Durham, NC. You are pretty cool!

Not going to lie, I imagined Durham, NC as a banjo playing, tobacco chewing, mud bogging, slack jawed yockles. It turns out tobacco country USA has a lot going on downtown. Granted, I'm guessing having Duke bring its snobbery to the city helps, but there's nice restaurants, a theatre (with an RE!), and a hopping salsa scene.

So, I already knew of the salsa scene last time when I went out on Thursday night. Cuban Revolution is actually a lot of fun, never had the food there, but drinks are good and music is poppin. One of my friend's sister teaches there Thursday nights and is well worth the time to take the class, dance some salsa, and grab a drink.

This time around, my friend Adrianna, Preto, and I went to The Federal. This place kinda rocks. Large beer selection and it puts a twist on food that I would not expect. I got a grilled cheese just because I didn't want anything heavy, but seriously, people, you need to try this at home. So its a grilled mozzarella cheese with avocado, cucumber, and tomatoes. It's phenomenal, and at only $8 with fries, you can't really beat that. Oh yeah, and get the fries. I got a salad because fat is for losers, but both my friends got the fries and I was seriously eye that shit. They also have something else that I have never seen (I didn't order it, but it looked seriously good): Duck confit poutin. What is poutin you might ask? Well, in Maryland we call them hobo fries. It's fries with either cheese curd or crumbled cheese and gravy (it is French-Canadian, which I guess they do something right). Now, if thats not enough, add some duck confit on top of that. Heaven? Maybe? Pretty close? If you ever down in Raleigh-Durham area, seriously go to the Federal, its really good for really cheap.

Now, as for capoeira. There's a couple of groups in the area, but my homeboys Inst. Mata 4 and Linguica (Capoeira Brasil) do a really good job at the Terreiro de Arte e Cultura. Its always a good time with them, and they are right in Durham, so check them out!

ALSO!! They are having a batizado July 2nd-4th. They are a small group, so everyone will get a chance to play. I'm headed down (more than likely) so lets coordinate something and we can carpool it down!