Speaking in tongues

I've never eaten as many cakes as on this trip to Brazil.  Here, it seems, it is quite normal to eat cakes for breakfast.  And they are very sweet and sticky cakes - chocolate cake with chocolate icing is a staple breakfast food.

After my Sunday breakfast of fruit and cakes, I go for a little stroll, and then it's time for lunch.  

We have lunch at the shopping mall where we will be performing in the afternoon.  

Then we make our way to Bliss cafe, and Enéias sets up his equipment.  

Again we have a two-hour session.  The coffee shop is open to the surrounding mall, so we play to the cafe patrons and to the passers-by.  

My voice is holding up reasonably well.  Our friend Rubens arrives and takes a turn at singing, and I take a break.

Some members of Enéias' family are in the cafe.  A little niece has her birthday today, and we sing Happy Birthday to her.

At another table there is a group which includes an elderly lady in a wheelchair.  A couple of people from that table come over and tell us that she has enjoyed our show.  She only speaks, German, they say.

I have been aware that our town is near an area where a large number of German people settled.  I've heard that some of them refused to learn Portuguese, and steadfastly continue to speak German.  Now I am going to meet one of them.

I do actually speak German.  That is, I can speak German when I'm in a German speaking country, have attuned my ear to the language and the local dialect, brought my German vocabulary to the front of my mind, and trained my mouth and facial muscles in the German way of speaking.  Now, here in the middle of southern Brazil, I try to make the switch from Portuguese to German.  I wrack my brain to think of things to say to this lady.  It doesn't come out as well as I would like, but she's happy and surprised that I've made the effort.

That night, in my hotel room, I search the TV channels to find the Brazilian program I've been watching all this week.  Yes, there it is - Vai Que Cola - on the "Multi-show" channel.  

I'm not sure why I like this show.  I'm not sure what the title means.  I can understand some of the dialogue, although I can't actually follow the plot.  But this show has numerous other elements, and maybe that's why it's got me hooked.  It's a melodramatic comedy, very over-acted, with brightly coloured sets and costumes.  It almost has the look of a children's program, but it's for grown-ups.  It is played to a live audience, and the actors play overtly to the audience.  The audience is part of the show.  When a character comes out on stage they cheer and applaud enthusiastically.  The camera pans across to show the delight on their faces.  And there is also music, which adds energy to the mix.  Sometimes there is a scene change, where the stage rotates to reveal a different set.

I think it's the physical and visual comedy that makes it so addictive.  It's not hard to recognise flirting or sexual rivalry.  It keeps me watching, and while I'm watching I'm also listening to the language.

I watch until I'm nearly falling asleep.  Now, where's the remote?