Apparently people sleeping in the plaza in front of my apartment is not normal.

On Friday there was some sort of run in with the police and now they're all gone.

The actual reason that I'm posting twice in one week is because I must write about the graduation or “formatura” that I went to with my host parents last night. My host mom invited me because she thought it would be good to see a true Brazilian formatura. I went knowing there was good food to be had as part of the deal.

The Basics

Who: A girl named Amelia.
Where: Ritzy hotel
Dress Code: Prom. Like for real. Long ball gowns, 5 inch rhinestoned heels, strange hair extensions. The whole shebang.
Music theme: American Top 40's including “Halo” by Beyonce(a beautiful instrumental version complete with a flute) and “I Gotta a Feeling” by The Black Eyes Peas (which is played enough in Brazil to be their national anthem).

The ceremony began with a video set to music (“I Gotta Feeling”). The graduates appeared to be in a club where they were drinking and dancing in leopard and zebra print hats and feather boas. Throughout the video each member of the Real World Cast...erm....each graduate was introduced.

After the video there was a series of very long and boring speeches which no one paid attention to.
When the graduates finally came out it was wedding style, one at a time accompanied by a family member of their choosing. It took 3 playings of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”(ukulele version) and 4 playings of “Dust in the Wind”(a remix that I didn't recognize) to get through this.

The actual handing out the diplomas part was what my host mom wanted me to see. It was a little like Hickman graduation minus the paper wads and beach ball. As each graduate was called their families and friends, equipped with huge and loud noise makers would make as much noise as they possibly could for as long as they could stand it. This was fine except for the fact that a number of children had horns of their own and used them to make everyone around them miserable, including me.

At the end once everyone had their diplomas the lights in the room went out and were replaced by some techno-y red and green ones up front, “I Gotta Feeling” began to play for the thousandth time, silver confetti fell from the ceiling, a strobe light magically appeared and the students danced. This was my personal favorite part.

The reception was less exciting and only included a two man band and a table of delicious snacks but who is complaining? JJ another kid from the program was at the graduation and reception as well, small world. I returned home with my host parents at about 12:30am which is the latest I've ever seen them out.

I can't believe it's Sunday already. This weekend has wiped me out and it probably has to do with the me trekking through the rain all night on Friday and all day yesterday.. The Bahian attitude about rain (that it is the most terrible thing ever) is rubbing off on me. I will probably spend the greater part of today sleeping and am really quite alright with that. I'm trying to make a more conscious effort to enjoy the many opportunities I have to relax now that I will not have for the next year.

B

"SalvADORE" (I stole that from someone)

Ugh. Blogging is so hard.

Last weekend was Easter Break and many people went off to wonderful far away lands. I basically hung around Salvador and ate fish which was fun too.
Also I take back what I said about Plataforma not being that interesting in an earlier post. It has a sweet beach with lots of rocks and shells and really still water so you feel like your on the East Coast. I've started a pretty cool rock/shell collection next to my window.

The rain has picked up a bit here in Salvador. When it's coming it gets super windy and chilly and the ocean goes wild and you know you better get your behind inside. This was the weather last night so I hurried to the apartment and waited. I think it started after I fell asleep but this morning when I woke up it was raining and the street was empty. I was already late, but I forced myself to leave.

Let me tell you.

I got to the bus stop and felt so wet and miserable that I just turned around and went back home in true Bahian fashion.
And then I slept the most wonderful sleep of my life until my next class at 2pm (I promise I won't do it again).

School is going well. In 3D Expression we're making masks right now. Mine is a sort of creepy clown that I gave an extremely pained and sad expression. It breaks my heart a little bit.
Last class my Brazilian friends Adrielly and Oliver schooled me on the United States. Apparently Robin Williams said some messed up stuff about Brazil a while back (he is not our friend anymore). Also, I somehow missed learning about the weird Presidential secret society The Freemasons, but Oliver taught me all about it. Adrielly summed up the US perfectly, "Ninguém gosta, mas tudo vai" --No one likes it, but everyone goes.
In short, they are hilarious and great. Adrielly invited me to see Alice in Wonderland next weekend.

