Birthdays and Goodbyes in Ribeira

A double-barreled party at the ICBIE on the night of 30 May ’08: barbecue, guitar, jolliness and a lot of chatter, in many different and grotesquely mixed up languages, to send Marlene off on her trip (she’s already in Italy, by now) and to celebrate Marcella’s birthday (and we’ll diplomatically leave the number unsaid…).

How can you describe the vibe of such an occasion? You can’t do it, except to say that geography is annihilated, language is a superfluous detail, and the differences only enrich the mix. Time passed at a pace that was laid out by the sound of Juraçi’s guitar and the rhythm of Mary’s Timbale, upon which we all…some better and some worse, tried our hands as makeshift percussionists, and therefore were able to feel a bit like artists, forging the beauty of an evening like that. A lovely evening, tranquil and full, like many others here, for which I’d like to say a few thankyou’s and comments:

First of all, thanks to Jairo, for cooking the barbecue… otherwise, with empty stomachs, no one would have had any fun.

Thanks again, as always, to MAMA LOU, for her famous cooking.

Thanks to Juraçi, for the guitar, and to Marlene, for the classy and emotional singing that hypnotized us all.

Thanks for the boys and girls of the Italian class, for their beautiful messages in Italian, written on Marcella’s card (tastefully designed by Amalia, with recycled materials).

Thanks to Jodson for mixing up the great capirinhas (Marlene….não é??????)

Thanks to everyone for the party, the precious smiles and laughs.

And now we can turn to the birthday girl:

Thanks to Marcella, for her universally recognized dedication, and compliments to:

her great boyfriend…who added a splash of color to our table by sending a bunch of flowers from Italy. (Because we have to confess that, in fact, Marcella put on the party only in order to show off the flowers; and we have to say it because…if Italian men are romantic cavaliers…as far as I’m concerned…when I’m traveling around the world… I like to brag about it)

Compliments for the warmth that everyone showed her (because she clearly knows how to earn it)

And compliments (together with Cinzia) for giving such a genuine demonstration of the Pizzica Salentina dance, knocking the table I was sitting on and launching me into space.

And finally, compliments for having read (from the card) the name Bogus instead of Bigode. Too bad that Bigode’s signature (I promise you it’s perfectly readable) was right under his original sketch of his trademark FROG! AS IF BOGUS IS FAMOUS FOR HIS FROG….PAINTED ON WALLS ALL OVER THE CITY!!!!!

… come and join us… because we’re happy here….

Giovanna