Salvador is known for its beautiful, old churches

Since our bus to Chapada Diamantina National Park didn't leave until the afternoon, Erica and I had the morning free to explore Salvador in the light of day.  Even though we were right in the thick of rainy season, we lucked out and had great weather while we schlepped our packs around to various touristy spots in the Pelorinho.



Once again I was impressed at how nice and friendly the locals were.  I had been warned over and over again about the dangers of Salvador so much that I had begun to become suspicious of anyone trying to help me while there.  But with each interaction such as with the lady selling water who gave me a blessing as I left, the city garbage guy who helped me find the right bus etc. I just ended up feeling guilty that I had suspected anything in the first place.

Elevador Lacerda

After about a 45 minute ride to the huge bus station, Erica and I lined up to buy our bus tickets to Lençois and then boarded our bus for another 7 hour ride.  Back-to-back uncomfortable and long bus rides are a lot to ask of someone who's barely gotten off the plane and is in a new place, but Erica toughed it out.  After riding through an incredible pink sunset, we pulled into the small little city of Lençois at about 8pm.

One of the government buildings

A look out over the harbor and at the Mercado Modelo

We had booked a 5 day package with Hosteling International that included lodging and daily guided hikes (you have to go with a guide anywhere you go in the park) and were more than ready for hot showers and bed when we made it to the hostel.  The lady in charge informed us that we would have to be ready to be picked up at 8am the next morning and to be prepared for an intense day.  Like I said, the trip with Erica was go go go!

Getting coconuts before our bus trip

Sunset from the bus windows

 
My trip with Erica was a bit different than my trip with Sue.  Mainly, she had a shorter amount of time in Brazil and we were hoping to travel further making our schedule much busier and keeping us constantly on the go.  Erica arrived on the same afternoon that Sue took off and after grabbing a pizza we spent some much-needed time catching up over cheesy slices and beers.



The next day was our only day to tour Ilhéus before taking off for the big city of Salvador the following day.  We headed downtown and I showed her all of my favorite places.  She took the requisite picture next to the city's pride and joy, a statue of the famed author Jorge Amado, and we even got caipirinhas at the bar where he used to come and write.  After exploring all day, it wasn't hard to decide to make it an early night as the next morning we had to be up and out the door by 6:30 a.m. to make our bus at 8:00.



The bus ride to Salvador takes about 7 hours and can be a bit long and uncomfortable for the unitiated.  The traffic is slow, the curves are winding, the grades are steep and countless stops are made in tiny, middle-of-nowhere towns.  Erica handled it like a champ, though, and before we knew it we had reached the city of Bom Despacho and boarded the ferry for the city.  On the ferry, we met a nice man while asking about the best way to get to the historical part of town where we wanted to stay.  He ended up going with us all the way there and walked around the Pelorinho with us until we found a decent hostel.  I was more than thrilled that we had local male company in the Pelorinho at night as it's known to be one of the most dangerous spots in Bahia.



 After showers and a bit of relaxing, Erica and I had a traditional shrimp moqueca dinner with fancy drinks and then joined the throngs of tourists following the drumbeats.  Erica was very lucky to be in the city for a Tuesday night which is the evening when the historical district comes alive with cultural performances, live shows, drum corps and food vendors of all kinds.  We watched some of the drum corps' performances which were fantastic, danced behind some traveling dance groups, listened to some live music and attempted to samba.  It was a a really fun night and a great start to our trip together.

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During the past semester, our coordinators collected quotes, pictures and videos from our students about how our presence at their universities has contributed to their language learning.  The Fulbright commission put everything together in a video that means quite a lot to me.  Take a look:

Praia da Concha at dusk

My apartment is about to get a whole lot emptier as Kate and Patrick, two fellow ETAs, are leaving and heading back to where they work in Maceió and Belem, respectively.  I have had such a fun time showing them around Ilhéus and just hanging out in general.  We have been quite busy and are all pretty tired after a week of late nights and some early mornings.

My neighborhood as seen from my balcony with Patrick's fancy camera

American breakfast

After helping with Idea Factory, we all went out for dinner and drinks and then headed to a club right on the water near my house called "Mar Aberto" (Open Sea).  On Wednesday nights the club provides a live Forró band and the atmosphere is awesome.  Sean, don't worry, I've already found an instructor who's willing to give us Forró lessons as a couple so we can get up to speed.

Group teeth brush in the morning

On Thursday, Patrick and Kate spent the day at the beach while I went to work at UESC and then we met for dinner, drinks and live music at the popular local hangout downtown, Barrakitika.  Marina, a Brazilian friend from Itabuna, joined us as well which made four people staying in the apartment for the weekend.  On Friday we spent the day at the beach and enjoyed paddle ball, dominoes and soccer on the shore.

Day at the beach with our new friend, Gabriel from Uruguay

Friday night included a concert by Oquadro and lots of hanging out afterward talking to other concert goers who had traveled far to see the band.  On Saturday we took it pretty easy and went out to lunch for some local food, shrimp moqueca, and stayed in to watch the Brazilian movie "Bruna Surfistina."  Yesterday we hit up the beach one last time and invited some newly made friends over for dinner that evening.  After grocery shopping and milkshakes, Patrick whipped up a Mexican dish and our dinner guests brought the ingredients for caipirinhas.

They are as crazy as they look

Today, it's back to reality and everyone is leaving.  I'm going to miss sleeping like sardines in my bed with Marina and Kate, making meals for people and trying the cooking of others, laughing in the wee hours, lots of acoustic guitar playing, group teeth brushing and deep conversations on the balcony.  Please come back and visit again!

The first real week back of second semester was a rough one in that it was very very busy.  Loni and I returned from our seminar in Brasilia and jumped right into a week full of our new classes and also one of the biggest English events of the year: the Idea Factory.



The Idea Factory is our coordinator's brainchild and baby.  It's also a lot of work and a logistical nightmare since it's only in its second year of existence.  Isaias created the event as a forum for English teachers to share ideas about improving teaching methods in Brazil.  We had been planning for this event for months and I was excited for it to happen but also ready for it to be over.



Loni and I had also invited another Fulbrighter to participate.  Patrick, from Fort Collins, CO who is teaching in the north of Brazil, arrived last Monday to give one of the main speeches of the day. We were also visited by Kate, from Florida who is teaching in Maceió.  The two stayed at my house and it has been really fun hanging out with them.



The main thing that I was nervous about with the Idea Factory was being in front of everyone as Loni and I were the official MCs for the entire day.  That meant that I was on the microphone from when the event started at 8:30 until when it finished at 6:30.  Dealing with rushed presenters, frustrated sponsors and a harried coordinator who was running around like crazy made it a bit of a stressful day.  The only thing that gave me confidence was the fact that Loni and I were the only native English speakers in the room and that people wouldn't really notice if I said something wrong.

Overall, the event went fine and everyone agreed that it went better than last year.  I wasn't expecting this year in Brazil to require so much public speaking but I think I have been up in front of large audiences more in these last few months than I have in my entire life.

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One of our hosts, Alex, making us a moqueca dinner

Our other host, Gomes

On the ferry getting ready for the hike

Hiking down the beach

Setting up camp

Hanging in the tent with Sue on the rainy day

In the same position hours later after torrential rains