Who really knows

Well yesterday Frances and I saw a spectacularly awkward and incredibly Brazilian display. We were going about our business - taking a break from working (or staring at a computer screen and willing thoughts to appear in sentence form) - with a little walk on the beach. The blue sky was out and it had been awhile so we scurried out. We had no idea what a treat we were in for. We ended up at this little bar/nightclub/beach shack with a good number of tourists (I think there was a mega-bus out front) and just sat down for a little. All of a sudden the announcer/DJ who was making some odd choices already started encouraging everyone to get out of their chairs and exercise. Frances and I laughed (silly us for thinking he was joking) and then looked around and people were starting to get up. In about thirty seconds this man had assembled a sizeable group of followers in front of him on the sand. He was up on the shore and they were all on the edge of the water. Stretching music commenced over the loudspeaker and suddenly a bunch of bathing suit clad people (maybe thirty of them) were stretching on command. After a small break the electronic workout tunes came on and everyone starting marching and arm waving in place. There were a lot of side to side hopping moves, backwards running, and some dance-esque movement for a good period of time. He kept yelling instructions and suddenly they all formed a conga line and were snaking around/working out right at the edge of the water. They then made some tunnels straight out of a good underdog sports movie that everyone subsequently ran through. It was a good time for sure. The best part was that Frances and I appeared to be the only ones who thought anything was out of the ordinary. Everyone else who hadn't joined in all their speedo and bikini glory was just sitting and chatting as if there wasn't an 80's workout video happening behind them.