Happy Holidays! and more about Brazil...

I hope you have had a nice holiday so far. It's incredible to think that the year is almost over. It is also incredible for me to believe that it has now been a little over a year since I left Cisco Systems and I am still standing tall and proud to be away from corporate America!! That's not to say I am not thankful for having had the opportunity to work for such a large company and all that it taught me, but living my dream is certainly preferable to sitting in a cubicle all day. :) And if I had remained with those golden handcuffs around my wrists, I probably would not have been able to go to Brazil and have such an amazing experience. So I will continue--and finish--my account of my trip here, today.

After leaving Porto Alegre, we arrived on Dec. 3 in Sao Paolo, Brazil. As we were flying in to the city, both Murray and I were struck by the immensity of its existence. I had read it was the largest city in South America but nothing could prepare me for the overwhelming miles upon miles of high rises that lay before us. We had also heard stories of crimes, brutal and daring even during the daylight hours. Needless to say we were both a bit wary and nervous about spending three days here.

We took a cab into the city, not wanting to worry about where we were going and how we were going to get there. As we entered the city we could see a thick dark haze that enveloped the city--SMOG, terrible, terrible smog. This wasn't adding anything positive to our introduction to this city. We arrived to our hotel and were relieved to find it in a very nice part of the city and a definite upgrade from the other hotels in which we had stayed. We decided to take a walk up to Avenida Paulista--the main thoroughfare of the city--and get acquainted with our new digs. Once we were out and about the fear subsided greatly and we realized that this was just a big city--really not so bad as we had originally heard and thought. As the days wore on I think Sao Paolo started to charm its way into at least my heart. Would I want to live there? No, probably not, but I would be happy to return there--especially if I were to perform there.

We had no gigs booked in Sao Paolo which we later learned was due to some serious miscommunications from the promoter in Porto Alegre's side. The promoters in Sao Paolo--Maira and Mona--never received my CD nor my press kit. For this reason they were not able to "sell" us to any of the venues that book acts such as ours. Big bummer, but after getting over the frustration of realizing this had happened, I was able to move forward. We had dinner with both Maira and Mona--lovely people--and I think we made a very good connection with the two of them. My hope is that there will be future projects in which we will be able to work with them. They mentioned some festivals and I made it clear that I am more than willing to return to Brazil to perform.

While in Sao Paolo we also had the good fortune of meeting Carlos Suarez and his wife Katia. They became fantastic hosts to us and helped us maneuver our way through the chaos. We ended up meeting them for lunch one day and hanging out with them all afternoon. We then spent our last night with them at the Brahma Bar listening to live samba that was incredible to see and hear. The music was lively and fantastic and the audience was equally entertaining to watch as they rose in their drunken reveries to dance and sing along with the musicians! So much fun.

All in all, the trip to Brazil was incredibly rewarding and fun. I feel that we were given a more "brazilian" experience as opposed to the general tourist experience that we would have normally had. We were very fortunate in meeting great people, hosted by wonderful people like Celmer and his friends, performing with talented musicians and connecting with some great contacts that I hope will last a lifetime.

LONG blog this time, but I wanted to finish my trip to Brazil as I am headed now to Mexico for some R&R with my mom and sister for a week. I feel so spoiled!! :)
Happy New Year to everyone. 2008 is going to prove to be a most fortunate year!