Yesterday I finally got Bill off the boat. He gets so busy fixing and cleaning things up he forgets we must see the sights too. So I dragged him off the boat and we had a lovely time having breakfast up in the old town right on the sidewalk. It was very entertaining to people watch. There are many vendors who approach you and sell everything from necklaces to cigars. We also went to a jewelry store and checked out some of the stones there since this is a place known for mining gemstones. We meet a very nice jeweler named Giovanni who was originally from Italy, who lived in France, who moved to Tahiti and married a Tahitian, who moved back to France, who lived in the US , and is now living here in Brazil with a Brazilian wife and 10 year old child. The people here are very interesting as you can see.
One woman started talking to me in the elevator in Portuguese and I attempted to answer in Spanish while another man translated for me to the entire elevator audience in English. She wanted to know how I was liking Bahia. Everyone just starts talking in Portuguese and they don't stop even though you try to tell them you don't understand. But we have always been able to get the major part of the message through by some Spanish words I know and sign language. Bill is not comfortable with this form of communication but I think it is fun.
For lunch yesterday we went to a restaurant named Lafayette with Heidi and Casey from Wild Tigris. Of course the menu was all in Portuguese and no English speaking waiters. They were very kind and tried to explain the ingredients to us the best they could. We had a wonderful lunch of Caesar salad with bacon wrapped chicken, other salads, and Beef chateaubriand for of course, the captain. It was the most spectacular meal we have had so far since Matt's meals. I think the meats here are very good although one only thinks of fish since we are so near the water. But actually, everyone said the fish at the market smelled very bad. So we must find a fresh fish place nearby.
Later we went to Destiny and helped Herman celebrate his birthday. Sylvia is a wonderful baker and she had whipped up an German apple pie/cake that was marvelous. She also had a homemade almond pastry , fruit and cheeses, coffee, champagne and on and on. So you can see we blew the diet yesterday!
Tonight we will go to a dinner and show with Jutta, Jochem, and Eileen from Chessie. It should be fun with all the local food available and local dances being presented. Hopefully I won't embarrass the group by my dancing exhibition. I always seem to get picked for the audience participation. So we are beginning to get the flavor of Brazil. It is a little daunting at first to not understand the language but one learns to adapt, improvise, and overcome.
Rosemary, Bill and Matt