Living in Salvador

Sorry guys. I never wrote in my blog, because I was too frustrated to explain my situation again and again. It was just some insanity and I was never in the mood to write.

I think it may have been the same day that I last wrote in here, or a day later. I went to take money out of the same bank machine that I always use. It didn´t work. It told me that I had an invalid card. Shit... So I used my back up card, one that I carry, but I wasn´t 100% sure of the PIN. I tried anyways. Same message. So, I panicked. I talked to Lobo, who took me to another place to try my card. Again, the same message. I went back to Mandinga and called Vancity. They said that my card had been comprimised. I guess it makes sense. I used it every week at the same machine with the same amount: R$500. I didn´t have much of a choice, though, since Vancity doesn´t let me take more than that out, and it only lasts me a week. I asked her why my other card didn´t work. "Oh, it´s because Vancity is going through some changes, Plus to Cirrus, and many clients outside Canada are having the same problem. You need a new bank card, but we can´t send one to Brazil."

So, I didn´t even have 5 centavos. I was broke. Nothing. So, they sent that card to my old address, where Lynn would receive it and send it to me in Brazil. There was no way I was going to go to Recife without money, without knowing anyone except Carolina (whom I´ve never actually met). So, I talked to Lobo about how I couldn´t afford to stay at Mandinga. He told me that his aunt´s house has some suites that are ready and I could move in R$250 per month (around $150). So, I took my backpack and walked down the hill to his house. They were still not ready to receive me, so I was going to stay at Lobo´s until I could move in.

I tried to get a cash advance through my credit card, the bank said it wasn´t possible, so I called for Emergency cash through Visa. I called them probably 10 times throughout the 2 days and I got so frustrated that I nearly cried in the middle of the bank. I never realized how tiring it is to complain, to demand things in another language. Anyways, so the people at Visa told me that the money was ready at the bank, so I spent three hours waiting for them to get the money. Finally I got so frustrated that I told them, I need my money now!!! But it wasn´t there. I was nearly in tears, having spent so much time and being so stressed, a woman tried to resolve things for me. I called Visa again and they told me that the money was NOT ready and that it wouldn´t be until the next day. The woman working at the bank told me that she would arrange a cash advance through my credit card. I guess they can do anything for you if you make enough of a fuss. Not possible, assholes.

So, I paid for Mandinga, my rent and for my new bed. I bought a stove and oven with my credit card. I ran out of money faster than I would´ve liked. My sister received the card and put it in the mail, Purolator. It should´ve arrived within three business days. It didn´t. I tracked it. The last time it was scanned was Monday, it was already Friday. I called on the following Monday. "They will attempt delivery today". Hooray!! We went to the island of Itapirica, with the little bit of money that I got paid. We spent the day at the beach, drank a little, ran out of money, had to call Lobo´s brother to bring us more money, came back to Salvador using the last little bit of money. We came back, the card was still not there. I called Purolator again. "It´s still in São Paulo, they have a problem with the address". So, the other girl lied to me? Was she confused? Stupid? Trying to fuck with me? So, again, no money. Nothing. My tourist visa was to expire on Saturday. So, on Wednesday, I borrow money from Lobo and I take the bus to the airport to extend my visa. They tell me that I need to pay for my visa, understandable, but they don´t accept credit cards. R$67. I have enough to take the bus back to Lobo´s. In addition to this money, they want a ticket returning to Canada. My return ticket was on Monday, the day I left for the island of Itapirica. So, that´s it, I thought. I´m going to be illegal in Brazil with no money. Fucking brilliant. I called my Mom. She said she´d send me money through Western Union. Friday morning (the last day to get my visa) I went to Banco do Brasil to pick up my money. Easy enough, but I was terrified watching them stare my passport and visa down. They told me, "You only have two more days on your visa!!!" I thought, oh shit. If I do become illegal without money and mom needs to send me money, what would happen? The bank would have be deported? Shit... I email Becky, at the travel agency, she sent me an itinerary Salvador to Vancouver. Thank god. Last minute, I had everything. I went to the airport and got my visa. Happy Birthday to me.

The next day, my 23rd birthday. I was relaxed. Nothing was going to bother me. We went to the beach, we drank lots of beer, I swam in the beautiful Bahian waters, played beach volleyball, and watched the sun set. It was amazing. Simple and amazing. It had always been my dream to go to the beach on my birthday. I always envied my friends with birthdays in the summer. The day I learned that seasons are opposite in the Southern Hemisphere, I told myself that I would go there and go to the beach on my birthday. Now, I have done that. After the beach, we went back to Lobo´s where we ate cake and sang happy birthday, which lasts 10 times longer here. On Sunday, it was Lobo´s grandpa´s birthday party (he shares a birthday with me!). We danced and drank all day. It was fantastic. Lobo´s family is huge! There is a birthday party every week. Next week we are going into the interior to celebrate the birthday of his godfather´s mother. I guess it´s my family now. It already feels that way.

Today I went out and bought bed sheets. And tonight will be the first night that I spend in my house, after one month at Lobo´s. I still don´t have much, but I think I will just use my visa to fill my house until I finally receive my card. Rent is due again, though. So, I will try again to get a cash advance on my credit card. I hope it works. Worse comes to worst, Lynn and Sarah can bring my new bank card to Brazil when they come to visit in January. I am so unbelievably excited for them to come. Three weeks of awesome! Because I shouldn´t be working, holidays... WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!! Although I will be extremely hungover picking them up at the airport at 7:30am on January 1st. But it´s a million times worth it to see my sisters in Brazil.

Another dream come true :)

Minhoca! (Worm!)

Yes, I am still in Salvador, but I have already bought my ticket out of here, so I´m actually going this time!

