Adventures in Belo Horizonte

Yesterday was an interesting day.  I got up to take a shower, and as I was leaning over to pick up a pair of pants, I threw out my back.  How can picking up a pair of pants throw out your back? you might ask.  Great question.  I cannot say I have an answer to that question, but I can testify that it is in deed possible.  I have broken a toe, both wrists, and three fingers in my 22 years of life and never cried at any of them, but I think a tear or two dropped yesterday... I was in pain!  

The ibuprofen began immediately, along with alternating ice and heat.  I missed lunch due to the pain.  But early afternoon I went for a walk, which helped.  

Around 4pm, we went to professor Carlos Gom's house... wow!  He has his own jungle in the middle of Belo Horizonte - plants that produce mango, Persian lime (whatever that is, right?), coffee, passion fruit, oranges, lemons, myrrh, you name it.  Not to mention it was just a beautiful house.  We talked some business and got a few more "leads" for our research and then were off to the ballet.

A group called Corpo ("body") was performing at the university.  The venue was outside in a big area of grass, and it was free.  That was quite a deal considering tickets are usually $60 and up!  It was an amazing performance!  There were two pieces presented with an intermission in between.  The first was very modern - the most interesting ballet performance I had ever seen.  The second was more folkloric - also a spectacular performance!

I thought sitting for two hours on the grass would kill my back, but it actually helped so much!  By the end of the day, I was feeling considerably better - to my surprise.  I was afraid it would be "2 steps forward, 1 step back," though, waking up hurting all over again today.  But I am actually feeling even better today!  

And we're off!  until next time...