I guess it has been a while since I have been to this blog. So much has happened... needless to say.
I have to start with yesterday. Ziper na Boca is the chorus I am so happy to be a part of. I have been working hard to learn the music. Correction, the music is not so hard; it's the very fast Portuguese words that keep me awake at night- was that que or quem, how do I get 3 syllables on one note? etc. After learning MOST of the words, I also have to add the dances. It is wonderful to be tall. And in the back. I have a very important role- Beatriz and I are both tall, and we hide Jorge who has his back to us and is directing the men at a crucial juncture in one song. Well, maybe it's not that important...
So yesterday. At the university, there was a conference in the cultural center, I never found out what it was about, but we were to sing at noon and in the afternoon. The noon concert was all our Brazilian standards which are all choreographed. It's all fun and lively, and for the most part, about how wonderful music is in Brazil. We did a another short set at 4, which was really an add on. When we all arrived, we came into a full auditório, with people laughing, and slides on a screen, of the elderly man talking. Jorge explained that he was a famous Brazilian soap opera actor. There was plenty of "Blah blah blah, we're so happy to have you, please accept this, blah blah blah..." And then we went on to do 2 numbers. The crowd loved it, and our famous actor sang along (in his seat) to all the songs. The audience roared for more, so we did another. Then everyone rushed this poor guy, and they had to establish order. Gente! The woman in charge brought him up on stage, and they got a chair for him. They actually put the chair right in front of me, plunking it on my toe, and everyone crowded around. I was stuck. There I was, in a conveted spot, smiling for all of Brazil,who no doubt was seeing this on the life and leisure part of the evening news. People were happy to touch him and receive his smile, but there I was, able to count the moles on his bald head. I did feel like something in a children's book- find the thing that doesn't belong- or Waldo.
And where was Waldo before that? Well, after Lee's GSB meeting here, which included people from North America, Europe, Africa and Brazil, he went to a meeting in Tennessee, and I went to visit my friend in South Africa. On Saturday the 27th, we all went to a really cool botanical garden near here, then loaded into a van to go to the airport. Jeremy, who was here for 3 weeks, went back to London, Keith who was here for 10 days, went back to Tennessee, Lee and Gideon were to go off for the weekend to Ilhabela, then head north, and Annie and I were going to South Africa.
A little background. In June 2011, Lee was to fly to South Africa from Brazil. When he arrived at the airport, they told him he couldn't go without a yellow fever vaccination. They told him to get in a taxi, go to a clinic, and come back. He did all that, and got on the plane in time. Barely. So we knew I had to have a vaccination. I navigated the Brazilian health care system, took a number, and got my free vaccination. On Monday. When I got to the ticket counter, the clerk told me I needed 10 days incubation on the vaccination. New rule. I was gobsmacked. How could this be? She told me to go to Room 8.
Room 8 was SAA office for problems. We spoke with the woman behind the desk who, after a lot of backing and forthing, told me I could buy a ticket to Europe and then SA, or the United Arab Emirates, but I needed 10 days. Then she said that the only other way I could get in was to have a doctor's note saying that for medical reasons I could not have the shot. Great. Saturday evening in Brazil. Who do I know? Then Lee asked if it had to be a Brazilian doctor. No. So we got on the phone. John Houde, not home (that started a flurry with my mother, "Why does Betsy need a doctor in Brazil?"
A correction. It's not a ninha that is nest, it is o ninho. It's all in a letter. Anyway, our ninho has done its job, 2 bija-florinhos have been hatched, grown and literally left the nest. We see them zooming around the garden on occasion, but they are big kids now. It's amazing to see such a condensed life cycle. It was fun to be a part of it, but now they are gone. No more hummingbird poop on our breakfast table anymore. Like kids.
