My mãe is a ninja and that´s ok with me

Well, school is officially under way, and let me tell you: it is a *much* different lifestyle walking to school every day and in looking both ways to cross the street, I see the sea to one side and a fruit kiosk (99% of the time) to the other. I could get used to this (but don´t worry, people who fear I´ll never return..I do have a return plane ticket....as of now).

First things first, though: previously I said that Salvador is one hour ahead of EST..apparently, I was mistaken (don´t get used to hearing that) -- it´s two hours ahead.

Another item I must address is the fact that ´´Portuguese´´ is not spelled S-P-A-N-I-S-H. A common misconception is that, ´´Oh! Brazil! You speak Spanish, you´ll be fine!´´ Well, while granted, it does help, if it were the same, I would not be getting so many blank stares when I don´t know a word so I guess with its Spanish equivalent and pretend like I do. Turns out I´m not fooling anyone. Sometimes I luck out and the word is the same, but let it be known that Portuguese is, in fact, its own language. And though I haven´t yet had any catastrophic foot-in-mouth ´´what did I *really* just say?´´ moments, I´m sure that day is not far off.

Since the last time I wrote, I´ve just been adjusting to the Bahian lifestyle, and it doesn´t take much. I spent part of Sunday at the beach, and I also visited the lighthouse (Farol da Barra), which is at the end of the part of the beach that I went to.

Monday was my first day of school (back to school, back to school...), and lots of other students started on Monday, too. A whole bunch come from Switzerland, a couple of people from the U.S., one from Argentina, one from Norway, one from England, and there might be a couple of other countries thrown into the mix. In my class, we are three students total -- one girl from Switzerland, one guy from Norway, and me. The teacher this week is Rômulo (the teacher changes every so often; I´m not sure how frequently, but it´s so people get to know different teachers), and after two hours of class, we have recess -- I mean, a smoke break (that´s how they explained it to me in English)...I mean, ´´uma pausa´´ (10 minutes or so to take a break and chat amongst ourselves, get a drink, etc.). And then we go back for another hour and a half of class. After class on Monday, I got lunch and hit the beach with Veronica (from Argentina) and then we went back to school in time for the guided excursion to Pelourinho, the ´´downtown´´ of Salvador. It lasted several hours, we saw museums, churches, the inside of a capoeira school, etc., and some people ended up getting dinner afterwards. Who would have thought that dinner (as in, the actual act of eating) would be an experience in itself? My dish (shrimp with garlic) came and smelled delicious...it just took a LOT of peeling of shells to be able to eat. No one else at our big table ordered it, and though it turns out that this dish is one that that restaurant is known for (I didn´t know until I got home later that the restaurant was in my guidebook), the restaurant waited until several minutes into my ´´project´´ before bringing me a cloth napkin and a bowl to wash my hands. A workout and a meal all in one, but mmm was it delicious! I just won´t order it again.

Today (Tuesday) was another day of class. After class, Veronica and I went back to the beach and then returned to school -- this time for what would be our first (and last) capoeira class. I knew beforehand it probably wouldn´t be for me, but it looks awesome on the street..and in the interest of giving things a shot before I actually decide they aren´t for me, I did the class. Surprisingly, I did learn some capoeira moves (even if only the basics), but I´m still several cartwheels away from actually being a contender. That´s cool, though. After capoeira, Veronica and I caught the bus to Pelourinho to do my homework, and we made it 15 minutes early (but still too late to get a seat) to 6 o´clock mass. Apparently, Wednesdays at the Rosário dos Pretos church is a hotspot and all the cool locals show up and play instruments and sing songs. Me, I just had to go for my homework. And then, after 45 minutes, enough was enough, all that Deus talk started to jumble together anyway, and we headed out. Not a bad feeling when you can just walk out on your homework assignments! Don´t tell Rômulo..

Another thing I´ve learned here is that I think my summer clothes must be Bahia´s winter clothes, because it´s so hot that no matter how few clothes you (or, I) wear here, it´s still too many! And people say that wearing those dental floss bathing suits in Brazil is merely for fashion...I´m not so sure!

One final thing I should tell you (unless the secret grapevine from my Salvador house has found its way to yours) is ..... I live with a *ninja*. It´s true! The day I arrived, she cut up a coconut and in three swift slices of the knife, there was a glass of coconut milk in front of me. Then today, I woke up and the apartment was silent, I sat down to eat breakfast, and there she was beside me; she then said she was going to make pineapple juice, so she went in the kitchen and comes back 2 seconds and 2 pushes of blender buttons later with a whole pitcher of pineapple juice. Some people might call her mãe ´´mom´´ but I caught on and I caught on fast...at least we get along well, though! Hopefully, she´ll teach me some cool tricks in the next several weeks.

Anyway, now that I´ve let you in on my secret, it´s y´alls turn to reciprocate.
Hope all is well wherever you are.
Missy :)
http://andsmilestogobeforeisleep.blogspot.com