Four LE women were able to meet me on Thursday. I met the first in the early afternoon at my hotel. She came with a friend and we went to a nearby beach to talk. She was 28, not gorgeous but far from unattractive. She had been on the LE site for about 3 years and had received 50-60 letters, including mine. I was the first man to meet her in person. We talked about our relationship goals, my impression of Brazil, what she knew about the US, her feelings about Brazilian men, past relationships, and our values. We were fairly compatible on a wide range of issues, or at least not obviously incompatible. I considered that a big plus. Half way through our 2 hour conversation the friend started to assert herself. She offered her own opinions, asked her own questions of me, and told her own story of a failed marriage to a Brazilian man due to his infidelity. The LE lady did more listening than talking during this time. I couldn't tell whether the friend's activeness was a sign of approval and endorsement or the passiveness of the LE lady a sign of disinterest. I have since written to her stating that I would like to continue corresponding with her and see her again the next time I visit Salvador. We'll see what develops.
I met the second LE lady in the late afternoon in Pelourinho. She came with her sister. She was 26 years old and had a very beautiful face. Unfortunately, her body was plump, shapeless, and unappealing to me. I felt no physical chemistry toward her. Her sister had the same type of body and a plain face. We talked for a while in a small restaurant. Mine was only the third letter she received over the several months since she registered with LE. She wasn't serious about marrying a foreign man. She had joined LE as a joke and knew nothing about it. I had printed out photos of the ladies I was meeting and brought them with me to each meeting. It was the first time she had seen herself as LE was portraying her on their website.I asked if they would like to see the site and explained that most of their photos are provocative and some are topless. This caused them some concern. They were very religious, evangelical Baptists, quite conservative, and modest. This was reflected in their concern over appearances and the image of Brazilian women abroad. We went to a nearby Internet cafe and looked at the LE site together. They were quite surprised by the photos and she said she would not have registered with LE if she had seen the site beforehand. I was now late for my third appointment so I thanked the ladies for meeting me and headed back to the hotel.
The third LE lady was to meet me at my hotel in the early evening. I had called the hotel to tell her I was running late and ask her to wait for me. She did. She was 26 and had come by herself. She said that she did not receive my original letter and photo so she agreed to see me solely on the basis of my postcard. She was not beautiful and dressed plainly. She had a somewhat plain face, but her medium brown skin was unblemished. In addition she face was radiant when she smiled because she smiled with her eyes and cheeks as well as her mouth. (Her teeth were healthy and she had all of them.) Her body was not nearly as sexy as the jinatera or the backpacker from the ferry, but she had all the feminine curves I like and very few of the ones I don't like. Her breasts were proportional to her frame, her waist was slim and it curved nicely into prominent hips. She had a bit of a potbelly but it was not large enough to be objectionable. The dress she was wearing was not sexy or revealing, but it flattered her body, showing off the curves of her breasts, waist, hips, and legs. Her voice was easy on the ears.
On my first trip to Brazil, I was struck by how open and comfortable most women seemed with their bodies and their sexuality. This woman exuded that same attitude. She seemed very comfortable with her body, with men admiring it and looking at her sexually. (Or maybe she was just oblivious.) Why am I making such a big deal about the physical her? Because we often focus on what turns us on about a person even though a relationship fails to develop because of what turns us off about a person. Despite there being virtually nothing outstanding in a positive sense about this woman to physically attract me to her, there also nothing outstanding in a negative sense to repel me from this woman. For me at least, sometimes the lack of any negatives is itself a big positive. That was the case with this woman. As we talked I felt an increasing amount of physical chemistry toward her. The content of our conversation revealed that we had similar attitudes and values towards family. She had received 10 letters in the year or so she had been with LE, but 5 of those men, excluding me, had come to visit her in person. Unfortunately, one of them, an American from a southwest state, had moved her heart and they were now seriously involved. She was religious, a Mormon, and needed a religious man for a husband, preferably also Mormon. Her probably future fiance was Mormon and of Latin heritage. Her being already taken explained the sole negative I felt while talking to her, the lack of extensive eye contact. I asked why she agreed to meet me if she was seriously involved with someone. "Curiosity." Still, I was glad I met her.
The fourth LE lady was a no-show. Her explanation was that she forgot my hotel information at home. She was coming to meet me directly from work. She went to the Barra area by mistake and couldn't find her way to me. I accepted it on its face and we rescheduled for Friday.