On Monday, I trained as usual, and talked a bit with my friend Beto, who told me about his tattoo artist friend. He gave me directions to his neighbourhood, and I met him the next morning. I went in and described the worm I wanted on my foot. I ended up not getting it on my ankle, which is better. It is more easily seen on the top of my foot. He looked up pictures online, like I had, for cartoon pictures of worms (a realistic worm would be kind of creepy looking I think). We found all the same ones, ugly and not all that cool. Finally, he just pulled out a pencil and started drawing. It ended up being way better that way. When he finally created a worm that I liked, he got started. For anyone who´s thinking of getting a tattoo on their foot, IT HURTS! Sooo much. I remember the last one kind of hurting, but it wasn´t so bad. By the end of the session, I was more uncomfortable than anything, really impatient. This worm, though, was painful, especially when he moved closer to my toes. Luckily, though, the foot is a small place, for a small tattoo, and mine wasn´t very detailed. It only took about a half hour, so it was alright in the end. He told me to buy the specific cream and to wrap it in plastic wrap for the next four days. I asked him about training capoeira, and he told me to wear socks and tennis shoes. I did al those things, and by day 3, the face of my worm was practically gone!! I went back to him and showed him what happened. He told me that I couldn´t use the plastic wrap or the tennis shoes anymore. The face is better now, but I think I may go back I leave for Recife. The face still isn´t perfect.

So I really haven´t been doing much of anything during the week. I haven´t even been going to the beach because of my tattoo. I´m afraid of being in the sun and swimming. If I go to the beach, I am just tempting myself. I don´t think it´s possible to go to the beach and not swim. At least, not for me.

Friday, I went back to AEC to teach again. This time it was even better, because I didn´t feel quite as useless. The last time, it was fun and I think I did help, but I didn´t feel like I was working. This time, we had songs in English again (Celine Dion, how Canadian!) and we went over vocabulary for the conversation subject. We went upstairs, and I sat down with the group again, waiting for conversation to start. Then, Nadia told me that I was needed in the other room. I took a piece of paper and a pen, and I gave an oral exam to the advanced students. My very first day and I´m already grading people. It was fun, though. If this is what my job is going to be like, it´s great! We just sat in the room, chose a subject, and chatted. I made sure that everyone spoke, and then by the end of the test, I gave everyone a mark out of ten. I´m looking forward to February when I will be teaching actual classes.

Saturday, there was a roda in another neighbourhood, actually the same neighbourhood that I got my tattoo. It was a roda for the kids taking class out there. I had a hard time buying the game, and when I finally did, the roda ended. So, I only played once, which I know is my own fault. I can´t believe I still have so much trouble buying the game. It´s as though I want to, but the more I wait, the more difficult it becomes to actually play. That´s just another thing I need to work on. Before the roda, I had been practicing the berimbau.. that´s something else I need to work on... stringing the berimbau! Even with beriba that´s easier to bend, I still can´t get the wire tight enough.... one day.. one day I will do it properly.

Later that day, Lobo and I took a bus out of the city (I can´t remember the name of the place) for another Candomblé party. This time it was special, though, because it was his mother´s Candomblé home. She was there, dancing, and I met a few more family members (man, does he have a big family). By the time we arrived there, I was already tired, and I should´ve known that it was going to be a tough night. The dancing had already started when we got there, I found a seat near the women, by the door and I watched. Slowly though, my eyes would close and my head would droop. I kept trying to stay awake, and I did succeed, but it was really difficult. The biggest problem of all was the fact that the drumming is very loud and very rhythmic. Even when I´m fully awake, the beat seems to reach deep into my chest. By the end of the party, my heart was pounding so fast, that I wasn´t sure what I was feeling anymore. It didn´t feel like I was sleepy because I felt like running and shouting. Even when the drumming had stopped, and I was just sitting there, watching them serve food to everyone, I couldn´t sit still. My heart was still racing a million beats per second, and my legs were shaking. When I got my mound of food, I felt better to be moving and focusing on something. I couldn´t eat all of it, though, because by this time it was around 11pm, too late to eat so much. Lobo and I were supposed to spend the night in the house, because we had another Candomblé party in the same area, the next morning. Unfortunately, they didn´t have any room, so we had to find our way back to Garcia. This turned into a huge problem. We got a ride to the bus station, where we waited and discovered that there were no more buses back to Salvador. So, instead we took a taxi to the main bus station in Salvador, which cost us R$35. Again, there were no buses running, so we had to take another shared taxi to Garcia, which cost another R$10. Luckily, I thought I may need to bring some extra money, and good thing I did. I usually don´t carry more than R$20 on me at any given time.

We woke up the next day, and headed back out of town for the next party. Let me just say, I seem to complain about these parties, but it´s not because I don´t like them. It´s just that every time I go, it is late at night, and I become very sleepy. Going to the party during the day was very enjoyable. When we arrived, they were already serving lunch. We ate, and afterwards, the dance begun. I had wondered before how they were able to dance with their eyes closed, spinning around the room, but never bumping into one another and when they go for the door, their eyes still closed, they find it with ease. How do they know where the door is if their eyes have been closed and they have been spinning around the room?? I discovered that when their eyes are closed, and they are in the trance of the dance, they don´t see using their eyes. In a way, they are not inside their own bodies anymore, and they have no control over how they move. They are actually looking at themselves from the outside. It´s quite amazing to watch them move. At one point, actually the night before, on Saturday, there had been a man, sitting on the floor. I knew he was in a trance because his eyes were closed too, but he wasn´t dancing. At one point, he got up, started shouting and his body seemed to just fly through the air, landing motionless on the ground, passed out. The people helped him up, and walked him to the door. As they were approaching the door, his body flew again, landing on the chairs, back onto the floor, but this time, he rolled. He rolled all over the room, without any control. During all the parties I´ve been to, I´ve wondered about how this is all possible. To lose all control and to be in this trance. I watched as people went from being in a conscious state to the trance, how the shake and shout, how they dance, and how they hug one another and me. I love how I am there, they know that I am a stranger, but somehow I am still welcome to be there, in the middle of everything. They still offer me food, and treat me as one of them. I just feel bad that I don´t understand what´s going on. I don´t know when I´m doing something wrong. I don´t know their traditions and their customs or their beliefs. With the limited Portuguese I have, I really don´t even understand when they explain it to me. I just sit there and observe, the only thing I can do.

