The following night, however, I was convinced to join three other girls to go to a small Samba club. Many of the Fulbrighters had either studied or worked in Brazil before and were quite familiar with the city and had rockin' Portuguese. Sarah (there is always another Sarah) was no different and she had heard that a good Samba group was in town and that they were going to play at a little club in another neighborhood.
We left the hotel at about 9pm and took the metro and then a taxi to a small, hidden-away, unmarked entrance of the club. We arrived at about 9:30 and were told things would get underway at about 11pm. The tiny club was mostly empty and we passed the time with sandwiches and beers while watching people file in and snag empty tables. A little after eleven, the musicians started to play and the music was fantastic - you couldn't help but start to move. A few people started dancing, the lights were dimmed and the club really started to fill up.
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| Loni getting a lesson in Samba |
The main event, however, was a female singer who joined the band at about midnight. At this point the club was packed to the brim with gyrating Brazilians and you couldn't hear a thing because the music was so loud. It was so hot and we were all so sweaty that everyone just kind of slid off of each other. Even though I was dressed like a super preppy American (loafers, skirt, black shirt) I was asked multiple times which part of Brazil I was from. I also quickly learned how to say "I'm sorry, I do not know how to dance the Samba" in Portuguese whenever someone would ask me to dance. Don't get me wrong, though, I definitely want to learn and I hear that there are classes in Ilhéus. Sean, you best get your moves on in Laramie to get ready for some serious Samba action in Brazil!
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