it also makes me afraid of hitting someone because, let's face it, it hurts alot more to get hit with a foot within a sneaker than just the foot alone.  We were training three golpe rodados -- one round kick from me, one from her, another from me.  I started with armada, she returned meia lua de compasso, and I returned with a quexada at the exact moment when she was a little off balance from finishing her kick and damn near konked her right in the face.   I made a face of "I'm sorry!" and said I was worried about getting her with my shoes, but she just smiled genuinely and said "Nao, boa Abobora. Perfeito, Don't apologize -- good work, Abobora.  Perfect."  When I read Tatruga's book about this attitude, my own attitude was very much transformed.  Now that I am experiencing this attitude on a daily basis, I am transforming even more. Rather than get mad at someone for doing a movement well, or mad at myself for getting caught, it is so much more fun to appreciate the execution and skill of your friend/player.

Dom Bosco -- Not just a delicious pizzaria

As the story goes, Dom Bosco predicted something about the end of the world.  He said that the only place that would remain inhabited by people was at a certain latitude and longitude, near a lake. As it turns out, that place is here in Brasilia, and I think this wouldn't be the worst place to be after the end of the rest of the world.  I came to this place at night last year with Fernanda, Tapioca and Raizes Dudu, and went back yesterday with Nagi, Karita and another of Nagi's students, Muricoca. We walked down to that dock to hang around and jump in the lake to swim (it was freeeeeeezing!!!!).  But mostly, we rested on the dock, enjoying the warmth of the sun.

Karita and I had spent the morning at the gym where Nagi works getting a personal training session from Marciel.  I learned lots of great new exercizes to strengthen and soften my ankle and knee.  We also did three rounds of excruciating abs, as evidence by my inability to laugh or breathe today without being reminded of them (ouch!).  But I guess that's also why I feel comfortable posting the picture above of my in my teeniest bikini.

In order to come home, we drove over the famous JK Bridge with three arches.  For some reason, I love driving on bridges and looking out the window up at the suspension cables (I am still awed by the Sunshine Skyway bridge in Florida every time I pass through it). Here was my view from the car:

At nearly every stop light in Brasilia, someone is on the corner selling something.  Sometimes it's towels or maps, sometimes it's fruit or papers.  Yesterday, I saw the most interesting attempt to get money at a stop light -- a juggling mime!  We were listening to a Brazilian band called Skank (bouncy, fun, circusy Ska music), when we pulled up to the light.  The mime appeared from the center island of the road with a big red clown nose and three or four juggling balls and began his entertainment.  The music was a perfect accompaniment to his 2 minute show.  We all dug into our pockets for some $ and gave him a big round of applause when he finished.

Speaking of rodas....

I don't think I wrote about this before....last week on Wednesday was my first time at Ralil's academy.  This was another thing I missed last year....but I don't know, for me, I kind of prefer going alone, no offense to anyone.  The experience of being there alone, without Foca or Ana or any of my other Capoeira Brooklyn peeps meant that the only one who had my back was me (not that there was any danger that I needed someone to protect me from...and also Nagi was there, but it was somehow different...). We arrived in time for the roda before class and there were about 20 people there of all different cord levels.  Even the amarela/crua cords were very very good.   I wanted to watch for a while, to see the nature of the games, to have the chance to play atabaque and berimbau a bit and contribute my good energy before playing.  As I watched, I found myself feeling the same fear of entering the roda that I felt in my first month or two of capoeira, the same fear I see in some of those who are in or just finished the Absolute Beginner series at our academy.  At first I thought, Abobora, don't feel this way.  You know what you're doing; you know how to play and have fun and be safe and all that.  But then I started to relish the feeling, which I think is a feeling we forget pretty quicly once we become comfortable entering the roda and playing a lot.  I mean, really, some days I know I have to keep myself from buying the game every two minutes. I enjoyed this reminder of how far I've come, and of how much the moment of entering a new roda with new people is to be experienced throroughly. 

Of course, after a while I started playing, buying the game with Mestre Ralil first. And all at once I felt like I was home.   In so many ways, capoeira is home to me, and I know that I carry this home on my back like a snail carries its house.   

Water, water everywhere.

The past two days have revolved around water.  On Monday, after spending the morning grading papers for the online class I'm teaching while I'm here, we went to Aqua Mineral.  Last year, when the huge group of Brooklynites came here, most of them went to this beautiful place with two large pools filled with fresh mineral water, but because I was staying with Leo, I didn't make it out for these excursions (and I substituted for it by lounging by his rooftop pool as much as possible).  So, yesterday was my first time there, and it was lovely.   The water was a bit cold at first, but once I was hot from the sun it felt great.