So, I leave for Recife on Thursday night. I will arrive and head to Carolina´s house. Carolina will be the first in Brazil to host me from Couch Surfing, so I´m excited to experience this for the first time on my own! It will be good to be traveling again, although I will miss Salvador, and most of all Lobo. I´ll be back in November, when I will look for more jobs and resolving any issues I may have with my work visa. When schools close again in December, I will travel again until the end of January. Feburary being the month when I start teaching real classes.

Am I ever going to leave Salvador?

I´m still here.


On Saturday night, I went to the Candomblé party with Lobo. My ear was bugging me sooo much though. By the end of the party, I was pretty anxious to get back. I really enjoy watching, but it´s difficult to watch for so long, when I have absolutely no idea what´s going on. I would try to ask, but I would never understand what Lobo was saying. It´s unlike anything I´ve ever seen. Since that night, I have tried reading up on it, all in Portuguese, and I´m still having trouble understanding what it´s all about. It was cool to see the whole party though, this time. It´s amazing how the dance takes over their entire bodies. One girl showed up drunk and she lost control of her body. She couldn´t walk or stand, but she was dancing. It was crazy.

It was on Tuesday that I decided to look around at schools in Salvador. I spoke with a few schools, most of which were all the same. The receptionists gave me an email to send my resume and cover letter. Then, I went to AEC Idiomas, the first school that had a receptionist that spoke English. That´s a good sign. She told me to come by on Friday to see the event and speak with the director.

So, I showed up Friday night, where they had a handout of the lyrics to music that was playing. Everyone was singing along with the music, a few in English and one in Spanish. Afterwards, there was conversation. We switched partners every few minutes and just had conversations. There were people from many different levels, but it was nice to see how it worked. Every friday night, everyone practices their English. After the conversation class was over, I went to talk to Teixeira, the director. He started with, "So, if you´d like, you could come by and work every Friday, maybe Saturdays too. It´s all I can offer right now, since it´s the end of the season." I was not expecting this. I told him that I was actually traveling, and that I was interested in starting in February. He said that that would work as well, since that´s when he´s going to need more people. He said that work is available every Friday, whenever I happen to be in Salvador, and that I should come back in December for work. Then, I asked him about my work visa, if he´d be able to help me. His response: "Just let me know what you need, I´ll do it." All of this, without an interview... crazy! I´m a little worried. I chatted for a while with one of the students, and it turns out that he knows a few people who run English schools here in Salvador. I will send him my resume and cover letter and he will see if he can find me more work. And on Tuesday, I was suuuper worried about finding a job. Haha

Saturday, Lobo and I woke up super early and left for Praia do Forte. The bus was an hour late leaving, and it took more than two hours to get there. But it was absolutely gorgeous!! We laid on the beach, grabbed lunch and walked out on the reef. So worth the travel time. We borrowed a camera from a friend of his, kind of a shitty camera, but it was nice to take some pictures. The one thing I really wanted a picture of was of the two of us. Now I have plenty :) I´m really sad that he´s going to Toronto, though. Bad timing, and a really weird coincidence. Of all countries, he´s going to Canada for one year and I´ll be staying here in Salvador for one year. Pretty fucked up, but right now I´m trying not to think about it. I´m just enjoying what we have right now.

Today was election day. I went with him to vote, the streets were filled with people. Everyone getting ready to vote. Very different than Canada, where there´s only really a few people. Here, it´s mandatory to vote, so everyone was there. Here in Brazil, they use numbers to represent each candidate, so each person needs to remember the number of the people they are voting for. So, there are little pamphlets of the politicians everywhere and have been everywhere since I arrived in Brazil. Today, however, the streets were absolutely covered in the propaganda crap. It was disgusting!! But at least I know that all of that is over now. There will be no more propaganda thrown at me. Every time I would ask them what I was going to do with it, I can´t even vote! But somehow they would get me to take it anyway.

So the plan is now to stay for another week. I´m doing this so I can go to another conversation class and work, do some investigation concerning my visa and talk to Teixeira some more about the job. I also want to stay to spend some more time before Lobo leaves for Canada on October 15th.

Anyways, I don´t think I really have anything else to add. I haven´t really been doing much since I´ve been back to Salvador, not that I haven´t been enjoying myself ;)

Traveling in Bahia

Where I left off, I was in Santo Amaro. Man, that seems like so long ago now. It really has been a while since I have updated this thing.

