Dinner and a Show

Yesterday we went sight-seeing around a small town and one of Maceio's famous beaches. One of our stops along the way was a restaurant called Bar do Bahia. As soon as we pulled up I noticed squirrels in the trees?? I couldn't believe it, so it was the first place I went - around the restaurant to the chicken and cat-infested "yard" in between the restaurant and the river it overlooked. Chickens and cats, who would have thought that was a good combination... Anyway, sure enough, there they were - little fuzzy things scampering around the trees... although the more I watched the more I thought the tail was too long, and the head was the wrong size, and sometimes they sat rather than stood on all 4's... so I asked my tour guide,Ms. Luiza, and low and behold, they were MONKEYS!!! I'm not kidding - they were these cute, squirrel-sized monkeysscampering around the branches in the trees!! I was ecstatic, think Nolan in the aviation museum, mouth open, eyes bright, I might have been shaking a little bit. Luiza looked at me for a little bit and then said, "Yah, but they bite," and walked on into the restaurant. I tried to get pictures, but turns out they are not paparazzi-friendly little guys. They started yelling, or squeaking, and ranfrom tree to tree until I was too far for a descent picture. The rest of the meal I think I spent looking in thetree-tops rather than enjoying the view of the river.

The restaurant's owner was around and he would move from table to table and hang out with the patrons. He was this charismatic guy who would chat it up with us and when we needed something he would shout, "Menino! Colher!" (boy! spoon!), or "Menino! Coco!" (boy! coconut!). It reminded me of the movie "Behind the sun" where you never hear the boy's name,

only not as sad. Turns out the owner's nickname was "Bahia," and he seemed to think the name of the restaurant (Bar do Bahia) was pretty funny, and it was pretty funny that he thought it was pretty funny... When he found out I was american, a sparkle showed up in his eye, and as he gestured towards the wall he told me that I had to tell his cousin hello for him when I got back. See the pictures below.

I'm compiling a "Things you'd never see in the US" list, and this Bar has made the cut: In the US you'll never see the owner of a restaurant go catch the food (in this case, "Cidi," a type of

crab), prepare it and then serve it to you!! It's like dinner and a show!