Tonight CIEE had a trip to the Baile Foklorico a folkloric ballet, centered around the Candomble religion and the different Orishas (gods). The show was amazing and all of the dancers were beautiful and incredibly athletic. The music was spectacular as always heavy on percussion in all of the best ways.
It's true what they say, there are other cities in Brazil that have may be more "modern" and have more "cultural events", but I honestly believe that Bahia has more culture. It may not be perfect but there is definitely a sense of Bahian cultural identity--the mixing of African,European and Indigenous cultures to create something completely of its own and it's in the food, the music, the art--everything. I think it's this fact that makes Salvador a place completely unique and incredible.

Aaand I'm done gushing about the city.

Tchau.

On Tuesday morning I woke up and it was pouring. I went to my window to look out at the ocean and it was completely foggy but the clouds were gorgeous and put me in sort of a whimsical mood.

And then I went back to sleep for 4 hours because I don't have my art theory class this week. Glorious, glorious Tuesday. This past weekend was pretty low key.

I spent a rainy Saturday in the neighborhood of Plataforma at a Brasilian friend's house. Plataforma is sort of cool because it's on a big hill but besides that nothing incredibly special. I had some good home cooking and agua de coco (Coconut Water) and abacate (avacado) from mom's garden which really can't be beat. Also can you say the most x-treme garden ever? In the evening we went to watch jazz at the Museum of Modern Art (a weekly event perfect for when you don't have anything else to do). It's a good place to run into your friends and buy fancy (but still cheap) drinks. We headed out there for the night since the 24 hour beach parties have come to an end for this year (que triste).

I can't believe it's Thursday already. We're doing plaster casts in Three Dimensional Expression which is hard work but for some reason brings us together as a class. Yesterday the professor was like half an hour late and then after he arrived he picked up a few students and left again to buy gesso for class. We ended up just sitting outside eating popsicles (purchased from a homemade popsicle vendor, like the one in Arembepe) and hanging out for an hour. I really like the kids in my class, they're a quirky bunch which is gold sometimes here.



Bimbola

There are little monkeys in the tree in front of my apartment...

This past weekend I went to Arembepe a small city about an hour north of Salvador. When we arrived, Arembepe was in the midst of it's own Carnaval celebration but fortunately we weren't there for that and quickly made our way to the beach.
The beach in Arembepe is beautiful and according to Lonely Planet it's not even that great of the beach. We walked all the way down maybe 10 or 15 minutes until we got to a small village titled "Aldeia Hippie." Apparently in the 60's Janis Joplin and Mick Jagger kicked it there. Once there we got a little room facing the ocean and then promptly headed out to get some food. All of the food places in the village were closed except one called "Janis Joplin Cafe" or something like that. The guy that ran it was a true character with big long dreadlocks and big long personality. Apparently he hung out with Janis Joplin when she was there and they also had a small love affair. I question the last part.

We had originally set out to have fish but ended up having rice, beans and eggs which we pretended was fish. After dinner the popsicle man came around and all of the babies running around got popsicles, so we got popisicles too. I had been holding off on the popsicle thing because the way they do it here, the vendor just puts all of the popsicles in a cooler without a wrapper or anything and then pulls them out when people want to buy them. The whole thing is a little questionable but I threw all caution to the wind and got one. Note to everyone: The popsicles are delicious and amazing. Even if you get sick, I think it's worth it.

To end the day we swam in a river (this is discouraged by Lonely Planet) which was extremely warm from the sun and beautiful. And then I slept from maybe 8pm until the morning. Big day.

Other than my weekend trip, I've been mostly going to school and hanging out. After all of the scheduling drama I'm in some good classes which I should be getting credit for. One is a sculpture class and the other is a sort of boring but sort of interesting class on visual theory.I guess I mostly love that she has slides that follow her lecture. Great for note taking.
I'm also enjoying that most of my classes are at the art school which is close by and fulfills my long lived desire to go to art school but only for a short while. Can you say having my cake and eating it too?

To end this post I will tell you about my Portuguese professor who is 28 with braces and a Winnie the Poo planner. Oh, and a name that is "Sabrina." That's really all.
She can't remember my name for the life of her and our interactions are sort of like:

Sabrina: "E voce, Kimberly?" Direct translation: And you, Kimberly (Kimberly is another Black girl in our class)
Me: "Bimbola..."
Sabrina: *doesn't hear me and continues on to the next person*


Besides that Salvador is great. It's getting easier and easier.


