There's a place for us...I hope

As we depart for Brazil, there is something really bugging me.

We will be in Rio for two days, and in that time I need to find a venue for our show next year.

How am I going to find one?  Over the past few weeks, I've made inquiries through my various contacts in Brazil.  I've been looking for someone to show me around, to suggest various venues and arrange for me to view them and speak to management.  I'm willing to pay someone to help me.

But no leads have been forthcoming.

I've tried the Internet.  You can hire a private tour guide in Rio.  One of them sounded perfect, having "contacts amongst the artistic scene".  I messaged her, explaining exactly what I need.  Her response arrived quickly - "I recommend you book the six-hour tour".

Yes.  I suppose you would recommend that. And I don't think I would be seeing inside any performance venues on your tour.

Then, on a Thursday night at La Boheme, I started chatting with the percussionist from the Brazilian music group.  I told him about the dead-end I've found myself in.  Fabian told me about an Australian guy who runs a venue in Rio.  I do a bit of Googling, and found a bar called TribOz, Australia-Brazil Cultural Centre.  It is run by an Australian jazz musician called Mike Ryan.  I emailed Mike through the web site.  He responded, asking me to send some links, so he could "see my work".

Suddenly I felt worried.  What if Mike thinks I'm not good enough?

But what our videos show is an Australia-Brazil collaboration, which is exactly what his venue is about.  So I sent him some videos from our show in Adelaide.

It would be so much easier to communicate and contract with an Australian person.  Much as I like a challenge, I would really like this bit to be made easy.  If we could tie up a deal with TribOz, my husband and I could relax and enjoy our stay in Rio.

This venue seats up to 70 people.  It is slightly larger than La Boheme.  I had envisaged something a little bigger, perhaps 100 seats.  But, if La Boheme is right for me in Adelaide, I probably don't need anything bigger in Rio, where no one knows me.

I am hoping that TribOz will be perfect.

Because I don't have any other options at this stage.

And, disturbingly, I haven't yet been able to set a time to visit and view the venue.  Mike hasn't responded to my several emails asking when it would be convenient for him to meet with us. He has just gone quiet.

Perhaps he didn't like the videos?

Fingers crossed that I've found the right place for our show, and that I will have the chance to see it.

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go

My broken wrist has been repaired.

My car has also been repaired.

When I start driving again it feels a bit strange.  I worry about twisting my wrist when turning the steering wheel.  But pretty soon I am feeling confident on the road.

Seven weeks after the operation, I begin to leave the brace off my arm.  A few days later, I manage to leave it off for a whole day.

I get my clothes back; finally I can wear the jackets that would not fit over the brace.

My hand starts to feel like my own hand, rather than one that has been stitched on to my arm.  It will take several months to regain full movement of the joint, and for my bone to rebuilt its full strength.  But I'm good enough to go.  To Brazil.

I'm going to Brazil!  Birthplace of Bossa Nova.  And I will sing it there.  Like "coals to Newcastle", "ice to Eskimos", I'll bring my own brand of Bossa to Brazil.  It still feels like an audacious plan.

In my last singing lesson before the trip, my teacher reminds me to "sing the story".  He counsels me to focus on the words instead of worrying about my singing technique.  That makes a lot of sense to me.  I think they will judge me less on vocal technique and more on the passion, spirit and heart that I bring to my performance.

And that should be easy, because I love the music.  I'm looking forward to immersing myself in the music and culture.

I consider what to pack.  We'll be travelling from north to south.  In Recife, a northern coastal city, it will be like our summer.  Jaraguá, in the south, appears to be having the mild weather that our Gold Coast, has at this time of year.  So we are not really packing for extremes of climate.

I'll need to take clothes for performing - we are doing three shows.  I have some lightweight long dresses that will do just fine.

Now the Facebook messages from Enéias come thick and fast.  He needs our full names and passport numbers for the hotel.  He suggests additional songs that we could perform.  He now knows my voice, and identifies singers who have a similar range to me, suggesting we use the same keys.  He is spot-on.

I print out the lyrics I'll need for these new songs.

In the final week, I check off a series of other "lasts". Last gym class, last visits to our mothers, last day at work, and last Portuguese class.

In this class, we study a text about a young journalist attending a job interview. Then I am asked to interview my classmate for a job at a magazine.  I manage to come up with a series of questions to ask him. John really is a journalist, and he has spent time in Brazil, so his Portuguese is pretty good. He answers fluently and is forthcoming in his responses. I can understand what he's telling me.  The exercise is successful.

This is a good thing, because on the following day I receive a message from Eneias. There is going to be a press conference and we will be interviewed about our show.  In Portuguese.

I should pack some sentences in my suitcase.