Feliz Natal!!

This is the Christmas tree in the lobby of our building, because our stuff STILL hadn't arrived yet. Hopefully in January. Fingers crossed.



And here are the boys showing off their die-cast (hard to see) bargain bin fighter jets that they got for R$5 each.


I'll see you after summer break. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!!

Music at the Pinacoteca

I didn't have my camera, but this is exactly what the Pinacoteca looked liked from where I was sitting tonight. (Thank you Pinacoteca Benedicto Calixto website for the photograph.) Actually, the colors changed - blue, green, pink, purple, red. The house is painted white so it's chameleon-like when you shine different colors on it. It's right on the beach (well, across the avenue from the beach), and at one time was a residence. Now it's a historical site where traveling art collections are displayed and other cultural events take place.





Tonight they had a concert with three choruses, and the last two were outstanding.

The second group to perform was Coral da Alfândega do Porto de Santos, and the last was Coral Zanzalá from Cubatão. Both had at least one coral director in common, and she was really great.

Here's a clip I found of Coral da Alfândega. This is a fun song, which they didn't perform tonight, titled Disseram que voltei americanizada, which translates to They said I've come back Americanized, and was originally sung by Carmen Miranda. It's not as beautiful a venue as I saw them this evening, but it gives you a feel for the choir and their director. Well, slightly different members as this is from 2006.






Here's one that Coral Zanzalá performed tonight called Que Maravilha. Very nice. There's a nod to Mas Que Nada at the end.



And speaking of Mas Que Nada (by Sergio Mendes), they sang that, too! As well as Garota de Ipanema (The Girl from Ipanema), one of my all-time FAVORITE songs. And let me tell you, the goosebumps covered my body as all the people around me, the entire audience it seemed, sang along in Portuguese. Que maravilha, indeed.