Chris Perry, who retired from the Oregon Symphony percussion section at the end of last season, sounds like she’s having an amazing time in Rio de Janeiro. Here’s an excerpt from her first blog post in mid-September 2010:
I am just getting settled in my new apartment in Rio – it’s on Rua da Passagem, just off of Voluntarios in Botafogo, and about a block from the Metro. This evening, after making my dinner and wondering what to do, I heard some pagode playing outside, and then huge cheers occasionally. I figured there must be a futebol game going on. I decided to check it out, and it was a great experience. It turned out that the music was coming from the bar across the street…a really good pagode band of about 6 young players(guitar, tan tan, reco reco, pandeiro, etc)….I listened for awhile and then asked a nice couple if I could share their table. Then I saw the TV and it was Flamengo vs. Fluminense. What a game – I saw the last hour or so, and there were lots of goals. It ended in a nail biter tie game. Que pena. Nobody won. The magic was in the crowd of happy and passionate Brazilians cheering for their teams. It was wonderful to be in the middle of it with cerveja in hand..and to be able to listen to some good samba too. They really go together beautifully – futebol, samba,… and cerveja. It’s unexpected moments like this that make me love Brazil so much.
You can follow Chris’ adventures in South America via her blog: Chris Perry’s Rio Adventures 2010.