Day 2, Monday - Meeting Frosty and Street Fair in Melaque

The next morning, after listening and participating in the morning Net, Frosty came over and we jammed for about an hour, trading songs and getting a feel for each other's musical styles. Even though it was only 10:30 am, I knew a kindred soul was about when Frosty accepted my offer of an early morning beer! Hey, it was hot!

Then, after a lunch on the boat and a siesta, we took the water taxi in and met Bill and Joanne at our agreed upon rendezvous. They showed us the high points of the town as we walked first to a hotel to pick up some of their friends, and then to the bus station to catch the bus to Melaque. A short 15 minute bus ride later, we got off in Melaque and were turned on to another short tour of that town as Bill directed us to Ava's, where the benefit concert was to be.

Since it was still early, and the bands had not yet started playing, after a quick beer, we excused ourselves, got our hands stamped and left the concert to go walk around town. We cut over to the ocean front and walked up the beach, looking at seashells and looking for pieces of beach glass. Then we cut back into town where we ran into some more of our friends, Patrick, Gerta, and Deneb, from EELYOS, whom we had met in Bahia Santa Maria, a few months earlier.

When we finally made it back to the concert, the first bands were playing, and wouldn't you know it, there was Bill up on stage at the drumset! Can't leave that boy alone for a minute! He said later that he went up and asked if they had a drummer, they said no, so he just sat down and started playing. He sounded really good, as did the band he played with and all of the subsequent bands that played that evening.

By about the third band, and the fourth beer, after we had some food, I started ordering rounds of Tequila. Then Bill's friend, Monty, "raised me" and ordered a round of his own. Before you know it, we were feeling pretty darned good. By the time we left, we were all pretty joyous, everyone was dancing and drinking and having a great time. I hardly remember the taxi drive back to Barra, but I have pictures to prove that I was there!

I remember that once back in Barra, Bill dragged us to a couple of other bars, where we met some really nice people, though I will never remember their names. We also stopped at a discoteque where the girls danced while Bill and I shot a couple of games of pool. I found out the next day, on the morning VHF net, which I could barely wake up for, that at one of the stops, that Bill had arranged a gig for us (Me, Him, and Frosty), the next evening!