BRAZIL!

So Brazil was AMAZING… we were in Salvador in the state of Bahia (pronounced Bye-hee-yuh) during Carnaval and it was just such a lively, fun, party atmosphere. Bahia has the highest percentage of Afro-Brazilians living in Brazil so that really has shaped their culture. From the religious aspect (the religion called Candomblé) to the dances (Capoeira, more about that later). Salvador is also divided up into 2 different sections, the lower city and the upper city, also called Pelourinho. The ship was docked in the lower city and to get to the upper city we walked for like 10 minutes (on a street that smelled awful… I saw several people peeing on the streets. Yuck!) to a huge elevator (aka the Lacerda) that takes you up to Pelourinho. The upper city is where Carnaval takes place. So the first day we walked over to the “Modelo Mercado” which is basically this huge market that sells a bunch of souvenirs, clothes, and other crazy stuff and it’s right outside the lacerda. We also spent some time in Pelourinho exploring, since it was early in the morning when we went up there it was pretty quiet but there were a lot of people around setting up for Carnaval that night. I guess it started on Friday but the mornings are pretty quiet. Capoeira is what the Africans invented when they were brought to Brazil by the Portuguese colonialists to be enslaved. They weren’t allowed to do any dancing so they invented capoeira (cap-oh-air-uh) which basically looks like really fast fighting with lots of kicking and flips and it’s usually done with 2 people in a big circle with everyone else singing and clapping and there’s usually a little band with some unrecognizable instruments. So it’s really amazing to watch and we could just stand there for hours! Also, they do this all barefoot on rock streets, sometimes even uneven cobblestone—and they’re doing like 5 flips in a row! It’s just crazy because they are such unbelievable athletes.
Saturday night Lydia and I went out to Carnaval and went to a little plaza in Old Pelourinho. We started drinking some VERY cheap beer (cans of beer for less than 1 US dollar)and were watching some Capoeira for awhile. The Capoeira boys (who, let me just add, have amazing bodies) dragged us into their circle and taught us some capoeira moves—mildly embarrassing but who cares, no one knew me! Then we all went down to the stage area where a band was playing some traditional Carnaval music and we all started dancing and the Capoeira boys were teaching us this traditional dance so that was really fun. We just danced for a long time there and then this guy “Edy” started dancing with Lydia and basically fell in love with her and he took us into the actual parade area for Carnaval. This is the area where it gets really crazy and you can actually get a feel for the 2 million people that are there. Basically there are these huge 18 wheelers but double the height called “Blocos” that carry people and a band. There’s also a closed off area (secured by a bunch of guys carrying a big rope) around the Bloco and you can only get into it if you have a t-shirt for it. So even though you can’t get into or on the Bloco you’re still allowed to follow behind them and dance and that’s exactly what we did!! We stayed out late just dancing and having a wonderful time!
Sunday morning Lydia and I tried to go to a mall because she wanted to buy some clothes, and after a pricy cab ride to a mall the taxi driver informed us that all the stores were closed for Carnaval. So we were livid of course. That afternoon we just walked around Pelourinho for a little bit, did some shopping and watched more capoeira (I’m telling you, I could watch it for hours!). That night we went back up to Carnaval and danced some more at the same plaza. These little girls were trying so hard to teach us to samba but we were just hopeless- it’s so hard! They seriously move their feet so fast it’s crazy. Anyway that was really cool because all these little girls were trying to teach us and it was just really cute. I wish I had had my camera but it was just too dangerous to bring it out, especially at night. Apparently the first day there, several groups of Semester at Sea kids got knives pulled on them and had all of their cameras and money stolen—I was not about to take that risk even though it means I don’t have too many pictures from Brazil. At lest I still have my camera! Anyway, Edy found us again (he was really a nice guy… I was just a little irritated that he was ALWAYS around) and we went back to the parade. It was actually good to have Edy there because if not I’m sure that we wouldn’t have been as safe, he really watched out for us. Sunday night was a totally different experience, there were way more people following the Blocos and it was just way too crowded for me! I was exhausted.
Monday I spent the day at Itaparica Island and Ilha de Frades. At Frades (actually pronounced fredge-ace or something) we just went to the beach and ate some shrimp (ew! They had their heads and legs still attached!) and went swimming in really warm water and then had lunch on Itaparica Island. The lunch was amazing—I don’t have any idea what I ate I just know it was delicious- it was all Brazilian food and just generally amazing. We also visited a fountain of youth with 3 faucets for youth (obviously), health and money. We were on the ferry for most of the time but it was nice to be out on the water (you’d think I’d be sick of it by now but I’m not!).
That night we went out to dinner at a yummy little place called Mama Bahia and had the most amazing dinner! We split a bottle of wine and had delicious appetizers (cheese balls—I don’t know if it’s Brazilian but they were amazing), filet mignon (my fave) and some kind of dessert. After we went back to our plaza and just watched some of the bands and danced a little bit. I was exhausted from my day on the islands and ferry so we didn’t stay out too late.
On Tuesday I didn’t do a thing! I was so tired from all the dancing and partying and jam-packed days that I literally slept until 2 (the joys of not having a window in your room—complete darkness!) and then just lazed around. They were playing grey’s anatomy on the tv’s in our rooms so I watched that for awhile. Tuesday night (our last night by the way) we went to an “evening camarote” which is basically a viewing area for Carnaval and it’s in the section of Barra which is where they do the judging I guess. The camarote was basically amazing—a couple different bars, lots of places to eat, and it was all basically outdoors so you could watch the parade but not be quite as close to it, it’s definitely a safer option so I could bring my camera! I met some young Brazilians that we hung out with a bunch and that was really fun. They all spoke really good English because they had studied in Santa Barbara so it was so nice to be able to actually talk to people. We also made really good friends with the bartenders and they kept inviting us behind the bar to take pictures so I have some funny shots of that.
After the camarote we went back up to Pelourinho and watched some more bands and capoeira and then went to bed. On our last day it was raining but we decided to go to the beach anyway. So it stopped raining eventually but was really cloudy and gross so we left, kind of a waste of the morning but oh well- at least we got to see the beach! We went back to the modelo Mercado and shopped a little bit and got lunch at Mama Bahia again (cheese balls!!!) and then did some more shopping. That night we made some phone calls and got some pizza before going back to the ship for good… and now we’re at sea! We’ve been at sea for… well this is day 3 I guess. South Africa next Friday! I can’t wait for that—my safari is going to be amazing! Hope all is well with everyone—I miss you all so much!! Keep sending emails I LOVE to hear from people!