Floripa Farewell

In my last days in Floripa everything came together beautifully. I came to know many people in town and on the beach, mostly local brazilians but some expats living in the area. Floripa had become familiar and comfortable. Marsana and I had our routine, breakfast at noon at our spot, where we often met travelers with plans of making floripa a home, at least part time. Usually the beach was next, where we had our spot, which we called our office. People we knew would stop by to chat, and we´d have our drinks and snacks, and swim. Usually try to meet our neighbors on the sand. One day Argentina, the next Canada, and always Brazilian locals walking by. Our office was next to a barraca, where our friend augusto works, but the best sandwiches were from three barracas down where Simone works. Shay was always walking by with treats for sale, albino would ususally come by to chat. After this Marsana would go home for shower and rest, I would go surf or hit up the internet cafe after a shower. One great evening I ran into Augusto down town and we shared a couple beers, and had a very Santa Cruz conversation about the psychic energy of musicians, the ancient music of the drum, the celestine prophecy, mayan calendar, and zodiac, to name a few topics- all in portuguese. After this start we hooked up with his housemates, Simone, Shay, and one other girl, picked up Marsana, and walked over two blocks to the live music bar strip. We settled into my favorite spot, where Jenny works, met a few new folks, and next thing you know the band is inviting me up to play with them. Had a great time playing congas to some brazilian tunes and hanging out with friends, no english spoken.

On my last night I left my house to head down town in the evening. The jugglers and unicyclists were in position in the park. It reminded me of a moment earlier in the day as I was entertained at a stoplight by a man in a top hat juggling three giant shiny machetes. Through the park, I strolled by the side of the lagoon could hear and see a huge drum circle down the shoreline just a bit. As I approached I could see it was my favorite group from before- Rasta Ilha. A fullish moon was rising and peeking through some clouds over the mountain on the horizon. The group finished their music and invited everyone into their circle for a group hug and mutual appreciation. It all felt so familiar yet there was no english spoken. As the group leaders spoke about their next rehearsal and preparation for carnaval, part of me was ready to hop on board, rehearse their music, and make floripa my carnaval spot. And in so doing, get to know some members of what looked to be a really nice community of local musicans and dancers. However, I knew my destiny for this carnaval lay north, in salvador, so I quietly backed away to prepare for my journey.