Day ? - What Day is It?

An active day since I had added walking to my schedule starting at 8 am (and my given schedule started an hour later) So walk walk walk...and I enjoyed talking with a Brazilian attorney. 2 private trainers for 3 walkers. A good ratio. Gramado is a very pretty small city with many beautiful and pretty houses. There was a good nip in the air this morning but by the end of the walk I was hot and sweaty. I noticed the trees turning color - and it reminded me of Albany - very scenic. They have the same trees here - the one with the big leaves that turn yellow then red - oak? I don't know...

After the walk - I skipped the Kneipp cold water walk and headed straight to breakfast (which I was suppose to have before 9 but with the added 1 hour activity - it was hard to do since my wake up call was at 7:30.

Anyhow - having breakfast made me late to aqua class but I caught the last 15 minutes and then added 30 more of lap swimming and then an additional 15 of treadmill. That was enough exercise for the day.

It is interesting with the group dynamics - it changes as new people come and go but it is nice that I am always welcome at a table and most people are generally warm. There is a new group that is staying in my wing (the special suites) and they haven't mixed with the rest of us. I mention the dynamics because there are lots of opportunities for conversation and mixing with others - at our "snack time", group sessions, passing in the hall and meal time. It sure does make it nicer to mix. There is one fellow who is just keeping to himself but that seems a hard way to go. Actually there are a handfull that prefer to stay by themselves.

In the morning I had 2 relaxation experiences - the navigator which I already reported on and the "NASA chair" which is a recliner that tilts so you are prone to the ceiling and moves left to right in a slow circular motion while a projection shows stars and what looks like a version of the milky way. With calm music in the background. 20 minutes later, the attendant changes the setting so it looks like a million little bubbles, stars or beads of glass. I liked it. The Brazilian attorney didn't. You have to go with an open mind and be receptive... if you let your mind go with it - it is novel, relaxing and actually fun. I added that one to my own schedule.

Lunch was served and the amount of plain lettuce on the plate - as beautiful and fresh as it was - I thought - oh I am going to have to work at eating that. Chew chew chew. Like a cow. Lunch was chicken and dessert was some kind of coconut pudding which I actually think is delicious.

Then I relaxed for a bit on my patio - listening to the fountain below, collecting my thoughts for a meeting, collecting my things for the meeting and off we go to the meeting. Before my meeting, I gave my box of TJ chocolates to the clinic staff that have been giving me massages, water treatments and relaxation treatments all week long. I said "por mi amigas - from los estados unidos" I put my finger to mouth "shhhhhh" and they all started laughing. It was a good move - easy to do and made 10 people very happy.

Since I had gotten dressed up - and everyone walks around in bathrobes, swim suits and work out gear until dinner - I received a few questions and I was eager to change back into my robe. I met with a nutritionist and we talked about my food schedule, what I eat, when I eat it, how much I eat etc. She said 1800 is what my body needs to function but that when I go home my goal should be 1500 and here, at 1200 - is a way to readjust and jumpstart the process.

Then I had a wonderful bath upstairs in the private wing - with my private attendant- and hammed it up in some photos . Then downstairs for a different set of baths - mud and sea salt and a water circuit. The water circuit was like a huge jacuzzi - made for many people to enjoy, walk in the warm water, sit with their backs to the jets and there is a resistance path - where you walk against the water current and at the end there is a jet for thighs and knees and 2 more water sprays above - for neck and shoulders. It is like the Roman bath down there....all educated people speaking in different languages and being very gracious to each other.

One of retired businessmen and I met days ago in the hallway and he told me Kurotel exceeded his expectations. Today when I asked if I could include him in the article and needed his last name - he said yes and paused and said "my last name might be a problem in the US" Foecker. You can imagine. He told me that his business is Foecker Industries and he had a focus group give him feedback on it from an international perspective. Thumbs down. So know it is Roeker. I laughed pretty hard when he told me he was trying to give baseball hats with Foecker Industries and the recipient politely refused the gift.

Dinner was fine. I was really tired and as our group grew bigger - there was more Portuguese being spoken and I could get bits and pieces and fairly often things were translated but there was a lot of polite smiling on my part while long stories were being told. I was too tired for more of this - and the rest adjurned for tea. How civilized!

If I am too tired tomorrow- I am not going to start the day out with an hour walk! Happily tired but very tired.

When I walked into my suite - there was gift in a beautiful Kurotel bag - I have no idea what it is - and I think I might just wait until I get home to open it.