Brazil Part 1

First, highlights about the past few days at sea.

Alex’s birthday was on the 12th of February. He was honored to have dinner with Gary and Diana Whitney, Jay (our new bud), Joanne and Kevin, Alissa, Me, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It was really an amazing dinner and one that both he and I will never forget. We then followed dinner with the largest ice cream cake that I’ve ever had. Every one of us took a large slice, but Archbishop Tutu ate the largest. It was crazy to be in his presence because I did not know what was appropriate for dinner conversation. He is such a kind man who appreciates every person on the ship, student, faculty, staff and crew alike.

As we left Puerto Rico we had the great idea to make masks for Carnival. With the aid of Diana, we gathered the necessary supplies: newspaper, white paper, flour, water, paints and other decorative supplies. Our first thought was that this would be a fun thing that would take a few hours and would turn out ok. But Diana, AKA Martha Stewart, had a different idea. Thus began the regiment of sleep, eat, school, mask-making, repeat. The first day we built the foundation. The next we added some forms to the foundation. The third day we added a white outer layer. Then we added paint the following afternoon. On the day before we arrived in Salvador, we added the following touches that helped to compete the look. It was a bit of work, but the final product was actually pretty good.

Other than that, it was business as usual. We had classes for a week straight (7 days), culminating in our first test. The classes have been a bit more difficult than I was expecting. It seems that the University of Virginia has decided to add a bit of work to the course load and the professors have definitely complied.

Now the fun part, BRAZIL.

We arrived in Brazil on Saturday at 7 in the morning. We decided to get up early to see the arrival, but did not get to see much more than the tug boats pushing us in. After clearing customs and sitting through a diplomatic briefing, Alex, Kevin, Joanne and I headed toward old town Bahìa. We had been warned thoroughly about the theft and dangers of Brazil, but Bahìa was actually quite nice and relatively safe. Brazil is a lot different than I had imagined. It is a lot more of a third world than one would expect of a country with a top ten GDP. The buildings are all run down and the streets seem to be falling apart. However, the highlight of the city is the people. Everyone is quite friendly and understanding, even when the language barrier is quite thick (which it usually was). Joanne, Kevin and I went on a SAS Field Program to the Mercado Modelo. I had to do a brief observation of familial relationships for my Anthropology class. We bought a few souvenirs and headed back to the ship for dinner. After dinner, our neighbor invited us to go to Carnival with her. Against all intelligent thoughts, Jay and I decided to go, and so we set out with five other students toward the crazy Carnival circuit. After sitting in traffic for about an hour we arrived to a sea of people. It was about a half mile trek to the actual parade route. There were people everywhere. We walked along the parade route for a little while and wound up stopping in front of the temporary military police station. After a few of the Blocos (large grouping consisting of a music float followed by another float for dancers with dancers on all sides) went by we saw a patch of sidewalk that was empty and went there. We danced for quite some time, just enjoying the music and the crazy atmosphere. We also met a kid named Lucas and his father, who were both in the Bloco Villanueva (which performed at the other circuit). They showed us the way to dance to the various songs. Lucas was quite an amazing dancer and a great joy to be around, always giving high fives and smiles. When we finally were ready to leave I decided that I needed to give him something, and the only thing I had was my Dodgers hat. Hey Ty, I am proud to say that there is now one more Dodgers fan in the world. The entire evening was a blast and I am really glad I decided to look past my inner discretion.

On Sunday morning we did not have any big plans. We decided to check out old town again. We walked around and did some more shopping. After dinner back on the ship, we got ready for our Traditional Carnival field excursion. Unfortunately, we did not get to use our masks because it was raining a little, and the masks would’ve disintegrated. But we still took some pictures of our full costumes. The traditional carnival was a bit calmer than the previous night’s festivities, but it was equally as much fun. We walked through old Bahìa to a restaurant that we used as our launch pad. We walked around and danced to the various bands marching through the streets. The night was quite enjoyable and unbelievable. This was the part of town aimed more towards families, but it was a lot more of a party than any fraternity in the states can throw.

The next morning I woke up at 8 to head on the Marine Turtle Project (Project TAMAR). Alex, Alissa, Joanne, Kevin and I all were on the trip. The first stop was at a mangrove forest near a beach. It was very beautiful and we got to see some local wildlife and plant life. After that we headed to a castle. This castle was built in the 16th century and was home to the wealthiest landowner in Brazil. He owned over 800,000 square kilometers, larger than the state of Bahìa. We then headed to the Marine Turtle Project at Praia do Forte. It was their fund raising sight, and left a bit to be desired. It was too touristy and hardly what I expected. The turtles were quite beautiful though, and we even got to see some three day old turtles. We had a nice buffet lunch (at 330) and had time to roam the local village for a little while. It was a cute town but it was clearly built to rein in the tourist dollars. Upon returning to the ship, we (Joanne, Kevin, Jay and I) decided to go to a Brazilian steak house, Boi Preto (Black Bull). The food was absolutely amazing and the atmosphere was full of energy and life. The food is served with large swords through the various meats. They bring the meat around until you change the sign at your table to “no meat”. Additionally, we had some of the most amazing desserts that I have ever had. All in all it was a bit more expensive than a usual meal, but it was worth every penny.

This is it for now, but the second half of Brazil is equally as enjoyable as the first. Check back in a couple days.