On Tuesday, I woke up and wandered around the city a little. I made my way back to Casa do Samba, and they were open this time. I sat and chatted with Mestre Gato Goés for a while, talked about classes I wanted to take. He was talking more about music classes, the drumming for maculêlê and samba de roda. I argued with him for a while about price, and then spoke with Mestre Adó about Capoeira Angola classes. I returned later in the day for my maculêlê class. This class I took with Mestre Popó´s grandson, I can´t actually remember his name. He was a cool guy, he talked awhile about maculêlê, of course I only understood some of it. It turns out that the maculêlê here is very different from what I learned with Nego. The two people dancing only use 3 sticks together, and there doesn´t seem to be any kicking at all, only spins. I wasn´t too crazy about the drumming class, because they didn´t seem to know how to break it down, the way Nego always taught me. They just seemed to get frustrated when I couldn´t do exactly what they did. I think they may not be used to the non-brazilian anti-rhythm. So, I learned the basic of the basic on the drum. That was kind of frustrating. That night, I met with Mestre Adó for an angola class. It was in an academy a bit far out, he sent a moto taxi to come get me at my Hotel. When I got there, it was only me and him. We played berimbau together for about 45 minutes to an hour. During this time, kids started arriving, and they just sat and stared at me. Strange foreigner with a berimbau. I really enjoyed his class, a lot more than Mestre Moraes´ class in Salvador. He took things slow with me and explained why and how angola was different. Moraes seemed to just get frustrated that I didn´t understand, and walk away, and Adó instead talked me through it and continued until I got it right. At the end of the class, he and I sat and played berimbau together, with the rest of the class watching. He got me to sing, which is terrifying, but it was pretty good. I left the class feeling pretty good, with a really sore pinky from all the berimbau playing. I got a ride back to the Hotel with David, a student of his, and I realy thought I was going to die. The roads are really bumpy, this kid drove super fast, I didn´t have a helmet, and he kept darting into alleys to avoid the cops (It is illegal to ride without a helmet...).

Wednesday, I woke up and went straight to Casa do Samba. I was there on time, as usual, and my instructors were more than an hour late. They asked when I arrived, 11am, then they laughed. Oh Brazil. I enjoyed the samba de roda class a little more, but I think the reason was the fact that I already knew how to play the pandeiro. Again, they taught the basic of the basic on the drum, but at least I was able to keep up and have a bit more fun this time. They really don´t know how to teach gringos. Because I already have a bit of a base on these rhythms, and they were having trouble teaching me. I can´t imagine a gringo who actually knows nothing about the rhythms. It would be totally useless. A few hours later, I met again with Mestre Adó and had a two hour berimbau class with him. It was amazing! I learned a bunch of new variations, most of which I have now forgotten :( But it was so good to get that time in practicing. I felt like I went back to Salvador with a new confidence on the berimbau. Of course, by the end of the class, I thought my finger was going to fall off. Never have I played so much at one time. It was fantastic. After saying goodbye to Adó, I headed to Mestre Macaco´s Capoeira academy. Now, I hear that Mestre Macaco was the the Mestre that gave Nego his very first cord. So when I remembered that, I thought he would be older, but he´s not. His style seemed to be quite a lot similar to Malês, but his style of teaching was different. Now class was packed, and he would get us to do a sequence a few times, a complicated sequence that would usually take a few times just to remember it, but then he´d switch it all the time. Then he would switch it back. I was getting so confused in the class, I think it was my lack of Portuguese that was hurting me. Then we had partners, and I was confused because there was something specific you were supposed to do, but you were also supposed to add whatever movement you want. So, I didn´t know which was the added movement and which was the one we were practicing. I was relieved by the time roda started. Now THAT I understand. It was a good roda, and I played a bunch of times. At the end of the class, everyone sat down and Macaco spoke for a while. I wasn´t following anything, my body and mind were exhausted from the class. Then, he mentions me and asks me to say something to the class. So, I just explained the purpose of my travels to Santo Amaro, and to Brazil. It was the only thing I could think of. I went back to my Hotel, then walked to the only restaurant open past 9. It was busier than the last time I had gone there. I ordered my Canadian Bacon pizza and went to wash my hands. Then a middle aged man started talking to me about capoeira and where I was from. In general, I talk like this a lot with people in Salvador, but few people talked to me in Santo Amaro, they just stared. So, I ended up joining him and his friend at their table. They´re from São Paulo and we chatted for a while about things. We shared food and beer, and then they asked me when I was leaving. I told them that I was going to Salvador the next day. It turns out that he, Ivo, was driving to Salvador, so he offered me a ride. They walked me back to my Hotel and we arranged to meet at 2pm to head back to Salvador.

The next day, I woke up and went back to Macaco´s academy. I just hung out there for a few hours, watched some videos, listened to some music. Nothing special. I was expecting that he was going to charge me for the class, but he didn´t, unlike the Casa do Samba, who were trying to charge me R$60 per class. I went back to the hotel at around 1 and just played around on the internet. Ivo showed up at around 1:30 to let me know that he was going to need an extra hour at work and that we would leave at 3pm. I said that was fine. By the time 4 o´clock came, I was a bit worried. I really didn´t want to drive with a stranger at night, and if I took the bus, I didn´t want to be riding around on the local bus too late with my big bag either. So, I sent him a text message that I was going to take the bus, and I started walking. He was driving towards me as I was walking to the bus station, so I jumped in. Thank god it´s only about an hour and a half drive back to Salvador. He´s a cool guy, but really kind of weird. By the end of the drive he was asking me about my ex-boyfriends and stuff. I was happy that he dropped me off at Campo Grande, instead of directly in front of the academy. That night, capoeira class started a bit late. And it turned out to be a music class.. I was happy about this, now with my new confidence on berimbau. After class, we had a bit of a party with a few of the capoeiristas. We drank some wine, ate some food, danced a little samba and did a little capoeira angola. I was so happy to be back in Salvador.

Friday, I didn´t do much of anything. Of what I remember, I went for a long walk, went to the beach, and just kicked it. We had roda that night, after an intense class of martelo (which I clearly need to work on). It was the goodbye roda for Assombração and McGyver, who were staying at the academy with me. They were leaving the next day for Rio. We had a great roda, and a goodbye samba de roda for the guys. I looked around and realized how few girls train capoeira. It was only me, Iraporanga and Guerreira, so we were constantly in the samba de roda.

