February 22, 2007
So its been a while since I last updated my blog and seeing as we just left Brazil yesterday I figure now would be a good time to fill everyone in on what traveling Nick has been up to. To put it in a simple mathematical formula, BRAZIL + CARNAVAL = INCREDIBLE!!! So to keep this reading simple, as it will be long, I am going to break down this entry into different sections based on daily events as well as subject area. Those who know of my ridiculously strong organizational instinct will understand. So as everyone always told me “education first,” and therefore I will begin by sharing some of the knowledge I have absorbed about Brazil.
SCHOOL STUFF
So as many of you may know Brazil is a former Portuguese colony and therefore speaks yes Portuguese. It was also the most likely destination for ships of the Atlantic slave trade. In fact over 4,000,000 slaves ended up in Brazil accounting for over 35% of the total trade. America accounted for about 5% of this trade. This was in large part due to the harsher living conditions in Brazil as well as the Portuguese view of slaves as a disposable source of labor. In Brazil as slaves died they were easily replaced and had an expected useful economic life of around 8 years, where slaves in the United States were used for life and for reproduction of more slaves. Today Brazil has the highest income inequality of any country in the world with the top 10% of the population making over 60 times the income of the lowest 10% of the population. This was clearly evident in Salvador Brazil where over 2 million of the 3 million residents live in poverty. Politically Brazil has been incredibly unstable with its constitution only written in 1988. Previously the country has changed from dictatorships, to military rule, to democracies on a regular basis. On a final note, anyone interested in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs should look at Brazil. They have the most effective prevention program in the world as was obvious by the multiple awareness centers stationed throughout the city giving out information and free condoms. Brazil is one of the few places where the annual number of deaths attributed to AIDS is decreasing. Ok enough school stuff time for the fun stuff.
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 17, 2007
BRAZIL!!! Excitement on arrival was diminished somewhat by the multiple pre-port meetings warning us how this will be the most dangerous port on our itinerary. Since I am a big kid with a strong muscular figure and my paleness and blond hair blend into the population I was naturally not too concerned. In fact they were correct about the dangers of Brazil but only if people were stupid and made themselves obvious targets. A small group of girls were robbed at knifepoint but they were by themselves and my roommate was robbed but he was drunk and by himself in a bad area. Otherwise the worst I experienced was a few wandering hands around my pockets in large crowds. One interesting experience the first day was being sprayed by super soakers from taxis by men dressed as female warrior princesses. There were thousands of these people driving down the street but hey its Carnival. The evening of the first night was incredible as I had a nice dinner and watched a “Capoeira” performance. Capoeira is a fighting style disguised to look like a dance that African slaves developed because they were not allowed to fight. The athletic finesse of these men was insane and the ladies especially loved it. Imagine a man doing 20 back hand springs in place in about 10 seconds or a double back flip six feet in the air. After watching this performance I decided to spend the evening working out and resting for the next day.
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 18, 2007
I spent most of the day walking around still getting acquainted with the city. We had an incredible lunch on the second story in a colonial style structure. For about $20 I had a beer, coke, fish, pork, chicken, rice, beans, and potatoes while listening to music in the streets below and watching a light rain shower come through. It was quite an experience. The evening came and I did a trip called “Traditional Carnival” in the old Pelourinho district of the city. This is where more African influenced groups march through the streets in elaborate costumes or some only in body paint with mainly percussion instruments playing behind them. People then follow them through the streets dancing and drinking until the early hours of the morning. Later that evening was the most fun as I and two friends went to an area with a free outdoor concert and danced with local children and families until about 1:00am. The kids were great and were between 7 and 14 years of age. I also danced with their grandmother who must have been in her 70’s and still out danced me. Note to self: learn to dance.
MONDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2007
Today I visited a nice area about 50 miles north of Salvador called Praia Du Forte. This is the headquarters of Brazil’s marine turtle project. Apparently five of the seven sea faring turtles in the world lay their eggs along the Brazilian coast and due to fishing, soup eating, and turtle shell sales the population has been declining. They had a corny cartoon video explaining the project but also the biggest turtles I have ever seen. The Loggerhead species must have weighed 300+lbs each and were about 4 feet long. Unfortunately I did not see my favorite Ninja Turtle Donatello which was kind of disappointing, dude. For lunch we had a buffet again and I ordered a Capparinah drink but spelled differently. It was basically lots of Brazilian liquor with a lot of sugar and a lime in it and WOW I need to learn how to make it. Following lunch we walked around on our own some and found a flock, litter, den, or whatever of monkeys. If anyone knows what a group of monkeys are called please let me know. I also discovered that Brazilians have not yet distinguished between male and female bathing suit attire. Women in small bikinis and thongs, nice. Men in thongs, not so nice. Forget having tan lines, I mean that’s just got to be uncomfortable. I also took some pictures with some strange carnival revelers that will be posted below. They really put our Halloween to shame down here.
