ABSTRACT
One needs only a few moments in Didier’s company to hear his booming musical laughter, which fl owed freely, constantly, and was all the more infectious coupled with his broad alabaster-toothed smile and luminous honey-colored eyes. Didier’s laugh, his smile, height, girth, personality, and his passion for dancing were all jumbo size. He was hard to miss and impossible to dislike. This nineteen-year-old postcolonial English literature and pre-med biology major had wavy, close-cropped, dark-brown hair, which was always neatly lined, and he dressed for comfort and simplicity in bright pastel colors that accentuated his café au lait skin. In class, Didier was quiet, but answered questions and contributed thoughts every session, especially when the topics interested him. Occasionally, he spoke out in strong words during heated discussion, but he was mostly calm and convivial. His zeal for Salvador nightlife was unrivaled in the Geisel program. Anywhere two people were dancing, Didier would become an enthusiastic third. There was never a samba circle he would not enter; he had no reticence being the center of attention, and he dominated a dance fl oor effortlessly.
