Cotipura
Today, we had another out of town gig in Cotipura. The town was much closer, a half hour drive vs 1.5 hours from the day before.
The day started by meeting at the mayor's office for a quick welcome. Then they shuffled us over to the cultural house, which was a mini museum of artifacts throughout the years. I think most of us were more interested in the space heater, coffee, tea, and cookies since it was another chilly day. Afterwards, we took a quick walk over to the local church.
We had lunch at a churrasceria and I can't even describe the excitement in the boys, especially Randy.
All they could talk about was how Ernie was missing out. Of course, the main course was meat but it was damn good meat!
After lunch, we traveled by bus first to an old sausage factory that is going to be converted into a hotel. The freezer area was kind of creepy because it had the meat hooks hanging. A couple of the LIKHA folks took gruesome pics like they were hanging from them. It reminded me of the MTV show FEAR.
Next, we drove to Rio dos Antas for some photo ops.
I got a chance to chat with Boy Boy Sifundza from S. Africa, while we were waiting. He gave me some swazi lessons:
Hello. Hi. How are you. Fine = Sawubona. Yebo. Ujani. Ngikhona
Goodbye = Salacahle (pronounced sa-la-gach-lee)
Thank you. You're welcome = Ngiyabonga. Ngiyakumukela (nee-ya-guh-mu-ge-la)
I love you = Nigyakutsandza (nee-ya-ku-tan-za)
I was able to teach him what little tagalog I knew as well.
We headed over to a jewelry store and bought items directly from the jewelry designer.
Then we headed over to Marson winery. Ana, our guide, commented how no one shops like we do. We were with the S. Africans and I don't think they bought a thing. The owner of the winery was so happy. You know LIKHA and alcohol. Or is it just LIKHA and shopping in general.
After dropping all our cash, we went to another up and coming hotel for merienda. They fed us sausuage, cheese, breads, and drinks. It's just so amazing to see the hospitality that the Brazilians have towards us. At this point, we were all tired, grouchy, and cold. But they were just so honored to be able to have us as their guests and to be able to serve us in some way.
We headed over to the gym for a sound check before dinner. It reminded us of the Mangaldan performance during the Philippine tour. Small concrete dressing rooms but this time freezing instead of hot. We couldn't use the space heater because it was sucking up the energy and we couldn't deal with another blackout performance.
We had dinner at the same churrasceria. It always seemed like we were eating!
We did the same reportoire as yesterday but this time added Binasuan. At first, the crowd was unresponsive (during Kadal & Tahaw). But then it picked up. By the end, we got an enthusiastic standing O. This time we knew we deserved it since blackouts had nothing to do with it.
After S. Africa's performance, they called us onstage again to do the electric slide during their Lion King rendition. As much as I got sick of the electric slide, I loved being out on stage with them. We couldn't communicate with each other through words very well, but it's through the hand holding and dancing together that form the bonds. In the end, it's all high 5s and hugs. Those are the things that stay with you.
The pop star status just continued from there. Fans approached the buses, waving, handing us pieces of paper to sign. Christian even gave one girl a kiss and gave her one of his maglalatik coconuts.
When we got back to the room, we started to unwind and a conversation of age started up. Kirsi was asking me if I ever met George and Jen1 had no clue who George even was. One of the girls mentioned they were born when ET came out. I said the Vietnam War was still going on when I was born. Then Lolita breaks out with, she was born when JFK was assasinated and the first man walked on the moon. We just broke out laughing so hard. It really drove home what range of ages we all were...and all sharing one big room.
That night was Easter Island's Nations Night.
They did a few dances, served pineapple cake, and a pineapple whiskey. They even included Allan, the 8 year old mascot. He was very cute!
Another, long day...at least tomorrow is our day off.
The day started by meeting at the mayor's office for a quick welcome. Then they shuffled us over to the cultural house, which was a mini museum of artifacts throughout the years. I think most of us were more interested in the space heater, coffee, tea, and cookies since it was another chilly day. Afterwards, we took a quick walk over to the local church.
We had lunch at a churrasceria and I can't even describe the excitement in the boys, especially Randy.
All they could talk about was how Ernie was missing out. Of course, the main course was meat but it was damn good meat!
After lunch, we traveled by bus first to an old sausage factory that is going to be converted into a hotel. The freezer area was kind of creepy because it had the meat hooks hanging. A couple of the LIKHA folks took gruesome pics like they were hanging from them. It reminded me of the MTV show FEAR.
Next, we drove to Rio dos Antas for some photo ops.
I got a chance to chat with Boy Boy Sifundza from S. Africa, while we were waiting. He gave me some swazi lessons:
Hello. Hi. How are you. Fine = Sawubona. Yebo. Ujani. Ngikhona
Goodbye = Salacahle (pronounced sa-la-gach-lee)
Thank you. You're welcome = Ngiyabonga. Ngiyakumukela (nee-ya-guh-mu-ge-la)
I love you = Nigyakutsandza (nee-ya-ku-tan-za)
I was able to teach him what little tagalog I knew as well.
We headed over to a jewelry store and bought items directly from the jewelry designer.
Then we headed over to Marson winery. Ana, our guide, commented how no one shops like we do. We were with the S. Africans and I don't think they bought a thing. The owner of the winery was so happy. You know LIKHA and alcohol. Or is it just LIKHA and shopping in general.
After dropping all our cash, we went to another up and coming hotel for merienda. They fed us sausuage, cheese, breads, and drinks. It's just so amazing to see the hospitality that the Brazilians have towards us. At this point, we were all tired, grouchy, and cold. But they were just so honored to be able to have us as their guests and to be able to serve us in some way.
We headed over to the gym for a sound check before dinner. It reminded us of the Mangaldan performance during the Philippine tour. Small concrete dressing rooms but this time freezing instead of hot. We couldn't use the space heater because it was sucking up the energy and we couldn't deal with another blackout performance.
We had dinner at the same churrasceria. It always seemed like we were eating!
We did the same reportoire as yesterday but this time added Binasuan. At first, the crowd was unresponsive (during Kadal & Tahaw). But then it picked up. By the end, we got an enthusiastic standing O. This time we knew we deserved it since blackouts had nothing to do with it.
After S. Africa's performance, they called us onstage again to do the electric slide during their Lion King rendition. As much as I got sick of the electric slide, I loved being out on stage with them. We couldn't communicate with each other through words very well, but it's through the hand holding and dancing together that form the bonds. In the end, it's all high 5s and hugs. Those are the things that stay with you.
The pop star status just continued from there. Fans approached the buses, waving, handing us pieces of paper to sign. Christian even gave one girl a kiss and gave her one of his maglalatik coconuts.
When we got back to the room, we started to unwind and a conversation of age started up. Kirsi was asking me if I ever met George and Jen1 had no clue who George even was. One of the girls mentioned they were born when ET came out. I said the Vietnam War was still going on when I was born. Then Lolita breaks out with, she was born when JFK was assasinated and the first man walked on the moon. We just broke out laughing so hard. It really drove home what range of ages we all were...and all sharing one big room.
That night was Easter Island's Nations Night.
They did a few dances, served pineapple cake, and a pineapple whiskey. They even included Allan, the 8 year old mascot. He was very cute!
Another, long day...at least tomorrow is our day off.
posted by Mur at 3:26 PM
2 Comments:
mur i'm so lazy to blog; i think i'll just have people refer to yours. it's so detailed!! :)
Hey it's Cotipura.
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