Samba Over the Rainbow

Monday, February 10, 2025

Brazil is about the same size as the Lower 48 states of the US. Brazil is the seventh largest country in the world, with a population of 212 million, compared to 335 million for the US.

But we are not there yet. We are still at sea, somewhere in the Caribbean. A whole day lies ahead of us, with no chores or obligations, so we will continue our Portuguese Immersion.

First up was another Portuguese language class. I think languages are lots of fun, so this is even better than blogging (and I am falling behind even further).

Lerio, from “Oi, Brasil,” presented Brazil Unveiled, a Deep Dive into Biomes and Cultures. It was like a short Ted Talk.

Of course we had to attend “Learn to Samba.”  Ken worked on swagger, and he looked pretty cool wearing a samba hat. We have to try to find one for him.

Maybe a hat like this. How would we get it home?

The samba is a fun dance because the music is so lively and there really are no specific steps. You just do it. Looking good doing it is a little bit harder. I worked on my hips and my ending pose. I am not yet ready to perform in public, so don’t ask for photos or video.

We have been trying to get a standing dinner reservation for our group of six for 6:00 or 6:30 pm. What it boils down to is that “anytime dining” means you can dine at 5:00 pm or at 7:30 pm. If you want any other time, you will have to wait for it every night, as you can’t get a standing reservation for any other time. We are going to try 5:00 pm, but it is too early. The samba class runs from 4 to 5. Many other classes and tours don’t finish until 5:00 or 5:30. There is no time to have a nice cocktail before dinner. This is frustrating, but we will try it.

The show tonight was a pair of male singers called The Showmen. It wasn’t my type of music. 

It sounds like I am not happy, but I am really quite pleased with this cruise overall. We have a fairly calm cohort of passengers and the ship has a great vibe.

Last night I forgot to mention the surprise when we came back to our room after dinner.

Tonight we had this napping doggie waiting for us.

Today’s fabric is brazilian samba, by angelameijer for Spoonflower.

The answers are False, True.