Woah! Okay, it´s currently about 7.30pm, and I have just got back to Salvador after a weekend away in the countryside with friends from the school. It has been unbelievably good to get out of the city and see a bit more of Brazil. A group of us (Isabelle, Damaris, Felipe, Francesco and your´s truly) have been on a mini-adventure to Cachoeira, a town that used to be the second most important in Bahia back in ye olde days, but is now just a sleepy town, set in the beautiful Brazilian countryside (greenary - woooooooo!!). There is a lot to report, so I don´t think I will write too much now, because I´m pretty tired, and in a moment or two we are off to join Judith and Dana for some crepe-eating (mmmm). Anyway, let´s at least begin with Friday...
Friday was the second Intercultural Meeting, organised by the school. Again, it turned out to be not so much of an exercise in speaking Portuguese but more of meeting people at the school who I hadn´t really chatted to much before. Again, the service was sooooo slow, but anyways, it was pretty good. It was Steve´s last day at the school and the last time we´d probably ever see him, so it was good to have a drink or three and say goodbye to him and the other leavers. I spent a while in deep philosophical/socio-economic conversation with some American lads who are part of a big group of students at Dialogo from Philly. We mainly discussed why some of their group had some sort of attitude problem, and then went on to talk about the crappier sides to where we all come from.
Interesting statistics for you all: the UK population is 70million, and the number of murders per year is probably about 400-600. Brazil´s population is something like 160 million, and the number of murders per year is around 16,000. And yet, locals claim Brazil (in particular, Salvador) is really safe. I think not. And just for comparison´s sake, there are around 100-200 murders in Philly per annum (usually gun or drug-related crime).
Later, a huge group of us ended up in the Pelourinho, and we tried to get into some big salsa party, but it was not to be. Apparently it was too full of people, and being an old building, would collapse if we entered. Strangely, plenty of locals were entering at the very same time......hmmmmm...After a quick cerveja, I headed home for a night of restless sleep and mosquito-attacks.
Tomorrow, when I have recovered a bit from the journey, I shall report on the weekend´s events, which include:
a few hours in a small town before reaching Cachoiera
a Candomblé ceremony
a tour-guide who refused to leave us alone, and
some very good fish dishes
Till then, amigos!
