Here I go again on my own...
From Bahia Brazil - The Land of the Drum! in Salvador, Brazil on Feb 13 '07
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While traveling through SE Asia and getting the traveling bug I was corresponding with a friend from home and decided that one day I would like to attempt this type of adenture solo. To see if I could really do it. To be alone. To find the courage and go attempt another jounery and see what challenges and rewards that type of travelling would bring to me.
Well shucks (G-rated version). I got what I asked for.
While my wish was granted sooner than I had hoped, I am indeed travelling solo for this part of the journey. I will get to see the challenges and rewards first hand now and I can already tell you that it started as soon as I was flying to Brazil.
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Who watches your stuff while you have to go pee? What!? You want to charge me $600.00 because something is wrong with my tix? Why do I have to sit next to the fat guy on the plane? Who helps me guard my stuff while I sleep during 2 of my 6 hour layovers? No speak English? Well great lady, I don't speak frickin Pourtuguese.
It ended up all being fine with only minor frustration but hightened anxiety. Just gotta roll with it and accept it for what it is and put the positive energy out there that safety will not be jeoporized. Divine intervention has kept me safe so far and all I have to say is thank God for my friend Ari.
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What a life saver that first week. She picks me up from the airport, we bus it back to her apt, she feeds me, lets me crash on her floor and Ari and her roommate Sheena help me out and take care of me for the first week. Without them I would have given up and gone home the first 3 days I was there. In fact I thought about it a few times. Granted, I arrived the day before Carnaval (A journal entry in and of itself) so there were twice as many people in the city and an overwhelming intesity in the air that even Ari and her roommates felt. Her roommate Phil commented on how well I was handling the transition. He arrived 6 weeks earlier and was taken aback by it all, even without Carnaval being present. That gave me some confidence and a determination to just get through the Carnaval week and then things would hopefully fall into place for me.
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That first week I learned some Pourtuguese, ate (spelled phonetically) Feajwada (Brazils most traditional dish made of black beans, farina, rice, meat and more black beans), played Capoeira, went to Pelorihno (Where Batucadas, (drum lines) of orphaned children fill the streets constantly) and Itiparica (an island off Salvadors coast), ate THE BEST churro in the entire world, walked up 7 flights of stairs daily as their elevator is always broken and sweated profusiosly in the heat, and finally learned to re-adjust to life outside of the states.
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It was interesting at how quickly I adapted back to the comforts of home and how frustrating it was to relinguish them all over again. Taking cold showers, washing all my clothing by hand, fashioning mouthguard containers into yogurt bowls, reusing the same spoon daily and having to rinse, not clean it, in between uses; having ants crawl over me while I slept; waking up feeling like I had the body of a hundred year old person after sleeping on linoleum; and the overall smell of a city with too many inhabitants and not enough bathrooms. It was an intense week to say the least.
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My ´welcome to Brazil´ outing was a walk 20 minutes north to a town called Pelorihno. If youve ever scene the Michael Jackson Video (I forget the song although that would help) where he is in this angled, cobble stoned street with deteriorating, but colorful buildings on both sides, playing with (I believe) Olodum, well then thats where I was. It is just beautiful and the architeture and the angles of the buildings give so much depth to the scenery.
We take a seat at an outdoor cafe so I can taste my first (spelled phonetically) Cahpanreenya. Needless to say I take one sip as I can just smell the amount of alcohol in it. I hand it over to Ari who thinks it tastes like juice and I have 'offically' been welcomed to Brazil. We meet some of her friends and then I peace out high 5 it because I head a Batucada coming down the street.
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I make my way through the narrow, hilly streets following the echo of the music and it gets louder and louder until I finally round the corner and HOLY CRAP! THE SOUND IS AMAZING! These kids, freaking kids, are playing like professionals and as if their life depended on it, and are just putting all their heart, energy and soul into these drums. They are sweating and giving it their all and for no other reason than just to play.The sound in echoing off the buildings and flowing through the air and there is just passion all around. Then this other group of musicians walks around the corner carrying trumpets and trombones and they join in! There's two 'conductors' standing back to back and guiding these musicians together as one. My videos and pictures don't even capture how beautiful the sound is.
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The energy and the sound goes right to my soul and I cant help but come alive when I hear it. Nothing else matters. Nothing.
Now THATS my welcome to Brazil!
I have a feeling I will like it here although it will be a different type of trip than the first three months of travel. I will for the most part be staying in Salvador Bahia taking dance classes instead of travelling throughout the country. I´m looking forward to it though, learning more Portuguese, making some friends and getting an apartment for the first time ever! I´ve always lived in a dorm as one of the ´perks´to my job. So...and sure why the heck not...the first time I will EVER be apartment hunting is in a foreign country, where I incidentally don´t speak the language. Should be interesting how that turns out. :)
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Right now I am in a town 6 hours west of Salvador called Lencois. It is here where I will stay for the next 10 days before dance classes start on March 5th. Lencois is beautiful, a touristy town, but that makes me feel safe. Its surrounded by the Parque Nacional da Chapada Diamantina. I´m admist waterfalls and rough terrian which are right up this nature girls ally. I hope to go for a couple of hikes while here and join a trek possibly.
I have to say though that I have enjoyed lounging around, recupperating from Carnaval, and keeping my nose in a great book so far. Carnaval was exhauting and since I was craving the outdoors, I´m parkin it here for a bit and am enjoying hearing the crickets outside my door. Although I have jumped and freaked out one too many times from them landing on the couch.
Ive learned that I am not really a city girl although I enjoy the culture that it brings. I much prefer the outdoors so it will be a bummer to leave in a few days. Since the dance classes are in Salvador, and the reason why I came to Brazil in the first place, I will be living in the city. But it will be a comfort to know this escape is just a bus ride away.
Alright...so now about Carnaval...
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