More of Brazil

February 8, 2008
So we heard from a bunch of people that going to one of the islands here is cheap and a ton of fun. Everyone said it was really pretty and very safe, so that is what we woke up at 8 to do. We wanted to catch the 9:00 fairy out to the island so we were at the place to buy tickets at 8:45. We bought our 3R tickets and stood in line, which was more of a huge mob of people squished together in a room with no air circulation. Turned out that the fairy for 9:00 was full so we waited in the squished, hot and humid place with a ton of natives for over an hour for the next fairy.
The fairies arrived and it was a serious push and shove to get a spot. Lindsay, Lindsay, and I were separated from Harrison, Chula, Dutch, and Will (our male friends). So we rode on the 45 minute fairy to this island that we cannot remember the name of now. As soon as we got off we were mauled by men trying to get us to go in their taxis, buy their goods, etc. It was so scary and overwhelming and not what we expected from the description that everyone had told us. The boys finally arrived and we went to find a spot on the beach. The beach was dirty and we were not very welcome there. "Gringas" everyone kept hissing. So we stayed for about an hour and a half and decided to get back in line for the fairy home because the line was curved around the town and was going to take forever.
Let me just remind you all that I am in the southern hemisphere and very close to the equator-it is VERY hot here. The line took another hour and then we were shoved to the bottom of the fairy. We felt like the reverse of the African slave trade, as bad as that sounds. But we got back on time for our next adventure... the soccer game!
It was the Bahia (Brazil) team (no the national one). Over half of the students on the ship went and it was so fun! These people are crazy about soccer. The first half of the game was pretty calm and when they scored we all got to yell GOOOL!!! (Goal, but that is how their scoreboard spelled it)! The yells and jeers throughout the half were great and there were so many military police there with their dogs (kinda scary). Anyway the second half was even more eventful.
In the middle of the game an entire half of the native crowd came over to all the students and were cheering for the rest of the game. They had one leader and they just screamed their cheers. It was so fun jumping around with them and pretending like i knew what they were screaming! We got tired but of course they didn't stop until the end of the game.
Then there were reporters outside of the stadium recording a crowd of crazy Brazilian boys screaming and jumping. Lindsay and I thought it would be fun to jump in. We jumped right in front of the camera and everyone started cheering even more and the reporter started talking to us in Portuguese. I yelled "Ingles!" He replied "you speak English? Who were you rooting for?" I screamed "BAHIA!!!" And the crowd went crazy. Yes I was on Brazilian TV. It was hilarious and so fun! That was my great soccer experience.
Today we took a one hour bus ride (gringas in the back) to a beach called Putia. It was much better than the island. Beautiful, nice people, waves and great sun of course! Now we are back and getting ready to go out for our last night here (oh joy another 9 days on the ship with classes)!

February 9, 2008
So last night was scary. On our way to the bar a native man came up to my friend and asked him for money, when he said he didn't have any the man threatened to stab him. So he gave him 10R and the man left him alone. After that we figured we would just sit at a restaurant and listen to music with our beer and then head back to the ship. As I am not much of a drinker, I watched as my friends got a little more than buzzed and enjoyed the warm night breeze.
Our friend Caroline got back from the Amazon last night and we were so excited to see her! She said her guide there had grown up in a tribe in the Amazon and he never wore shoes. He couldn't even take them inside at the airport because the air conditioning makes him so cold because he isn't used to it. She didn't see any animals, but went piranha and alligator hunting!
Today we spent walking around town and buying more fun things! I officially spent $392 in Brazil-I will be broke when I get home. The exchange rate was 1.6 when we got our money and when we changed it back it was 1.8 it's not too organized in Salvador. Things I learned while I was here:
- Brazil is as big as 48 of the United States
-They speak Portuguese (and we were told they would understand a lot of Spanish but they definitely didn't)
-Salvador (where we stayed) is one of the poorest cities in Brazil. They bring us here because we can see the most culture. Capoeira is a type of martial arts mixed with dance. It was originally brought over by the slaves as entertainment. There are groups all over town that perform Capoeira.
-Many natives are Roman Catholic, however the indigenous people celebrate/d Candomble. They believe that everyone has a spirit that takes the over, one person at a time. Each person has a ceremony when their spirit comes. Of course there is music and dancing during the ceremony.
-The northern part of Brazil is very westernized. Places like Rio De Janero are just like Europe. The Southern part (like Sao Paulo) is much better off than Salvador, but not as westernized as Rio. Here in Salvador, they live day by day. Don't care much for politics and what is going on in the US and love to party.

So I am on the ship and ready to go to South Africa!! I have a ton of work to do before tomorrow and I lost 30 bucks. I need to remember to not sweat the petty things and not pet the sweaty things because I am traveling the world! Oh and I don't know who is reading these but if you want a post card send me your address just in case I don't already have it. (brit0073@aol.com). Love and miss you all!