Sao Joao - Gym Party on the Roof Top!

As everyday I went to the hotel's gym yesterday night and did my usual work out. When I arrived though, the girl at the entrance was wearing ponytails left and right behind her ear and had her cheeks colored bright red and with painted freckles... Upstairs in the gym, the room was decorated and outside on the terrace seats and tables were prepared. However, noone was there yet.

So I started my workout and did not wonder anymore about it. When I finished an hour later and wanted to leave, one of the trainers told me to come back up later for the party. I am "just" a hotelguest, who is thus allowed to use part of the gym for free without really being a memeber, but Daniela said "You are a hotelguest, right? Well, you are here all the time, so you should come up anyways to get to know some more of the 'students'"
I thought that was very nice, especially since they new that, living in a hotel for nearly two weeks and not knowing the traditional brazilian food eaten on Sao Joao's day, they knew I couldnt really add anything to the potluck dinner.
So of course I went upstairs later and met some really nice people. I was introduced to everyone as "This is Anna, she comes from Germany and will live in Goiania" and everyone was really interested in what I do here, and how I got here, and, and, and... :)

My hour on the treadmill was quickly cancelled out by all the food I just had to try (Anna, do you know this? No? Oh, you have to try it, its really good! ... Oh, look, something new, its traditional, you should try it! ... No, but seriously, I made those and all my friends say I make the best! You really need to take some! ...)
But I must admit, it was all very tasty. Food here is heavy, but very tasty.

Later on, two guys that work out in this gym brought a guitar and sang live Sertaneja Music, which is the traditional music here... country music, that is. Most of the party guests were dressed up for this day, with plaid dresses, strawheats or plaid shirts and cowboy hats, and knew how to sing a long.
I did not really get into the music, it is not bad, but really, a little whiney... (For the Germans among you readers: The singing is a bit like Xavier Naidoo in portugese, although the music is a little happier)

Most of the evening I spent talking to Cynthia (who introduced me to many people and showed me around), Junio (the personal trainer of the gym who also prefers rock music over sertaneja and who would tell everyone that I seriously jumped into the non-heated pool at night) and Diego, Pedro and another guy whose name I unfortunately forgot (who are the youngest members of the gym with 20 to 23 years). They were very interested in what I do and how I like it here, and of course they wanted to talk about soccer ("Bodouskee", "Swinestygar", and "Balakke" meaning Podolski, Schweinsteiger and Ballack). Fortunately I learned a lot about soccer through my friends, the worldcup and the eurocup so I was actually able to talk to them about some things.

All in all I had a lot of fun, but one last random story stays to be told:
While we were all partying outside on the roof's terrace there was one guy still exercising inside and he was the reason why Diego and Pedro did not get to work out, they were just too irritated... It was a skinny, longhaired, tall guy in a white muscle shirt and colorful '90s shorts. Shorts, meaning short. Really short.
Do you know the episode of FRIENDS where Phoebe has this super active and sporty boyfriend? No? Well, let me tell you: Phoebe's boyfriend in that episode and the guy yesterday have two things in common: The very short shorts, and the fact that they are not wearing any underwear... Like the friends, we could have needed a Gunther too yesterday night, to tell the guy that he is showing way too much skin.