Saturday, we were supposed to go early to Itapuã to the beach. That didn´t happen. We didn´t end up going until about 2pm and it took nearly an hour on the bus to get there. From the beach, we walked to Tucano´s place and then to a little lake for a roda. I didn´t play much, but it was a good roda. We walked back to Tucano´s place, ate some feijão, drank a little beer. A bunch of people started heading back, but I decided to stay out there a bit longer. We went and drank some more beer, and more beer, and some rum and some cognac and some more beer. So I was pretty drunk by midnight when we were trying to get a bus back to Garcia. I noticed a missed call on my phone, a number I didn´t recognize. I called it turned out to be Lobo, a capoeirista whom I like a lot actually, and he was inviting me to a party. So, by the time we made it back to Garcia in a cab (loooong cab ride) I called him to see if he´d still be out. He was, so he picked me up and took me to this Candomblé party. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. The drumming was a sort of trance for the dancer, who wears some of the most beautiful and elaborate costumes I have ever seen. This is a moment that I should´ve had a camera, not that I´m sure I would´ve been allowed to take pictures. It was a traditional Candomblé dance, not one that tourists would ever see.

The next day, I spent with Lobo and his family. They were very sweet, but I didn´t understand anything they said. His mom made feijão with chicken, which we all ate: me, Lobo, his brother, his mother, his father, and his grandmother. Then we went out to some other neighbourhood a bit of a ways away, we met with his brother´s godfather, and we hung out and drank beers. It was a good day for my portuguese, not because I spoke with Lobo´s family, but because he would re-explain it to me in a portuguese that I could understand. I understand his brother, but when I went to his mom and thanked her for lunch, she blabbed on about something and I didn´t catch a word of it.

Monday, I packed my bag and got ready to go to Capão, By 10am I was on the local bus to the bus station. I went to purchase my ticket and discovered that the next bus didn´t leave until 4:30pm, and that it is a 6 hour bus ride just to Lençois, from where I need to take a jeep to Capão which takes another hour. That would get me there in the middle of the night. So instead, i purchased a ticket for the bus that left at 11pm. That way I would sleep on the bus and get to Capão bright and early the next day. I went back to the academy, went to the beach, took capoeira class, and said goodbye to everyone.

The bus ride was terrible. I couldn´t sleep even a little bit. We arrived in Palmeiras at around 5:30am, and I got on the jeep to Capão. Man, was it a difference to be out there. No noise, no traffic, nothing. Just the mountains, the fresh air... truly amazing. I met Paola, from São Paulo on the bus. She was traveling by herself too, so we ended up sticking together. It was a good plan. Léo met us in town and led Paola to the place she was staying, and he led me to his house where he rents rooms for tourists. The first thing that we did, 7am in the middle of nowhere, he rolled a joint. Now, this was the first of many joints that were smoked in Capão. All the people that live there are a bunch of pothead hippies. It was awesome! I went on a bunch of day hikes, up to the waterfalls, where we would just lay in the sun, swim and smoke weed. It was quite amazing, actualy. So relaxing, such a difference from Salvador, which I always thought to be very chill as well. They really live the good life out there, those guys. I don´t think I could do it, though. My lungs were in pretty bad shape by the time I got back to Salvador. My original plan was to take the bus back on Thursday night, to arrive in Salvador in the morning, but on Thursday, I met with Pedro. Pedro was going to drive to Salvador on Friday morning. This was a much better deal. I was able to get a good night´s sleep and then head back to Salvador. It´s amazing how easy it is to meet people when traveling alone. Santo Amaro and Capão, I get a ride back to Salvador... amazing.

I arrived in Salvador yesterday, found myself back at the academy. I called Lobo and met up with him and his cousin at a shopping mall. It really does suck that Lobo is moving to Toronto.. We hung out and ended up getting to the roda late. I decided not to take part, because I realized that I hadn´t eaten all day and that my lungs were still hurting from the joint that morning. Capão was baaad for my lungs and brain. I can´t let that happen again. After roda, we went to a club with live singers and dancers. It was fantastic! I danced the night away, but clearly I do not have the energy that the brazilians do. I was spent by 1am, and we left. It´s amazing that brazilians never stop dancing. I´m sure the party went on until 7am or something. No wonder they´re all so fit.

This morning, not so great. I woke up with a teeeeeerrrible ear infection. I´m supposed to go to a nother Candomblé party with Lobo tonight, but we´ll have to see how I´m feeling. Today, I pretty much slept until 3:30 and then started writing in my blog... Took my entire day! Haha, but it´s a lot to cover anyways.

The internet café is closing, so I must go... My plan is to leave for Recife on October 3rd. I will miss Bahia!

I left my heart in Salvador...

Maybe I will live here forever!!!! Salvador is so chill. I can´t even remember what I have done since the day I last wrote. During the day, I chill at the beach or at the academy, at night I train capoeira. I have had some of the greatest days of my life in Salvador.

I went to the beach almost every day. It is very different here than in Rio. The beaches are smaller and quite rocky, unlike Rio which is entirely sand. I think I do enjoy the beaches more in Rio, it´s the complete relaxation that I love here. Now, I have also been to Barra, the most touristy beach, where I met a brazilian guy while jumping off the warf into the water. So much fun! I gave that guy my number, a mistake really, but who cares. I spent the day with him, it rained, we went to the beach, it sucked, by the end of the day, I really just wanted him to leave me alone. I told him that I had a boyfriend in Salvador and that I had to meet him. He´s called me a few times since, all of which I have ignored. That was on Friday. I really can´t remember what I did Monday through Thursday. I think I just chilled with friends, ate delicious food that we all shared, trained capoeira, and just enjoyed life. All I can remember, really, is a feeling of bliss. That´s the only way to describe it: pure bliss. I feel as though, at every moment, I am the happiest I have ever been.



