Dance Club Adventures that Kicked My Butt ( 2 August 2014, 11:00am, Goiana, Brazil)

2 August 2014, 11: 00 am, Saturday

I fell asleep last night while I was writing – oops.  The 31^st was more of a travel day, but it was great to see some of the countryside. It is really dry right now, I everything is brown and the soil is a rusty-red color so it makes for a different look than I was expecting. Parts on the way to Goiana were really hilly, almost to the point of looking like the driftless area of Wisconsin, over by Platteville. And everywhere you would look, you would see ant hills, some looked like they were about 4 feet tall.  I am hoping that I am able to get a good photo of it later – since we were in a car, it was a little difficult to get a good photo.

Country side between Brasilia and Goiana, dry season. 

Once we arrived in Goiana, we met with some of Natalia’s neighbors that wanted to practice their English over coffee.  Coffee was served with French bread, biscuits, crackers, cheeses, juices and a few other things that I think I am forgetting.  Since we were eating so much and kind of late (around 4 or 5), we asked “why so much food?” to which the neighbors replied “Because we Brazilians like to eat – we get hungry!”  Apparently they do that every day and don’t eat much at dinner…which I think was part of my demise later that night.

Afternoon coffee with the neighbors.  From foreground back, biscoit with coffee cup, juice glass of cashew juice, plate of french bread, box of cashew juice, large bottle of biscoit

"Biscoit" - a Brazilian snack.  

That night, one of Natalia’s friends was having a going away party at a local gay bar.  Natalia and I got really dressed up to go out – it was a dance club after all.  

All dressed up to go out dancing!

Once at the club and while we were waiting in line, we made friends with some guys that were waiting ahead of us.  They added me on Instagram and Facebook, which I think is kind of funny, we think it is a bit of novelty for them – their “American friend”. Oh well, it was fun talking to them and hearing about their concern for my having never been to a gay bar before and thinking that I was going to freak out at seeing two guys kissing.  I understand how this can be a very legitimate concern, but I have several friends back home which happen to be gay, and I don’t really see it as an issue.

From what I have been hearing, Brazil is in a similar position as the US right now in that some people are accepting and some are not.  With that being said, the government doe recognize their rights in marriage. It is very interesting.

 4:58pm

But back to the club. It was very different than the clubs I have been to back home. We had two options for the cover charge, either pay 60 Reais for our drinks and cover charge, or pay 40 Reais for just the cover charge. We did the 60 Reais option and got a ticket. From the main counter, we would take our ticket to another counter where we ordered our drinks and got tickets four our drinks. We would then take our tickets to get our drinks for the rest of the night. It was an interesting way of doing it that I have never seen before.

I ordered the drink that is very common here. It is made with vodka and strawberries or other ground fruit.  This was a very dangerous drink for me. I love daiquiris and this was even more delicious because it was real fruit. I inhaled all four like they were oxygen.

So small, so tasty, yet packs a mean punch

Keep in mind that I had also not eaten dinner, so this all hit me, and hit me hard. I remember going to the bathroom later that night and everything swirling.  Needless to say, I spent a chunk of that night after the club, “worshipping the porcelain goddess”.  But that isn’t all that happened that night.  When people would find out that I spoke English, several of them would want to talk to me to practice.   I met some interesting people this way, one of which argued with Natalia about me being American.  I guess the argument went something like this (in Portuguese):

Random Guy: I speak four different languages.

Natalia: Oh, ok. Then use them with her.

Random Guy: I lived in Boston for a while and am very familiar with American accents and she is not American.

Natalia: Jessi, give me your ID.

*I give her my driver’s license*

Natalia: See, she is from the USA.

Random guy looks at me in disbelief and walks away.

So I guess I don’t have a very American sounding accent when I am speaking English – take that my Chicago friends who say I have an accent! Ha! Although, if he lived in Boston, he is used to a very different accent.  Oh well. It was a pretty lame way to try hitting on me and Natalia. Overall, it was a very fun night. Natalia’s friend that we were partying for is great and is moving to the United States next week, so I told him he should come visit Chicago and we can go to the gay bars there. We will see what happens.

Making new friends in Brazil!

The next morning I woke up still drunk and would spend the rest of the day paying for my night of fun. We spent most of the day shopping and from there were going to a popsicle place called “Fruits of Brazil,” but by the end of our shopping trip, I was feeling hung over so asked if I could be taken back to the apartment to rest. So I was taken back and everyone else went out for popsicles and to tour the city. 

It felt amazing to come back to the apartment and rest. As soon as I entered the cool, dark apartment, I could feel some tension and stress lifted off of my shoulders. After a night of so much excitement and stimulation, and a few days-work for that matter, it felt great to just kick back and relax. So with the place mostly to myself (Natalia’s aunt, Livia was here briefly before work, and Elliot their dog was here), I sat on their balcony with some water and biscoits (a Brazilian snack), and watched the world go by. That is when I started writing, then took a nap on their couch.

Hours later, after dark, everyone came back and we were in a tizzy getting ready to g out to a bar to listen to some live music. The band was great and played several rock classics (in English).  It was a really fun night and I bought their cd and dvd, or rather, a guy paid for it for me and Natalia, then asked for her number. Good times. Haha. 

The band we saw