19 September

At the beach, two of We Students began to attempt handstands and the like, and it prompted the arrival of a boy, whose age we guessed to be about 13 or so, came up, comparing/teaching technique and showing off. A beach vendor he (presumably) was acquainted with stopped by to exhibit his standing 360 degree back-flip. The kid spent another 15-30 minutes doing things to impress us. He moved on to the hand-stand-from-kneeling-position (easier than it at first seems,) then moved on to doing his handstands and cartwheels in the ocean, jumping backwards into the ocean, and finally throwing (or having us throw) abandoned aluminum cans full of sand out into the sea, waiting for them to sink, and then swimming out to retrieve them. It felt very much as though the three of us at the beach were his parents and he was constantly looking to us and shouting out “Watch This!” It was a fun, very human, very uncynical experience that didn't end with “and this establishes an agreement between us in which you give me money for being charmingly local!” (This is apparently what happens when you take a picture of a woman standing about in traditional baiana dress) or “I'm going to cut you!” His name was Pedro. Charming.

After Capoeira today (three days in a row is exhausting), a guy who has repeatedly come in near the end of each session to enter the roda with the more advanced players, and who uses a very odd style, said Hare Krishna to me three or four times, each one accompanied by a high-five. He himself did not have the traditional Hare Krishna shaved head (though neither did George Harrison). Is he a Hare Krishna? Does the combination of longer hair and headbands make him think of Hare Krishna? Is he certifiably insane? These are the questions that hover about like impossibly lazy birds.