oi!
So i´ve been in Salvador for 2 weeks now! It´s been amazing. My last entry i said i was going to some parties...
The first one we went to was to watch a band at a bar in Salvador called Boomarangue, and it had all Aboriginal art on the walls ( i imagine the owner has been to Australia and liked it). Monica and Marcelo knew the guys in the band. Claire and i were the only gringas in the whole place! We´ve been experiencing that a lot with going out with Monica, as i´ll explain shortly. But everyone has been really lovely, have had some interesting conversations in toilet lines with women speaking to us in Portuguese, we saying that we dont speak Portuguese, so then they just repeat it louder. Ooh, and remember i said i was sitting next to a lovely Brazilian couple on my flight from Sao Paulo to Salvador? Well they happened to be at the bar as well! So chatted to them for a bit too, and they were going to come out with us in a few days (but couldnt make it in the end). But a small world!
Then the next night we were going to the beach party, about 1 and a half hours from Salvador. It was actually like a big music festival with one stage with heaps of bands playing. So we cut up our shirts (in Brazil, special shirts are your tickets into places, but the girls often cut theirs into something skimpier), and again, Claire and i were the only gringas at the party! Was AMAZING. And the Brazilian music was incredible! Claire and i generally just made up lyrics, but we danced for hours. And drinks are so cheap! Cans of smirnoff ice are about $AUD2 or so.
Another awesome thing we went to was this massive concert type thing at an ampitheatre in a park in Salvador. The band was an african one (Salvador has a very rich african culture), and we were standing up on a hill looking down at all the people dancing. It was amazing. Again, we were the only gringas. I took some videos of it which i´ll post.
Monica and Marcelo also do capoeira (Marcelo is actually a teacher), and one night we went and watched them doing capoeira in the park with their whole class. It´s so amazing to watch. Claire and i are going to get marcelo to teach us! But dont worry dad, we wont get hurt.
I´ve also spent the last week with Viv, which has been incredible. So great to see him! Monica and Claire decided that they didnt really want to stay for carnival, so they went camping, and i stayed in the hostel with Viv - we shared this single bunk bed in a dorm with 7 guys, with a fan that was broken, and windows that let all the bugs in. It was so hot! Fortunately, the hostel staff were different every day, so nobody knew that i hadnt checked in.
Carnival was just unbelievable. Such an incredible experience. So to explain Carnival... The parade goes along a big circiut along the street overlooking the beach. There are lots of trucks with bands playing on them; each truck is roped off, and this is called a bloco. People then buy onto a bloco (i.e. they buy a shirt that allows them access onto it), and then they walk along in front and behind the truck, dancing for about 5 or 6 hours along the circuit. If you dont want to buy a shirt, you can just go onto the street next to the bloco and dance there.
So the first night we just went onto the street (4 of us), and danced and danced for hours. Then the next night we were on a bloco for DJ Tiesto, who, surprise surprise, only plays techno-house type music, which viv and i hate. So we ended up dancing in a gap with the bloco behind tiesto, was awesome Brazilian music. And the crowds are just insane. You have to be really careful with money and valuables - this poor guy from our hostel on the first night (not realising how much pick-pocketing goes on in carnival), came out with his wallet in his back pocket and his digital camera zipped up in his front pocket, and a bag of beers on his arm. Within 5 mins of getting onto the street, he got caught up in a group of about 8 guys, they stole his wallet (complete with credit cards), his camera (and kindly zipped back up his pocket) and some of his beers. Ouch! Viv kept our money in a satchel down his pants, which may only get stolen if we went onto any of the gay blocos... :-)
We also went on another bloco called Timbalada which was Brazilian music, and it was incredible. So during carnival, our general daily routine was go out til about 2 or 3am in carnival, sleep til about 11am, go for an acai (an amazing fruit sorbet, type thing, amazing), spend all day at the beach, come back for a nap in a hammock at the hostel, then go out, repeat.
And the Brazilian people are so lovely. So friendly and happy. Generally dont speak any English, but still manage to get buy with broken Portuguese. Some of my favourite phrases in Brazil: `kehjo´(a cooked cheese that they sell on the beach), ´cheese-bacon´. People sell everything on the beach. It´s incredible. What´s also awesome, is people come and pour a watering can of beach water on your feet when you´re sitting there, because your feet get hot on the sand. And people will pretty much sell you anything. If you ask for something they dont have, they´ll find it for you somehow. And oh my god the children here are just gorgeous!
And now i´m back staying at Monica´s (and as soon as i arrived i was fed a huge roast meal complete with wine and dessert, and also the incredible cafe) - we´ll be here for another couple of days and then onto Rio... And i´ll be meeting up with Viv in a few weeks in Argentina. Cant wait.
Oh and possibly the best food i´ve had away from Monica´s, aside from acai? Churros. Oh. My. God. You all possibly know my love of caramel. So imagine, a hot, deep-fried doughnut in a long cylinder shape (hollow on the inside), then filled with hot caramel. Yes, let me leave you with that thought. Oh, and also, that they´re only about $AUD70...
Brooke xx
