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 excerpts on his new slide whistle.

 

I am not sure what is more disturbing, that Johniel was playing excerpts on his slide whistle or that we were all so intrigued by Johniel playing excerpts on his slide whistle!

 

Chris' album cover for his album...10 Nights in Sao Paulo

 

They do produce very well here.  This is the grocery store.

 

Basil Goat Cheese Pizza for $2 US?  Yes, please!

 

Here's the market...I love the Waco Farmer's Market, but they could learn some stuff from this place!

At the end of the market, we all lined up for some flavored sugarcane water (Pineapple, Lime, Mango, Passion Fruit, etc).  They were juicing the sugar cane fresh right in front of us.  It was also really good.

Then we headed to an all you can eat buffet that we actually had gone to a week ago today for some more great food for lunch.  We are now back at the hotel to rest for a little bit before we hop on the bus and make our last trip to Osasco to see our friends from the church and the Institute.  Tonight, we will get to hear them perform, and be able to perform with them (they are improvising, many for the first time), and we will play our last set in Brazil.  I can't wait.

I'll have more about the concert when we get back.  Tchau for now.

OK, tonight was so very fun.  We got to the church about 4:30 and we again had a great rehearsal with the kids from the Institute.  Then it was time for a quick meal of these really cool little pizzas (they were great by the way).

 

 

This is Maria Clara

 

 

She is a student at the music school and she did the coolest thing for us.  She made each of us, every one of us, an individual Brazilian carrot cake with two Brigadeiros, and a cookie with our names on it to give to us tonight. 

The people in Brazil and some of the warmest and kindest and most thoughtful people I have ever met. How cool is this!

Obregado, Maria Clara.

 

 

 

Then the concert started.  The choir sang first. and they were outstanding!

 

 

 

Then it was our turn to join the orchestra for Sweet Child of Mine and C-Jam Blues.  We had a completely packed house! The kids did so great with their improvised solos, and so did mine.  It was the best crowd reaction to C-Jam Blues that I have ever heard.  Then, it was just like that for everything we played.  The concert was insane.  The energy from this concert needs to be experienced to be believed: from the crowd and from the band.  You have to check it out if you didn't see it live:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewtaWZyBCFk

 

 

 

And then we had to get a pic of all the Baylor kiddos and the kids from the institute.

 

Our new friends!!
 

 

 

And after the concert, there were so many pics and selfies and hugs1

 

 

Paige's fan club keeps getting bigger.

 

Google Translate got us a little choked up tonight. We will miss you too, Herbert.

 

One of the kid's mom made this for Paige. These people are so amazing.

 

They made sure to get each of us some more candy and chocolate brigadeiros!

 

And, they decided since we were going to eat so early, at 6:30.  We would definitely be hungry after the concert so they made us all sandwiches and gave us a juice for our ride back to the hotel, all with these amazing personalized messages. The warmth and thoughtfulness of these people is incredible.  I can't say it enough.

 

 

 

 

Pastor Manu with a goodbye and some amazing words for the band on the bus.

 

So many of these folks wished us safe travels, blessings and "God be with you."  

God was in this place tonight.

We did some good work here.  We inspired a lot of kids and the teachers in this program, but at the same time, they inspired us just as much, if not more.  We worshiped with a great congregation and with people who live a hemisphere away from us.  (My kiddos were blown away at how they were concerned about us knowing God and how welcoming they were to us in their church)  At our nightly wrap up of the day (that we do each night), memories were shared, stories were told, hugs were held onto a little longer, tears were shed, and we all realized, along with how great the performance was tonight, that this group would never perform together again.  And many of these folks had just performed their last Baylor concert.  What a blessing it was to have these last few opportunities to play together.

There were many things shared between all of us that will remain as "family business," but I can tell you that the two gentlemen I work with, Ed Taylor and Marcelo Boccato Kuyumjian are two of the best people that I know, and our kiddos that make up the Baylor Jazz Ensemble, are amazing and thoughtful and caring and talented and so much more.  I am more than blessed to work with and know each one of them. 

I really have the best job, ever.

Tomorrow, we are going to do a little shopping, a little eating and then head to the airport to head back to the US.  We still have one more day together and we are going to make the most of it. 

Thank you all for following us.

Thank you Baylor Missions.

Sic'em Jazz 

and

Tchau  (Chow)