We stayed until it closed at 4pm and went to the snack bar for pastels and caldo de cana (sugar cane juice).  With a squirt of lemon, it was so delicious!!  Later that night, I went to the academy and caught the last part of Zezinho's class where we trained the mei lua de compasso queda.  I already know how to do this move, but he taught us a way to end it where you kind of toss the person away from you after they fall which I, of course, loved.  Then he had a roda with just about 10 people, but the energy was great and I got to play with almost everyone there.  Then Raizes Dudu came to teach the next class where we trained the entrance for that same queda by doing this combo: 1. armada 2. deseda, troca, negative, subeda por atrais 2. mei lus de compasso 1. esqiva and entre por queda. I had to laugh because he pulled Foca's old trick whenever he saw us getting very tired, he'd say "OK, time for a break, let's rest here by doing 40 knee lifts or by doing 30 ganchus."  Everyone was like, "That's what you call a break??!!"  I didn't mind because, unlike Foca, Dudu let us drink water whenever we felt like it, so I felt ready for anything.  My ankle is really doing well here, and I'm so happy that I don't have to sit on the sidelines and can really take advantage of my time in Brasilia to train and play with different people.

This morning I woke up early to go with the other Dudu to a small waterfall, Samadiga (not sure of the spelling, or the pronunciation for that matter.  And Nagi tells me that different people call this place by different names, but that usually no estrangeiros (foreigners) are taken there).  It was beautiful.

We brought Tigressa, Nagi's awesome dog, and spent all morning and part of the afternoon there.  Nagi joined us after he got off of work and some other friends of theirs happened to arrive there, too.  It was a lovely way to pass the day.

On the way home, me and Nagi talked a lot about how lucky I am to have my job teaching online so that I can be able to be on vacation and work a little at the same time with little stress. I might not have employer contributions to my retirement fund, but I have Brazil!!

Pictures on Flickr

I posted some pix to flickr, but there aren't very many and I don't know how to put them in the order I want them in for the photostream. Maybe the photostream can't be altered...I don't know.

Anyway, look at the Brasilia, Brazil set instead of the photostream to see everything (including my comments) in order. I promise to take more pictures and write more, but for now I'm busy doing it all!


http://www.flickr.com/photos/msrenee/

Churrasco a.k.a.: Pessoas! Meet Meat!!!

I rarely eat meat, other than chicken and fish.  In fact, before last summer's visit here, I hadn't eaten beef for at last five years.  But today, I ate so much meat that at one point, I thought I was drugged.  I felt like I was about to go under anesthesia.  I felt that if I stood up, I'd fall over, so I stayed seated.  This only made things worse, because if you're sitting in a chair at a Brazilian bbq (churrraso), someone is gonna bring you a big hunk of delicious meat (sorry to all of my vegetarian friends, but I must speak the truth here). 

This afternoon, I had lunch with my friends Bahia and Patricia and two of their adorable kids.  We went to a churrasaria called Villa Brasas.  I hadn't even had my morning cafe before the long skewers of all kinds of meat began appearing in front of me. I tried a little of almost everything including chicken hearts which were pretty tasty in small doses.  Oh and I had salad too.  I was pleasantly full when we left, and very happy to finally have been able to see them.  Bahia drove over to the area nearby where Edinho teaches classes to about 100 kids at a time, we made plans to hang out again soon, and he dropped me off to meet Jad, who was taking me to his friend's birthday party/world cup party.  And it was another churrasco.  At a rich person's house.  Oh my.

 Within the next two hours, I was totally high on meat. Here's how this bbq went:  Appetizers were small plates of bbq-ed beef, chicked and bread (yes, I wrote bbq-ed bread, and it was delicious.)  Then someone brought out rice, farofa, and salad, and we filled our plates with that and, you guessed it, more meat.  Then more small plates of meat were placed on the table.  Then more.  Then a big plate of fruit came out. Then....yes....one more round of meat. I admit I ended my carnivorous evening much sooner than the rest; I gave up before the 2nd round of small plates.  But by then, my high was on the verge of turning into an "I need to go lay down on that very expensive couch over there" kind of feeling.

Thank goodness for the special "curing pills" my sister the amazing acupunturist gave to me before I came here.  Last year, I learned to carry them with me at all times.  I don't know how they work, but they get rid of the meaty overload feeling pretty quickly.  

Needless to say, I'll be taking a break from the carne for a few days.