Do any of you have a case of the Mondays? I don´t! Although I guess, here, they would be a case of the ´´segundas´´...in any case, they don´t exist here...at least not for me.
Friday turned out to be a fun, random day. It started with class (as usual), including an announcement from Rômulo that that would be his last day with us. At my school, it is customary that the teachers rotate every couple of weeks so that the students get to know different teachers, different teaching styles, etc., and since we had had Rômulo for two weeks already, we would be getting a new teacher on Monday (today). After class, a bunch of us went out to lunch, and then Sheberon (Sweden) and I took a walk to the beach. Naturally, I was back at the school in time for dance class with Taty, which, as always, proved to be a fun time for all. (When each person laughs at him/herself outwardly, it is a lot easier for everyone to laugh with one another; hence, it is a very comfortable atmosphere even though no one knows what the hell to do!) Friday was also the last day of class for Favienne (France/Martinique), so at night, a bunch of people went out in her honor, including several students and three teachers. One of the teachers drove a few of the students, another of the teachers picked others of us up, and Rômulo met us there. We ended up going out for a late dinner, and then afterwards, they all drove us to this restaurant along the water (*not* frequented by tourists) that juts out into the middle of the ocean, and Marcelo (one of the teachers) ordered dessert for everyone. His only question beforehand was whether we like chocolate. Once he got the answer (yes), five minutes later, 9 of us were presented with warm chocolate cake with a liquid center accompanied by vanilla ice cream that was way more than *just* vanilla ice cream.
Saturday was an early start, so it was tough, but it was ok, because if you´re going to go to an island beach house, you need to allow time to get to the island! So, Eliene´s boyfriend, Rui, built a beach house a few years ago (they have been together for six years) on Ilha de Itaparica (one of the same islands that I went to last weekend on the tour). Eliene invited me to come and told me to bring a friend, so Greg (USA) and I decided to go for the day. We set out early on Saturday and were at the house by about 10am. We spent the day at the beach, baking at about 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit (though feel free to do the conversion to Celsius, if you prefer -- I´m just telling you how it felt), swimming, etc. Then toward the end of the day, we decided to check out Club Med, which is about 5 minutes away from the beach house. In order to get there (or at least the way we figured out how to get there), you need to climb down a couple of rocks and then wade through some water (about 5 minutes´ worth of crossing). When we got to the other side, it was (even more of) a tropical paradise. There was windsurfing, people selling things (though I guess we see that everywhere), really tall palm trees, etc. Oh, right, and security guards. We greeted them with a ´´boa tarde´´ (good afternoon) (they responded in kind) and we kept walking, our final destination being the hammocks resting comfortably in the forest of palm trees by the beach, where we could see not too far away people on the trapeze. I wanted to go on the trapeze but ultimately decided not to push my luck. Everyone at Club Med had bracelets, and we thought that maybe security guards in the distance had seen our bracelets that we had gotten at Bonfim. (Around the Festa do Bonfim, people always tie bracets on your wrist, and you are not supposed to take them off; rather, you are supposed to make one wish for every knot that is tied (three) and wait for the bracelet to fall off on its own. Fortunately, I have an orange one and a yellow one...maybe those mean all-inclusive Club Med from afar??) In any case, once we went back to the house, Rui and Eliene were surprised that we were able to just walk right into Club Med and thought it was because we were ´´gringos´´ that it seemed like we belonged there. Dammit...shoulda tried the trapeze....
Later on in the day, Rui started up the grill, and in Brazil, this cooking style is known as churrasco . Now, remember, before my trip, I was not much of a meat eater...but when I get back, I might have to alter my habits a bit. One thing at a time, but for now, that one thing is the churrasco. Of course, I didn´t ask what it was that I was eating, but suffice it to say that I know it was meat, and that alone is progress for me. After a leisurely dinner, it wasn´t really easy to make our way back to Salvador, so we ended up staying at the house with Rui and Eliene until Sunday after lunch, when we made our way back. (Something to note: It´s all relative...when I left the U.S. for Brazil, I found that the U.S. was complete chaos and the Bahian lifestyle is one that should make its way across the American borders. Now that I have left Salvador for Itaparica and spent some time there, I´ve gone one degree further and found that for a couple of days, it felt good to relax at the beach house...not that Salvador is all hectic all the time, but Itaparica was just a welcome break.... a weekend at the beach house, if you will!)
But alas, once back in Salvador, since the sun did take its toll on me, I couldn´t spend more time at the beach, so I met up with a few people to go to the movies at night. The four of us saw ´´Eu sou lenda´´ (I am Legend) (Will Smith movie), and it wasn´t anything like I imagined. Rômulo told us a couple of weeks ago that since a lot of people in Bahia don´t have air conditioning at home, they go to the movies. Going by that theory, it looks like I´m becoming just a little bit more Brazilian as time progresses, as my movie tally is now up to three and counting. (Plus, since I have a student ID, I get half price on my tickets...and at this one theater, when you buy a ticket, they give you a coupon for half-price on another ticket if you come back within 10 days...I happened to do that the last time, so I used my student ID *and* that coupon, and the price of my movie ticket ended up being a quarter of the going rate for the ticket!) Sometimes not having air conditioning really is a blast (but not a blast of A/C...).
Today, I had class with my new teacher, Tatiana (not the dance teacher), and she is great. Since it´s Monday, more people started at the school, but we didn´t get any additions to our class, which means we are still three. However, Sabina (Switzerland), who is having problems with her visa, had to go to São Paulo for a day or two, to talk to the Swiss consulate, so she wasn´t there, and then Arina (Romania/Australia) showed up a half hour or so late. So, I hung out with my teacher for the first half hour, forty-five minutes or so, and can safely say that she is just super-cool.
After class, a group of us went to get lunch and then today we have dance class with Taty (dance teacher, not teacher teacher). We don´t usually have it on Mondays, but every once in awhile, they offer a free class on Mondays, so that´s today.
Things continue to go well here, though. It is definitely strange that I am already well into my third week. Unfortunate, too, because that means I have less than a month to go (in Salvador)....but, since it ain´t over til it´s over, the only direction to go is forward.
That said, has anybody seen my caipirinha ?
abraços,
missy
http://andsmilestogobeforeisleep.blogspot.com
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