day seventeen: last visits
Today was our last full day in Salvador and we had meetings in the morning and our last tour in the afternoon.
Here's the view from the patio of my hotel room. It pretty much sums up Brazil for me. Can you see the ocean? I spent so much of my visit near the ocean. The colonists who settled Brazil also clung to the coastline, perhaps because it made them feel closer to their homelands. This country is so comfortable with life on the coast that the government had to build a futuristic capital city in the center of the country in the middle of the 20th century to get people to move away inland. The ocean is also important as the means to bring the hundreds of thousands of slaves, starting the Afro-Brazilian culture. Do you see the high rise hotel and the smaller, but equally elegant hotel? Those buildings represent the new Brazil, with an upwardly mobile middle class, as well as a place for foreigners, who come for a week, drop a few thousand dollars, and then leave, with memories of the beautiful beaches and wild carnivals. But if you look closely, between my balcony and the other hotels, you can see the shacks that were built to house families who are still struggling to improve their condition, and the possibilities for their children. Somehow these places stay upright through the rains, and families keep moving forward.
Here's the view from the patio of my hotel room. It pretty much sums up Brazil for me. Can you see the ocean? I spent so much of my visit near the ocean. The colonists who settled Brazil also clung to the coastline, perhaps because it made them feel closer to their homelands. This country is so comfortable with life on the coast that the government had to build a futuristic capital city in the center of the country in the middle of the 20th century to get people to move away inland. The ocean is also important as the means to bring the hundreds of thousands of slaves, starting the Afro-Brazilian culture. Do you see the high rise hotel and the smaller, but equally elegant hotel? Those buildings represent the new Brazil, with an upwardly mobile middle class, as well as a place for foreigners, who come for a week, drop a few thousand dollars, and then leave, with memories of the beautiful beaches and wild carnivals. But if you look closely, between my balcony and the other hotels, you can see the shacks that were built to house families who are still struggling to improve their condition, and the possibilities for their children. Somehow these places stay upright through the rains, and families keep moving forward.
There are a few foods that you should try if you get to Brazil:
In the United States you can buy just about anything infused with acai. This is how Brazilians enjoy the fruit (about the size of a grape), which comes from the acai palm. It is a sorbet-like dessert, and very natural. Acai is really delicious, but be prepared for your lips and teeth to be slightly purple after you have a dish. Brazilians believe it is a natural way to get energy, and it's a nice afternoon break instead of coffee. I think it's sold in the United States to promote weight loss, but I doubt if you would lose any weight eating it this way every day.
In the United States you can buy just about anything infused with acai. This is how Brazilians enjoy the fruit (about the size of a grape), which comes from the acai palm. It is a sorbet-like dessert, and very natural. Acai is really delicious, but be prepared for your lips and teeth to be slightly purple after you have a dish. Brazilians believe it is a natural way to get energy, and it's a nice afternoon break instead of coffee. I think it's sold in the United States to promote weight loss, but I doubt if you would lose any weight eating it this way every day.
Can you guess what this is? It's a cashew. For about half of the trip I was totally confused--people talked about the cashew nut and the cashew fruit, so I thought they were two different things. It is both. The top is the cashew nut, which is dried and removed from the shell. Below is the fruit, which is used in juices and many recipes. Remember when I went to the world's biggest cashew tree? It wasn't the season to harvest cashews, and I can't imagine what the tree would look like with thousands of these hanging from the limbs! They are about the size of an orange.
Brazil's most famous drink: the Caipirinha. So delicious! It is made with fresh limes, cachaca (sugar cane liquor), and raw sugar (rougher than ours). I know that may not sound good, but the mix of the tart limes and the sugar is incredible!
One of the people that impressed me most during our meetings was this lady, Jennifer Gibson. She is the Branch Chief for the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Her office is basically in charge of all international teacher exchange programs, as well as many national cultural events (Fullbright and our Teachers for Global Classrooms are probably the most well known). Jennifer flew down to view what was happening in Brazil, and she actually came to visit Faith and me in Natal, and jumped right in to participate in some of our activities. She is such a sincere, thoughtful representative for our country and has such a great perspective on the value of these types of programs for advancement of all (our country benefits as much as our host countries). Everyone (including me) complains about what happens in Washington, but meeting someone who is level-headed, incredibly hardworking, and innovative gives me a lot of hope.
This afternoon we visited another really interesting church. It is the Basilica Santuario Senhor do Bonfim (the Sanctuary Basilica of our Lord on Good Endings) and it has several interesting traditions associated with it. First, there are many stories of people with afflictions who have been healed after a visit. Visitors buy ribbons with the name of the church, and if possible, tie them to the area that hurts (wrist, ankle, etc.). Tie them on with three knots and leave them on, and when the ribbon naturally breaks, your affliction will be gone. An alternative is to buy ribbons and tie them to the fence along the church. Many have experienced miracles, and an odd tradition is that after you are healed, you should return with a wax image of the body part that was cured (believe me, there is every body part you can imagine hanging in that room). The power of faith is so interesting!
Back downtown, where we could walk around and shop before dinner. Most stores were not open, since this is the biggest night of the June Festivals. One building we happened to pass was where Michael Jackson filmed his video "They Don't Care About Us." Go on YouTube to watch it--it is really an impressive video. Our guide for this city told me he actually worked on the set during the filming, and he said that Brazilians don't remember any of the weird stuff about Michael Jackson, they only remember that he was genuinely interested in the history of the Afro-Brazilians when he was here, and that he was kind to everyone, even the extras who were hired off the street as dancers and drummers. Oludum is the name of the Afro-Brazilian pride movement in Salvador. Here's the link to the video, it's worth a watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNJL6nfu__Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNJL6nfu__Q