I met Liam and J-Mike for breakfast and we headed out together to go and have a look at the Amazon Theatre. I really enjoyed the guided trip and learned a lot of the history of Manaus from this. I also got to hear the choir practising for a concert the following day.
We then returned to the hotel as they had a flight to catch at midday. While waiting for them in the lobby I met a local Brazilian from Sao Paulo. He had a very cool story for me which lifted me up a little. I'd been feeling a little blue as all my travel companions were moving on and I was left alone. Not something I am afraid of but I did get quite attached to James and Mianne and now I was left with no one. The story goes as such:
Cesar had come up from Sao Paulo (the family home) to visit his brother who was based in Manaus some years ago. While visiting his brother Cesar met this lady who he befriended. Over the years one thing led to another and they started having a long distance relationship. Have a look on a map of Brazil and see how far apart these two cities are. That is a proper long distance relationship.
So after maintaining this relationship for a few more years Cesar decided it was time to formalise their relationship. When I met Cesar he had just gotten the 'nod of approval' from her father the night before.
Cesar's good fortune put me in a better mood and I was ready to face the day. I then bade Liam and J-Mike cheers and the best of luck. I was off to go do some emailing.
The first inet cafe I went into is across the road from my hotel but also the shittiest inet cafe I have ever been in (even worse than the one I'm in now). After waiting five minutes for my gmail to open this girl walks in, sits down, three seconds later declares this inet cafe a crock of shit (my words but you get the picture) and storms out. I decided to follow suite.
Outside I happened to walk past her and informed her there was a better inet cafe around the corner. Straight away she picked up my accent and she knew I was a South African. It wasn't hard to figure her for an American. We started chatting and I found out she had been working in Guyana for a few months. Wonderful I though, I could get some advice from her on the lay of the land.
"Why on earth do you want to go there? Don't go!" was her response to my enquiry. This put serious doubt in my mind and unsettled me a tad. But, introductions made, we spent the rest of the afternoon looking for and going to a museum on Indians. Luckily, the more time I spent with Monique and the more I heard her talk about Guyana the more I wanted to go. So I stayed another night in Manaus so we could catch a night bus to Boa Vista together.
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