On the corner of the street, under the lamp post, is a ceramic bowl with a dead chicken in it. When we first arrived, nearly 3 weeks ago, the chicken was freshly killed: its head severed, red blood staining the yellow manioc flour underneath it. Now, the bowl is broken, the flour is scattered over the pavement, and the chicken is mostly decomposed. The temperature reaches the upper 80's most days here, but nobody has tried to clean up the mess. This is Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, and that chicken was a curse in the Candomblé religion.
Candomblé is a mix of African (mostly Yoruban) animist religions and Catholicism. It features the worship of orixas (saints), many of whom are closely associated with various Catholic saints. The most important church in Salvador, Bonfim, is dedicated to both Jesus, and Oxala, one of the Candomblé orixas. Salvador is the birthplace of Candomblé, but the religion is currently practiced throughout the African diaspora.
Salvador was the first capital of Brazil during the colonial era. It was, for many years, the main arrival port for slaves entering Brazil. An estimated 1.3 million slaves came to Brazil through the fort which still rests just off the harbor of Salvador. The oldest neighborhood in this city is named after its first function as a slave market: Pelourinho, the whipping post. One of our taxi drivers told us that when he sees a white person, he automatically assumes they're not from here. An American negro, he said, would blend in here better than a whiter person from some other part of Brazil.
Salvador was the first capital of Brazil during the colonial era. It was, for many years, the main arrival port for slaves entering Brazil. An estimated 1.3 million slaves came to Brazil through the fort which still rests just off the harbor of Salvador. The oldest neighborhood in this city is named after its first function as a slave market: Pelourinho, the whipping post. One of our taxi drivers told us that when he sees a white person, he automatically assumes they're not from here. An American negro, he said, would blend in here better than a whiter person from some other part of Brazil.
We have rented an apartment on Praia da Paciência, a small beach in what's referred to as the 'bohemian' neighborhood of Salvador, Rio Vermelho. Every morning before the sun gets too hot, there's a soccer game on our beach. We can watch from our third floor windows as the ball misses the goal and tumbles into the warm water. During the day, entrepreneurial folk bring down coolers full of beer and set up umbrellas over plastic chairs. For $1 you can buy yourself a drink and some relief from the burning sun. The beach is the great equalizer in Brazil: when all you've got is a speedo or a bikini and the waves, race and class don't matter very much. We learned from the beach vendors that if the weather report calls for 80% chance of rain, it will indeed rain ...for all of five minutes. Then the sun comes right back out again. The dire predictions of the future are never as bad as they seem.
In the evening, the plazas of this neighborhood come alive with food vendors and hundreds of people sitting out in their shorts and tank tops, drinking beer and eating acarajé. The food, like everything else in Salvador, is a remarkable mixture of west African and Brazilian traditions and flavors. Acarajé is a deep fried dough ball made from black-eyed beans and stuffed with dried shrimp and a spicy paste made from ground cashews and hot sauce. It is ridiculously delicious and more than a little messy.
In the evening, the plazas of this neighborhood come alive with food vendors and hundreds of people sitting out in their shorts and tank tops, drinking beer and eating acarajé. The food, like everything else in Salvador, is a remarkable mixture of west African and Brazilian traditions and flavors. Acarajé is a deep fried dough ball made from black-eyed beans and stuffed with dried shrimp and a spicy paste made from ground cashews and hot sauce. It is ridiculously delicious and more than a little messy.
We've had the real pleasure of sharing this space with two great friends who came to visit. Trey journeyed up from Argentina to make his first foray into Brazil, and DiAnn flew all the way down from California to have the coolest spring break of anyone at her school. DiAnn arrived early in the morning on my 34th birthday and made the day one of the most special I've had in a while. Exploring this incredible city with good friends has been quite a way to mark the anniversary of one more year exploring this earth.
Tomorrow we leave for São Paulo, the largest city in South America (and one of the largest in the world). We have a few days to explore, and then we fly to South Africa. It will be fascinating to make the transition from Salvador, with it's rich Afro-Brazilian heritage, to Johannesburg and Capetown, each with its own compelling history and present.
