I learned two things today.

1: Communication is key. I thought I was meeting a bunch of friends Downtown so we could go inline skating on the sea wall. Being that I had an appointment to make at 1:30PM and it would take me 40 minutes to blade down there. I called at 11:45 and they said that they'd be there in fifteen minutes. I go get pizza while waiting. I call back at 12:30 and tell them that I'm leaving to meet them later.

Forty minutes wasted because they were under the impression that I was going to meet up with them following my appointment. Given the rate at which they rollerblade, I was able to catch up fairly quickly.

This is either the result of me not being clear of my intentions or someone not listening, but if both of us had a clear idea of what was going on, I wouldn't be sitting on my ass next to a statue of an old woman on a park bench waiting for my friends to not show up.

We did meet up later on, but first...

2: I am either way too lazy, or way too arrogant. I managed to screw up at that appointment. That appointment was my belt testing for the upcoming batizado for my Capoeira studio. Instructor Negao was listing off moves that I knew how to do, but I didn't know the names for them. Worst of all, I was asked to sing a Capoeira song in Portuguese. It went something like this...

Sinha mandou me pegar / Na ladeira do Pia / Os feitores de sinha / Nao conseguem me agarrar

Sou um negro quilombola / Angoleiro do Pia...

[Ten second pause as I spontaneously forget the next line]

So heranca de Zumbi / Ganga Zumba e Oxala

Luto pela liberdade

[another ten second pause as I try to remember the last two lines of the verse]

Nao sou peca pra sinha
Camara

E Angola e / E Angola a / E Angola e Capoeira / E Angola

Obviously, I need more practice (which my instructor points out). Understandably, I get marked much harsher on this part, because if I am to be leading the singing in the roda, I can't really stumble over the lines like that. The second part, where I'm asked to sing two more Capoeira songs goes a little more smoothly.

Sai sai Catarina / sai a do mer venha ver Idalina / Sai sai Catarina / Catarina venha ver / Sai sai Catarina

Zum-zum-zum Capoeira mata um (zum-zum-zum Capoeira mata um) [4x] / hoje tem maribom (e zum-zum-zum) [4x].

The general Q&A (general history of Capoeira, concepts and philosphy, my place in the group, etc.) I do a little better on. But, I know that I could have done signifcantly better, considering that I actually knew all the answers that I ended up blowing.

I really don't have anyone I can blame for that, nor do I wish to. But it's still a humbling experience to have your ass handed to you. That happens to me more often than not, which makes me one of the more humble folks around.

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