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Today the plan was to go to Praia de Forte - a beach just outside of Salvador. However waking up this morning I was presented with the all to familiar news that the bus drivers were on strike (this is the 5th time in Brazil now) and so I had no way of getting out to Lara's place. Mid-morning Guel returned and I got just 5 minutes to chat with her before she was out the door again (a very busy lady). I met Guels son and he insisted on making and having a Caiporinia (Brazilian cocktail) - I Ofcourse agreed as it was 10am on a Tuesday morning. After one sip I realized this was a bad idea and decided I would go for a walk and get the hell out of the house and the Tuesday morning drinking. I walked North along the coast - visiting a small fish market and a nice little beach. As the buses are not running today it meant that most things are therefor closed as the majority of people have no means of getting to work. I walked around the shops a little but everything was closed, on the way back I ran into Eliane and Guels son and they were now onto the beer - they asked me to join them for a walk to the bar but I politely declined. After a quick stop at the apartment to make some lunch I was off down the beach to get some sunshine. The sun was incredibly intense today and almost unbearable laying in the hot sun; but I stuck it out hoping to get some more colour. When the sun started to disappear I took the time to do my yoga which actually proved quiet difficult on the beach and I received many strange looks. In the evening Lara was going to pick me up and take me to a free Baroque Music performance at the theatre of Salvador. So after a cold shower and a very lost in translation chat with Guel I was off. When I saw Lara she was in a huge panic saying we were late and we needed to rush (I couldn't understand why as it was a free concert) - she drove like a bat out of hell and on the way we picked up another friend of hers Vito. We arrived 30 minutes before the show started and met her sister who had been waiting for an hour and a half to try get the last of the free tickets. We waited in the line for 5 minutes before they let us in: in the end half the theatre was empty so everyone was allowed in. We took our seats and waited for the performance to begin; the performance was off a small orchestra (violins, flutes, chellos, drums and other strange instruments combined with a German Dj). I expected a lot and was quite excited and in the end i was a little disappointed; the music put me straight to sleep and although pleasant enough sounds the group did not connect with each other - the Dj did his thing, the violinists did their thing all separately and the mood of the show was very somber - not at all what you would expect or what symbolises Brazil. After the show we went for coffee but when we arrived we all agreed that we were tired and we would call it a night; they dropped me off at the apartment and I heated up some of my left-over lunch for a late dinner. Guel and the others had also been at the concert and soon returned; thinking quite like myself; nice enough but did not work together so well. Guel I think had been on the whiskey at the show and insisted I join her for a late night Scotch of which I agreed after such a long day. I didn't drink much of the scotch but sat there having another of our famous 5 minute conversations with Guel before she was off to bed. Guels son decided to stay aswell and sleapt on the floor next to where I was sleeping and unfortunately within one minute of the lights being turned off he was snoring like a fog-horn - it's going to be a long long night.
OBSERVATIONS:
- More bus strikes - planned for the whole week
- no body goes to work when they strike - stay at home and treat it like a weekend
- Baroque (classical) music - interesting but not overly exciting
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