I met the first appointment of the day near her home in Itapoa. The two of us went to a nearby bar/restaurant with a view of the beach. She was 34 and very pretty, though also very insecure. She had received my letter as well as HUNDREDS of other over 3 years. Nevertheless, I was the first man to come and visit her in person. We had an enjoyable conversation. I learned about videoke, or video karaoke, The singers read the English song lyrics from the screen. She was religious but not evangelical. She showed me many pictures of herself, some old some recent. She was slim when I met her, but she said she had lost weight in recent months and her pictures confirmed that. She talked about the promises that many men made in their letters and the significant number written in languages she doesn't understand. She got letters from everywhere in the world. She was light-skinned, with smallish breasts, a flat stomach, and slim hips, a boyish figure that I am less attracted to. She was heavily made up by Brazilian standards and was wearing an attention-getting outfit. She asked what type of woman I was attracted to. I evaded giving a clear direct answer as much as I could, but she ended up convinced that I didn't think she was pretty. I didn't think we were compatible for marriage but I liked her. She was a very nice person with a gentle, if vulnerable, disposition. We agreed to keep in contact.
I was to meet the previous evening's no-show in the late afternoon at a large shopping center called Shopping Iguatemi in the central north part of the city. I was early so I used the time to explore the Rodoviaria across the street from the mall. It was from there that I would leave for Aracaju the next morning. The Rodoviaria is the inter-city bus terminal. For those who have been to New York City, it is the equivalent of the Port Authority Bus Terminal, just as large, and just as busy. There were 97 ticket windows and buses went all over the country. Each bus line appears to have a monopoly on the direct route between any 2 cities. I could find no alternatives to the bus line with the direct route between Salvador and Aracaju, even though many other bus lines pass through these 2 cities. On clerk told me that their bus to Recife does stop in Aracaju but only for a meal. It doesn't pick up or discharge any passengers. The cost of the tickets was $R40 each way.
I crossed the street and wandered around the mall until meeting time. However, it was now my turn to be a no-show. We were supposed to meet by the Banco do Brasil. But I misunderstood a security guard's direction that indicated there were TWO Banco do Brasil branches in the mall. Of course, I went to the wrong one and didn't discover my error until I went looking for a phone to call her. I apologized for the confusion and we rescheduled for Monday.
The next woman I was meeting in the early evening was not strictly a LE lady. Her sister had her picture on the site and I had written to her. It was the sister who replied to my letter, saying that she was also a teacher, interested in pursuing a master's degree outside Brazil, and asking if I could help her with information about programs in the US. We met for dinner in Barra. She brought her sister, the LE lady with her. The LE lady was even prettier in person than on her photo and her photo was very flattering. The sister was quite plain, though not especially unattractive. My biggest problem as that they had strong northeast accents that I found difficult to understand. We talked about a variety of things. the sister was quite intelligent and a very nice person. The LE lady listened more than she talked. A friend of the LE lady passed by the restaurant, saw us, and joined us for a while. This friend was VERY pretty, though very petite, too much so for my taste. She was dating, or had recently dated, a guy in the French military so she spoke French and did so quite well. The evening was enjoyable enough for me not to regret it. The sole negative was that the LE lady came across to me as a little weird. The sister made jokes about her being crazy (talks to herself) which triggered mini arguments between the two of them. I am keeping in touch with the sister as a friend.
