Salvador Day 1

We arrived in Salvador, Brazil on Wednesday, April 21 (two weeks from day we’ll be arriving in Florida…so crazy!) at 8 AM.  Customs didn’t take long at all and we were off the ship by 10 AM.  Our plans for the day were nothing but wandering around the city.

Salvador had a different feel from any city we’ve been to so far. I can’t put my finger on it, but it was very different.   There’s Lower Salvador and Upper Salvador, Upper is where we spent the majority of our day.  You have to take an elevator to get in between the two, which I think is pretty cool and very different. Several of my friends who’ve been to Europe say that it reminded them of European cities.  I’ve never been to Europe, but could easily see how correct they were; you can definitely tell that a European power controlled this country.  Everywhere there were cobblestone streets with little shops, cafes and multi-colored houses.   We spent a good deal of time going in and out of different shops and then got lunch at one of the cafes. 

I also can easily see why there’s such a problem with mudslides in Brazil.  While we were eating lunch, it POURED rain.  There was a good ten to fifteen minutes of nothing but a straight downpour.  It was crazy…I’ve never seen rain like it.  It was actually very cozy sitting in a café drinking hot, Brazilian coffee (very good but I can’t wait for my cup of Wawa Joe when I get back home) watching the rain pour.  Lunch turned into an hour and a half affair due to the rain.  

When the rain finally ended, we got on with our day.  We went into a Catholic church, St. Francis, for a tour.    This was the most beautiful church I’ve ever seen.  The statues, paintings, Crucifixes- everything was so ornate and detailed.  I could not get over it.  No church I’ve even been into at home even comes close to what this one was like.  It also was huge.  They had whole rooms devoted to the Stations of the Cross, different Brazilian or Portuguese Saints, and the Blessed Mother.  In addition to the main church, there were two very large chapels.  I was in total awe of everything.   

After touring the church, we got lucky.  They were filming a music video for the World Cup on one of the streets we wandered onto.   This video will introduce Brazil when the world cup rolls around.  So we all got to be in the music video for the World Cup (which hopefully will appear on YouTube) and got interviewed for a local news station.  Well, I didn’t get interviewed but some of the other SASers in the group did and they were going to show footage of all of us, in the video, on TV that night.  So, while I was at dinner, Salvador residents were seeing my mug on TV. 

That night we went to a local place for dinner right on the beach.  The restaurant was a little pricey, but the atmosphere was awesome.  I got Portuguese pizza, and it was the best pizza I’ve ever had.  There’s something very different about the crust/dough.  It was delicious. 

Sadly, the only thing about Salvador I didn’t like was how venerable I felt at different points during the day.  The city is known for frequent muggings and petty theft.   We hadn’t been in Brazil for four hours and we heard stories that fellow SASers had been mugged.  I know we all stick out like sore thumbs, but still that was quick.  At several points I just felt unsafe and decided not to go into certain streets for fear of getting mugged.  I definitely think this is the port where I need to be the most careful.  At least it’s the last one and I didn’t feel this way anywhere else.  Not too bad. 

So aside from the muggings, I’m looking forward to spending the next four days in South America (my third continent!).  I have two service visits to different schools in Salvador and then I have no idea.  Everyone who I’ll be spending the time with is low on cash.  So we’re going to see how much we can do in Salvador with spending the least amount of money!