A familia brasileira

I spent the first night at my family´s house. There´s the mother Terezinha, her sister Josa Maria, and the daughter Vanessa. Ironically enough, the other boarder here who is studying at a different language school is a Colombian girl from Medellin. Small world.

In the picture is minha mãe Terezinha, me, Brian another student at ACBEU, and his mãe Angêlica. The two mothers are like sisters so we´re one big happy familiy...I think.

The room where I´m staying until the Colombian Andrea leaves looks right out onto the street where there´s always action going on. I woke up this morning to a bustle of activity and a buzz of Portuguese. I´ve been speaking a lot but it´s hard not to default back to Spanish since the languages are so similar. It´s pretty astounding how much I can understand. All of our instructions and tours have been given in Portuguese, and classes start on Monday. I have trouble understanding my mãe and her sister because they speak so fast, and they´re not necessarily conscientious of speaking more slowly around learners of the languages. After 6 weeks, though, I´m sure I´ll have the hang of it.

So, Salvador. It´s right on the tip of a peninsula so the waves on the ocean are generally very calm. I haven´t yet been to the beach but I´m sure it´s in my future relatively soon. I´ll show you my Brazilian tan lines when I get back.

It´s the original capital city of Brazil, when the Portuguese were busy colonizing the area, killing the indigenous, bringing over slaves from Africa, and dominating the New World with sugar cane crops. After gold was discovered further south in the...16th century?...the capital was moved to Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador entered into a period of decline, from which it is still suffering. Of all the areas in the "New World", Salvador has most pristinely maintained it´s African heritage. Over 80% of the population is negro, a word of pride here unlike in the US, and the religion of Candomblé is widely celebrated all around the region. Portuguese Catholicism also has a heavy presence, and the division most likely rests of lines of color.

This is the Farol da Barra, or the lighthouse of the Barra. The beach just to the north (right) is the most well known of the area and is called Praia Porto da Barra. However, they say, my family and the people from ACBEU, that the beach south and around the bay heading out into the Atlantic are more beautiful. There are lots of little bars and restaurants on the side streets that run through the neighborhood, a few of which I have already frequented :)

Another shot of the bay.

This elevator takes one from the older upper city or Cidade Alta with the newer Cidade Baixa. When the Portuguese first settled they built higher on land to avoid attacks from various enemies including the Dutch. Then the city was expanded. Behind the elevator (which I have not taken yet, but I was informed that on the lower level there are impromtu bookstores that sell a very specific kind of Baiana literature called cordel that I must go get. Mom, you might be gettting a packing from me of stuff I can´t carry around) is the older and rejuvenated part of the city called Pelourinho, which I think literally means whipping post, as in for slaves. Today we took a tour of the city (which is how I acquired all this fascinating information about the city) and were showed a private pelourinho in an old home of the era, as well as the ancient space for the public whipping post. The building now has been renamed for the famous Baiano author Jorge Amado. It was a bit unnerving. The area of Pelourinho is a winding maze of cobblestone streets with 17th and 18th century baroque buildings that now house fancy restaurants and art galleries, souvenir shops, nooks and pathways that lead to hidden plazas, a arte-cinema house that once showed the now famous Brazilian movie Cidade de Deus, which I don´t recommend that anyone watch until I get back.

I´ll post these pictures later because it´s late and I have SCHOOL! in the morning.

Até breve e muita obrigada por sua atenção.