Salvador, Brasil

I'm rocking and rolling physically, but not sick, currently headed east across the Atlantic Ocean toward Walvis (pronounced in the German tradition: vaul-fish) Bay, in Namibia. But we just left Salvador, of whose people 87% are of slave ancestors of African/black descent, Heather and I stood out like proverbial sore thumbs. Thankfully, we are/were old and wise enough to avoid actual trouble. Not so for all of our students...On the other hand, I found out later that many people of color on our voyage were treated much more favorably in terms of prices in stores, taxi's and restaurants. Good for them

Heather and I spoke with my parents for a few minutes last week when we arrived in Salvador. It was great to hear familiar voices. They were just back from cousin Patrick's and Marilyn's wedding and so I offer congratulations to Patrick and Marilyn on the big commitment! We're sorry we couldn't attend.

Salvador is a lively place, full of color and culture and savory fried food on every street corner. My favorite were the coffee vendors who carried a carpenters tool box-like tray full of carafes of espresso coffee, all varieties sweetened and available for 50 centavos ($0.35). Also good are the fried manioc flower, the baked beans, the acai-fruit bowls, the shrimp stews, barbecued meats (of various and unknown orgins). The coconuts on the beach, macheted open and drinkable without processing were very good too! Castanha (cashew) nuts were everywhere and fantastic too! The deep fried cheese balls were good too yum. Everything is fried or cooked in palm (dende) oil. I think my stomach is still churning out the leftovers, but it tasted great on the way in!

It's also a place of development and poverty where lane lines on the roads are merely suggestive and bus drivers are the bravest people in the country. No public restrooms exist so many people urinate and defecate on the sidewalks, making for interesting running routes. And we learned that it’s difficult not to run through favelas (state-assigned neighborhoods) which, at the 0600 hour, weren't specifically unsafe but not a great idea. American cities tend to isolate their slums (a loose translation), but favelas tend to be everywhere because 53% of Salvadorans live in favela neighborhoods on about Real$400/month (USD $250). Due in large part to state rules (and class privilege) for land ownership, the expectation of owning land is a low one and very much ascribed to racial lines.

In the process of learning about each other, Heather and I are figuring out how to travel together, live together in close, shared community and to be comfortable with all the constant upheaval of traveling. I'm not sure that last one is possible, but we’re trying. We were able to 'get used to' the surroundings in Salvador, pronouncing "No" as Nao (very nasal) helped us to be understood by the many street vendors and beggars pedaling their wares to earn a subsistence living.

On our last day in port, we took an organized tour of the Afro-Brazilian Candomble museum and a Candomble house in Salvador. Candomble is an African-roots historical and family spiritual tradition that parallels, but does not specifically interfere with, religions like Catholicism that, in Brazil, have been more or less state sponsored (depending on which military dictator was in power). Candomble was brought to Brazil by slaves from three distinct parts of West Africa between 1700-1888, the official end of slavery in Brazil. The practices have an initiation period for young people, and each individual identifies with and becomes possessed by, on honorific days, an Orixa (pronounced Or-e-sha) that brings out a part of their personalities. There are 23 Orixa’s in Brazilian Candomble. Some have up to seven different forms. Many Christians compare these Orixs’s to saints and the Jesuits were adept at making those parallels in the process of converting the Brazilian population to Catholicism. A dual set of traditions developed and now both exist fairly comfortably in Salvador.

We did get out of Salvador for two days to a beach town called Praia do Forte (literally Beach Fort). Up the coast about 70km from Salvador, we found a quiet, somewhat more touristy, village with lots of pretty beaches, friendly people and great little reef-formed swimming holes in the ocean. Perfect for snorkeling and (theoretically) surfing, we spent some time on the beach. While walking we were treated by some local surfers finishing up a session and they offered us a coconut to drink and some advice about surfing (which was blown out by the next morning). We visited a sea-turtle research project and learned all about Heather’s favorite animal, the sea-turtle. She has a new bag to commemorate the occasion!

We're missing our familiar surroundings and people. Thanks Woody for your letter and clippings and picture. :) And thanks to all of our family members for your kind emails and thoughts!

Bill


From Heather:

Oi! (Hi!)
Greetings from the South Atlantic Ocean - we are on our way to the great African continent and I'm beside myself with joy as we approach this place I've been dreaming of for years. I welcome the lessons I will hopefully learn about its people and environment, most of which will likely (and hopefully) undo my assumptions and challenge my expectations.

But first a few thoughts about the place we just left. Brasil. Wow! What a vibrant and colorful place in this world. I won't write much as Bill has summated alot of what we tasted, smelled and touched. It was a lovely 5 days - long enough to just become comfortable and ready to do and see more of the vast country. I was struck by the friendliness of Brasilians.

Salvador was difficult at first - as Bill wrote it took time to negotiate the language and obvious economic barrier of those we met around the port and in the Cidade Baixa (Lower City). That particular area is very poor and industrial. It was very difficult to not be the tourists that we were. But once we were able to get around town a bit and up the coast to Praia do Forte, we felt more confident in our communications and bearings.

A few highlights for me: capeoria on the streets, acai na tigela (bowls of acai berries that are blended into a puree topped with sliced bananas and granola), seeing signs and paintings of Barack Obama all over, drinking fresh coconut juice offered to us by some local surfers, warm roasted peanuts in paper cones, the local music, the Portuguese language all around us, riding the bus, the Candomble Museum and the African influences in everything, the lecture on Humpback whales we listened to in Portuguese while surrounded by high schoolers, and the sea turtles!!! Oh the sea turtles. If only I could have witnessed a mama laying eggs but alas the tide that morning was low and it was just the beginning of their season of coming ashore. Supposedly Leatherback sea turtles also nest on the coast of Namibia but we are also too early for their season.

There's so much more....but this is too long already.

Just a reminder - we have Intranet email on the ship that is very easy to check on a daily basis. wheinrich@semesteratsea.net & hricks@semesteratsea.net

I'm posting pictures - check our shutterfly account in a day. http://heatherbill.shutterfly.com (you'll have to cut and paste this address - the live link feature is still not working).

Thanks, Woody, for the snail mail - so fun to get in port!!

Bem noyte,
heather ;)