Brigada for letting me go to Brazil

Brazil has come and gone, and I can’t even believe it! It’s a strange sense of finality to leave a country, after anticipating my arrival for so long, knowing I’ll more than likely never return. But besides having to leave – I fell in love with Brazil!

When I got off the ship Tuesday morning, it was the last day of Carnival in Salvador de Bahia, and I was immediately overwhelmed by the beginnings of the biggest day of celebration in the world. I was greeted by a traditional African woman who tied a friendship bracelet on my wrist, and used my first word of Portuguese (Brigada meaning thank you). We headed into the Mercado Modella, a flea market located at the bottom the cities elevator. The local handicrafts were incredible – intricate woodcarvings, beautiful jewelry, handmade hammocks, and more. The city is divided into two levels, and a huge elevator, several stories high, connects the lower level with Pellherino, the upper level. Walking the streets of the upper level was incredible – 3 year old girls begging for money, young boys tugging at your arm to sell you a beer, and drunk men whistling at every passing female.

Around 4 o’clock in the afternoon, Carnival really picked up. Groups of 200 people or so dressed in matching costumes or t-shirts and mounted giant floats to represent their Samba school. I can’t even explain the night to you, but my best summary is just to say it was the biggest festival/celebration/party I have ever seen. Apparently 3 million people were in Bahia (Salvador) for the night, the streets were crowded with dancing, singing, music, costumes, spray foam, and chaos. Once you were there, there was no “taking a break” – the entire city was consumed by and involved in the festivities – children, men, women, elderly, babies, locals, and visitors all alike. A truly unique but phenomenal experience!

That night (at 2:30am), my series of connecting flights left for Manaus (Amazon). I experienced my first real barrier when a women thought I was sitting in her seat, and we had no common language with which to communicate. I’m not used to feeling like such an outsider, but it was eye-opening to feel so helpless. Our boat was for 30-people, and much simpler than I expected – a small open area on the bottom (used for eating), and another open area on the top (for sleeping in hammocks). The first day, we took canoes out to look at massive lily pads (with alligators sleeping on them), went piranha fishing, and caught Caymans (a type of alligator). Unfortunately our canoe (6 people) didn’t catch any piranhas, but it was fun to learn how to slap the water with a reed to attract them! I think the highlight of that day was getting to hold a Cayman that we caught! For those of you who don’t believe me – I have a picture as proof!

The second day, I was awoken in my hammock around 5:30 by the rising sun and chirping birds – incredible! Breakfast each morning was bread, watermelon, papaya, and watermelon – perfect for me! We started the morning with a canoe ride into the Flooded Forrest, an area that rises and falls 23 feet every year between rainy and dry season. It felt very much like what I expected from the Amazon, steering between branches, lily pads, and other plants. We then took a 6-hour jungle hike into the forest and learned about medicinal uses of plants, such as an insect repellent, “cure for diabetes”…hmmm, and headache reliever. I thought we’d see a bunch of animals, but apparently the Amazon doesn’t have too many animals! Upon returning to our boat, we were told we could jump into the water and swim. The water was filthy dirty, but we were told that it was completely safe – no animals or anything! Down the bank a bit, we saw some local children in the water – washing their clothes, showering, and brushing their teeth. Since there was no shower on the boat and the idea of not showering for 4 days did us all in, we decided to “do as the Amazonians do” and we proceeded to jump in with bottles of shampoo and body wash for a refreshing shower. I’m not sure if we came out cleaner or dirtier, but we all felt a lot better! At night, we had a barbeque and beach party with some of the locals from a nearby tribe. They showed us their music, style of dance, and ways of festivities. Another night of sleeping in a hammock under the stars (I thought the Amazon would be hot the whole time, but I had to use my damp towel as a blanket to stay as warm as possible).

The third and last day of the Amazon started with a hike up to a remote Indian village. They were not expecting us, and we had no way to alert them of our arrival besides just walking up, so after their initial shock, they were incredibly welcoming and warm. Around 140 people lived in the village that consisted of a large hut for sleeping and some smaller huts with specific functions (wash tub, food storage, etc). The most fascinating part for me to see was the children – and not just the fact that they were adorable. What really stood out as different was their freedom, independence, and self-sufficiency. A few kids ran up to us, grabbed our hand, and ran through the woods to a field where they showed us they were playing soccer with a coconut. Their parents never asked what they were doing, where they were going, or why they were with strangers. Can you imagine in the US letting your kids run off through the woods with some foreigners and not thinking twice? After another canoe ride through a different part of the jungle, we visited another village. When we approached their land, our first observation was the lack of clothing. Men wore fabric speedo-looking things, women wore hula skirts and no tops, and a majority of the children were unclothed. They showed us their ceremonial dance and then took pictures with us. The women showed no notice that they were topless and we were fully clothed, yet all of the Semester at Sea kids (especially males) clearly looked nervous hugging topless women – different cultural expectations.

I fell in love with a precious little girl – maybe 4 years old. She spoke no English, Spanish, or Portuguese, and I didn’t know a single word of her native language. I approached her and said “Hi”, but with no response. Finally, upon almost giving up on communicating with her, I laughed and went to stand up. She laughed back, so I mimicked her and laughed once again. Within seconds, we were hugging, laughing, smiling, and playing. I threw her up in the air a bit and said “Boom”. She jumped up into my arms and repeated “boooooooom.” I don’t think I’ll ever forget the feeling of communicating without a single shared word. I contemplated kidnapping her but decided her village might not appreciate that…..

Although I’m still relatively sick from drinking the Amazonian water, I figure a visit to the doctor tonight should help that, and I cannot explain how glad I am that I’ve been to Brazil and the Amazon River. Brazilians in general seemed warm, friendly, curious, and jovial. It’s scorching hot there, a majority of the people I met lived far below the poverty level, many Brazilians work unbelievable hours for little pay, and yet – despite all this – I saw more smiles, received more hugs, and danced to music more than I could ever conceive in the US.
Now I’m back on the ship for 8 days until South Africa. Tonight is a “party animal” social, and we’re all supposed to dress up like animals. Since costumes in the middle of the ocean are limited, I’m going to be a flamingo with black leggings and a pink beach cover up! Tomorrow is a day called Neptune Day (no classes!) that celebrates crossing the Equator (even though that was a week ago). It is a tradition for everyone to shave their head and have fish guts poured over their now bald head. Despite strong temptations to partake in this incredible fun, I think I’ll stay a spectator J Sorry for the length of this email – I just have so much I like to share! Hope all is well in the US – keep me updated! I miss you all so much!