1. cool church in the Pelourinho, Salvador.
2. Shelley with her new hairdo.
3. Gabi in a hammock in our room at Sergio´s.
4. Gabi´s new hairdo.
We cut it pretty close getting to Porto Seguro, so we decided to give ourselves plenty of time leaving there. We had our last breakfast at the pousada, swam for a little bit, then went to the bus station. We got there around 1:00 in the afternoon for a 4:00 bus. We had plenty of time, and it turns out we had plenty more. We had misread the tickets, and our bus didn’t leave until 7:00 that night. So we got to sit at the bus station for 6 hours. Tons of fun. Luckily for us the VIP room for the bus line we were with opened at 6:00, so we went in there and talked to the guy running it for a while. He was a big fan of American rock music, and when we told him we really like Brazilian music, he thought we were crazy. He was a really nice guy, and Shelley taught him some English words, and I helped him with his pronunciation of the names of rock bands.
The bus ride itself was easy, except for that Shelley and I both felt sick most of the time, but we got some sleep, and Gabi slept the entire time. They showed two really bad American movies dubbed in Portuguese, but one of them had English subtitles, so I watched that for a while, it was something about snipers in Panama, really awful. We arrived in Salvador, Bahia around 7:00, and were picked up by a friend of the guy that we’re staying with, who is a friend of a friend of Andre’s. The guy who picked us up, Marcio, has a taxi, and was cool, telling us about all the stuff we were driving past. The guy we are staying with, Sergio, has an apartment by the center of the city. We got in and went immediately to the room, and took some naps. When we got up it was time for lunch, so we went out looking for food. July 2 is a huge holiday in Bahia, because it’s Bahian Independence day, and just about everything was closed. Luckily for us the food court at a nearby shopping was open, and we finally caved in and got our first Brazilian McDonalds. I don’t know if they have it in the U.S., but they have a McVeggie sandwich that Shelley got. I got a big mac, and Gabi got chicken. It tasted just like McDonalds, the fries and everything, which was kind of comforting. We capped it off with Bob’s milkshakes, which we are going to miss when we get back.
When we were going back to the apartment, there were a ton of people outside, and it was for a parade. So we stayed around for it. It was kind of funny, because two military marching bands came by, and they were just playing your run of the mill military marching music. They were by no means great, and after they passed by, there was nothing. So we waited around for another hour or so, and then the rest of the parade arrived. When I asked what had taken them so long, I was told that some politicians were walking with the parade, and they would stop to talk to people, and hold everything up. But when the parade arrived, it arrived. It was the nonstop parade of just about every marching band in Bahia. One of the better ones was a Boy Scout band, lots of drums, and they were playing Brazilian music, not just marching music. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good marching band, but when I see a marching band in Brazil, I don’t want Sousa, I want Brazilian music. Gabriella, though, loved every band, and would get really upset if they stopped playing, or if there was a break, or if we took her down off our shoulders and she couldn’t see. After maybe two hours of non stop marching bands with no end in sight, we decided to walk back to the apartment. We passed one band that had decided to stop and have their own party, and they were playing Samba and there were a bunch of people dancing in the street. We listened to them for a while, and then finally went back. Shelley and I were completely exhausted, but Gabi was rarin’ to go and do stuff, so we traded off resting and playing with her until bed time.
On Tuesday, we went shopping for food in the morning, and then went to where Sergio works. Sergio is working with this really cool project where he teaches people with physical handicaps rowing, and takes them to competitions and stuff. When we went there were 4 blind people (whom Sergio directs by radio as they row), a couple of people with one leg amputated and a couple of people who maybe had cerebral palsy. Some of the people from the project are in Sao Paulo now for a competition, and Sergio is taking a bunch to Germany for the world championships there. It’s a really cool job, and he’s super passionate about it. He even stops people he sees on the street, like this one 14 year old who only had one leg, and told him about the project and tried to recruit him. People with handicaps in Brazil don’t have a lot going for them, and Sergio says that rowing gives them something that they can use to help themselves, and give themselves confidence. One of the guys gave me a lesson, and it was really hard. You have to have good coordination and rhythm to get going. They do the training at a huge park with a lake on the Atlantic side of the city. It was incredibly pretty and we had a lot of fun walking around, and playing on a playground with Gabi. That night we made rice and beans for dinner, and an actual Brazilian (Sergio) thought it was good, so we must have done something right.
On Wednesday we went to the Pelourinho, the main historic, touristy place to go in Salvador. It was really cool, with lots of old buildings, and tons of people selling stuff. There were people braiding hair in one of the main squares, so Shelley got hers done, and we had Gabi’s done too. They both look very pretty, and Gabi was a star while she had hers done. Some other people came by to get it done, and they ended up taking pictures with Gabi and absolutely fawning over her. A huge tourist group came by too, and they all thought she was great. We also made some plans for our next stop, which will be Belo Horizonte, in Minas Gerais. We bought plane tickets (sorry Mom) for next Wednesday, leaving in the afternoon. It was not too much more expensive than the bus, and instead of a 24 hour ride, it’ll be about 3 or 4, with transfers. I also got the second Harry Potter book on our way back home. We didn’t want rice and beans for dinner again, so we had beans and rice instead.
The bus ride itself was easy, except for that Shelley and I both felt sick most of the time, but we got some sleep, and Gabi slept the entire time. They showed two really bad American movies dubbed in Portuguese, but one of them had English subtitles, so I watched that for a while, it was something about snipers in Panama, really awful. We arrived in Salvador, Bahia around 7:00, and were picked up by a friend of the guy that we’re staying with, who is a friend of a friend of Andre’s. The guy who picked us up, Marcio, has a taxi, and was cool, telling us about all the stuff we were driving past. The guy we are staying with, Sergio, has an apartment by the center of the city. We got in and went immediately to the room, and took some naps. When we got up it was time for lunch, so we went out looking for food. July 2 is a huge holiday in Bahia, because it’s Bahian Independence day, and just about everything was closed. Luckily for us the food court at a nearby shopping was open, and we finally caved in and got our first Brazilian McDonalds. I don’t know if they have it in the U.S., but they have a McVeggie sandwich that Shelley got. I got a big mac, and Gabi got chicken. It tasted just like McDonalds, the fries and everything, which was kind of comforting. We capped it off with Bob’s milkshakes, which we are going to miss when we get back.
When we were going back to the apartment, there were a ton of people outside, and it was for a parade. So we stayed around for it. It was kind of funny, because two military marching bands came by, and they were just playing your run of the mill military marching music. They were by no means great, and after they passed by, there was nothing. So we waited around for another hour or so, and then the rest of the parade arrived. When I asked what had taken them so long, I was told that some politicians were walking with the parade, and they would stop to talk to people, and hold everything up. But when the parade arrived, it arrived. It was the nonstop parade of just about every marching band in Bahia. One of the better ones was a Boy Scout band, lots of drums, and they were playing Brazilian music, not just marching music. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good marching band, but when I see a marching band in Brazil, I don’t want Sousa, I want Brazilian music. Gabriella, though, loved every band, and would get really upset if they stopped playing, or if there was a break, or if we took her down off our shoulders and she couldn’t see. After maybe two hours of non stop marching bands with no end in sight, we decided to walk back to the apartment. We passed one band that had decided to stop and have their own party, and they were playing Samba and there were a bunch of people dancing in the street. We listened to them for a while, and then finally went back. Shelley and I were completely exhausted, but Gabi was rarin’ to go and do stuff, so we traded off resting and playing with her until bed time.
On Tuesday, we went shopping for food in the morning, and then went to where Sergio works. Sergio is working with this really cool project where he teaches people with physical handicaps rowing, and takes them to competitions and stuff. When we went there were 4 blind people (whom Sergio directs by radio as they row), a couple of people with one leg amputated and a couple of people who maybe had cerebral palsy. Some of the people from the project are in Sao Paulo now for a competition, and Sergio is taking a bunch to Germany for the world championships there. It’s a really cool job, and he’s super passionate about it. He even stops people he sees on the street, like this one 14 year old who only had one leg, and told him about the project and tried to recruit him. People with handicaps in Brazil don’t have a lot going for them, and Sergio says that rowing gives them something that they can use to help themselves, and give themselves confidence. One of the guys gave me a lesson, and it was really hard. You have to have good coordination and rhythm to get going. They do the training at a huge park with a lake on the Atlantic side of the city. It was incredibly pretty and we had a lot of fun walking around, and playing on a playground with Gabi. That night we made rice and beans for dinner, and an actual Brazilian (Sergio) thought it was good, so we must have done something right.
On Wednesday we went to the Pelourinho, the main historic, touristy place to go in Salvador. It was really cool, with lots of old buildings, and tons of people selling stuff. There were people braiding hair in one of the main squares, so Shelley got hers done, and we had Gabi’s done too. They both look very pretty, and Gabi was a star while she had hers done. Some other people came by to get it done, and they ended up taking pictures with Gabi and absolutely fawning over her. A huge tourist group came by too, and they all thought she was great. We also made some plans for our next stop, which will be Belo Horizonte, in Minas Gerais. We bought plane tickets (sorry Mom) for next Wednesday, leaving in the afternoon. It was not too much more expensive than the bus, and instead of a 24 hour ride, it’ll be about 3 or 4, with transfers. I also got the second Harry Potter book on our way back home. We didn’t want rice and beans for dinner again, so we had beans and rice instead.
2 comments:
Ahhg. Not a plane! That's frightening! I will be so worried from now until I know you're safe. Did Gabriella sit still while they put all those tiny braids in her hair? Or did they have a bunch of people working really fast on her?
Love,
Mom
Say hi to Sergio from me!! Your trip sounds great, it's fun to read about what you've been doing. Later,
Anne Kogan
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