I’m having storage issues with my computer, so I haven’t been able to pull all of our trip pictures off my camera yet. I’ll get to it. In the meantime, I’ll catch you up on other things.
Last Thursday, we at CDO (Cordao de Ouro) had our monthly roda. This is a new thing that we’re doing to make sure we have enough practice actually being in a roda before we host capoeira groups from all over in December. The event in December is called a Batizado, literally, a baptism. I’ll give you my understanding of what it is, and you can correct me if you know more about this stuff than I do. Basically it’s the cord ceremony where each capoerista can try to graduate to the next level. We wear cords instead of belts in karate or whatever else. Same idea. Or at least, THEY wear cords. I don’t have anything yet.
Anyway, I was really nervous about this roda. It was big and public – out on the Cinta Costera where a lot of people would be walking by – plus it involved other capoeira groups other than just CDO. I didn’t know that was going to happen until people just showed up and joined us at the last minute. So I spent the better part of the day on Thursday practicing the moves I knew, watching youtube videos of those movements and trying to get them right, listening to music trying to learn portuguese lyrics, and basically trying to stay calm while getting as prepared as I could. I practiced three basic kicks and a couple of other movements that would allow me to move around the floor a bit and started to feel a little better about the whole thing. However….
Other groups train in different styles of capoeira, so it was intimidating to think about going into the roda against one of them when they do a bit more combat and a little less cooperation. We started out with Angola style capoeira which is played lower to the ground and closer to your opponent. I have hardly had any training in this style, so I had no idea what I was doing. I was prepared to be up on my feet using the kicks that I had practiced all day, but we weren’t allowed to do that in the first couple of rounds! I also can’t do a lot of the movements that others were doing, like crazy backbends and stuff like that, so I just made it my goal to keep moving.
I came out of those jogas (games) feeling okay. I hadn’t just blanked and sat there, so mission accomplished. We then moved on to more of the Regional style of capoeira which is more of what I’m used to. I made one obvious (well, obvious to the other capoeiristas) mistake, but other than that, I felt okay about it. It got intense pretty quickly since we had so many good players out there, but one woman (who is pretty good herself…at least with the acrobatic aspect of the sport) was really thoughtful and pointed at me to ask if I wanted to play against her. We jumped out and broke up the boys’ club that had started to form, and that felt pretty good. I can’t say that I kept up with her particularly well, but we did simultaneous cartwheels at one point. I think that counts for something, though I’m not sure what. 🙂
I went to a fashion show with my friend George after that in Casco Viejo. Unfortunately, it was set up in a restaurant that wasn’t well suited for that kind of event. We ended up getting the last available table in the far back corner where we couldn’t see much of the show. It was also a lot less professional than I expected it to be, but I guess that’s what you get when you watch too much “America’s Next Top Model.”
We also checked out a bar in the same part of the old city that was sort of in a courtyard, then a discoteca in a similar type building. The lawyer in me was worried about the rocks and cinderblock pieces that lead up to a sidestage, and the germophobe didn’t love the bathroom set-up, but the rest of the experience was great! George was worried he was showing me places I wouldn’t like since I had invited him to a fancy restaurant for the fashion show. It took a minute to convince him that I was far more comfortable in the bar that he picked out than in the fancy restaurant.
Yesterday, Sunday, we invited the CDO folks over to hang out. The original idea was to just hang out in the apartment, but one of the girls suggested we turn it into a pool party down in our “Área Social.” It was definitely a good call. We were down by the pool from 2 until 10:30 eating, drinking, talking, listening to music, and eventually dancing! Eric and I both had a great time and enjoyed our conversations with everyone. Eric used a lot of Spanish and everyone really helps him out when he can’t come up with the words. It’s really been fun to see how a group of people can make communication work when they want to.
I think last night was one of the first times…maybe since we got here…when I’ve felt like my Spanish is improving. George doesn’t speak English, so Thursday was an all-Spanish night, and then I felt warmed up to speak up a lot more yesterday. I’ve gotten a lot of compliments from everyone saying that I’m catching on to things quickly and that they’re impressed with me. It’s really encouraging.
The group already started planning Eric’s bday party, which I think we will be encouraged to host at the pool again. 🙂 I’m not upset about that at all.
Here are a few pictures of our friends:
