It's been non-stop since I last wrote, starting with our second anniversary dinner this time last week at the infamous/delicious Coco Bambu - white-knuckled it across town behind the wheel for a cauldron of milk rice and sun meat risotto (their words), and back again, for a jolly good evening all told.
Then on Thursday (which was Corpus Christi, and a national holiday for everyone except me) we went to Santana de Parnaiba - a village out of town and coincidentally the location of Gaby's much-maligned old job - to check out the "carpets", which turned out to be huge religious-themed tableaux made out of dyed sawdust and chalk, running in a circuit down the middle of the street from the church and main square (pics attached!).
People had apparently come from all over the country and spent the whole night making them, only for a procession to trample them all into dust at the end of the day, after much merriment, bell-ringing and food-truck-based rejoicing. Makes you think, man. Survived my inaugural trip on the SP motorway on the way back too, which was nice.
On Saturday we went to São Caetano do Sul for Gaby's cousin Luiza's confirmation mass, or whatever the ceremony with the wine, wafers and monk costumes is called. What could have been an overload of religious iconography for one weekend (during the Champions League final, no less) eventually transitioned into a full-blown pancake party back at her house instead, during which I commandeered a tiny pink guitar and sung raucously until the crowds politely dispersed.
Also of note was Luiza's teenage cousin finally introducing her boyfriend of over six months to about 30 gossiping family members and overprotective father figures at once; I remember going through a similar hazing process when I first came here, so I felt for the lad, but thought he acquitted himself admirably/hid in the corner all evening.
Otherwise I've been enjoying my extended weekend by roaming around São Paulo in the rain, and chain-baking cakes; I've started pilates on doctor's orders, which I'm sure will be a barrel of laughs; and I've discovered a triff brill new site called Radiooooo.com, which as you are no doubt aware creates customised radio stations for each country and decade since the 1900's. I've made a compilation of my favourite finds here (tracklist below), as well as a more conventional Spotify mixtape here.
My phrase of the day is an extremely abstract way of describing an unidentifiable hue: "the colour of a donkey that has fled". I don't imagine I'll use it very often, but thought I'd share anyway. 'Tis all for now, but looking forward to seeing you all in Paris!
Ciao for now,
Frau
Radiooooo Compilation:
- Berkes Béla – Valse de Schonbrunn (Hungary)
- Richard Bona, Lokua Kanza, Gerald Toto – Ghana Blues (Ghana)
- Khun Narin – Phua Kao (Thailand)
- Charlo – Nostalgias (Argentina)
- Rashid Behbudov - Lyubimye Glaza (Azerbaijan)
- Jaltarang - Ramrao Parsatwar (India)
- Bachar Mar-Khalifé – Lemon (Lebanon)
- Telek – Abebe (Papua New Guinea)
- Guy Lombardo & his Royal Canadians – That Old Feeling (Canada)
- Mulatu Astatke - Tezeta (Ethiopia)
- Fereidoon Farrokhzad - Moondam Az Boodanet (Iran)
- Dusty Baron - Griboedov's Channel (Moldova)
- Yanti Bersaudara – Rarakitan (Indonesia)
- Del Wood – Twelfth Street Rag (New Zealand)
- Pedro Infante – Angelitos Negros (Venezuela)
No comments:
Post a Comment