Brazil, Chapter 9: In which we Go Clubbing (and sleep in and miss sacrament meeting the next morning)

I think that on Saturday I finally had the "true" Brazilian clubbing experience--or as true as you can have without drinking, smoking, and sex. It was such a long night that I won't remember everything, but I'll do my best.

Valeria and her friend, N, came around 7:30, chauffeured by F, a mousy character who, according to Valeria, is very rich, and who buys everything for (the voluptuous) N, "because she kiss him." We drove first to a house where N picked up 5 pairs of expensive shoes, and then to N's house. N promptly sent F away, and soon her "real boyfriend" arrived. Then we ate chocolate and talked--or rather, occasionally parroted Portuguese swear words--until N's boyfriend took us to Valeria's house. Valeria, Diane, and I played battleship and Uno and discussed N's, um, profession, and around midnight Valeria showered and got ready.

Finally, around 1, F picked us up, with 2 new girls in the car, whose names I forget and will now call Hips and Blondie. The Brazilians agreed that Diane's flip-flops were not acceptable club footwear, so they drove us home and waited while Diane changed her shoes and I scribbled on some eyeliner. Then we finally drove to the club, but...false alarm! We were just dropping off Hips and Blondie. The rest of us went to pick up N, who kept us waiting awhile, and then we went back to the club, arriving about 7 hours after we left.

The club--oh, the club. I really want to learn to samba, but it's difficult to find boys who will teach you to dance and then leave you alone. Short hair and freckles are not the mode here, but I heard some hilarious pick up lines nonetheless: "I have always want to kiss American girl." "You are very special and gentle." "Can I kiss your mouth?" These guys are probably far more elegant in their native language, of course. But in the end, my favorite dance partner was Hips. I've never seen dance come more naturally to anyone in my life. I really don't know how she moved her namesake like she did, but I was glad she was willing to try to teach me, even though I looked like a fool. I repeatedly reverted to isolations from Jazz 3 at Green Tree. I remembered too late that any of my students could be at the club.*

I was fully enjoying myself by 5:00 or so, but then Valeria (who doesn't approve of Hips and Blondie, because they does sex with boys they doesn't know) said it was time to go. F picked us up again, and I was so tired that it took me a while to realize we were just driving around in circles, passing the club every 10 minutes or so. F played "Video Phone" so loudly that covering my ears did no good; the bass reverberated through my cranium and down through all my organs, and I finally succumbed to the slow deterioration of my hearing. We finally insisted on going home, now, without any more laps around the city, and fell into bed by 6.

*Since writing this post, one of my students confirmed that she did indeed see me at the club--fortunately just talking, not dancing...