Ivete

On our first day in Fortaleza Mads saw a billboard for an Ivete Sangalo concert for the coming Saturday. Mads was super excited because she loves Ivete. She had gone to one of her concerts three years ago in Rio and had an amazing time. Ivete is one of the most popular musicians of Brazilian Axé (music from the state of Bahia). We were able to get tickets for R$50 (~USD$27). We were given these shirts called "abadás" which we were required to wear in order to enter the event. Celina (our "Fortaleza mother") took us to her seamstress who turned the ugly over-sized tanks into cute little tops.


The concert was suc h a fun experience!! Ratherthan performing on a stage, Ivete played on top of a trio elétrico - a semi-truck equipped with a high power sound system and the musicians on top of it, playing for the crowd below. The truck started outside the concert grounds and made its way into the center of a huge outdoor plaza. As it drove, the crowd followed behind/beside screaming, dancing and signing. Once in the center, everyone crowded around the truck signing and jumping around the entire time while Ivete put on one of the most high-energy shows I've ever seen. We didn't bring a camera as we didn't want it to get stolen, but I have included some pictures I found online from some of her other shows so you can get an idea.

It was such a great night until Mads tripped and fell onto the ground. It was so crowded I needed to have some random guys help me pick her up. Mads attempted to play it off as if she wasn't too hurt and tried to continue enjoying the show. However after a few minutes she could not pretend any longer that it did not hurt and we had to leave. We decided as the show was pretty much over anyways as Ivete had already been playing for over two hours. Outside the venue several taxi men waited. I tried to get a few to carry Mads to the car, but no one would. I am not sure if it was because they were too lazy/weak or because they couldn't understand what I was saying. My guess is it was probably a little of both, but more of the former than the latter.

The next morning we woke up to find Mads ankle completely swollen and black and blue. Sure enough she'd sprained it pretty badly. Celina and her husband Rodrigo took charge to make sure Mads was well taken care of. They wrapped her foot in an ACE bandage and made her walk around in a boot with crutches all day. Anytime she tried to walk without either of the two they would start yelling at her. They even made her sleep in the boot!

It is all pretty funny but also sad. It's kind of put a damper on the end of our Fortaleza trip. Mads was unable to enjoy the fun surf at the beach and had to sit sedentary with her leg elevated during the entire Brazil v. Ivory Coast game. Regardless, we were able to enjoy the day as best we could and the win was definitely a silver lining to her day. GO BRASIL!!!!!

Hopefully her foot will heal quickly as we're about to go on two trips to Jericoacoara- a beautiful beach town about 4 hours outside Fortaleza and Fernando de Noronha- these beautiful islands off the coast. It will definitely suck of she can't play with me.