As promised, here is a run-down of what I got up to on the weekend. The five of us from the school met up at the exceedingly early hour of 9am in Barra, and from there we walked over to Farol da Barra, the lighthouse at the corner of Salvador, where supposedly, one could catch a bus to the rodoviária. After a while of waiting in the rather intense morning sunshine, we decided to just take a cab. Which meant that, since there were 5 of us, I had to sit on Damaris and Felipe! Eventually, we arrived at the bus station and managed to get tickets for the next bus to Santo Amaro, which is a small town about an hour or so away from Salvador. We decided that it would be worth going there first, as the town is meant to be quaint and pretty and on Saturdays there is a big market. So, we boarded the bus, which was very clean and rather spacious, and started into the countryside of Bahia. It was a pleasant trip, and it was very exciting to see greenary and trees and cows and all the other countryside things that are lacking in the middle of the big city. After an hour we arrived in Santo Amaro, and got off the bus near the massive market. It was just so pretty. I mean, it wasn´t anything really special, or something so different that I had never seen a town like it before. It was just a welcomed change from the high-rises and taxis and bustle of Salvador. The town itself is rather colonial looking, and the small houses with their bright colours and intricate detailing meant we all got rather camera-happy for a while! The market was mainly focussed on selling fruit and vegetables, so of course, we bought some bananas (just R$1 for a big bunch!). We also found a music stall, selling all manner of DVDs and CDs (probably all copies, but what the hell). Francesco, being such a connoisseur of music of all kinds, requested that he hear lots of different albums before he purchased anything, and so it was quite an interesting experience to hear the vast array of musical styles of Brazil; everything from hipi-hopi to samba to bossa nova. After making purchases in the market, and being unable to find any good or cheap cachaça, we left and took the bus to Cachoeira.
An short while later, and after passing through pretty green hills and fields of crops of some sort, we arrived in the town. Again, the bus stopped next to a big market, where we got off. Deciding to eat before finding somewhere to stay, we entered the covered market for some food, but alas, it was only meat, so we eventually were directed to a comida por kilo place for food. I think because we arrived quite late in the afternoon, we were given a 10% discount for the food, which was nice!! Next, we walked over to Convento de Carmo, which was a beautiful old convent that has been turned into a pousada, hoping we could get rooms to stay in overnight. Alas, there was a big wedding taking place, and the guests must have booked up all the rooms, so with a sad heart, we left. Somehow, a tour-guide found us, and directed us to another pousada, which was ´ragged´ to say the least. We chose two rooms, one for the girls (with bunk beds!) and one for the boys. The rooms were simple, with their own bathrooms, though we weren´t allowed to use the shower in our room for some reason. There were lots of bugs and spiders and general dirt on the walls, so it was a definite come-down after the pretty Convento. Ah well, there was a roof over our heads....just about! After dumping our stuff, we found ourselves exploring the town and ending up in an art-gallery-cum-shop. The town is located near a river, which is why, in the olden days, Cachoeira was an important place, as all the sugarcane and related products that made up the main industry of the area, could be transported around the country/region easily. Cachoeira is on one side of the river running through the valley, and directly opposite is the smaller town of São Felix. The two towns are connected by a pretty rickety looking wooden & metal bridge. We decided we would save going over the river until Sunday. The art shop was very good and quite chic, for the area. I bought the prettiest candle-holder I have ever seen! We made a deal with the tour-guide to see a Candomblé show in the evening, and so we had dinner and then a quick powernap before going out to meet the guide at 10pm.
The Candomblé ceremony was going to be held in some other town, on the other side of the river (we tried not to look while we were crossing the bridge, because that would ruin the momentous occasion of crossing on Sunday!) We were picked up by the guide and two of his mates to go to the ceremony in the oldest, rustiest VW van I have ever seen. I´ve been in some pretty shakey vans in and around India, but this topped that by miles. The van engine wouldn´t start by itself, so people had to often get out and push the van to get it going! The seats weren´t exactly fixed rigidly either, so it was a hilarious and bumpy ride into the middle of nowhere. The guide had suggested/hinted that other tourists would be accompanying us, but we think he just said that so we would go along, as otherwise we may have been reluctant. It turned out better that we were the only tourists at the whole event, because that made the ceremony more real, and less of a show for the gringos.
