Joanne's thoughts on Brazil

We are presently in the middle of the Ocean and as Cat Stevens put it “miles from not where, not a soul in sight…oh yeah.” This is a very long leg to our journey with eight days at sea and no land in sight. I am beginning to get that this is a very long adventure. Each stop feels like it should be the end to the adventure, but we get to do many more. Lucky us! I am determined to share some of my thoughts with you before we arrive in our next port of Cape Town, South Africa.

Brazil was amazing. It reminded me a bit of the feeling I had when we first arrived in Thailand several years ago. At first you are a bit taken a back and almost disturbed by the smells, the sights, the poverty and the disparities. For some reason Brazil previously to me conjured the image of Miami Beach or what the tourist pages had shown me of Rio. Our ship arrived in Salvador, which was the former capitol and it is also was the sight of the largest African slave trade. You quickly see the influence of Africa everywhere. I had to keep reminding myself that I was not after all in Africa. Bahia (Salvador) is very much of African decent. In contrast to the United States, the slave trade there was larger and lasted longer. In Brazil, tribes were allowed to remain intact; where as in the US we deliberately split up tribes and families so that they could not organize or protest. As a consequence many of the African traditions made their way in interesting ways into the Portuguese traditions of Brazil. One example of this was seen at in the Candomble religion. The Catholic’s thought that they were converting the slaves from their native pagan religion, but what the slaves did was to worship their gods as the Christian symbol. They have two names for Mary and Jesus and St. Joseph. One is the Christian name, but all along they are worshiping their gods. They managed in doing so to keep many of their costumes alive and to form a hybrid sort of religion which is recognized by the Catholic Church. Another very big thing here is a martial arts form of dance. It is called Capoerra. The slave owners thought that all that was occurring was dance, but what they were doing is training and conditioning themselves through acrobatic types of maneuvers. Now on every corner of every street you can see kids engaging in this form of activity. It is a mind body kind of exercise which today gives kids a sense of purpose, belonging and keeps them strong and fit. The purpose is to move as quickly as you can doing Karate types of moves without touching or harming the other person. There are drums and a string instrument played while this goes on. It really is literally everywhere. We saw an amazing group of professionals perform this for us our first night there and they literally moved so fast that it was a blur and they were within inches of each other with each and every move.

Bahia is a very crowded city, especially during Carnival. We were most often the only white faces in some very large crowds. We went out in groups two different nights and in two different directions to observe at first and then to dance in the streets with the kids and with the natives. We were warned of the high crime rate so we only went in large groups and remained very close together. We found the native crowd to be protective of us and genuinely affectionate. None of our group had any problems. Although we could not communicate with words, the thumbs up sign is somewhat universal and we were given that often as we danced and pretended we knew the words to the songs that the crowds were singing. The celebration is amazing. It is like Disneyland on Main Street during the electric light parade and fireworks, but it is on every street and every block in every nook and cranny. There are stages and musicians every few feet and floats blasting music. Some folks dress in elaborate traditional costumes, others dress in outrageous outfits, but ALL participate. This party goes on for days. Apparaently according to the Guinness book, this IS the largest party in the world. It is not an observation; it is full participation regardless of age, social status etc.

We did manage to get out of the city for some day trips and to visit some other small towns. There is evidence of the clear cutting of the Atlantic rain forest that can be seen even near Salvador. The Geologic features are many and very interesting. On day we went with the ships Geologist and also one from the local university and learned so much. We were able to observe two different locations of amazing tide pools. The tide changes very dramatically each day and allows for some of the finest tide pools that I had ever seen. We saw corals and tropical fish and all sorts of life in miles and miles of the tide pools. The beaches are fabulously scenic. The sand is a dark beige color and the water is very blue and warm. I am sure you will agree when you see photo’s how beautiful it is.

