After our open-air performance on Saturday morning, I explore the market stalls around the square, and purchase some gifts and souvenirs.
We have a quick lunch with Enéias and his family.
Then we go on a tour to the top of the Boa Vista mountain. Rone collects us from the hotel, and he and his friend Philippe take us in a four-wheel-drive. It's a beautiful day for sightseeing. Heading up the mountain, the road becomes a steep track, and some cars can't make it up the slope. We see them stationed in odd places, just parked where they stopped, when they could go no further. Ahead of us, a car is reversing alarmingly, vacillating in the middle of a three-point turn. Halfway up, there's a little church; the Italian community raised funds to bring it in pieces from Italy and rebuild it here in the south of Brazil. We stop and look inside the church, and admire the view of the town and the surrounding countryside. Finally we reach the mountain top, where the view is spectacular. There's a paragliding ramp where people are risking their lives, sitting on the edge of the hillside, and even dancing joyfully on the precarious slope.
Rone's English is returning rapidly. He is speaking very well. He and my husband are now conversing easily. But for me, this is a trap. I need to practise my Portuguese, but Rone's fluency in English begins to make me lazy. To counteract this, I ask him to tell me the names of things in Portuguese; try to make our conversation bilingual. I also attempt some of the more complex grammatical constructions, e.g. "Without you, we would not have seen this". Because of Rone's facility with English, I can explain to him what I want to say, and he can tell me whether I'm right or not. This helps build my confidence to use such phrases with others.
On the way back from the mountain, we drive through a large park. It has a lake with an island, where capybaras are resting in the sunshine. We stop to admire a long wall of mosaics created by Rone for a local company, to mark its centenary.
That night, Enéias is performing in a restaurant called Xis-Cao. We all go there for supper. As we take our seats, the proprietor, Pinho, brings us caiparinha cocktails. I take a large gulp. It's very strong; tastes very good.
Enéias is already playing when we arrive. Before long, he beckons me to come up and sing with him. I take my place on the small stage and ask him which song he'd like to play. He says "All of them". He wants to run through our whole program; this is going to be another "open rehearsal". Pinho joins us for The Girl from Ipanema, playing the melody on his cornet.
No one is listening to the music. Later, a video of the event will reveal a room of people at tables, intent on eating their meals and talking amongst themselves. But this is a great opportunity for us to practise for tomorrow night's show. It takes all the pressure away. I take a lot of vocal risks, trying out high notes that I would never normally attempt during performance.
Tomorrow night, we're on.
We have a quick lunch with Enéias and his family.
Then we go on a tour to the top of the Boa Vista mountain. Rone collects us from the hotel, and he and his friend Philippe take us in a four-wheel-drive. It's a beautiful day for sightseeing. Heading up the mountain, the road becomes a steep track, and some cars can't make it up the slope. We see them stationed in odd places, just parked where they stopped, when they could go no further. Ahead of us, a car is reversing alarmingly, vacillating in the middle of a three-point turn. Halfway up, there's a little church; the Italian community raised funds to bring it in pieces from Italy and rebuild it here in the south of Brazil. We stop and look inside the church, and admire the view of the town and the surrounding countryside. Finally we reach the mountain top, where the view is spectacular. There's a paragliding ramp where people are risking their lives, sitting on the edge of the hillside, and even dancing joyfully on the precarious slope.
Rone's English is returning rapidly. He is speaking very well. He and my husband are now conversing easily. But for me, this is a trap. I need to practise my Portuguese, but Rone's fluency in English begins to make me lazy. To counteract this, I ask him to tell me the names of things in Portuguese; try to make our conversation bilingual. I also attempt some of the more complex grammatical constructions, e.g. "Without you, we would not have seen this". Because of Rone's facility with English, I can explain to him what I want to say, and he can tell me whether I'm right or not. This helps build my confidence to use such phrases with others.
On the way back from the mountain, we drive through a large park. It has a lake with an island, where capybaras are resting in the sunshine. We stop to admire a long wall of mosaics created by Rone for a local company, to mark its centenary.
Enéias is already playing when we arrive. Before long, he beckons me to come up and sing with him. I take my place on the small stage and ask him which song he'd like to play. He says "All of them". He wants to run through our whole program; this is going to be another "open rehearsal". Pinho joins us for The Girl from Ipanema, playing the melody on his cornet.
No one is listening to the music. Later, a video of the event will reveal a room of people at tables, intent on eating their meals and talking amongst themselves. But this is a great opportunity for us to practise for tomorrow night's show. It takes all the pressure away. I take a lot of vocal risks, trying out high notes that I would never normally attempt during performance.
Tomorrow night, we're on.
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