Salvador de Bahia, Brazil Feb. 6th, 2009

This city was founded in 1549 and was once the capital of Brazil. Today, it has 2, 250,000 people and is quite a fascinating place. The people here are welcoming and have cobblestone streets, churchs, (mostly Catholic) on every corner, one man told me over 400, smells of coconut and coriander in the air, sounds of beating drums all over, men selling bottled water every three steps!! It was hot!!! Women dressed in colorful dresses selling necklaces and wanting to tie the traditional Brazilian braclets onto your arm. You get three wishes, so why not! Percussion groups on every corner with more talent than you'd find in many bands in the US! We wandered through the local market that was teaming with people from all over. There were people there on vacation, like us, locals just in for the day, and vendors....everywhere! There were stalls of t-shirts, hats, lace, tablecloths, oil painting, fruit, rosary beads, beer, toys, and even shirts that were made out of pull tops from soda cans! There were people cooking, sewing, stringing, singing, dancing, painting, braiding hair, eating....it could keep going. We did not have internet service for 2 days. We found a local internet cafe that sold minutes. One dollar got you 30 minutes! We were able to have contact with teachers, Charles' office and some friends! We were back into civilation for 30 minutes!! We found many treasures. Sandals that were hand made from buffalo and the soles were from Pirelli tires! A good combination. Nicky bought his first painting that is about the size of a dessert plate. He only spent $2.50 and it is original, oil and signed! Who knows, it may be the next Picasso from Brazil!! A beautiful, sunny, hot day in Brazil. We all got a little sunburned but had a great time. The sounds and smells of Brazil .... you need to see it and smell it, feel it... My goodness, the elevator (lift). There is an elevator that takes you from the market area near the port to the old town high above. It costs about a nickel US to ride it and they pack you into it like sardines, about 50 of your best friends and you, and up you go! It is very efficient and we certainly appreciated the "lift", sorry for the British humor, it got us where we wanted to be for sure. The people selling coconut water/milk were relentless. We finally gave in and got 2 coconuts for $2.00 and Kathleen and I indulged. To quote her " It tastes like milky water". I could not have said it better myself. However, when it is 95 degrees and humid, it tasted pretty darn good! We quickly learned that we should have bought a coconut first thing and that would have kept about 100 other coconut vendors from approaching us. If you plan to visit here, take the lift and buy the coconuts as soon as you get off the lift! If any of you watch the television show, The Amazing Race, this was one of the stops last season. Great day.