O 2 de Julho

I went to mass last night at a beautiful little chapel just down the road. It is interesting to me where little pockets of European influence pop-up. (For example, the monument in Parque Grande depicts fat little cherubs and a god-like figure with flowing robes and the aforementioned church is built in baroque style, complete with Caucasian representations of Jesus and Mary.) The music at mass was beautiful. I had to smile to myself when the communion song was the Fisherman’s Song because the first time I went to Spanish mass they played that song too. It was easy to follow along with the mass, especially with the pamphlet that I picked up at the back of the church. The homily was a different story (but I think my difficulty had a lot to do with the fan blowing in my ear). When I got back Conchita told me that Ruben had called for me to see if I wanted to go to the movies. We met up with the other kids living near us in Garcia and with Felipe, the host brother of one of the girls. We went down to Shopping Barra to the theater there and saw Shrek dubbed over in Potuguese. While we waited for the movie to start I bought a TIM chip for my cell so that I can use it in Brazil to make local calls. They gave us a ½ off discounts and free popcorn for being students at the theater, but unfortunately, we misunderstood the movie times and showed up 25 minutes late. It was still very enjoyable and a surprising number of jokes translated (although I’m sure that I missed many of them.) We took a taxi straight home afterward because this morning we had to meet at 8:15 AM to go to Pelourinho for the Independence Day parade. I took as many pictures as my card could hold of the parade and I’ve posted some of them here. I saw a bit of everything: capoeira (an African martial art), afoxes (Candomblé goddesses), samba, military men and women, government officials, a strange striped horse-zebra type creature, tons of costumed Brazilians, precious children, and much to my surprise, two other Tulane students here on vacation before their semester abroad in Buenos Aires.

When I got back to my house no one was home so I took the time to post the pictures on my blog and catch up on e-mails. Conchita scolded me for not going out tonight when she got home and demanded to know when I planned to go to the beach. I can’t help but feel like a bore when my 60(+) yr-old host Mom is pressuring me to go out more. Classes officially start tomorrow and my first paper is due in a week. Speaking of a week, I am also pleased to say that I’ve just completed my first week away. The time has passed pretty quickly for me- much more quickly at least than my first week abroad in Mexico or my week in Honduras. A big hug to everyone at home!