The Blues

Sometimes it's hard to believe what a small world we live in. A couple weeks back, Jay and I had the pleasure of meeting the members of Eli Yamin's Blues Band. They are currently doing a tour, presenting workshops and concerts, through parts of South America on a grant from Lincoln Center. We heard about the concerts through a friend of ours that works at the school where they performed, which happens to be one of the most reputable English schools in Manaus and only one block from our house.

Anyway, we went to a workshop the first day they were here and really enjoyed the experience. The band is comprised of a pianist/singer- Eli Yamin, singer- Kate McGarry, drummer-LeFrae Sic, and tuba-Bob Stewart. All of them are amazing musicians and gave a very thoughtful workshop that explored the roots and rhythms of blues. Kids and adults alike really seemed to have a good time listening and learning. I was so inspired that I came home singing my own blues (a happy blues, that is)!  

After the workshop, Jay and I introduced ourselves to the band and soon discovered that we used to live in the same neighborhood as them in NYC! It was fun to talk to some American musicians, especially such cool ones from our old hood, and we found out that we even have some mutual friends there. Never thought we'd end up in Manaus hangin with New Yorkers!

When they found out that Jay plays, they invited him to join them the next night at their concert. I wish I could've gone to hear them play, but I had my own concert that night. I heard from other friends that Jay got a standing ovation from the crowd, and I know he had a great time jammin. I unfortunately don't have any action shots, but here's some from after the concert.

Jay and the world-renowned tubist, Bob Stewart

Us with the amazing drummer, LeFrae

I highly recommend checking out this band cause they are the real deal! 

State of Mind

It's official... Jay and I will be heading back to the states this summer for vacation!!!!! We bought our tickets and cannot stop thinking about what we're going to do there, eat there, buy there. But buying them a few weeks ago has certainly taught me a valuable lesson: Do not purchase tickets so early. 

The strong desire to get back to the states has basically been in the back of our minds starting the day we bought them, despite the fact that we still have more than a month to wait, and it makes life here a little more difficult. Not that we are unhappy now, just that the anticipation of all the good things to come is hard to avoid. And by good things to come, I mean..... clean & maintained streets with predetermined lanes, no stray & mangy dogs/cats, cheap Chinese & Mexican food, pedestrians with the right of way, sidewalks that accommodate 2 people side by side, clothes that last longer than a few months, using a cell phone & iPod in public w/out fear it will be stolen, not seeing ants on or near my food everyday, cafes that sell iced coffee. 

Seriously, I did not start daydreaming of walking down an immaculate sidewalk with an iced coffee in one hand while talking on my cell phone until we had a date set to leave. I guess the grass is always greener, right? (And better maintained).

A Kiwi Comes to Manaus

I've been meaning to update the blog for the past couple of weeks, but this last week has been one of those 'if it's not one thing, it's another' type of weeks. Just to name a few of those things- we can't use our front door at this point since the lock is completely stuck, my gym membership is all messed up thanks to some one's ineptitude, and our oven does not work. But we do have internet at home, slow but working, and there is still an abundance of sunshine and suco (juice) to brighten anyone's day down here. 

Oh, and we made a new friend recently! One of the highlights from a couple week ago for us was hosting a genuine Kiwi at our place. The former "friend of a friend of a friend," Alex, is now officially just a "friend." He is doing a 2 month trip through Brasil and passed through Manaus a couple weeks ago to check out the Amazon forest and river. After his former plans to crash at someone else's place fell through, he came to stay with us for a few days, and it was a very educational and fun time for all of us. It was educational because we never knew anyone from New Zealand before, and we had all sorts of questions for him about his life there. It was fun because we all turned out having a lot in common and felt a quick connection despite barely knowing each other. 

One of the nights he was here, we took him to experience the joy of unlimited pizza and then went out to hear some live Brazilian music with our friends. Next door to the bar was a dance club, and since Alex and I were in the mood to dance, we all went. It was quite memorable since it turned out to be packed with mostly guys, and Alex is like 2 feet taller than all of them, so he really stuck out! Jay kept his back to a wall, and I danced in front of him the whole time to keep away the dudes!!! hehe

Jay and Alex representin' at the bar

Alex in the mix

The following day was a birthday party for a friend of ours, and we took Alex to our typical Sunday afternoon hang on our friends' rooftop. It was really nice cause the birthday girl's hubby made feijoada (black bean stew with pork parts) and fixins for lunch and brigadeiro for dessert. It was soooo delicious, and gave our Kiwi a traditional Sunday meal in Brasil. It ended up being a really hot day, so the guys took advantage of the pool on the roof and cooled off between lunch and dessert. 

