Vacation at long last

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Rio-PortoAfter leaving Rio at 8:15pm on Friday July 20, I arrived in Porto Seguro, Bahia around 3:30pm on Saturday. Long trip, yeah I know. As usual, the overnight part sucked, I couldn't sleep because in the darkness my phobia of Brazilian busses reigned freely, entirely unhelped by the fact that the Baiana woman (a woman from Bahia dressed in traditional Bahian clothing) sitting next to me was very obviously as petrified as I felt--she was muttering prayers under her breath through the long night nonstop. It helped none that the day before I traveled, while I was researching malaria profilaxis, I read that the mortality on Brazilian roads is more than four times higher than the mortality rate on American roads. That compunded by the fact that the Northeastern roads are the worst in Brazil and the obvious fact that BUSSES CRASH made for some nervy traveling. Even blasting abnormally loud music on my ipod to drown out the sound of other passing vehicles was no match for the paralyzing but not entirely unfounded or illogical fear that afflicted my mind and body until sunrise.

Even after I arrived in Porto Seguro on Saturday and made my way to the smaller village of Arraial d'Ajuda nearby, I was still uneasy. The fact that I again didn't exactly have a place to stay when I got here compunded by the fact that my bank card is still in Sâo Paulo, I have little cash on me currently, my camera is not working again, and the Pasturas and Meadows were still in town had kept me from really starting to relax. But today, I dropped the camera off at a shop, had my bank card sent to the post office in Salvador where I will rendevouz with it in a few weeks, and both the Pasturas and Meadows left, making tomorrow day one of complete rest and relaxation. I think I will celebrate by renting a bike for the day and seeing just how far along the ribbon of coconut palm lined white sand beaches beneath the cliffs of Arraial d'Ajuda I can go before nightfall.

Bahia feels different than anywhere else in Brazil I've ever been. It's relaxed, excessivly so (spazzing out as I was doing before just doesn't work with the vibe here at all--lots of people told me to chill out). It's happy go lucky, it's not dangerous, at least not here as far as I can tell. An empty plaza here means empty plaza, not mugging ground as people have had to constanty remind me. The sun is hot, the days are long, the music is ubiquietous. There are bright colors absolutely everywhere, The sea is deep blue green, the sand golden, the rows and rows of coconut palms emerald green, the squat houses cheery pink and blue and green and orange, even the porch steps are painted in the colors of the rainbow. The air smells like grass and sea and and coconut sunscreen and flowers, it's thick and wet. And the food: capetas, distinctive Porto Seguro beverages made of vodka, pineapple, guarana powder, sweetened condensed milk and cinnamon; acarajé, fried corn bread stuffed with a spicy paste made of shrimp, pepper, coconut milk and orange dendê palm oil; cajá juice, made from a dryish but still sweet orange fruit; cocada, fresh shaved coconut carmelized in condensed milk and sometimes toasted or mixed with other fruits like passion fruit, plum, or pineapple; moqueca de peixe, a fish stew made with peppers, coconut milk and dendê oil; stuffed tapioca pancakes; fresh coconut ice cream popsicles full of fresh coconut shavings; corn bread with crushed peanuts--it's all flavorful and fresh and simple and fantastic.

Back when I was planning this trip, Bahia was strangely the state I was least excited to visit. Bordering southern Brazil, I thought Bahia would be most similar to what I already know, least "different." On that count I was wrong, dead wrong. Bahia is the motherland, the epicenter of that stereotypical Brazilian culture everyone expects of this country and admires: the delicious food, the raucious music, the fantastic beaches, acrobatic capoeira. I guess I finally found that Brazil that always existed in my imagination but eluded me for so long. And I'm loathe to let go. I have already stayed in Porto Seguro longer than planned. And I plan on staying longer still! I have also decided to visit more of Bahia's coastal villages between here and Salvador. Now the question is not will I like Bahia?, it's will I make it out of this state before I spend all my money? I am entirely positive I could easily and happily spend my entire two months here. Maybe I will. I'll have to get back to you on that one.

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