nightlife

Sometime while I was taking a little cat-nap after the long day in the sun, preparing for going out that night, loud music started outside. Brandie and I both looked around out the windows, but couldn't determine where it came from. Carol called to say she would pick us up at 9, so we got ready. When we went downstairs to meet Carol, we discovered that the music came from the patio of the building we are staying in, where they were having some kind of outdoor party. When we got in the car, Carol explained the nightlife in Belem to us. It turns out that most people will go out around 10pm to a bar or a pub to drink and talk with their friends. Then they will go to a party around 1am and stay out until 6am and sleep all the next day. She figured we wouldn't want to stay out that late after being in the sun all day, and she was right! So instead, she thought we would just go to a bar and hang out for a little while. John drove around a few streets that had lots of bars and Brandie actually ended up picking the one we stopped at, which had lots of seating on the sidewalk. Carol ordered b some kind of fish appetizer, me a typical Brazilian drink that I can't remember the name of, and she and John had beer. I also tried the beer b/c it was Brazilian. We had a great time talking about differences b/t our two countries. Carol is very eager to learn new English words and wants to know some of our colloquial sayings. In return, she teaches us little Portuguese phrases and gets quite a laugh out of hearing us repeat them. We asked if she was laughing at our pronunciation, but she said no, she just loves to hear people learning to speak Portuguese. One interesting difference that we had to clear up is what she meant when she said that they would go to a party from 1am-6am. It turns out that they use the term "party"like we might say "going clubbing" or "going dancing" or I would even just "going out." So first you go to a bar to talk, and then you go to a party to dance and meet people. It was really very enjoyable being outlast night b/c it felt like sitting outside on one of our warm summer nights at home. It wasn't too hot;we were all just comfortable. It's easy being with Carol; she is a very vivacious person. She laughs often and talks a lot. John is more quiet and reserved, as one probably must be with a girlfriend like Carol. It was a very pleasant night.