Crossing the River (13 page)

        
   
to shout “
Salve
” and take off my flip-flops when entering the capoeira salon.

          
   
to kneel down, touch the
berimbau
, and cross myself (the first situation in which I've ever felt the need) before entering the capoeira ring to spar.

          
   
to throw toilet paper into the wastepaper bin, not down the toilet.

          
   
to never eat with my fingers—to eat French fries with toothpicks, cake with a napkin, pizza with a fork.

          
   
to knock on the door of the blue house advertising “
Trufas
” and wait while the shirtless man in shorts gets up off the couch and disappears into the back room to reappear with delicious, homemade chocolate truffles.

          
   
to sit down by our back window at five thirty to enjoy the sunset over the river with a
caipirinha
and watch the feasting swallows give way to bats as the land darkens and the warm lights of Bairro Vermelho appear against a still pale sky.

          
   
to relax.