Day 39 through 49 - Lima, Campinas/Paulinia, São Paulo, Poços de Caldas, Ribeirão Preto, Araracuara

HOKAY!  Sorry everyone for the EXTREME delay in posting.  I had a mixture of the usual: limited internet access on top of being ridiculously busy.  We have officially reached the point of the tour where any free half-hour is Emma's nap time.  Every bus ride- I am passed out.  It's pretty much the same for the musicians too, but they are a lot better at recuperating apparently.  I think performing helps them gain energy, especially after a responsive audience.  For example, the audience in Poços de Caldas was a very casual young audience, but they absolutely LOVED the orchestra and were whistling at them and everything.  Well, on the bus ride back to the hotel afterward, everyone was so hyper that the whole bus had a huge pillow fight with all of the pillows that are provided in each seat for the long bus rides...  It was hillarious.

I have been having an absolute blast though.  I got to have my birthday in Brazil, which was pretty amazing.  It was really nice being around so many people for my birthday- I had "Happy Birthday" sung to me SO MANY times, and in three different languages!!  hahahaha.  Brazil is pretty cool.  The language sounds really funny to me, with all of the "oau" and "sch" sounds.  It sounds like French with a Boston accent to me. Hahahahaha.

In Ribeirão Preto I got to meet friends of Patrick and my friend Jay from Seattle.  He studied abroad in Brazil, and the person he stayed with, who is basically a brother to him, happened to live in Ribeirão Preto, so I invited him to our concert and he was able to make it!  He brought a friend from his Residency (he is a neurologist....  FANCY!) and we were able to go to this famous pub next door called Pinguim, which is a very old establishment that is well known for their draft beer (or Chopp).  It was really cool getting to meet people that I almost felt like I knew!  Friend of a friend of my husband.... and his friend.  Hahahaha.  Still, it's a pretty small world when you can meet people in the opposite hemisphere that know the same person as you.  And the girl is actually going to be traveling to John's Hopkins in October, so I will have to let my Aunt Kathy who works there know to look her up, as I'm sure they are dealing in the same departments.  I think she is in rehabilitation, which has to be related to neurology somehow...

Anywho, this is a bit of a lame post, but it has been so hard to get anything up here at all, that I think we will just have to call it good.  Meanwhile, there are photos up on Picasa, as usual:

Colombia:
http://picasaweb.google.com/emma.yantis/YOATourColombia?feat=directlink

Ecuador:
http://picasaweb.google.com/emma.yantis/YOATourEcuador?feat=directlink

Peru:
http://picasaweb.google.com/emma.yantis/YOATourPeru?feat=directlink

Brazil:
http://picasaweb.google.com/emma.yantis/YOATourBrazil?feat=directlink