Day 11 Hello everyone, after about 24 hours of traveling, THE Baylor Jazz Ensemble is back in Texas! What an incredible journey we have all been on! We got to Chicago early this morning, got through customs and then made it to the gate for DFW with enough time to get some breakfast. Then we boarded the plane and made it to DFW, and unlike previous trips, we made it back with all of our luggage, instruments and cymbals! As we all started to leave, many hugs were exchanged and we went our separate ways. This was a surprisingly tough thing to do, for me at least. But, once a Baylor Jazzer, always a Baylor Jazzer! So, I have put together the best way I know how to wrap up this adventure that we have all been on these last 11 days, I have put together a bunch of memories for the band. There are many inside jokes in this, but ask the folks that were on the trip what these mean, and I promise you, it will be well worth it to do so. W...
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Day 10 Ola one last time from Brazil (there will be one more blog entry tomorrow to wrap up the trip and to let everyone know that we got home and that all is good! There is not much to report on today. We got up and ate some breakfast. And then packed and got all of our stuff into one room so we only had one late check-out and then we headed to a coffee shop. There were some REALLY great conversations held here. Most of us got one of these amazing either hot or cold caramel (dulce de leche) drinks: Then we headed next door to a restaurant that we had visited before, but this time for lunch and an all you can eat buffet with Brazilian BBQ (beef, sausage and chicken). Again, it was so good! Then back to the hotel to collect our stuff and wait just a few minutes for the bus which they were very excited was a double-decker bus. Heard as the bus roll...
Day 9 Hello everyone. We have reached our last full day in Brazil, but we still have one more gig to play. This one, I think, will be the most fun because we will be performing with the kids from the Institute. But first, we had some exploring to do. We got up a little later again today, had breakfast at the hotel and then we were off for our trek to a street lined with music stores. It was awesome (and there are many of our students coming home with some Brazilian whistles and hand drums and even a guitar!) Then we headed to a really nice grocery store to pick up some items that some family members might receive as gifts (so I won't tell you much about that) and then it was off to walk through an open produce market. Everything looked so fresh and so good. A cool mural on the way to the music stores This was a fun staircase to climb. Did I mention that there are some hills here? Johniel playing exce...
Day 8 Ola again everyone from Sau Paulo (Vila Madelene to be exact). We just got back from a very fun performance! This morning, WE GOT TO SLEEP IN! We met at 10 (we had breakfast at the hotel) and then we boarded our bus to head to Osasco, this time headed for an outdoor mall, just outside of an indoor mall. We are so spoiled. We got there and all of our equipment, sound equipment, stands, and chairs were already set up for us by the members of the Institute. It's been like that every place we have played. And, I have no idea how our bus driver manages this traffic and these streets, but he is amazing! We set up our stuff and started the concert. It was once again live streamed on the Instituto Hatus Instagram account. They have posted so much over the last few days. Please follow them and check out all of the great clips! So many people stopped to listen, take pics, and take videos. We were absolutely a hit (and the ba...