Adventures in Brazil

Adventure Number 1: Lavagem do Bonfim

I carefully tied the white bracelet to my wrist. Three knots, as instructed, wishes laced in between each. I briefly glanced over my right shoulder to find a group of men dressed up in spooky costumes. A bit frightened, I briefly glanced over my left shoulder to find a group of women dressed up in large, white dresses. I was thoroughly confused about my surroundings as well as the fact that everyone, including myself, was wearing white. But, I was there. I had my camera out, ready to shoot. My sneakers on, ready to walk. 

Not knowing what was going on, we waited around for the locals to lead the way. And so it began. The four mile walk to the Bonfim Church for a ceremony we knew nothing about. All I was informed of was that the people of Salvador come together to celebrate the washing of Bonfim Church (Lavagem do Bonfim). 

A headache and three hours later, we finally arrived at the church. All ten-thousand of us. Thousands of hands were in the air ceremoniously. Tears streamed down the faces of the locals. I was amazed at how passionate the people were about this event. Just minutes ago, we were walking amongst drunks and musicians and dancers. And now? People in prayer with and for one another. 

While amongst the crowd, we managed to lose one of our group members. She was found two minutes later with the other half of the volunteers. Together, we walked off to find a taxi back to the base house. Absolute disaster. Despite the fact that we asked the police to point out where we would be able to catch a few taxis, we managed to be walking around in what a New Yorker would call, "The ghetto." I felt completely safe because it was the middle of the day and there were people walking around, but the vast majority of the group did not. I am pretty sure that every single local that was on the street where we were searching for a taxi managed to stare us down. After all, it was quite obvious that we had no idea where we were going and we did not belong. Forty-five minutes later, we got our act together and walked to a main intersection to catch three taxis within two minutes. 

It gets better. From our location, the taxi drive should have taken about ten minutes. Maximum. Of course all of the roads that lead directly to the house were closed for the march to the church. That taxi ride was the most frightening ride of my life. There were four of us in my taxi. All girls. As much as I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, I was very doubtful that we were not going home. Five minutes into the car ride, we were in the middle of the favelas. Not somewhere we should be. Not somewhere the car should be stopped in traffic. Not somewhere the car should be without gas in the tank. Or with four female tourists in the car. Forget the fact that we almost did not make it up some of the extremely steep hills and half-way down one of them. Our main concern was the fact that our gas tank was on empty. But, once again, we made it home safe and sound (although we were all extremely nauseous from the two hour ride). 

Adventure Number 2: Morro de Sao Paulo

Since we survived the taxi ride to the ship terminal, I  assumed that our trip to this gem of an island would be successful. I could not have been more accurate. The two hour catamaran ride was amazing. I have never seen water so calm. Mary, Lindsay and I sat outside for most of the voyage. I met this nice guy from Argentina. Little did we know that he understood English perfectly. We were ignorant to think that nobody on the boat spoke English, so we were saying things as we pleased. Oops. Anyways, I was able to take some beautiful photographs of the still water and even some flying fish!

When we got to the island, we could not have been more excited. It was beautiful. There were no cars, and tons of tourists. We finally felt as if we could walk around without the threat of getting mugged. Cute boutiques and small pousadas (hotels) lined the sandy roads. Taxis, known to others as wheel-barrows, assisted visitors with their baggage and even their children. The soft and white sandy beaches were stunning. People were so happy. All in all, a satisfying contrast from Salvador. We had been there for five minutes when we decided we never wanted to leave. 

Our hotel was on the third beach, a bit of a walk, but not too far from the restaurants. It sat right on the beach with apartments and villas spread out amongst the large property. Because there were five girls in total, we rented a villa for the night. Although many of my friends did not like the gecko living in the room, I did not mind. There were two levels and more importantly, air conditioning. We spent the afternoon at the beach and bought tickets to the club that was recommended by the guy I met on the boat (it was also recommended by a website we looked at before we went). 

We had a nice candle-lit Italian dinner on the beach before going out for the night. The club was high up on a hill, but well worth the hike. We managed to stay at the club until five thirty in the morning! I saw the guy from the boat again with his five friends. The two groups spent the night dancing and talking. We were planning on seeing them on the beach the next day, but I went shopping with two of my friends instead. We started our walk back in the dark, and ended it in the light. The sunrise was absolutely stunning and I was so upset that my camera was back in the hotel room. Mary and I decided to get crepes, even though it took an hour. It was well worth it to taste Nutella once again.

The boat ride back was a little bit different then the ride to the island. Half of the passengers were leaning over the side to throw up and the other half was sleeping inside. I was sitting in the back with my eyes half closed and trying not to think about getting nauseous. We all practically kissed the land when we got back to Salvador. I am proud to say that we made it back to the house, once again, safe and sound!

Today was a rough day back at the orphanage. Every time one person cried, it seemed as if everyone began to cry. I got thrown up on, baby food spilt on me, and boogers on my arm, but overall, it was a good day. 

To see some more photographs from my adventures, check out the following Facebook link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2072406&id=1341960108&l=5a397921d3