The ceremony was.....ummmmm......interesting. So, basically, what happens at these events is that people dance and sing and play instruments as their way of getting closer to the gods of the religion (the Orixás). Sometimes, they get so close to the gods that they become possessed by one of them. You know this is happening when suddenly someone starts convulsing and gets a strange, vacant look in their eyes. These people are lead off into a back room, where they are either calmed down or something, and we didn´t see them again for a few hours, when they reappeared in a different costume, perhaps representative of their status now. (Not everyone is lucky enough to become possessed by a god.) Okay, fair enough, I can understand that their faith in the gods is so strong that they may feel connected with them. But, I feel a little confused, because a lot of the ceremony involved people drinking a hell of a lot of alcohol, and the two main people involved in the ceremony (sort of like a priest and a priestess, who have a stronger link to the gods than the mere mortals), were puffing away on cigars like they were going out of fashion. While we were there, they must have consumed a litre each of some lethal looking liquor, and at least 3 cigars, and we were there for about 3 hours. So, it was difficult for me to distinguish whether they really became close to their gods, or if they merely hallucinated the whole thing. Suffice to say, all the ones who became possessed looking totally out of it.
The next day, after a bit of a lie-in, we made the momentous trip over the bridge. Pretty much as soon as we started walking on it, it started raining. A sign!! We were also heading over to the massive cross we had seen on the top of the hill of São Felix, so the experience felt rather mystical! The rain stopped after about 15 minutes, and we started a tiring ascent up a hill towards the cross. The road leading up was surrounded by houses, and the town was obviously somewhat poor, because the feeling of the town was favela-like and there was a communal place to have a wash. However, it was no way anything like being in the favela or in the Pelourinho of Salvador. In Cachoeira and São Felix we walked around at all times of the day and night, in between houses and along darkish streets, and didn´t feel at all that someone was going to come along and mug us. The place was quaint and sleepy, and the difference in atmosphere was just so surprisingly pleasant. I much preferred the countryside to Salvador, and it is a bit of shame to be back. It actually felt like we were on holiday too, whereas in Salvador, you feel like you are at work. Lots of little children came out of their houses and posed, model-like for pictures. They were all so cute and timid, unlike the Little Zé types running around the Pelourinho. Eventually we found the cross, and started back down again. Sadly, having not packed my suncream for the trip, I have found myself a tad sunburnt, because the intensity of the sun was so great. It felt much hotter there than in Salvador, but at night, it was very cold, and there was fog in the valley. That is probably why I managed to sleep quite well there, despite the rather thin mattress.
We ate a good lunch at the restaurant of the Convento and at about 4pm, we caught the bus to leave for Salvador. It was certainly sad to leave, and I think everyone really enjoyed getting out into the countryside and seeing another side to life in Bahia/Brazil. I wish that I had more time or more weekends to go on similar trips, but alas, I don´t. Anyway, I really enjoyed the trip, and if I come back to Brazil, I would make more time to see smaller towns along the coast and in the interior.
I have to mention that we went to dinner with Judith and Dana on Sunday evening, to a little crepe restaurant near Shopping Barra. The mains crepe for me was spinach, ricotta and walnut, which was good, but not thrilling. The dessert crepe was the best thing I have eaten in a while! Isabelle and I always say we will eat sobremesas, but we never seem to, so we both went all out on Sunday. She had the most amazing looking chocolate and icecream crepe, while I went for doce de leite and coconut. Oh my god. Mine was soooooo good. Sweet, but sooo tasty. I wish I was in Argentina - I would eat dulce de leite every day!! Judith and Dana wanted to go to Bohemia Bar afterwards, but we were all pretty tired, so went home. All in all, an awesome weekend. Although we didn´t see lots of `sights´ and visit the churches in Cachoeira (which are meant to be beautiful), we did experience a lot, and just leaving the city was good enough! Right, now its back to homework and the reality of getting mugged and not walking anywhere at night :-( Although, in a moment, us girlies are going to get manicures and pedicures :-D
