Salvador, Brazil

The past week is now one of the highlights of my life. I’ve learned so much about the culture in Brazil, about people and peace, and about myself. There were so many moments that were so powerful that words and pictures can’t come close to explaining what I’ve experienced. Before I start telling you a little about my time in Brazil, it’s very important that I give thanks to some great people. First of all I probably wouldn’t have had those life changing moments without the help of Dick Nagel. Thank you so much for your donation to this trip. The first four out of the five days were possible because of it. Mom, (I miss you so much) you’re love and support has not only made this voyage possible, but I wouldn’t even be doing anything like this if it weren’t for you raising me with such an open mind. When our ship docked in Salvador da Bahia I could hear the drums of a group of four Afro-Brazilians welcoming us with music outside the ship. Women of Yaruba ancestry were wearing the traditional hoop skirt dresses and white African turbans and tied ribbons to our wrists. People were handing out coconuts to drink from, while just past the gate was a tour bus waiting for 23 other students and me to take us to Lencois (pronounced lensoice). We saw many favelas on the way (all the houses where the impoverished majority of the population reside). We saw many skinny cows grazing in what used to be the Atlantic Rainforest. Our first stop in Lencois was at an NGO (non-government organization), which teaches children the original culture and keeps the community strong and close. It was pouring. There was a circle of the members dancing and playing instruments as we awkwardly stood to the side and watched. It took us a while to finally break the ice and take turns dancing in the middle of their circle. Smiles are universal, we did not speak the same language. After a while we were learning songs on Portuguese and holding hands and playing games and laughing together. Our guide was Daniel, and I’ll never forget him. We were so fortunate to have him, he knew so much about the culture and nature and everything else a guide should know… but he also was on a mission to open our minds to life and love.
The next morning we at breakfast and started our adventure. In that day alone I changed. At the beginning of our hike I was trying my best to go around plants so the wouldn’t touch my legs. It took me a while to realize I can’t look at natural things as icky and gross. Their part of life too. So before too long I let the plants feel my arms and legs. I didn’t step on the rocks to avoid muddy water, I just trekked right through, ankle deep. I can’t tell you how amazing the caves were that we climbed through… but hey wait til you see my pictures, it definitely wasn’t just a dark path. We got to the point in the cave were a stream flows into a small pool with a rather swift current. When our guide Kikiu said its time to go swimming we all looked at each other like--- uhh, are you going in… I don’t think I’m going in. Well… we all went in. In our bathing suites and sneakers, too. It felt real good to cool off. In the next moment I experienced fear, love, peace, life, and epiphany. Daniel got us all in a circle in the water and we sat there while the guide extinguished the lanterns. I’d never experienced pure absence of light. In silence, we listened to, felt, and breathed earth and energy. With eyes wide open and digging my hands in the sand and water, I had a powerful moment that is very difficult to explain because I’d never felt anything like this before. I cried. My tears were the same as the earth’s. This probably sounds really strange, but again I can’t really explain what happened there. It was pretty cool when we could see the light at the end of the cave (no pun intended) and see the mountain open up. We climbed to just about the edge of the cave and at lunch on the rocks. It was amazing how high the ceiling of the cave was and that just above it people were on top of that mountain… and then I climbed up there. This is the part my mom is probably not too thrilled about. My heart dropped at the view from above the cave because I was about to jump off of it. Yeah, I was freaked out too. It was completely safe, don’t worry! Anyway so yeah a couple other students and I bungee jumped off of this cliff and saw the cave from upside down. I don’t think I’d ever screamed so loud in my life. However, unlike most people who just kind of lean forward and let themselves fall forward off the mountain, I bent my knees and 1, 2, 3, I dove off that mountain. Definitely the biggest adrenaline rush ever. It was worth the fear. It down poured as we hiked back down and went to our inn. My legs and feet felt like they were going to fall off. After an hour nap we were up and at ‘em again. We went to a small local Carnival celebration. It was really fun, but my feet were screaming at me! There were two blocks with stages like an outdoor concert and when one concert ended, the “compactatrio”, the big sound truck lead us to the next block. So we danced like tourists to samba to the next block and danced even more. It was wild.
