The Beatles Bar in Belem, Brazil

The Beatles Bar in Belem, Brazil, April 15th, 2019
David Jones the famous stunt pilot and aerial coordinator
(“Apocalypse Now” helicopter scenes are his most famous). Hired
me to work on this mad film in the Amazon in 1990.
I was the aircraft mechanic for the old Dehavilland Beaver used in
the film. I was there six months from May to October. It was
supposed to be the dry season.
Fortunately, some local Belemese took me in as a friend. My
girlfriend Heloisa spoke fluent English which made it easier, though
my girlfriend Gorete who did not speak English was more romantic.
It’s hard to explain.
Sometimes I think if men and women didn’t speak the same
language we’d all get along a lot better.
Heloisa took me to the Beatles Bar in Belem, Brazil one Sunday for
lunch. It was quiet. Belem was poor back then. No one had any
money. We had the restaurant to ourselves.
Only Beatles music was played over the sound system. I remember
photos of the Beatles on the walls. And when I sat down at the table
I broke the chair!
I only weighed 160 pounds at the time due to the constant
dysentery. And yet the rickety chair couldn’t hold my weight. Well,
the Belemese were all skinny and short.
Heloisa and I had some laughs and some food and beer on a very
hot humid Belem Sunday afternoon.
I looked up the place just now on the Internet and the Beatles Bar in
Belem, Brazil is still there.That’s grand. Tim McGraw