an Amazing last concert

Since the internet isn't behaving, I'll have to write this offline and post later.

Today was another excellent day; our final concert was the best attended and most enthusiastically interactive of them all,... which is saying a lot! We performed at a nearby church, over by Ipanema I believe... not sure. We arrived early to rehearse at 4pm because they had a daily Mass at 5pm. We practiced the beginnings of most of the pieces and got ovations after every one from the growing crowd. After spending an hour or two waiting, we went on at 7pm to a nearly packed house. They gave us standing ovations at least 3 or 4 times, most notably after Muie Rendera, for which many of the crowd sung along from the very beginning. We did it again for an encore at the end, and there wasn't a person sitting 3 seconds after we were done!

God has thus far blessed the trip, both to the group and to myself personally. There has been a very open atmosphere, no cliqing, and good times all around. The weather has been amazing, and our tour guides have been the best of any kind I've ever seen, by FAR. Amiable, well-prepared, easy to converse with, and with enough knowledge to exhaust every question.

We found out tonight over dinner just how dangerous of a place we were in when visiting the Casa de Santa Ana in Cidade de Deus; Victor described his interaction with the lookouts [it, like most slums around Rio and other cities, are centers of the drug trade]. Apparently when they were informed of our intentions, they gave us space... you don't mess with us we won't mess with you kind of thing; apparently there is honor even among thieves, so to speak. The hand of God was around us like a blanket, so much so that many of us were completely oblivious to it. It makes the work of those people in Santa Ana that much more impressive and praiseworthy, because of the circumstances in which they perform their labor of love.

The quintet of singers that performed for us the day before did make it to the concert, though we accidentally told them it was at 8pm rather than 7pm, but they made it for the good parts. It was exhilarating to see them actually come; perhaps sometime I'll be able to visit Argentina... eventually. We've got an e-mail address for contact... God knows.

Tomorrow I'm going on the Jeep tour through the jungle... should be quite a ride, and then we've got an afternoon free, so I'll FINALLY get to go to the Copacabana beach and swim. W00t!