Brazilians and Ivete Sangalo...love life

Ahhhhhhhh….El Viajero hostel in Punta del Este…

Let’s just say I definitely didn’t feel the CHS (Lonely Planets acronym for cool hostel syndrome) in El Viajero, but I did feel the Portuguese.

On the first night there, while Shoni and Mayber were sleeping, Lena and I hogged the computers in the lobby and surfed the net. All of a sudden some Brazilian guys sat behind us on the couches and started playing their guitars and belting out Portuguese music…and that’s essentially when I fell in love. To me there is nothing like Portuguese music…I simply love it…ahhhh just love it!! I have to admit Lena and I were really unclear of what was happening and unsure of what to do next. Should we talk to them? Should we leave? Should we turn around our chairs to face them? After all we were only down there for the internet…Honestly, it was 2am and we were exhausted so we decided to do a mix of all 3 but emphasized on leaving to go to sleep.

The next night, everyone in the hostel hung out in the lobby. Of course the group of Brazilians spotted us and once again parked their guitars and sat down near us. I started talking to them and asked if they know who Ivete Sangalo is? (Well, obviously they do because she’s only one of the most popular singers in Brazil…and she’s beautiful!) I told them how my family is obsessed with her, and simply putting it- how my Dad loves her. (It was a big day in my house when my Dad moved on from Gloria Estefan and onto Ivete Sangalo…my Mom is still rooting for Gloria...) Anyways, the guys started laughing and I knew I had an in…I asked them if they could sing “Poeira” for me because it is one of my favorite songs from Ivete and they said yes! O.M.G. is all I can say…this sounds so corny but I almost started crying. The guy who sang and played the guitar replicated the song as if he was the male version of Ivete. It was unreal. And what got me even more was how he later sang “Across the Universe” by the Beatles…seriously? Did they know that is also one of my favorite songs? That night couldn’t have gotten any better…once again---I was in love with the music, my life, and the Brazilians!

Wait---best part of the story is that I video-skyped my father today, and as soon as I mentioned the name “Ivete Sangalo” to him, he positioned his ear so close to the computer it was as if I told him I physically met Ivete!! Oh, Dad, how I love you!!

Mom, watch out for Ivete…