Last Night

The Burchs have settled in so yesterday we walked into Barra and shopped, ate lunch and exercised our right to say "No gracias!"  It is the one phrase that you use over and over.  I usually shake my head, and my hand to emphasize that I really mean no. 

We rode the bus back and everyone did a bit of nothing until sunset.  What can I say about sunset.  At this particular time the town is shut down waiting for the night and the cooler breezes that follow.  There is little to do because the days heat had permeated everything.It is a time of little action, one of those inbetween times. 

Our friends next door make a pilgrimage out onto the beach each night with their beach towels, binoculars, drinks and snacks; sitting in the same lineup waiting for the big ball of orange-yellow light to fall between the rocks that mark the entrance to the bahía.  We join them and sit, talking quietly.  Larry tells a joke, we discuss the days activities and watch the dogs walk by.

Once the sun goes down, someone will usually clap and we all sit quietly enjoying the stunning red glow.

When we were down town a few days ago Sr. Froy invited us to join the festivities at his restaurant this evening and we all thought that would be a great idea.  We sauntered down to his beach establishment where the air was filled with delightful music.  We grabbed the last table in the place and settled in.  The group playing consisted of a female lead singer, a guitar player, and two percussionists.  The sound was completely Brazilian, mixing slow rhythmic love songs with fast paced festive numbers.  During the second set we actually recognized one of the tunes "The Girl From Ipanema".  It was sung well, in the Briazilian Spanish language which made it a truly enchanting song.

The great music however was the only good thing about the evening.  It took over and hour to get our drinks and while we sat there we only saw two groups get their food.  Froy was running his tail off doing his best to make every happy, but he had one bartender with one speed; two waiters who were so new they didn't really get the severity of their situation; and three cooks who looked like they worked at one speed only. We grew hungry and knew that Sr. Froy and under estimated the number of dinners attending his party so we gave up our table and walked to the main street where we ate dinner. 

We landed at Roosters for our meal.  This establishment had been around for many years.  We have eaten there many times and in many locations.  It is usually a breakfast-lunch establishment, but this was their third night of serving dinners and the staff was more that willing to please.  Our waiter was a 17 year old young man who was originally from... wait for it... Utah.  Yep, he was born in Utah and had followed his parents back down to Melaque to live.  Being born in the US, his English was excellent and you could even hear a bit of the Northwest accent as he spoke. At this point everyone had drank their share so, of course, we were a very funny group.  Our waiter kept up with us and bettered most of our jokes with a very dry sense of humor.  We ate a wonderful meal and closed our evening with a walk to the square for some pastries from our favorite man on the corner.