Gosto muito!

Hey all!

So! After a LONG day of travelling, I finally reached Salvador de Bahia on Saturday morning! There was a bit of trouble, since my LAX--> Miami flight was cancelled, and I was put on the flight that was about 3 hours later.. but I was able to meet some people from my program, so it was nice to be able to talk to them, realize that we were ALL nervous, and I think that the fact that OTHER people were in the same situation made me feel better, and in fact, more excited about the program!
Our flight, however.. got in 10 minutes after our NEXT flight to Salvador was BOARDING! So, we just grabbed our carryons, and RAN to the other gate... to find out that our plane`s departure was going to be delayed because we need to refuel?? so, the pilot told us 15 minutes... which turned into another 15... which turned into another... and then FINaLLY after TWO hours, we left for Salvador!
The flight itself was very nice. I sat near some people in the program (alright, the plane was already small, haha!), but I sat next to this 60-ish guy who was a PROUD Bahian, and was just VERY nice in general. I found out that his parents immigrated to Brazil from Poland, he lost his foot when riding a train, once (a car hit the train??), he moved to Cleveland, Ohio (how random?!) when he was 19 to just get work, married his wife (from Guatemala) after meeting her at a church in Cleveland.. started a machinery/metals business that now makes wheelchairs.. and his children now live in Florida, where he lives, too! So, he was going to Salvador just for a week or so, to visit old friends, but most importantly, for Sao Joao, a VERY important festival that is going on right now! (more about this festival to come, later!)

Anyways.. got to Salvador, got some reais (about 1.95 reais to 1 u.s. dollar) took a taxi-van to the hotel... and it was ONLY 11AM! So... us students, being ambitious, decided to take some adventures..

A group of us wanted to go shopping, so we took this free van (serves hotels in the area) to a REALLY RITZY shopping center, `Salvador Shopping`, to the food court to eat lunch... I had my FIRST meat in 6 months (grilled salmon on salad.. YUMM! I wasn`t feeling too beefy, yet.. haha).. walked around the shopping center.. got some chocolate at the `bomberia`... que bom!

So, some crazy stuff we observed, was...
* Brazilian police are SERIOUS. like.. all decked out, have guns on their belts. camoflage uniforms. helmets. yeah. in the MALL, too! We actually wanted to leave the shopping center to wait outside for the bus to pick us up, but the guards were at the door, told us to WAIT until the bus actually came, and then called us and watched us go to the bus.. I guess it`s better security, but.. still!! we couldn`t exit without permission, almost! ahah..
* Toilets here, are kind of like what I experienced in Shanghai. They`re still Western-style, but you have to throw your toilet paper in a trashbin next to the toilet. yeah.. it get`s smelly, but, they change them often, so.. tis okay.
* Women here, even a little elderly, dress NICE and proud! they just, seem so well kept and youthful!
*YES.. bikinis are tiny. i actually bought one, yesterday, and... hmm.. i`m not quite so sure when i`ll actually wear it. maybe.. only the birds in my backyard will be witness, haah!
* peanut butter is rare, here?

Anyways. that`s not even half of the day.

AFterwards, we returned to the hotel.. rested..

I went to dinner with a few people, going to a local pizzeria. So, I tried some capirinha (lime and.. some alcohol??), someone had Skol (a brazilian beer that`s EVERYWHERE), and the restaurant owner was really nice, and gave us samples of.. jenibabu (sp?) juice (apparently, a fruit in Brazil that`s naturally alcoholic??), tamarind juice + alcohol, limea, and cachaca. I liked the jenibabu the most, and.. the cachaca was KILLER.. it was SOO STRONG! i took just a sip, but, WHOA! even just a sniff of that would knock me out, haah!

afterwards. we took a taxi to one of the areas of Salvador called Pelourinho, which is known to be THE historical area of Salvador, with churches and whatnot. Anyway. For the past week, in celebration (already!) of Sao Joao, they`ve apparently been just partying away in Pelourinho! SO! we arrive at this part of the city, and.. there`s SO many food stands (meat skewers.. various fried things, desserts), TONS of people selling Skol.. and they also had a stage set up with musicians playing! It was kind of funny arriving there, and listening to the music.. then realizing that it was mainly American music, but the lyrics were Portuganized!! Like, we were dancing to jason mraz`s ``i`m yours`, but.. in Portuguese! it was very fun. Then, they started playing some traditional.. or, i think folksy Brazilian music (a thing about Sao Joao, is it`s a harvest-like festival, so.. they apparently eat a LOT of corn foods.. and dress/listen to country/folksy stuff!), so these locals started dancing with us, holding hands in a circle, going left.. right.. into the circle.. then dancing as couples with one hand around the waste and one hand in the other person`s hand.. almost like a shuffle! it was SOO fun! kinda strange, though.. dancing with a stranger.. and getting hugged by strangers, aftewards, haah! it was an experience!
after all that, there was a famous singer (Danielle.. Mercury? someone PLEASE correct me!), who was dressed in REALLY colorful clothing, her background dancers were crazy, too!! But, i guess she`s REALLY famous, since TON`s of people started coming.. until it was just TOO many people! The police were there.. just standing around.. looking all stern.. ANyway! it was just, SO many people, that myfriends and i wanted to leave, but it was SOO crowded that it took us about 20 minutes or so just to PUSH through people to a street clearing.. then grab a taxi to the hotel (10reais for 4 of us, what a deal!).. got there at 11:30 pm!
first thing i did when i got back?
SHOWER. SLEEP. PEACE.

first day in Salvador. complete.

i realize I`ve written a lot.. but there`S still so much more! that was only the FIRST day, and today is my THIRD day in Brazil.. so i will have to write later, or just talk to you guys in person about my second day... and more days to come in salvador!

much love to all. i miss you. but, letting you know that tudo è bom, gosto muito de salvador.