I bought a SIM card on Monday, so I have a phone number in Brazil. Actually, I have two. There was a promotion, so for R$10 I bought two SIM cards. I guess I will either sell one or I will keep it in case I lose the other, which is of course entirely possible, being me. It is good for meeting friends, but it is extremely expensive to make calls. So, I only use it for text messages and for receiving calls. I still use those shitty public phones to call people.

I took a capoeira class on Wednesday (I think...) at Mestre Bimba´s old school. It´s a great thing to be able to say: I took a class at Bimba´s school! The shitty thing is that I hated the class. It was the most unmotivating class I have ever taken!! The guy who taught the class, I think he was a student, was very distracted. He would give us a movement, and then he would sit by the window and just chat with people outside, while we were doing the sequence. He left us at one point for about 20 minutes, doing the same sequence, paying not even the least bit of attention to us. There were only two of us in the class: me and this Italian dude. It was a good class for cardio, I did sweat a lot and it was a good workout, but it was extremely unmotivating. I think the problem lies in the fact that they have classes every hour. They have classes at 9am, 10am, 11am, 12pm and then again at 4pm, 5pm, 6pm... It would be better if there were fewer classes; there would be more students in each class, and perhaps there would be more motivation in the teachers and students.

I love training at Projeto Mandinga. Everyone there is super cool and amazing capoeiristas. There are a few professores, instrutores and mestres that teach the classes, and like everything else, I have forgotten all names. I remember Mestre Sabiá, of course, the Mestre of Ginga Mundo, the group here. Unfortunately, I have not taken any classes with him. I have met him a few times, and he´s a great guy. We had roda on Friday night, as they do every week, but it was a pretty bad roda for me. Somebody decided that it was a good idea to have a roda by candlelight; there was no power outage, just no light. It was interesting at first. There was a good Angola game with two of the professores, then one of the more advanced students, Lobo, had a game with one of the professores. It was a good game, but in the end, the professor (I wish I could remember his name) threw a meia lua de compasso and got Lobo right in the nose. Lobo left the roda and sat down against the wall. I looked over, and noticed that his nose was bleeding and was losing consciousness. He went to the doctor, but since that, I was not able to enjoy the roda. I had no energy. I played one Angola game, and then only played pandeiro and sang. He came back later that night, only with a broken nose.

Saturday was spent mostly at the academy. I just hung out with Metrão and a few other people who came by. That night, I stayed in with Assombraçao and Metrão, danced samba, and they shared some delicious food with me. I´ve been lucky enough to have men cook for me this entire time in Salvador. I really should cook for them, but they make such yummy food that I can´t compare!

Sunday was amazing... Gay Pride in Campo Grande. It was a party all day long! Like a mini carnaval... and everyone showed up too. It was a love fest, men with men, women with women, men with women... everyone kissing! During the day, it was similar to the Gay Parade in Vancouver: lots of people on the streets, rainbows everywhere, people dressing in drag, naked people, the only difference was that the drinking on the street was legal! It was later, when the music really started, and the party really started that it really looked like Brazil! There were buses moving slowly on the street, like floats, with music playing. All you had to do was find a bus with the music you like and dance! We danced for hours on the street, drinking beer, meeting cool people. It was amazing! It really was a mini carnaval, and it makes me SO excited for carnaval. An amazing celebration of the diversity of love... GREAT times!

I woke up this morning, packed my backpack with some of my things, and locked the rest in the closet of my room. Then I headed to Santo Amaro, where I have safely arrived now. It was a very quick trip. About 30-40 minutes on the bus to the bus station. And about 1 hour on the bus to Santo Amaro. I was able to walk to Hotel Lôbo, where I am now. After spending some time on the internet, I wandered over to Casa do Samba, where I hear there are samba, capoeira and maculêlê classes. It was closed and I couldn´t get in, so I just went for a walk. Santo Amaro feels a little bit like India, almost. Everybody just stares at me, like in India. I suppose they are not acustomed to seeing a gringa walking around. On my walk, I ran into two kids who were very interested in the strange gringa walking around. I chatted with them a bit, and one of them showed me around a little. He took me to a little theatre, where I went in and got a bit of information about capoeira and a free show that´s going on tomorrow for the 9th anniversity of the theatre. Then, I went back to the hotel, and watched some novelas. Terrible acting... just terrible.

Now, I am just getting ready for bed... I will get up early tomorrow and look around a bit more. I will be going to Casa do Samba at around 2pm, and the show later... hopefully there will be some kind of class tomorrow.

Eat, Sleep, Train, and DANCE!

My last few days in Rio were nice. I went to yet another football game at Maracanã (Some Canadian I am) on Sunday night. A bit more eventful: Flumenense 2, São Paulo 2. The stadium was much more crowded this time around because the Flumenense are the leading team right now (from Rio), so the fans are even more passionate.. They were waving flags, singing, cheering, swearing, as usual, along with throwing toilet paper and what´s called "rice dust" in the air and onto the field.

On Monday, I had a pretty chill day. I went to some natural reserve with Fabio, where we were supposed to go to the waterfall, but it´s closed on Mondays. Instead, we chilled further down, by the river. We ate jack fruit, which I had never seen before in my life. It is huge, about the size of a watermelon, and supposedly that was a tiny one. Then, by the river, I was eaten alive by bugs. They weren´t mosquitoes, but more like a tiny black fly that bites. I had put repellant only on my legs, and so these little buggers destroyed my feet and ankles, including my tattoo, which was covered with bites. The next day, it was so bad, that my ankles had swollen into cankles! They are only just starting to heal now.

