Overview (from the beginning to July 12)

This one might be shorter. =)

Hope you guys are enjoying the blogs- pics to come soon and possibly some videos.

Moe and I in the past 3 weeks have been in Brazil. I would have said "there and back again," but it wouldn't compare. We've been playing gigs every weekend (and during the week) since we've gotten here. We've also played in 3-4 jam sessions and school concerts (UNB- Universidade do Brasila). At the same time, we've had a lot of time to shed and get some personal work done. We went to a dance club the other night called HYPE as VIP's because we were carrying our friends instrument- again, seeing his gig after one we played with him for the equivalent of the Spanish culture's Quincinera. The next day, which was this past weekend, we were featured on a Big Band concert with the other 2 Americanos as well, doing some old big band classics. (We got to solo and played lead for our sections!) Besides playing a lot, we've gotten to see a lot of great music too- there's a cafe right around the corner from us that we can sit in at called Senorita's Cafe- it features Brazilian music (Choro, Forro, and Bossa) as well as MPB (Musica Popular de Brazil) and JAZZ! We have also gotten to see other groups- for instance the guitarist at Clube de Choro and a modern jazz trio (Mike sit in on and got his butt kicked) at a cafe he was at with a bass player and singer he knew.

AND among other things, we have a Portuguese class we are in attendance for 5 days a week, 2 hours a day for our total immersion. We have both kept in touch with our families so reading this to them might not be the same if you haven't been up to date with us on a regular basis.

We have tried an amazing amount of new food and our experiences speaking Portuguese have been nothing less than fun/scary every time it happens. Mike's been running a lot since we've been here as well. We took a walk 2 weekends ago to explore and went to the lake- it was nice and the walk was good to see what was around. The school has embraced us and we have made a lot of friends here- we've even made really good friends with the other 2 Americans, Zack and Jon, while we've been down here. Big surprise, huh? =p Also, our host, Renato Vasconcellos, had has had us over for a jam session and pool party + lunch for the 4 Americans!

This adventure, especially by the end of it, will have changed us because I think we've already started to see the world in a different light. Thanks for keeping up with us. If you're interested, we'll try to blog at least once more before we leave Brasilia to go to Campinas- which is in roughly 2 1/2 weeks! Another adventure!

Thanks again,

Mike and Moe