Arrived back at Carol’s in time for my massage with Luciana. I say it happened after our trip to the gym, but it more likely happened before we went. At any rate, we had booked me a massage for that day, and it was time.

Luciana is beautiful, lithe, and a great masseuse. She gave the kind of massage I like. Not one of the ones where you grit your teeth as they knife their way down your spine. No, she had one of those three headed massage robots, some oil, and some jungle sounds. A mat on the floor, a bath towel, and she was ready to do her job. I naturally worried that there might be something unsightly showing–who knows what–but got over it pretty quickly.

As great as the massage was, my head felt like a concrete block when I got up, and that tiny knot in my stomach had returned to say “Hi. How was the massage?”

I went into the den where Daniel and Patricia were watching Brazilian MTV. Whoa! What a trip! There was a show based on that cover band gag that featured a wired up shirtless Brazilian guy with neatly trimmed beard, a few tats, a pair of harem pants and a white fedora. So here he is hammering away in Portuguese, and he has a pantomime “sidekick” who looks like him and is dressed like him and imitates every move he makes. Patricia explained that it was because since the bands imitate other bands, he had his own host imitator. It was crazy!

The first band was covering the B-52s, and the other one was covering Blink 182. The set was small, sand covered, with a pair of bleachers for the live fans (many of whom were old as shit, some Japanese, who KNEW who they were?), and a big wrecked boat, on top of which were two Brazilian hotties dancing and posing. There were three Brazilian celebrities who voted for the bands in each competition: two comedians and a hot model type. Of course the vote was always even until the very last.

During the blast of speedy Portuguese, I heard the word “muthafucka” several times! CRAZY! I also saw my first commercial for Havaianas.

This über-hot Brazilian girl in a bikini is strutting down the beach, and an ordinary guy is lusting after her. She turns to talk to him! He can’t believe it! She asks him to hold her Havaianas. He gladly agrees! She struts off, and when she returns, the guy has the shoes in his mouth. He sheepishly gives them to her, she smiles, and the camera shot widens to reveal a big beefy guy. She promptly hands him the flip flops. “Thanks for holding my boyfriend’s Havainas,” she says sweetly. They run off.  HAR!!! It was fun watching TV with Daniel and Patricia.

No rest for the wicked. It was time for the afternoon excursion.

We were headed into a very old section of Salvador, Santo Antonio Alem do Carmo. Up a huge hill to a large square with a fort and a church on it. Both old as hell, both beautiful. The fort, Santo Antonio Alem do Carmo, was a beautiful white edifice perched on the top of a hill overlooking Salvador. It had recently been renovated to house many capoeira schools in the area. Capoeira (CAP-pa-WAIT-a) is incredibly popular in Salvador, and other parts of Brazil as well. It’s a martial arts dance/game devised by the African slaves in 16th century Brazil. In this fort several internationally famous schools were housed.

The first one we visited was run by Mestre Boca Rica, Manoel Silva. Here I got my first glimpse of a berimbau, the primary instrument played in capoeira.