I help Eneias to check out of the hotel and we load his bags into my car.
Then I call my mother in law, who lives in an aged care home. She's 93 years old. It's 10.15 am, and I've woken her up. I tell her to get dressed, because she is about to have an international visitor.
I hope that the half-hour drive will give her enough time to be ready for us.
We enter her room, where she is sitting in her armchair, still a bit sleepy, and a nurse is making her bed. When the nurse departs, Eneias brings out his guitar and sings softly in Portuguese to Collette. Then I join him for a second song. She is not feeling very well today, but I'm glad we were able to bring a little bit of the show to her.
We drop the luggage at my house.
Eneias' grandfather was German. My great-grandfather was German. We are practically related! And we must go to Hahndorf, the German heritage village in the Adelaide Hills.
We have lunch at a long-established German cafe and cake shop, where the proprietor declares loudly that he does not like German people at all. This makes us laugh a lot. Eneias is desperate need of coffee. Then we drink some beer and share an excellent German mixed grill and have a Bienenstich for dessert.
We feel flushed with the success of our joint venture.
He asks me if I had expected more or less of the project. I tell him that it has worked out better than I had ever imagined. I comment that he is now an international artist.
We discuss artistic plans for the future. These are numerous, ambitious and so audacious that I don't want to jinx them by writing about them yet.
We agree that with one life to live, why not try? He observes that when we die we take nothing with us and nothing remains of us. But when you create music, it can outlive you.
After shopping for souvenirs, we head back into town, where we visit another two souvenir shops.
We call in at home to collect luggage and for a final chat with my family, then we go to the airport.
We spend a couple of hours having coffee, talking and planning.
It's time for him to go through Security. We embrace, but I don't feel sad. I'm happy for him that he his going home to his family. We will meet again in Brazil soon.
I feel so proud that I managed to bring this ambitious 18-month project to fruition. It could have been a disaster for both of us - if we hadn't got along, if the music hadn't gelled. But it has been a wonderful week and a rich cross-cultural experience.
I have learned so much Portuguese - it's been like a week in Brazil. Postponing the show last year turned out to be a good thing, because if I'd had less language, it would have been really hard to communicate.
People say that you don't need to learn foreign languages, because everyone speaks English. Well, that just isn't true. And whilst you can get by as an English-speaking tourist - you can point to things you want to buy or eat, get on the tour bus and find the toilets - you cannot have the sort of in-depth conversations that we have had.
What a week to remember!
All along I have said that if this is as far as I get; if this is all I do, it will still be a good achievement.
But now, I want more.
I want a concert in Rio.
Then I call my mother in law, who lives in an aged care home. She's 93 years old. It's 10.15 am, and I've woken her up. I tell her to get dressed, because she is about to have an international visitor.
I hope that the half-hour drive will give her enough time to be ready for us.
We enter her room, where she is sitting in her armchair, still a bit sleepy, and a nurse is making her bed. When the nurse departs, Eneias brings out his guitar and sings softly in Portuguese to Collette. Then I join him for a second song. She is not feeling very well today, but I'm glad we were able to bring a little bit of the show to her.
We drop the luggage at my house.
Eneias' grandfather was German. My great-grandfather was German. We are practically related! And we must go to Hahndorf, the German heritage village in the Adelaide Hills.
We have lunch at a long-established German cafe and cake shop, where the proprietor declares loudly that he does not like German people at all. This makes us laugh a lot. Eneias is desperate need of coffee. Then we drink some beer and share an excellent German mixed grill and have a Bienenstich for dessert.
We feel flushed with the success of our joint venture.
He asks me if I had expected more or less of the project. I tell him that it has worked out better than I had ever imagined. I comment that he is now an international artist.
We discuss artistic plans for the future. These are numerous, ambitious and so audacious that I don't want to jinx them by writing about them yet.
We agree that with one life to live, why not try? He observes that when we die we take nothing with us and nothing remains of us. But when you create music, it can outlive you.
After shopping for souvenirs, we head back into town, where we visit another two souvenir shops.
We call in at home to collect luggage and for a final chat with my family, then we go to the airport.
We spend a couple of hours having coffee, talking and planning.
It's time for him to go through Security. We embrace, but I don't feel sad. I'm happy for him that he his going home to his family. We will meet again in Brazil soon.
People say that you don't need to learn foreign languages, because everyone speaks English. Well, that just isn't true. And whilst you can get by as an English-speaking tourist - you can point to things you want to buy or eat, get on the tour bus and find the toilets - you cannot have the sort of in-depth conversations that we have had.
What a week to remember!
All along I have said that if this is as far as I get; if this is all I do, it will still be a good achievement.
But now, I want more.
I want a concert in Rio.
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