Written July 4, 2008
Life is good in Brazil. Although I hardly ever work, my bosses are continually impressed when I send them pictures of things that I have correctly identified. Yes, life is good as a Fulbrighter.
Recently, my buddy Larken arrived in Brazil. After traveling around with his girlfriend for a while, he came to stay in Caravelas. We had a pretty good time, I was going to work some days, but stayed home a lot and we walked on the beach or rented movies, ate lots of hamburgers at the only restaurant in the nearby town. In the time Larken was here, I acquired a huge tiger shark head and Larken, Thiago (my awesome Brazilian boyfriend) and I stayed up late grooving to tunes and taking the jaw out of the shark.
The Sāo Joāo party in Caravelas was great. Sāo Joāo is a Brazilian holiday, huge in the area in which I live. People dress up and dance square dances, have fires, eat corn, and dance to Forró. We took Larken and introduced him to some Brazilian hotties to learn to dance, but having been stung by a jelly fish that day, Larken was not up to dancing.
Then Thiago, Larken and I went traveling. We stayed in Itapetinga, where Thiago's family lives, for a couple days. It was really fun for me to meet my "in-laws" and staying with Thiago's family was great because there was always home cooking, nice showers, beds, etc. A way to travel in ease. I met his 87-year-old grandmother who has won all sorts of prizes from the city and all sorts of organizations just for being so great. She was hilarious and drank quite a bit while I was there, certainly while I wasn't there as well. Her good friends are activists for the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), the political party to which the current Brazilian president belongs. So it was interesting to hear them talk politics as well, which was mostly the same as American politics (i.e. blame the other guy for the problems, since your team is clearly the correct one).
We went to the nearby town of Macarani for the Sāo Pedro party. Ah, Catholic countries. So many saints, so many parties. Sāo Pedro is just like Sāo Joāo, just with a different name. The party was huge but the bands were terrible. We stayed at Thiago's dad's house, whom he hadn't seen for 3 years. He treated us really well and made us more than comfortable in his tiny Brazilian favela house. The highlight of that trip was walking out of the town up the nearby hills, which were filled with crystals and other crazy rocks. It was a quaint town with an awesome view and I never would have passed through there were it not for Thiago's dad living there.
Larken then went to Porto Seguro, but having to get back to work, Thiago and I took a quick trip to Itaparica, which was the ultimate goal. Itaparica is an island close to Salvador where Thiago has lived and worked. The island community was founded by run away slaves that swam over to the island and then defended it. It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL, and a little piece of Africa. It is mostly poor, and we stayed in a clay house with no running water. That was definitely an interesting experience.
There is a Candomblé territory there, a religion brought over from Africa by the slaves. I had been to a Candomblé ceremony before outside of Salvador, but this was a new experience. Thiago is a practicing member of Candomblé, so I had learned a lot more about it before I went. There is a fence around the territory, and as soon as you pass through the fence you feel the positive energy (Axé) of the place, especially in the building where the ceremonies take place. You can't disturb the nature there, men and women are separated, it is all about respect and sacrifice to the spirits that are constantly around us. I took a bath of Axé (positive energy), prepared by one of the highest-up members of the community. I threw coins into the trees as a sacrifice. I really liked it there.
Thiago and I also stopped briefly in Salvador, to kill some home sickness. It was weird to see the town again after all this time. It was especially great to see my old host family. My host mom made me hot chocolate and juice and gave me some peppers. She remembered everything I like. I also got to take a shower there, which was much needed.
Now I'm back in Caravelas, trying to get back into the work frame of mind. Really, there isn't a lot of change involved.
I hope everybody is doing well. I think about you all often.
Peace, love, happiness and sharks,
~Helen
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