a saudade segue...

The process of settling into Montevideo is going well. Although I have had only a couple days to search for an apartment, I was fortunate enough to have found (thanks to the help of a wonderful Uruguayan friend) a beautiful place located right on the beach, which I am sharing with an Uruguayan student studying accounting (and who, fortunately, speaks no English). I will begin work tomorrow at the university for teachers, and on Tuesday at the public school. My second post on Brazil had been delayed by a Fulbright conference I attended in Buenos Aires last week, but since I'm now back in Uruguay, and especially since I'm sure I'll have plenty of news for you all as I begin my new jobs and life in the city, I figured I should finish my posts on Brazil.

In this post I am going to describe my experiences in three very different Brazilian sites: the booming, capitalist mecca São Paulo, the historic Salvador da Bahia, and the relaxing island of Morro de São Paulo. I've decided to include a map in this post, with red dots on the places I was: the red dot farthest south is Montevideo, the next one up is São Paulo, then Rio de Janeiro, then Salvador da Bahia:



Against the advice of my friends in Rio, who seem to believe Rio is the only Brazilian city worth visiting, I boarded a bus for São Paulo about one hour after Lenny Kravitz closed the Live Earth Concert on Copacabana beach. Although many Brazilians and fellow travelers couldn't understand why I wanted to go to the "city of concrete," I was actually excited about visiting São Paulo. I was looking forward to seeing the most populous city in the Western Hemisphere (the city itself--not metro area--has over 11 million inhabitants, compared to New York's 8 million), and the Latin American city with the most significant economy (according to Wikipedia, the state of São Paulo, of which São Paulo city is the capital, is the biggest economy of South America, and, compared to all of Latin America, is the second largest economy after Mexico's). I had heard stories and seen National Geographic television shows about how helicopters are becoming the preferred mode of transportation for the city's wealthy. And I was looking forward to visiting the various neighborhoods that preserve and showcase the various cultures that comprise one of the most diverse cities in Latin America.

A picture from the top of one of São Paulo's tallest buildings--the buildings continued as far as I could see:



Unfortunately, I chose to visit São Paulo on one of the city's holidays, so I actually didn't get to see the normal activity there. There were few taxis racing around, not many people on the streets, and no helicopters. On the other hand, though, the neighborhoods were especially active, presenting cultural shows and tons of stands selling great food and other items.

After living in Salto for four months, a town that has absolutely no Asian cuisine of any kind, I was very eager to visit Liberdade, the area where a great majority of the Asians living in São Paulo immigrated. Every Sunday (which is the day I arrived), there is a market in Liberdade, where tons of people walk around eating authentic Asian food, buying handmade items, and even learning to play traditional musical instruments. It really was an interesting experience, especially seeing firsthand the fusion of various cultures.

In this picture of the gates marking the entrance to the area, you can see the crowd that packed the streets, as well as the decorations. There were decorations hanging above our heads, and people placed pieces of paper with prayers on them in surrounding trees and bushes.



After visiting a couple markets (one of which showcased the paintings of local artists, who sat next to their very impressive works), I wandered down to what some say is the pride of the city: Ibirapuera Park. Many people draw a parallel between this park and Central Park in New York. In addition to this, many other parallels between the two cities can be drawn. I really feel that São Paulo is the New York City of Latin America, with respect to its cultural diversity, population, position in terms of the national economy, and many other aspects.

While in the park, I saw quite a few of these "motorcycles" parked nearby. Juan and Al, this is for you guys:



São Paulo provided a nice weekend adventure, but I decided to spend a longer amount of time in Salvador da Bahia. This city has a very interesting history, being Brazil's first capital and the site where a majority of Brazil's slaves arrived from Africa. The influence of this persists: the city and surrounding region is defined by African culture, which is apparent in the food, dance, religion, and, of course, skin color of the people living there. For example, some of the snacks served on Salvador's streets can still be found in markets in Africa. Additionally, candomble, the religion practiced by many in Salvador and which I had a chance to observe in a Salvadoran favela, is a form of African voodoo.

This is a picture of my first meal, which I was pretty excited about. It was complete with some traditional Bahian food, and one of my favorite drinks in the world, Guarana (a sweet soda made from an Amazonian fruit):



While in Salvador, I lived in Pelourinho, the historic section. Pelourinho apparently means "whipping post" in Portuguese, and refers to the site where slaves were beaten and auctioned. The area is undeniably beautiful, featuring extremely old churches (one was literally coated in gold!) and cobblestone streets. These photos show Pelourinho; the actual spot of the whipping post is at the top of this hill, in front of the blue and yellow buildings:







Although beautiful, Pelourinho was slightly overwhelming. Because of the heavy tourism there, I couldn't walk more than a few minutes without being approached by someone trying to sell me something. And these people were persistent--a "no" never sufficed. Spending a night in Pelourinho presented a whole new set of problems, since the area is by no means safe, and prostitution is extremely common. Because of all this, I soon decided to "escape it all" and head to a nice little island by the name of Morro de São Paulo.

Being only a two-hour ferry ride away, this island is popular with tourists, but it still has its little island charm: for example, there are no cars or motorcycles there, and people use wheelbarrows to transport things. For me, the place was pretty ideal, since I could choose between beaches that were heavily populated or almost entirely isolated. In addition to reading several John Grisham novels, I watched Brazil beat Argentina in the Copa America soccer championship (complete with yelling and fireworks after each goal). Here's a picture of one of the many beaches there:



One of the highlights of my time at Morro was taking a small motorboat around the island with a group of Brazilian tourists from all over the country, and a couple of girls from Barcelona. We got pretty close, and before long it was as if there were no language barrier between us at all.

Here's a pic of our group, bonding over raw oysters:



The boat trip included various stops, which allowed us to go swimming in natural pools, wander through the rainforest, and see some very old, isolated towns. We ran into this girl in one such town; she was carrying around a basket of live blue crabs:



An interesting view of the shore I captured while the boat was bouncing off the waves:



It was very nice to be at a place where I wasn't pushing myself to see new sites. I could just sit around and waste time, which is something I rarely do. At night I crawled into the hammock outside my hotel room door, and fell asleep there. I was woken up each morning by the sun rising.

A couple views of my room:





Looking at a map of Brazil, and the places I visited, I can't help but realize how painfully little of the country I actually saw. But I think this is an important realization to have. Moreso than many other countries, it is incredibly difficult to capture or understand Brazil in one or two visits. Since coming back to Uruguay, I've spoken with Fulbright scholars in Brazil, who amaze me with their stories about what life in Brazil is really like for those who live far from its beaches or tourist zones. In the future, I hope that I will have the chance to better understand this contrast in lifestyles. For now, though, I have been blessed with the opportunity to get beneath the surface of Uruguay, and to live and work with its citizens. Tomorrow, after a long vacation filled with incredible experiences, I will begin work again. I'll be sure to put up a post soon to let you all know how things are going.

For now, I'll leave you all with a view of a sunset from my little island: