Tranqilo

I got in the water! I have spent the last few days at a restaurant on the beach reading and swimming and relaxing. The restaurant is literally on the beach, as in the tables and chairs are in the sand 10 feet from the water, and they play music that sounds like Jimmy Buffet in Portuguese and cook fresh shrimp and fish caught only minutes before. Only 20 yards into the water are dozens of sailboats and rowboats which people can easily swim to and take a break from the water if need be.
The town itself is lovely and quaint, sort of a combination of Santa Barbara, California, Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, and Bend, Oregon. Two cruise ships have docked since I´ve been here, and tourists and locals alike line the cobblestone streets venturing into shops and restaurants that, while expensive by Brazilian standards, are still reasonably priced. Men walk around in little more than board shorts or speedos carrying beer and women don sarongs and bikinis flitting from boutique to boutique. Maybe because I´m traveling alone I notice this more, but Buzios is definitely a couple and family-friendly town. I walked in to have dinner last night at a seafood place and they proceeded to take me to a table that seated six people. I told them it was too big, and found a nice two-person table in the corner instead, just big enough for me and my purse.
Yesterday I made friends with some Brazilian fishermen and lifeguards who invited me to sit with them even though only one of them spoke minimal English and the others spoke none at all. But through hand gestures (not rude ones, come on), one guy´s broken English and my broken Portuguese, we were able to establish a friendship. Once again they were all surprised that I was traveling alone and impressed that I played soccer at university. They asked me how I liked Buzios compared to Rio, and I said it was much more quiet and peaceful, and the word they repeated over and over about it was ´tranqilo´, so I´ve adopted that word for this weekend. It also might be ´indulge´since that seems to be all I´m doing; I mean, really, who eats empanadas vanilla ice cream with a fudge-filled brownie for breakfast?