Tuesday, my last day in Rio, was spent on the bus mostly. We got up early to go to the Christ (I guess I am a tourist afterall) at around 8am we left. By the time we got to downtown, it was 11:30 and by the time we got to the Christ, it was probably around 12:30. It was a gorgeous view. You could see all of Rio, and the Christ was massive! It´s amazing to think, last year I was at the Taj Mahal, and now at the Christ in Rio de Janeiro. Man, I love my life!

I woke up at 4:45am the next day, grabbed a cab to the airport, was there with plenty of time. No stress this time. I arrived in Salvador, and so did my backpack! I took the bus to Campo Grande, walked to the academy, on the way picking up the most delicious mango I have ever had in my entire life! I met up with Metrão, who showed me around the academy. I got my own room with three beds (one room is for men, the other for women). I peeked inside the men´s bedroom, and there were clothes on every bed, so I thought, "Man, there´re so many people staying here!" Of course, it turns out it was only two guys, whom had thrown their shit all over the room. That works, so I did the same... I use all three beds, now :) That night we had a capoeira class, where I met some gringos living in Salvador and working. This made me think a little: do I want to stay in Rio or Salvador?

The next day, I explored a little. That was pretty much all I did that day. I bought a book in Portuguese: A cidade do sol by Khaled Hosseini (A thousand splendid suns), one of my favourite books, which I read (in English) while I was in India. It´s really difficult to read in Portuguese, I have discovered, but I will still try my best. I wandered around Pelorinho, which is the historical centre of the city, with so much capoeira! I found Mestre Bimba´s school, got the schedule, met a woman there, who turns out to be the aunt of Professor Reni (who gave me my white cord at my first batizado). Small world! That night, another capoeira class at the academy. It´s such a great deal! R$30 per night, a pretty good deal for a hostel, but it also includes free capoeira all week! They also have a kitchen where we can cook, so really, all I do in Salvador: eat, sleep and train!

The next day, I woke up bright and early, and headed off for Pelorinho again. This time, I went a bit further to Forte Santo Antônio, where Mestre Moraes, whom was a student of Mestre João Pequeno (I think), gives Angola classes. I took my very first Capoeira Angola class: it was tough! It´s so incredibly different from Regional, more than I originally thought. I discovered that I have a really hard time moving my body that way, in that style. I did like how the class began, though: with about 10 minutes of music. They handed me the berimbau, and I sang. It was a great way to start the class! Put a little bit of everything into every class, it was very nice. I, of course, was very nervous, so I had trouble singing and playing the berimbau at the same time. I usually can do it... :( After the class, Mestre Moraes, whom showed up about half way through the class, asked me my name and I resonded with Leoa. He looked at me strangely, like Leoa?!? That´s an animal! So, at the end of class, when we were all sitting and listening to him, he went on a rant about nicknames. He said that they shouldn´t be used anymore, because capoeira is not illegal anymore. He said that those who use nicknames, do not understand the history of capoeira. I wasn´t too crazy about this.... He invited me to take another class on Tuesday, but I don´t think I will go. It´s too expensive, plus, I don´t think Angola is my thing. I don´t think they appreciate those who do both Angola and Regional, because to them, Angola is the only true capoeira. I don´t like this attitude. I will give Angola another chance, but I want to try it again with a different Mestre.

That same afternoon, I went back to Pelorinho, and I took another capoeira class, this time Regional, with Mestre King Kong. Now this guy is nuts!! He´s huge (as you can tell by his name) and with crazy eyes... You wouldn´t want to make him mad, kind of like "You wouldn´t like him when he´s angry". His warm-up was killer, I was dying within the first 5 minutes, and then his actual class (which was only me) was non-stop. Non-stop sequences, kicks, sit-ups, ginga, push-ups, and he used almost every movement I know, without a single break to even breathe! I was a bright red tomato within the first 15 minutes of class, and at times, I wondered if he would only stop once I literally passed out. Never, ever would I train with this guy in the summer, I would probably have heat stroke. I almost did this time. I really enjoyed his class, though. It´s a really good one to keep in shape. It shows how out of shape I am... all that drinking, smoking and lazing around I did in Rio, not a good idea. During the two weeks I was in Rio, I did took one capoeira class. During the three days I had in Salvador, I took four classes, and then had a roda back at the academy.. after a maculêlê class and roda. I LOVE BAHIA!

I took so many classes on Friday, knowing full well that I would take no classes on the weekend, that is time to relax. I went to bed early on Friday night (I was fucking EXHAUSTED!) and woke up early on Saturday, then fell back to sleep. At about 2pm, we finally moved our asses to the beach. We didn´t go to Barra, the tourist beach. Instead we went to the tiny Boa Viagem beach, where only locals go because it is somewhat hidden, close to Ribeira (I think). We drank beer, swam, and ate delicious baiano fish. When we came back to the academy, we met up with everyone, drank some beer, played some guitar, drank some more beer... It was fantastic. I realize now that Portuguese becomes much easier when I drink beer. So much more natural. I think it´s because I feel more relaxed and less self-conscious. I love Brazil: the way everyone is so relaxed and chill, it´s so refreshing. Hakuna Matata :)

Sunday, yesterday, we woke up and headed to the beach again. This time we went to another locals´ beach, Buracão. It is a small beach close to Rio Vermelho, where the waves are so vicious that you don´t swim, but you hold your nose, and frantically avoid the dangerous rocks. I didn´t go into the water too much, fearing for my life. We ate feijoada, which we paid WAY too much for, drank beer (when do I not drink beer in Brazil... I don´t even like beer in Canada) and met a nice baiana girl, whose name I have forgotten. Then we walked to another beach, one which was pretty dirty, but we swam anyway, and I slept on the beach which led to a bit of a burn on my back. It was a really awesomely chill day. I love the beach, although, I do like the beach a lot more in Rio. They are cleaner (the water is sometimes brownish here) and prettier. Salvador just has prettier people, I think. :) On the way back to the academy, we stopped at a house near the water, one which our friend, Abacaxi, will be moving into today. It was the most gorgeous view I have ever seen, a cute little neighbourhood, really chill, with a view of the ocean, beach, and sometimes whales! This made me really think: am I sure I want to live in Rio, and not Salvador? We went back to the academy, where we chilled for an hour or two, then Magyver (fuck I can´t spell) and I went out to meet the baiana girl from the beach. We went to an overly expensive bar, where there was live music. Of course, Magyver fell in love with this beautiful girl, and I danced the night away with the beautiful baiana girls that I met there. It´s so easy to approach people in Bahia, everyone just loves to dance! This truly is the good life.

