Ok, so I´ve been a terrible daughter, friend, relative and overall person. I´m sorry it´s taken me so long to update.
So here is what´s been going on:
Last time you heard from me I was in transit to Brazil... Let me tell you Brazil is freaking HOT! :-P
We docked in Salvador with no issue, but the city honestly was not what I expected. I was traveling with my friend Yaki on the first day and we were heckled a lot. Two females who are obviously tourists are moving targets. Although it was an eye opener being slightly harassed, most often by children who were really mobilized in begging for money, the pre-port (the ship´s administrative way of giving us "helpful" hints about safety and whatnot) warning us about what to expect was a little much. Our inter-port student (someone usually from the country we´re heading to that travels with us between 2 ports), Nara, I think was actually a little offended. People asked if it was safe to carry a camera or ride the bus and it was really frustrating. Coming from New York City that all just seems like common sense to me. Yes I can see how traveling to new places can be kind of frightening, but if you use your head you should be fine like in any big city-so I apologized to her and she actually seemed grateful for that. While Salvador wasn´t the most beautiful city, it was extremely full of culture.
It is the most African influenced area in Brazil, and I think all of South America. Walking down the streets there were people doing capoeira, a fighting dance, everywhere and women dressed all in white in observation of the candombl religion. On my second morning there I went with SAS to the Yemanj festival. Yemanj is the candombl goddess of the sea, and on that day (February 2nd) everyone makes offerings to her. We went to the beach, which was indescribably crowded, and I offered mascara, flowers and nail polish to the ocean. Hopefully, at some point during this journey she´ll grant the wish I asked of her.
That evening I also went with SAS to a program called Bahia by Night. That was AMAZING!! There were these beautiful and amazingly skilled performers doing all of those dances native to the afro-Brazilian culture. They performed the dances of the deities or orixs while in full costume. Then they performed capoeira in a way I honestly can´t explain, I thought someone was going to lose their head it was so fast! They did a sword and stick dance (macuele), instrumental display (berimbau) a samba de roda procession and got everyone to come on stage and dance with them. The performance was held in a place called Solar do Unho,, which is an old slave quarter and sugar mill. We could still see the tracks in the ground where slaves and sugar were carted around and the cells where slaves were held prisoner. It was the first time on the trip I saw something or went somewhere that really made me think, you know? We´re taught about slavery in the United States, but it was so prevalent everywhere else that was colonized as well. People all over the world, especially in the Caribbean and South America were constantly exploited-that is just a much a part of their cultures as it is ours.
After the show we had a phenomenal dinner at a churrascaria (giant indoor barbeque); it was another first on the trip for me...the first time that I´d been absolutely STUFFED. These waiters walk around with giant slabs of meat and other yummies like fried bananas and French fries. You, the mass consumer of food, have a little piece of cardboard that either says " sim obrigado" (yes thank you) or nao (no more!). I tried everything pretty much, well minus the beef and pork and lamb :-P... so basically not much, but I did eat a TON and I tried sushi, which was also really good.
My next day in Brazil I did a service visit at the Calabar Favela which is essentially a slum or ghetto of Salvador. We received a tour of the community and spent time with the children. It´s an experience that I cannot... almost a month later... wrap my head around. It was astonishing to see children so young, some around 5 or 6, doing capoeira because they were so dedicated to learning and perfecting it (Sidenote: I know I mention capoeira A LOT, but it´s a huge aspect of this culture and everyone basically does it). It seems like the craft serves as a connection to the past but also as alleviation from the worries of everyday life. In return, we performed tweet baby (the hand game) and got all the children to do the chicken... yay for attending lots of Bar Mitzvah´s in junior high.
The really strange thing about visiting the favela was giving out "presents" to the children. It feels like we´re parents at a children´s birthday party giving out loot bags. But glitter tattoos, bubbles, candy bracelets and spinning tops are foreign to these children. They can´t just go to their local store and buy them, let alone see them. They really are utterly superfluous novelties that are revered by the youth in our culture-so that realization was, something.
THEN shopping at a massive mall, enough said J I am my mother´s daughter.
That was the last of my fun in Brazil, I got sick and was in quarantine... you all know how that went, ugh puking and high fevers are NOT fun.
OH!!! Before I forget, I did make it into the performance lab class and this point in the trip is when I was freaking out about memorizing my lines... you´ll find out how that went later... on ward to South Africa!!!!
"Life is not a journey to the grave with intentions of arriving safely in a pretty well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming ... WOW! What a ride!"--Anonymous
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