Shipboard life continues to keep us busy although not too busy to read emails so please keep them coming or start for those of you that have not sent any. We love getting mail and miss our family and friends. This week Kevin gave a talk to the entire shipboard community in our Global Studies class on the Aids crisis in Africa focusing on the role that the government of South Africa had played, more specifically in denying that the HIV virus caused AIDS and then denying their citizens treatment for a very long time and long after we knew the drugs to be effective. He pointed out the importance of individual, community and global activism in forcing change which ultimately led to a shift their governments’ policies to allow for treatment. However, much of this shift is only very recent and in the meantime the disease continued to spread allowing many to die needlessly. South Africa continues to be the country in the world with the highest numbers of HIV infected residents. It was a very powerful talk and well received by the community. I know that Kevin is happy to have this behind him. He worked very hard on preparations for it. This week was also Neptune Day celebrations which I am sure Chris will share more about. Basically it is a long standing sailing tradition that you do when you pass over the equator to pay homage to the god Neptune. Part of the festivities have included some folks shaving their heads to give homage to the god Neptune. It is kind of like an initiation for those of us that have never passed across the equator in a boat. We are known as “pollywogs” and those that have crossed are know as “shellbacks (Kevin)” and they get to plan the festivities and the initiation. It was a very fun day. We had no classes. Yehah and we also had a big California style BBQ with all the trimmings. It happened to also be one of the best days we had thus far while at sea. Clear, warm, still, flat sea's and low humidity…A combo rarely seen. I tell you this by way of introduction to the next of the weeks activities. At noon the day after the event they announced that for the next twenty four hours we were going to have an Apartheid exercise. All those with shaved heads would be the privileged group (clearly a very small number). They would be given special privileges and those of us with hair would lose ours. No pool deck, no snack bar, no eating in one of the two dining rooms, no faculty lounge etc. They put up signs saying only shaved head allowed and only shaved heads lines for services etc. You get the picture. The lines for food became very long. Folks started to grumble. It was interesting to watch it. Interesting to me how all of the sudden the shaved head folks really started to enjoy the power and taunt those without it. You begin to understand that power mentality. Some kids actually shaved their head to fit in with the privileged ones. I joined a group of folks that did a non-violent protest at dinner and blocked the entrance to the cafeteria. We made signs that said “hair is beautiful” and “restore our rights” etc. It was a game and simple, but really stimulated some amazing conversations as we sat there imagining what this would be like in real life and what we might or might not do. The simulation experiment ended with the most inspiring of speeches given by the Archbishop himself on Truth and Reconciliation. I am flabbergasted at what he was part of in this commission and what he must have seen, felt and heard. Their rules were simple, to receive amnesty, you needed to tell the truth about the crimes you had committed and then ask forgiveness. You had to face those that you had harmed. I could not imagine how I could possibly ever have the courage to face the person who had killed my child, husband, parent or community and to hear the gruesome details and at times even see live footage of these tortures and then grant their forgiveness and let that person or people walk free. I just did not understand how it could be until I heard him speak. He spoke of the options at hand and how the world expected South Africa to be a blood bath after the end of the oppressive white rule. It was their belief that people could not heal without this forgiveness. He said in South Africa community is more important than individuality and that black and white is all part of that community along with victim and perpetrator. He went on to say that we are all a part of a whole. That God wants us to be a family, all of us and that if they did not forgive and seek to heal, they would be harming themselves even more. He said over and over he was amazed at the effect this process had on people. How in finally hearing all that had been done, they were relieved and better able to move on. If you have not seen it and can get a hold of it, there is a documentary about this commission and it is called “Long Dark Nights Journey into Day.” I watched parts of it and wept and was utterly amazed by peoples capacity to rise above such pain and bring their better selves for the good of humanity. I can not give the right words to what this taught me, but I recommend that if you do not know much about this time in South Africa that you take the time to learn. It is an amazing part of our collective history. The Archbishop actually took time to give a very warm, heart felt thank to all of us in the room for our part in “breaking their shackles and opening the prison doors.” He spoke of the protests and the activist and the financial sanctions that occurred to help them win in their struggle. He has this way of making each person feel so important and never letting any of this be about himself. I am sure that you will hear more from all of us for years to come about what he has taught us.

Switching gears from oppression to privilege. Our social life continues to flourish. We were invited to two very nice sea socials (parties) this week and to a formal Captains dinner for a select few. This voyage is as I have said before, far from a luxury cruise. Food is acceptable but not exceptional…except for that night. We received a formal invitation. There were about twenty of us invited. It was first rate. The food was five star. Kevin and I were placed at the table with the associate captain, Kosta. We spoke a great deal about Greece, life at sea etc. It was a very special night. I did manage to change out of my college clothes to grown up dress clothes. Kevin wore a suit and tie. It has been a long time since we had been so groomed.

The boys remain as busy as their parents. Chris is on the Ambassadors club and he is as always very social. Alex is on the year book committee and having a ball. He works to the wee hours of the morning on year book stuff. He has learned much about photographing and is looking forward to using my camera while on Safari. Tonight we are getting together with them, our adopted family of six other kids, our neighbors and their adopted kids for a game night of sorts. It should be fun. We have much planned to do in Cape Town including spending the weekend with a South African couple who we met last year while on safari, a three day biking and wine tasting tour, Trips to table mountain and Robin Island, and a visit to an HIV center and the township with Kevin’s student. The boys will visit Kruger National park on a safari. Tune in again in a week or so for my impressions. I think you may need to send me some new superlative words to use. At this rate of amazement, I am running out.

Kevin and I both send you our love a good wishes. We love the fact that this blog is being followed from so far, including Botswana, China, New York, Florida, Tennessee and Ohio just to name a few. We enjoy your emails and your comments so please chime in any time if you have anything to add.