Sept. 9

Today a bunch of us decided to go out to the beach. There are a bunch of beaches near by and islands around Salvador. The beaches around here are kind of famous. There are beaches on the bay and the ocean- some for swimming and some more for the bars and restaurants on the beach. We ended up going to Itaparica Island. Unfortunately we got on the wrong boat- instead of the tourist skooner to the island we got the working class boat to the other side of the island. We hired a driver to take us to the beaches on the other side. We got a taste of the real Brazil as we drove through the countryside. There are lots of beach front “restaurants” all outdoors with basically the same stuff- through restaurants is how you get beach chairs. It was definitely a local’s beach looking out across the bay and back to Salvador. We ordered local food and drinks. They have this great soda called gurana (?) made from an Amazonian fruit and often used in American energy drinks. The water was warm, shallow and very salty. It had mostly nice sand once you get away from most of the boats. You could look out to the water or at the crazy dogs and horses, the Brazilian families or the boys doing Capoiera- the martial arts form on the beach.
We got a driver to take us back so we crammed into a little car and cut back through the town. Brazil is definitely a developing country. There were very few houses that had all doors, walls and windows. Most were made of exposed brick with dirt or pot holed paved roads. People looked at us as we drove through. There’s something definitely vibrant about the country. I wouldn’t want to live here but it’s interesting to see. We took the local ferry back again and had fun trying to talk to the boat workers and other passengers. It was such a much more fun and authentic experience. I learned that most of the tourists to Salvador are from other parts of Brazil or other people from Latin America. It’s just so different- having to negotiate to get a driver and a decent price then cutting through the rural countryside (seeing random roosters, cows and children in the road) or the smell of plants and burning forest or looked out across teal, smooth water to beautiful other islands, the third largest city in the 5th largest country and on the other side the flames from oil refineries or eating local food (only after eating two pepto bismols to counteract the likelihood of getting sick off local food). We had to keep looking up to see where the sun was because we were told not to be on the island after dark which here is like at 5:30 pm. All in all it was an exciting and fun experience. Who knows what will happen tomorrow?