Day three we took a one hour drive through Chapada Diamantina (the national park) where we climbed another mountain to see the Fumaco water fall. I was already in pain from the day before and this one was even harder to climb. Well I did it. I was inspired by my boyfriend, Dave, who always seems to be in much better shape than me. I am so proud of myself. The hike was a total of 12 kilometers. Very intense. The view left me awe struck. I have great pictures, but I can’t share them until I come home unfortunately. (By the way I haven’t checked my e-mail since I was in Puerto Rico and I may or may not check it in South Africa) The hike down the mountain was a completely different work out. Although I was dying and sooo sore and tired, I ran down the steep part of the mountain. It felt like dancing, bouncing back and forth between rocks. I can’t believe I climbed that mountain. I’ll definitely be taking the gondola up Table Mountain in South Africa because I heard that’s much more intense. We got to sleep a little before the people from the NGO came to our inn to visit with us one more time. They taught us even more songs and dances and we felt like we’d learned so much for them and didn’t know what to do for them… I was embarrassed at the thought at first, but we all decided to teach them the Hokey Pokey. It was hilarious and really fun! We enjoyed our homemade pizza dinner together before passing out again.
Day four started at 6am. We got up (those of us that prayed for a fourth wind to get us to hike again… some people just couldn’t take it and slept in) and went to see another waterfall and swim in the river. Well… I did go, but I chose not to swim because we were pressed for time and really only had five minutes to swim so it was more like another hike. But hey I got to see some cute monkeys! I wasn’t expecting that. They were little and they reminded me of squirrels. The 6 hour drive back to Salvador began at 11, we were on our way to CARNIVAL! It was unbelievable! It was very different from what was going on in Rio de Janeiro, but I’m glad I was at the Carnival in Salvador. We had t-shirts that were basically our ticket to be in the parade. Let me explain something first… In Rio, there are many samba schools and practice all year for their parade which goes down at the huge samba drome. Humongous, elaborate floats and unbelievable dancers compete in front of judges and leave millions of people in awe. But I wasn’t there… in Salvador there are the Trio Electricos. They are giant sound trucks that probably shake the concrete in the camarotes (camarotes and private clubs sorta where people can drink and dance and watch the parade from balconies above, it’s said to be safer). Each Trio Electrico has a large space roped off around it for everyone to dance in the street. This area is called a bloco. The bloco that I was in was called Crocodilo. On top of the trio is a band and usually a very famous singer and the professional dancers in their great costumes. They play mostly afoxe music, which is samba/popular music and the bloco I was in had more of a reggae, but still very upbeat, style added to it. The group that brought together samba and reggae is called Olodum and they are HUGE in Brazil. One of the best female vocalists in Bahia was on our trio and she sang basically the whole parade. It was incredible how star struck people were. I had the most amazing time of my life in that parade. I think I’ve done ok picking up samba. Danced until we couldn’t quite hold our bodies up with our legs anymore. At times it was a mosh pit and we were jumping up and down really fast to the tempo and sometimes we were absolutely squished with whoever was around us. But it was nothing but good times. If it started raining beer on you, you’d brush it off and just keep on dancing. If you got rammed by anyone- no worries. When we got to wider parts of the street it was really fun to dance and twirl around with whoever was around you. I did make some observations. Some things were much different from the United States as far as accepted sexuality and public displays of affection. I didn’t interview anyone or anything but it appeared to me that mal homosexuality was everywhere. Guys were making out everywhere. Guys were hitting on the guys in our group and at first it made some of the guys incredibly uncomfortable and freaked out… but it warmed my heart to see my new friend Alex holding the hand of a transgender twirling around. What I did not see was gay women. Also, the men were better dancers by far from the women. I really don’t know how possible it is to top this port. It was so incredible. I have to go back to Carnival again in my life. I love Brazil. I want to make one more point… I went into the port scared out of my mind that I’d get robbed or mugged or hurt because of everything I was told, however I felt very safe. Everyone was there to have a good time, live and love. The people were much nicer than a lot of people in the United States.
So I’m back on the ship now. I’m safe, I’m happy, and I’m loving life. I get home sick, but I know where my home is and I love you all more by the minute as I keep learning more about myself. On my way to South Africa now! I’ll write more as soon as I can. Love you all!!

-Kim