Alex doing his famous cannonball off the ledge

Amor

We had a great time with our English-speaking, sports-loving, good-music-listening buddy and were sorry to see him go. Now that we've had our first successful house guest though, we are ready and waiting for you! ;)

Quick Update

Our internet has not been working lately, so I haven't been able to update everyone on our goings on around here. Desculpe (sorry)!
But I am going to take advantage of this quick opportunity, courtesy of a very gracious neighbor, to write a little sumpin sumpin....
In the last blog, I told you about Jay's first Muay Thai test, and I am happy to report that he advanced to the next level!! I am so proud of him and happy that he has found something new he really enjoys to do. He is very dedicated to it, and let me tell you, it really shows in his super lean and muscular body!! He is looking muito bom!!
The Opera Festival continues on until the end of May, but we are finished playing Villa-Lobos' Yerma. The youth orchestra played Gounod's Romeo and Juliet last week, and I was happy to be able to actually see what's going on on the stage. It kinda sucks being stuck in the back of the pit with just a view of the maestro and the first row of the audience. I had to see the opera in two installments cause Jay was not interested in staying after intermission for the second half, so I went back another day and left him at home. I can't really blame him, as the opera is 4 hours long!!! They did a great job though, and we were both impressed with the scale of things. They do not hold anything back when it comes to production here, and it's very evident in the performances. I would post some pics, but it takes forever, so I will do that another time.
We also had a great time the other night at our American friend Summer's Mexican Dinner party. It was the three of us Americans, several Brazilians, and a new friend from New Zealand passing through Manaus this week. Brazilians, and New Zealanders as it turns out, do not have much of an idea of what Mexican food is, so it was a new experience for the other people involved. We made homemade tortillas and refried beans (no canned beans here!), and Summer even made some sour cream from yogurt. Everything tasted amazing, and it was lots of fun hanging out with them.

Our delicious Mexican creations

Speaking of Mexican food, Happy Cinco de Mayo tomorrow to you all!!! Or as we say around our house, Happy Cinco de Jayo!!!!! :)

Big Night

Last night was a big night around these parts cause Jay had his first test for Muay Thai and the XIV Festival Amazonas de Opera had its opening night. 

Jay joined a nearby Muay Thai studio almost 2 months ago with a friend, and while that friend has stopped showing up, Jay has gone religiously almost everyday since he started. For those of us that have no idea what Muay Thai is, it's basically a form of self-defense that involves kicking and hitting your opponents while blocking yourself, but there is no rolling around on the ground with other sweaty dudes. That would just be gross, especially here in this already hot and humid city!

Anyway, I am still shocked at how intense the classes are and how many bruises my man comes home with. He's had huge bruises on both sides of his chest from being punched, on his stomach from being hit repeatedly by the teacher, and on the sides of his legs from being kicked repeatedly. Sounds like a good time, right?! Well, he really seems to be liking it and has gotten into incredibly good shape from all the jumping-jacks, running, push-ups, sit-ups, and of course all the hitting/kicking. 

Champions Factory- his whole studio

His professor (tattooed one) talking to the guys

Best pic I could get of him.

I had to leave for my concert before they actually started the test part, but it went well from what Jay said. They had to do some combinations that the judges called out and spar with several partners. Luckily he came home feeling good and has a couple days off to recover before he has to get back to it. 

I, on the other hand, only have today off to recover from our more than 3 hour long opera premiere last night. We have been rehearsing this opera, Yerma by Heitor Villa-Lobos, for a couple months now, but just added in the singers, dancers, and soloists a couple weeks ago. Because it is a difficult opera with hard singing roles and lots of people involved, including dancers and a children's choir, every one was quite relieved that we pulled it off last night. We have another performance tomorrow night of it, and several other operas starting later in April and May. If you are interested in seeing all of the programming for this year's festival, you can check-it out here.... http://www.amazonasfestivalopera.com/programacao.htm

After the concert outside the Teatro Amazonas

A Typical Sunday

A crazy thing happens in downtown Manaus on Sundays. Everyone stays home. The street in front of our house is normally packed with people, thank you very much university on our block, and also has a very steady flow of cars all the time. It's not that it's a bad thing cause without the students there would be no inexpensive food for sale on the street - hello, $2 chocolate cake!!! But it is a very good thing to feel like there really is a day of rest here, and the closure of many stores and restaurants makes you enforce it in your own life. 
Last Sunday we were sitting around watching some movies at home, and our friends called to invite us over for a swim. We got our stuff together, took a cab to Ponta Negra, and spent the afternoon chillin poolside. Our friend's dad has a penthouse condo there, and when we had enough of the sun, we went up and enjoyed the amazing views. Ponta Negra is the more posh area of town with lots of tall condominiums right by the river and a boardwalk with rides and games for the kids.