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2007
So I believe the night of February 20 may have been the craziest night of my life. What did Nick do? Well picture 4,000 people wearing the same shirt, a 40ft tractor trailer truck with a three story building/stage on it, a sound system that would put rock concerts to shame, another support truck with bars and bathrooms, and a four hour, three to five mile, non stop dancing and drinking party. YES THIS IS CARNIVAL!!! There are about 20 of these groups as well. At any given time 1 to 2 million people were dancing in the streets in the city. The party goes from about 4pm in the afternoon to about 8am in the morning. After about 5 hours there I was exhausted and headed back with the group but not before eating some delicious cheese and meat on a stick from some lady on the street. I did not know exactly what the meat was but it tasted good and I have not gotten sick yet so great. The pictures can obviously speak much more for this experience and I have great video as well to share when I come home. By the way for you Beer fans out their, Brazilian beer is delicious and comparable to any beer back home.
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2007
Today was my last in Brazil and began around two in the afternoon due to the previous night. It was basically a recovery and shopping day. I along with about 100 other people on the boat bought the same Ronaldinho soccer jersey as well as some nice paintings. I then boarded the boat early after giving the rest of my change to a beggar lady with a baby.
FINAL THOUGHTS
While Carnival was amazing and the Brazilian people were friendly, fun, and beautiful it became easy to forget the terrible conditions in which much of the population live. The heat and humidity were also terrible and much of the city had the stench of urine as many people, during Carnival in particular, I observed used the sidewalk as a public toilet. According to some Brazilians from Sao Paulo, they said that Salvador was a pretty dirty city in Brazil. Despite these facts the most important question is … Would I come back? In a heartbeat!!!
So its been a while since I last updated my blog and seeing as we just left Brazil yesterday I figure now would be a good time to fill everyone in on what traveling Nick has been up to. To put it in a simple mathematical formula, BRAZIL + CARNAVAL = INCREDIBLE!!! So to keep this reading simple, as it will be long, I am going to break down this entry into different sections based on daily events as well as subject area. Those who know of my ridiculously strong organizational instinct will understand. So as everyone always told me “education first,” and therefore I will begin by sharing some of the knowledge I have absorbed about Brazil.
SCHOOL STUFF
So as many of you may know Brazil is a former Portuguese colony and therefore speaks yes Portuguese. It was also the most likely destination for ships of the Atlantic slave trade. In fact over 4,000,000 slaves ended up in Brazil accounting for over 35% of the total trade. America accounted for about 5% of this trade. This was in large part due to the harsher living conditions in Brazil as well as the Portuguese view of slaves as a disposable source of labor. In Brazil as slaves died they were easily replaced and had an expected useful economic life of around 8 years, where slaves in the United States were used for life and for reproduction of more slaves. Today Brazil has the highest income inequality of any country in the world with the top 10% of the population making over 60 times the income of the lowest 10% of the population. This was clearly evident in Salvador Brazil where over 2 million of the 3 million residents live in poverty. Politically Brazil has been incredibly unstable with its constitution only written in 1988. Previously the country has changed from dictatorships, to military rule, to democracies on a regular basis. On a final note, anyone interested in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs should look at Brazil. They have the most effective prevention program in the world as was obvious by the multiple awareness centers stationed throughout the city giving out information and free condoms. Brazil is one of the few places where the annual number of deaths attributed to AIDS is decreasing. Ok enough school stuff time for the fun stuff.
