Balneario Camboriu, SC, Brazil, Dec. 16th, 2012 Here’s the story: Donovan Frankenreiter was playing a free show today on the beach near where I am living in Southern Brazil. He hit the stage with his guitarist soon after I got there, but they couldn’t get the show started. Apparently there was no sound check, and nothing was working. There was no sound coming out of the guitars, and the microphones were feeding back like crazy. The musicians and sound crew were getting visibly frustrated with the situation and with each other. There was a beach full of people waiting for him to start, and after about 15 minutes of confusion, not to mention some stormy clouds gathering overhead, I went up to the front and offered to help. Some of my friends were backstage, so they let me past the fence. After hearing me speak in English, Donovan called me over and said, “Hey man, do you speak Portuguese?” I said yes, and he said, “Do you know how to run sound? OK. Make it sound good out there.”
Week 2 summary: Enjoying Itajai and Balneario, went on a weekend trip to Ibiraquera, wrote some music and learned some more Portuguese Shoutouts: Evandro, Luis, Jota, Paula, Anny, Guilherme, Tulio, Pablo, Fernando, Maria Amalia, Duda, Leonardo, Mariana, Felipe, Heron, Colby, Mamae, Papai Monday, August 27th (Day 7) – Itajai I go for a long walk around downtown Itajai. I hang out at a café for a while. I go to a yoga class, which is great practice for my Portuguese vocabulary of body parts. I return home, and as I fix myself some dinner, Papai is blasting Hall and Oates in the computer room and taking a nap. Awesome. Later, Paula takes me to her gym, where there seems to be a resurgence of 1980’s fashion trends; the female contingent is sporting a significant abundance of such items as leg warmers and/or neon animal print tights. Definitely saw a scrunchie or two. Awesome. Tuesday, August 28th (Day 8) – Itajai It’s a rainy day. I spend the day at home with Mamae and I prac