A boat ride that ends with a BANG
I had gotten to the boat a little later than I wanted…there were a good amount of hammocks already up, but not nearly as many as there would be. I wanted to find a space where I was not really landing on top of anyone – even though it’s common practice, I’d rather not be the one to initiate it. I did find one good spot, slung up my hammock, and sat in it to read until we left. The dock was kicking, playing all sorts of great Brazilian hits (it’s not hard to learn them all), and I heard a song that I liked, so I started up a conversation with the guy next to me to ask what the song was. This was Fábio.
While Fábio and I were talking, three people slung their hammocks between and above ours. These were Berenice, Olga, and their brother, who’s name I just don’t remember. We were all in our 20s, and we all immediately became friends for the next 5-6 days on the boat. This was our little crew. I also think it is important to note that there were no other gringos on this boat, no one who spoke English…this, thereby marks the beginning of nearly a month straight (and counting) of not speaking English other than when calling home, and, well, I just think that’s pretty cool.
After getting stopped just outside of port for some sort of inspection (due to not having the correct papers…whatever), I had the night to get to know my neighbors. I played a game of checkers with Ana, an adorable 10-year-old girl, of native origen (or, “indio”, a term I don’t like). I forgot how to play (don’t laugh) and she taught me, but she had all sorts of her own rules such that either the game kept going forever or I let her win in the end. She always won, but she was so cute, you didn’t care she was giving you the run around. During the days on the boat, she would come behind you and grab your side, or grab your nose and make a kiss face. I felt like that’s what I should be doing to her! She was the youngest of the family, which explained it…her mother was the president of some society for the female indigionous population, and she showed me nice pictures of some villages and their celebrations.
The next day on the boat, my dreams came true when they put to use the BBQ that I saw on deck and grilled up some, well, I think it was pork, served with a side of farofa (that lovely manioc root flour that I have come to appreciate after a long battle). The hard part was getting it…these people were vultures. It was you versus the rest, and the cutting knife. If you were too far away, someone else would rab it first….if you were too close, well, bye bye fingers. Nice mellow barbeque turned ruthless.
Kids are always interesting to meet while traveling. I’d thought it might be easier to talk with them since my level of language is about equivalent as theirs. Well, for the first few days on the boat, they just laughed at me anytime I said something, and they wouldn’t answer. Nice, I love having kids laugh at me. Maybe it was because of my accent, and I talk funny. Then they asked me to talk in English, and I did, and they laughed even harder. So that was fun, having kids laugh at me a bunch.
So, five or six days on a boat…what are you going to do? Play cards! I learned the game…kind of like rummy, though a bit different. All the kids wanted to play, too, and we took turns in allowing them to play (although Olga and Berenice were a little mean with the kids, I must add). We played amongst the hammocks, we played on deck. We played a lot of cards.
Later that night, we hung out on deck a bit, watching concert videos. The popular bands in Brazil have big to-dos for concerts. Normally there’s 4 members, 2 girls, 2 guys, and they all dress up all fancy (women, particularly), and they have dancers on stage and, well, they’re really big productions – a bit of a change from what you’ll see at the Empty Bottle or the Double Door, for sure.
The next morning the crew was waking me up for the great coffee and breadroll breakfast (at something like 6am), and I heard them all laughing at me. I was rolled up in my sleep sheet with my bandana over my eyes (a trick I’ve learned to keep the light out so I can sleep for as long as I want), and I started to talk to them…but it was all English. Do you know how hard it is to talk a foreign language first thing in the morning? Particularly for me, being the heavy sleeper I am. I think maybe it’s because I had been dreaming in English and was still in that mode. Whatever the case, they were all looking at me pretty funny as I realized what I was doing and tried to switch to Portuguese, which was very rough.
That day, more cards, more BBQ, more staring out into the nature surrounding us. I also talked with a woman from Paraguay (in an embarrassing Spanish – I forgot it all!),who invited to take me around Asunción if I do make it over there, which was very nice. That night, it was raining a bit. The kids were sliding on the wet deck. The boats here are curved, slightly, like a banana seat, with the high points at the front and the back of the boat. They would start at the back, sliding on their knees toward the middle (just past the middle was the bar area, with tables and chairs, and beyond that the bar itself). Well, that looked like lots of fun, so I joined. I took a running start and, in my bare feet, slid down the deck, as if I was skiing or skating. I didn’t fall, but it was a little uncoordinated (you try to do it), warranting a good laugh from, well, practically everyone. The kids loved it. I went again…again…again. How fun.
The kids just loved it, and wanted me to join them on my knees. I rolled up my pants, lined up with them, and on the count of um, dois, tres, we all pushed off. I went flying! I weigh a lot more than these kids, and just went flying – I would have been in the bar if I hadn’t stopped myself. Again! Again! Again! The kids were so excited…I must have gone a good dozen times, and by this time the whole deck of the boat was laughing. I was nearly in tears, thinking, what must these people think of me, this 28-year-old woman sliding around on the boat deck (of course, I don’t look 28 because I don’t even have wrinkles). Well, it was damn fun, the kids had fun, but soon my knees were scratched up a bit and I had to bow out (just as one of the girls was finding all the water she could find to replenish the supply).
The next day, the kids wanted me to slide some more…nooo! It was fun, but no more for me. I don’t even think there was any water on deck, but I know that girl would have put some on there if I wanted to join her. I slept almost the whole afternoon…this was our last full day on the boat – we would arrive tomorrow.
During the night, I sat down to write, catch up with the goings-on of the boat and my sliding activities (I also keep a personal journal, which helps me remember all the details so I can fill y’all in). I had a few beers and joined my crew. With my Portuguese so good at this point, I started to learn some choice words that are not found in my limited dictionary…it’s always fun to learn the bad words in another language. When they told me the word, I would repeat it, to make sure I got it, but I would repeat it slowly and clearly, with a decent volume, to make sure I understood it correctly. Of course, because this word meant nothing to me, it didn’t occur to me that to the people sitting next to us, it was if I was repeating “shit” or “asshole” very distinctly. They looked over at me and were laughing, just as I realized why. Oops! I was glad their table was full of empty beer cans.
I started talking with them…so nice. They invited me to stay in their house in Puerto Velho (which is where we were heading…don’t know if I ever mentioned that). This never happened, and you’ll soon know why. There weren’t very many people on deck, and everyone was hanging out with everyone, and dancing, as if to celebrate our last night together on the boat. They turned on the big party lights on the deck – strung in the air from the middle to the back of the boat. I picture a cruise boat to have these. It had been raining and I went for another slide across the deck on my feet. Fell this time, but it was just a little wipe out…kind of like I was sliding into base, although I’ve never done that, actually.
Of course, in order to slide, I had taken my sandals off, and I neglected to put them back on. We were dancing, dancing, dancing, and it was very slippery, and, well, I fell. I fell hard. Hard and fast. I could hear the gasp on the deck, but like a good little derby girl, I got myself right up. “I’m fine, I’m fine”, I said, “tudo bom, tudo bom!” as everyone started to rush toward me, all yelling stuff in Portuguese, and it’s very difficult to hear what anyone’s saying when they’re all screaming like that.
“I’m fine, it’s ok” I repeated, but at some point I saw the blood. I had cracked my chin open, right on the bottom, underneath the chin. Ooh. That’s what they were all screaming about. Makes sense. They sat me down in a chair and all doctored me up…I think they were all really more worked up about it than I was, but they were so nice to help. I had like 5 hands in my face at once, and one person grabbing me a beer…now I really needed a drink.
Tags: Brazil, Tag Index
Tania