Balcony view of the Rio Negro

View from the other side of apt. 

Rainforest as far as the eye can see.

After relaxing a while, we decided to continue our lazy Sunday at an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet. Yes, Jay and I are huge fans of this place, and I have already written about how much we love them, but this time I had my camera. (Sorry, Jay!) We all ate until we were stuffed, and I think I had about 7 slices of dessert pizza alone, but who's counting?! By the way, this is something totally lacking in the American culture- pizza with chocolate, white chocolate, strawberries, peanuts, doce de leite, bananas and cinnamon, chocolate and coconut. Why are we restricted to just boring cheese, pepperoni, or sausage? I am all about the pizza doce!!!

What a face... not sure what that means.

Heaven on my plate --->

White chocolate, sonho de valso, and choco/coconut

The slice on the right is Hot Dog pizza... not good. 

A kid next to us put ketchup and mayonnaise 

on top of his and seemed to like it just fine. Ewww.

Summer and Luiz in their carb-induced coma!

Since Luiz's car is in the shop, he has been driving around his "tricycle." Of course, it is nothing like the tricycle you are probably imagining and can only be called one because of its three wheels. We had some fun taking pictures on it in the parking lot though and couldn't help laughing the whole time knowing that he really drives that thing around town. Pretty sweet ride, right?!  

Summer and me

That's how we roll....

Is it Sunday yet??

Easter Barbecue

Everyone has a rooftop barbecue for Easter, right? Well, there may not have been a typical ham or Easter egg hunt like in the States, but anytime a grill, meat, and chocolate are together in one place, it's bound to be good.
Since most all of our friends here are far away from their families, we like to spend our holidays (and weekends) hanging out with each other. We celebrated Pascoa on the roof of our friends' building with about 20 people, mais ou menos. Everyone brought something to throw on the grill, and we ended up with lots of steak, chicken, and fish at different times throughout the afternoon. It always starts off as a feeding frenzy when the first plate of meat hits the table cause we're usually all so hungry at that point!

The Chef doing his thing at the grill 

The first mad rush for food :)

I missed EVERYTHING from that plate 

to take this picture... those people are quick!!

In honor of my hubby, I made deviled eggs for the party. The brasileiros had never seen them before, and I have to admit, Jay and I probably ate almost all of them ourselves. It's the thought that counts though, right?! 

One of the cool things about this building is the amazing view of the city from the roof. I mean, it's certainly not NYC, but it's still nice to be able to see Manaus from every direction. We would definitely have had a great spot to see the sunset, but it ended up being too cloudy by that time. 

The Amazon River behind us.

Buildings, buildings, more buildings.

Part of Centro, downtown

One of the different traditions they have here is to give people these huge chocolate eggs for Easter. They are not into the Easter egg hunt or basket full of various small candies or treats. They are all about the big chocolate egg! Starting like a month ago at the grocery stores here, they put up long tunnels of hanging chocolate eggs. We're talking like surrounding you on all sides and above your head of every variety of chocolate available (at least in Brasil). You can choose from dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, chocolate with peanuts, with cashews, with Brasil nuts, with puffed rice, with cereal and nuts and raisins, with coconut, and the list goes on. It is really quite impressive!  

Anyway, we were all told to bring an egg with us to trade with our secret friend at the festa. After we drew names to see who our secret friend would be, we got in a big circle facing each other. It was just like our Secret Santa at Xmas, and we had to say some clues about who our person could be. I got lucky and drew Jay's name, so when I described my person as "um homem que é muito gostoso" (a guy that is very hot), everyone guessed right away who that was! 

Our new chocolates

Our stash: 

from the party (2 eggs on the left), 

a gift from my boss, the Secretary of Culture (the box of chocolates),

and a free chocolate egg from the mall for shopping. 

Not bad for a girl that doesn't even celebrate Easter!!!!  ;)