Next Friday there will be a brass concert in Joinville, which is about 40 minutes away, so we will get together with the Wisconsin and Michican brass quintets to play Dahl possibly and other brass ensemble pieces. The other Americans who are here are nice, but I love the brass people the most, as usual.

My friends in band are named Bruno, Carlos,Sabrina, Laticia, Karl Muller, Naber, and two I can't remember. They are all trumpet players of course; I don't make friends with anyone else. My friends have taught me some Brasilian things:
espigas=corn
which I confused with
inspiras=inhale
which the conductor was trying to tell us to do
expiras=exhale
cupo=cup
Yamaha is pronounced Iamaha which the emphasis on the ma. It's actually really fun to say, I recommend it.
I'm also learning to count during rests.
The beers I've had here are called Brahma and Skol, but they weren't from the tap. Caipirinias are the sugary national drink that I mentioned before. They are good as are the beers, but Caipirinias are very sweet and strong.
We eat in the festival's cafeteria every day for lunch because it is free! The food in the cafeteria is a little strange. I doubt it's a good representation of Brasilian food, but they seem to like it, so I'm not sure. There is always various pickled vegetables (no unpickled vegetables), rice, potatoes (mashed or boiled and buttered), and meat. The beef is tough but spiced well, the chicked is gross, and I didn't try the fish because it was not recommended to me. We had a sausage plate at an outdoor cafe and it was delicious except for the mysterious little rubbery bits.