Now, I am searching for locations of English schools, here in Salvador. When I really think about it, I still think I will live in Rio, but just in case, I will look around at schools anyways. You never know what will happen in the next few weeks in Bahia.... I may end up falling madly in love. My plan at the moment is (planning in Brazil doesn´t usually work so well, so this will probably change): I will go to Santo Amaro, about an hour bus-ride away, on Thursday, stay for about three or four days, depending how much time it takes to do what I would like to do there. Then, I might head to Cachoeira, spend a day or two, and then return to Salvador.

Still in Rio....

An interesting week, of course. I am in Brazil!! Every week is interesting :) Although, not all of the best luck.

I went back to Vila Valqueire on Tuesday, the first time I took public transit all on my own. It took a good two hours: two metrôs, and one train later, I find myself in Piedade: the middle of nowhere. Even worse than Vila Valqueire!! Haha, I met up with Vini after spending half an hour wandering around trying to figure out where the hell I was. Then we took the bus back to Vila Valqueire, where I went to my first capoeira class outside of Ipatinga and Capoeira Malês. I met Lucas' professor and had a good class. I love taking capoeira classes in portuguese, it's so easy, actually! All the words that I know... :)

The next day, I met another friend of Vini's, Alexandre, and we went to Barra, to the beach where we just chilled all day. Then we took the bus back to Taquara, which took a good hour and a half, easily. From there, I went online to check on my flight, which was leaving the next morning. That was when I noticed a little attention symbol on my reservation. This I tried to understand, but got translated for me anyway. The note stated that my reservation did not go through. So, we called the airline and we called the site which I purchased the ticket and they regretted to inform me that my reservation was not made, but that I could still fly on the same flight for R$500. I originally paid R$100. So, that's that. I went back to Vila Valqueire and slept.

And slept. I didn't wake up until noon, when the phone rang. Anna's ex-girlfriend in a panic. My entertainment for the day: brazilian lesbian drama. The problem was I really didn't understand it fully, so I was just awkwardly there, with nothing to do (It's VV afterall). I went for a walk in the 30 degree winter chill and sent my resumé and cover letter to WiseUp, another English school in Rio. WiseUp actually hires in October, so I may or may not end up getting a job sooner, if I get offered anything. I would prefer to travel still. I have so many ideas about these next few months! That evening, I waited around for a call from Alexandre, who was supposed to let me know about going to a futebol game. I finally called him and he told me that we were late and that I would have to bus to the stadium by myself if I was going to make it. I debated doing this because it was already dark and I needed to bus to Maracanã, close to downtown, by myself. Since my day was so uneventful, the thought of an uneventful night sitting around Vini's apartment was awful. So I ran for the bus, and made it in time for the game. Well, for the VIP passes which were going to get us in for free. One month in Brazil, and I'm at a Carioca futebol game in the stadium which will host the next World Cup Final. And from inside the stadium, I saw the Christ for the first time, the day I was supposed to leave Rio. Some tourist I am... The game turned out to be uneventful, with a final score of 0-0 for the Flamengos (one of the teams from Rio) and the Atléticos (from Minas Gerias). That night, it took us so long to get back, that I was too scared to bus by myself to Vila Valqueire (Vini was not with us), so I spent the night in Taquara. Staying in Rio: I know the typical Copacabana, Ipanema and Lapa, but most of all, I know Vila Valqueire and Taquara. WTF.

The next day, yesterday actually, I got up bright at early (by this I mean, I woke up at 6am, to make sure I would make it to Vini's before he left for work, and slept for 10 minutes) and headed to Recreio beach. I ended up going with a guy that I met through Alexandre, the guy who snuck us into Maracanã for the game, Fabio. Now Fabio doesn't speak or understand a word of English, so it was a fantastic day for me to practice my portuguese. By the end of the day, my comprehension was much better and I was able to exchange ideas with him fairly easily. I slept all day in the sun, getting a nasty burn on my ass (I guess I forgot how small these bottoms are). Then, we headed back and I found my way back to Vini's where I took a nap and then got ready to go to Lapa. Friday night in Lapa is very exciting, people all over the streets, drinking and smoking. As I walked, Fabio pulled my purse around so it would be in front of me, like a good Brazilian. Always a good idea, but it was too late. I looked inside my purse and my wallet was gone. Surprise surprise! I lost R$40, CAD$15 and USD$4, so not too terrible. But my mastercard was in there, so I had to cancel it. Luckily, no nasty charges. Also lucky that it was a pick pocket; there was no knife, no threats, and I was safe. Still a bummer, though. That was within the first five minutes of our night in Lapa, so I didn't let it bother me. Alexandre and Fabio payed for everything anyways :P We stayed until about 4am or so and headed to the bus station, where we waited for an hour and a half before our bus finally arrived. I slept on the bus to Taquara, and by the time we got there, it was light out (and remember that it is winter here).

Today, I took transit out to Copacabana and purchased my flight to Salvador. This one is definately valid, now, so I will be leaving on Wednesday, September 1st at 7am.