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.