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 17, 2007
BRAZIL!!! Excitement on arrival was diminished somewhat by the multiple pre-port meetings warning us how this will be the most dangerous port on our itinerary. Since I am a big kid with a strong muscular figure and my paleness and blond hair blend into the population I was naturally not too concerned. In fact they were correct about the dangers of Brazil but only if people were stupid and made themselves obvious targets. A small group of girls were robbed at knifepoint but they were by themselves and my roommate was robbed but he was drunk and by himself in a bad area. Otherwise the worst I experienced was a few wandering hands around my pockets in large crowds. One interesting experience the first day was being sprayed by super soakers from taxis by men dressed as female warrior princesses. There were thousands of these people driving down the street but hey its Carnival. The evening of the first night was incredible as I had a nice dinner and watched a “Capoeira” performance. Capoeira is a fighting style disguised to look like a dance that African slaves developed because they were not allowed to fight. The athletic finesse of these men was insane and the ladies especially loved it. Imagine a man doing 20 back hand springs in place in about 10 seconds or a double back flip six feet in the air. After watching this performance I decided to spend the evening working out and resting for the next day.
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 18, 2007
I spent most of the day walking around still getting acquainted with the city. We had an incredible lunch on the second story in a colonial style structure. For about $20 I had a beer, coke, fish, pork, chicken, rice, beans, and potatoes while listening to music in the streets below and watching a light rain shower come through. It was quite an experience. The evening came and I did a trip called “Traditional Carnival” in the old Pelourinho district of the city. This is where more African influenced groups march through the streets in elaborate costumes or some only in body paint with mainly percussion instruments playing behind them. People then follow them through the streets dancing and drinking until the early hours of the morning. Later that evening was the most fun as I and two friends went to an area with a free outdoor concert and danced with local children and families until about 1:00am. The kids were great and were between 7 and 14 years of age. I also danced with their grandmother who must have been in her 70’s and still out danced me. Note to self: learn to dance.
MONDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2007
Today I visited a nice area about 50 miles north of Salvador called Praia Du Forte. This is the headquarters of Brazil’s marine turtle project. Apparently five of the seven sea faring turtles in the world lay their eggs along the Brazilian coast and due to fishing, soup eating, and turtle shell sales the population has been declining. They had a corny cartoon video explaining the project but also the biggest turtles I have ever seen. The Loggerhead species must have weighed 300+lbs each and were about 4 feet long. Unfortunately I did not see my favorite Ninja Turtle Donatello which was kind of disappointing, dude. For lunch we had a buffet again and I ordered a Capparinah drink but spelled differently. It was basically lots of Brazilian liquor with a lot of sugar and a lime in it and WOW I need to learn how to make it. Following lunch we walked around on our own some and found a flock, litter, den, or whatever of monkeys. If anyone knows what a group of monkeys are called please let me know. I also discovered that Brazilians have not yet distinguished between male and female bathing suit attire. Women in small bikinis and thongs, nice. Men in thongs, not so nice. Forget having tan lines, I mean that’s just got to be uncomfortable. I also took some pictures with some strange carnival revelers that will be posted below. They really put our Halloween to shame down here.
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2007
So I believe the night of February 20 may have been the craziest night of my life. What did Nick do? Well picture 4,000 people wearing the same shirt, a 40ft tractor trailer truck with a three story building/stage on it, a sound system that would put rock concerts to shame, another support truck with bars and bathrooms, and a four hour, three to five mile, non stop dancing and drinking party. YES THIS IS CARNIVAL!!! There are about 20 of these groups as well. At any given time 1 to 2 million people were dancing in the streets in the city. The party goes from about 4pm in the afternoon to about 8am in the morning. After about 5 hours there I was exhausted and headed back with the group but not before eating some delicious cheese and meat on a stick from some lady on the street. I did not know exactly what the meat was but it tasted good and I have not gotten sick yet so great. The pictures can obviously speak much more for this experience and I have great video as well to share when I come home. By the way for you Beer fans out their, Brazilian beer is delicious and comparable to any beer back home.
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2007
Today was my last in Brazil and began around two in the afternoon due to the previous night. It was basically a recovery and shopping day. I along with about 100 other people on the boat bought the same Ronaldinho soccer jersey as well as some nice paintings. I then boarded the boat early after giving the rest of my change to a beggar lady with a baby.
FINAL THOUGHTS
While Carnival was amazing and the Brazilian people were friendly, fun, and beautiful it became easy to forget the terrible conditions in which much of the population live. The heat and humidity were also terrible and much of the city had the stench of urine as many people, during Carnival in particular, I observed used the sidewalk as a public toilet. According to some Brazilians from Sao Paulo, they said that Salvador was a pretty dirty city in Brazil. Despite these facts the most important question is … Would I come back? In a heartbeat!!!
