Well, I hope you enjoyed my first words of Portuguese!! I certainly enjoyed writing it, as it feels like I have really accomplished something over the last 2 weeks. Although the writing is simplistic and the topic not too riveting, I feel like by the end of the month I will be able to speak and understand the language, so yay!! I am finding it much much easier to write and read the language than to speak and listen to it. People have their own accents or speak colloquially, so it can be really difficult. Nevertheless, I try to converse with people wherever I can, like with a taxi driver or someone in the Pousada. It requires an awful lot of confidence, and I quickly feel out of my depth, but it is really good to feel you are getting to know people by speaking to them in their language. Woo!
OK, now for the slightly less good news. On Friday, after dance class, Damaris, Isabelle and I arranged to meet for a drink in the evening in Barra. Seeing as it was Cristin´s last day, I thought it would be nice for her to come along too, especially since the alternative was for her to read until the small hours by herself. She is a lovely lady, and because we were staying in the same Pousada, we would walk together to school, and I was pleased to have the company. So, anyway, off we went. We met up with the others and went to a restaurant near Isabelle´s hotel, where there are lots of bars and places to eat and loads of people out and about. We had a great time there, and listened to Cristin´s amazing and scary stories from when she was working in Africa. After sharing our individual frightening or dodgy experiences, as well as more light-hearted conversation, we decided the bar was probably trying to get rid of us, so we left. Damaris lives in Campo Grande, which is about half way between Barra and Pelourinho. As there were three of us, and it was about 11pm, and there were lots of people out on the streets, we decided to walk home. We walked Damaris all the way to her homestay, and then Cristin and I left to get to our Pousada. We were almost home, literally about 20 metres from our Pousada, when all of a sudden we hear some shouting and some men appear. Thinking they are either trying to get past us on the road, or trying to get our attention for other purposes, we don´t really notice what is going on. Cristin was sort of separated from me, and suddenly, a man steps in front of me, puts his finger to his lips and tells me not to shout. The confusion of it all meant I didn´t really register what was going on. First I thought it was a friend playing a practical joke or something. Then I thought I was going to be sexually attacked. Then when another guy came and grabbed me from behind, and the guy in front started pulling off my bag (which was worn across my body) I realised what was happening. Everyone´s immediate reaction in this sort of situation is to hold on to their possessions, but I remembered the story of the American girl in the Pousada who was punched in the face for trying to clutch her bag. So wisely, I let go, and they stripped it off me, pushed me aside, causing my glasses to slip off, and then in the darkness, in the blur, they were gone. It must have lasted no more than 30 seconds, but bloody hell, it felt like it was all in slow motion. Cristin had shouted while it was happening, but nobody appeared. A second later, a couple strolled by innocently, and as we walked up to the Pousada, we saw three policemen standing outside. How had they not heard us? Why were three standing outside the Pousada, instead of patrolling around the dodgier corners and streets? After explaining to the nice guy in the Pousada what happened, he went off with the police for a while to see if they could find anything, but the alley the men ran down was empty when the robbery occurred, and these people are hardly likely to amble along a lane. So we then go to the police station in the Pelourinho to make a report...
This is when things became strange. Not scary, just odd. Firstly, the report I had to make was via filling in a form. The form asked for information, firstly in English and then in brackets in Portuguese. That immediately told us about who mainly is the victim of and the reporter of crimes in the area. The form then asked for some standard info, but some other info that I have no idea why it would make a difference to the case. It went something like this:
Your name
Your father´s full name
Your mother´s full name
Address and telephone
Have you been accepted to university?
When did the crime occur?
What was stolen?
Email address
Hmmmm. Anyway, I filled in the form (in Portuguese, for ease), and then was asked to look through 2 thick photo albums filled with pictures of known criminals to see if we could identify the pair. I have no idea what the guy behind me looked like, except that he was short. The guy in front has burnt his image into my mind. We found one guy who looked very similar to him, but we couldn´t say it was definitely him, because it is hard to make that commitment when it all happened so fast. I was then told to come back tomorrow to collect a report that I could use for insurance purposes. This I did, and it was all relatively painless. However, on the report, it said that I had postively identified Criminal #xyz as the robber, which I hadn´t, but anyway, nothing will come of it all, except that I can reclaim some of what was stolen from insurance. I have to say that if Cristin hadn´t been with me through the whole process, I would never have managed to cope or make myself understood. Her level of Portuguese was vital in getting everything sorted. I am also so glad that neither of us were hurt in any way.
Lessons learnt: don´t think you can risk walking after about 8pm. Don´t carry a big bag like I was, even if you think it looks pretty cruddy and nobody would possibly think there was anything valuable in it. My camera was in it (what posessed me to leave it in my bag is beyond me, I usually always leave it at home in the safe), so that was annoying, but only a few pictures had been taken with it, so I didn´t really lose much. They basically got a half-broken camera, a cardigan, a bit of money and shed loads of tissues and sanitary towels! They obviously thought there was a lot of stuff in it, because it was bulky. From now on, I will stuff money into pockets or underwear.
Anyway, after a traumatic evening, the next day was extremely pleasant. I said my goodbyes to Cristin, and met up with Isabelle and Damaris to go to Igreja do Bon Fim. That was an experience and a half! I managed to ask the guy next to me on the bus which stop we should get off at, and since we ended up at the church, he must have understood! The church is popular with people who believe in its healing and miracle powers. There was a room filled with pictures of people who had prayed there for something, and then they had healed or their wish had been granted. From the ceiling hung tonnes of plastic models of parts of the body which people were wishing to be healed. Heads, legs, hands, feet, arms, whole bodies, and baby bodies. It was really emotional, especially because it was 14th July.
From there, we caught a bus to Iguatemi, South America´s largest shopping centre (or so it claims). The bus took us through some pretty awful favela type areas of Salvador, and it was really odd to see the wild difference between where we ended up and what we passed on the way. The population of Salvador is about 2 million, and if you stay around Campo Grande and Barra, you would think everyone was well-off. We all agreed it was good to see how the majority of people live, in houses so basic that once the four walls and roof were up, windows doors and plumbing were considered luxeries.
The shopping centre was dizzying. There were so many people there, and so many upmarket type shops and cafés. We thought we could go and see a film in the multiplex, but there were so many noisy teenagers there, we gave it a miss. They obviously think it is super cool to hang out at the mall. We also saw a young teen couple that seemed to be having a competition to see if they could kiss each other for an hour......while the girl´s friend stood awkwardly by.
We then caught a bus back to Barra, which quickly caused us to freak out. Iguatemi is not that far from Barra, and it shouldn´t take more than 20-25 minutes before you start recognising buildings and surroundings. We thought we were going in the right direction when suddenly we ended up on a narrow bumpy road in what seemed like a favela or at least, a super rough area. Thinking, there is no point in getting out in the middle of nowhere, we stayed on as the bus crawled through dodgy neighbourhood after dodgy neighbourhood. Eventually, I smelled the sea breeze, and realised we must be back near the Atlantic, and lo and behold, soon we saw the familiar sights of the Christ statue on the hill and the lighthouse. Never have I been so happy to see Barra! We got out near Shopping Barra, and we all laughed about how exciting and frightening it had been! All in all, a great day, and a great way to put the events of the night before behind me.
