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Published: February 28th 2009
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Capoeira
Salvador SALVADOR
Lonely Planet's introduction to Salvador reads: “If you're going to get robbed in Brazil, Salvador is likely to be the place.”
Hmmm.
Although, it's supposed to be THEE cultural capital of Brazil, oozing with a vibrance and energy seldom found on Earth. The reason: Salvador is inhabited with almost nothing but descendants of the Portuguese slave trade, who were treated especially harshly. After reading about the history of Brazil, and the injustices caused by the Portuguese, it made the Spanish Conquistadors seem like choir boys. The street next to our hostel was right next to the courtyard where slaves were sold and publicly whipped. European customs and religions were, of course, force upon them, and the African slaves responded by creating a hybrid religion, Candomblē, which resembles Catholicism, but this was really only to fool the Portuguese while in reality they were worshiping their African deities. Even these days, on December 31st, millions of Brazilians go to the beach to worship the sea goddess, Iemanja, whose alter ego is the Virgin Mary.
Another interesting invention of the African slaves is Capoeira, a “dance” that was once again designed to fool the Portuguese into believing that they
weren't actually practicing martial arts. This dance involves continuous round-house kicks, dodging, and safely rolling away from danger. HMM. Exactly how closely were the Portuguese watching what their slaves were doing?
Upon entering Salvador, we saw bands playing drum in the cobblestoned streets, bright vibrant paintings of African culture sold at every corner, and every building had a satisfactory amount of decay. We liked the place immediately.
The first thing we wanted to do was to see a Terreiro, a cleansing ritual full of African dances and possessions. We felt it was the best thing we could do in terms of culture. This all changed when we realized how expensive they were just to watch, and other bloggers said they were a joke. They said the “chief” of the ritual was acting more drunk than possessed, and he was wearing what looked to be a carpet from a bad 70s motel lobby for a sash. I could see that in downtown Albuquerque any Friday night. So we skipped it.
Ammi said one of the things she wanted to do was experience real Brazilian food. I didn't think it could get more Brazilian than Acaraje, a dough ball
filled with mashed bean paste, manioc, tomatoes, onions, and dried shrimp all fried in palm oil. Ammi loved it, but to me it just tasted greasy and I wished they de-shelled the shrimp first. BLECGH!
One thing I love about Brazil and will miss when we leave is the myriad of juices, especially Açái. This berry is found only in the Amazon and according to Oprah is supposed to be the “world's best super-food .” I've had it in various forms at home, but it's much better here, frozen and blended with sugar, granola, and chunks of banana. YUM! If I could cheaply ship it home I'd easily create a shop more popular than Keva Juice.
Our next stop was going to be Natal, but we've read that the bus from Salvador to Natal is continuously the target of highway robbers. They force the bus off the road in the middle of the night, armed with machine guns. Tourists and locals alike relieved of their wallets, cell phones, cameras, passports, and backpacks, and the rumor is that the police aren't doing much to stop it. We decided to try to get around the situation. Literally.
Lençóis is
a small town a few hours inland where apparently, it's so safe that locals don't lock their doors. Sounds better already. Since we only had one day we signed up for a blitzkrieg tour of the sights, which included a hike to a scenic waterfall, mountain overlook, underground lakes, natural turquoise-blue swimming holes with zip-lines, and bat filled caves
It was a very fun, but very tiring day and we decided to unwind by having an Açái at our favorite place. Another woman ordered one, sat down in the corner, and casually asked us where we were from.
“The United States.” We usually don't say New Mexico right off the bat because people tend to think we mean regular Mexico or they have no idea what we're talking about. I'm continually surprised that most Americans don't even know it's part of the U.S.
“Which state?” The woman asked.
“New Mexico. It's right next to Texas and...”
“WHAT?!” The woman's eyes shot up in alarm. “I'm from Las Lunas. I've lived in Brazil for 35 years and have never met another New Mexican!” We got to talking and it turned out that she and Ammi's mom
had even worked together. “What's your name?”
“Ammi.”
“WHAT?! My name's Cami. Where are you headed to next?” She asked.
“Natal.”
“WHAT?!” Her eyes shot up again. “My house is in Natal. This is just too many coincidences. I think there may be higher powers at work here. You have to stay in my house. I insist.”
Usually when we are on the road we run into strange things like this. Sometimes we run into travelers we met 5 countries ago. A bit odd, yes. But meeting this woman was just freaky! So we took her up on her offer, partly to stay free in her beach house, and partly to see if maybe the Fates were trying to tell us something. So did we go to her house and was it life changing? Stay tuned to our next post to find out, dear reader.
***TRAVELERS' TIPS***
-You're relatively safe in the Pelo (Salvador) but stray too far from there and be careful.
-Candomble rituals are supposed to be wastes of money. The Brazilian-African museum and dance show have better representations of the culture.
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