What a weekend. As mentioned in the previous post, I had my capoeira batizado last Sunday. Although my performance will not go down history - I was a little nervous, not really knowing what to do, especially since I played with someone I did not know - I did manage to do something I had never even thought about doing in a roda. You can see the result below:





Luckily in capoeira we never intentionally hit the opponent, because had this been a real fight, although I initiated my kick first, I know I would have gone flying from his counter attack:





But in the end, I was given my green belt, and some were definitely more emotional than others:





The festivities after the batizado were very fun, especially since many members got a new cord, and in my case because my friend Julien came from France especially for the event, having introduced me to the sport. You can see him below with our contra mestre Toku, who was also given a new belt by our visiting mestre Itabuna (above picture, at far left); Toku did not know he would receive one, and the level awarded is a fairly big jump in his case. Good on you, Toku, you deserve it:





But Monday, I did not have much time to take it all in. In the morning I had to pick up some kilims at a store in Shinsaibashi. Kilims are Turkish carpets and an acquaintance who sells them lent them for the photo exhibition. After my classes, I went to the e-ma building in Umeda to do the installation. Things didn't go as smoothly as planned, since the metallic walls were far from being as magnetic as we thought. The result is fine, but it could have been better. As it is my first ever exhibition, I did learn quite a bit so far, and hopefully I'll be better prepared in the future. Here's a a picture with part of the exhibit, my friend Frederic who also has pictures, and Patrice Boiteau, the director of the Osaka European Film Festival:





Well, that's all for me now. Today, a national holiday (Culture Day), Tomomi and I are busy cleaning the apartment as my friend Antoine is arriving this Friday for a 10-day visit. It should be a lot of fun (not the cleaning) and I look forward to spending time with him.

Have a good one and thanks for all the green belts.