Bimbola

GOAL!

With the end of Carnaval has come a far more quiet Salvador. Although it does feel like there's less to do, I appreciate the quiet, especially in the morning. School started this week, my first class was suppose to be a painting technique class yesterday morning. Of course when I got to the main office I discovered that the course was no longer being offered and knowing that I could absolutely not return home(out of principle) I instead sat in on a cinema class with a professor whose name was Artistotles. The class itself was a little slow but I met a very nice woman who wrote down the names of a bunch of cool places to go for art stuff. I'm going back to the same class on Friday because I dont have anything better to do and need to get out of the house. In general I'm very excited about the start of school. It'll be nice to enter a routine, meet some new people and get my brain working creatively and critically again.

My host family situation is still working out for me although my host mom's motherly instincts are definitely in full swing. Its hard to live with people who don't know you and not be able to even communicate who you are to them because of a language barrier. It's maybe my largest frustration with Portuguese. I can go out on the street and get around and I can make conversation with strangers but I have a really hard time communication fairly simple ideas to my host parents.

Yes I speak Portuguese like a 1st grader but when I'm doing things in English I swear I'm on a college level.

On the bright side she is still a wonderful cook and the other day she bought me ice cream. Food really does make everything better. Also, my host father is hilarious and always teasing me.

All in all, Salvador is definitely different than what I expected. In all honestly, living here is a little more complicated than I expected. I attribute this to a few things:

a. Although I've been here for three weeks I feel like there is so much of the city that I still don't know and this is probably because we had a very brief orientation and Carnaval shut down the city for a week.

b. The number of tourists that come through the city creates strange dynamics between native Brazilians and foreigners and I am often implicated in that even though people don't always read me as a foreigner.

c. The way the rich and the poor live in the city is different from other cities I've been in, where the poor tend to be pushed into specific areas. Here everyone is all mixed up which means that just because you have a five star hotel in your neighborhood doesn't mean that that there won't also be a homeless person sleeping right in front of the gate and just because my apartment building is pretty safe and houses a lot of families doesn't mean that I don't feel just a little apprehensive walking down the street alone to get there at night. Being here, especially a night I've had to have my guard up a little more than Im used to (especially at Macalester) and even though I don't feel like I'm in an serious danger, the danger is there.
So in short, I wish I didn't have to keep so many things in my bra when going out.

I am definitely growing and being forced out of my comfort zone. I've found some great spots to hide out when I'm overwhelmed (mostly bookstores, oh and the mall!) and I have met some good people some of whose names I remember and many whose names I don't.
Yesterday I went over to my friend Olivia's house where she and another friend where in the midst of making rice pudding (so good). Later we went to the movies (The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which I adored) and then after, to an outdoor bar to watch The Corinthians soccer team play a team who I now don't remember (I mostly went for the beer and street food).
Every so often when it feels like I'm struggling I'll have a day like that and know that I'm suppose to be here. Beijos.

Salvador

Salvador da Bahia is a city of about 2 million people right on the coast of Brazil. Although a big city in many ways Salvador feels very small. I live in a neighborhood called Barra (prounounced “Baha”) which is right on the ocean with lots of stuff to do and people who consider a bathing suit with shorts, or a sunga with a tank top acceptable clothing for the grocery store.

My new host family is an older couple, Ieda and Fernando. Ieda is a biologist and Fernando has a printing business. They're in their late fifties with older children studying in Europe. Ieda is such a mom, she's constantly making me juices and cutting up the papaya on my plate.Warning me about drunk people out late at night.Wishing me a Happy Carnaval. She says it genuinely makes her happy to do things for other people, so I try not to protest too much, even if it feels ridiculous sometimes.
We live in a small apartment but can see the ocean from every window.
My room has a great big comfy bed and a wonderful closet. I have a great view of the ocean from my desk (which is actually a table).

What I've been up to.
Not a lot to be frank. School doesn't start until March 3 which means that I've been at the beach more or less everyday and out dancing at night.
By the way, Black people do get sunburned.
I've been hit twice and have ridiculous tanlines as well. The sun is no joke, so I bought sunscreen today--SPF 30. For some reason on the bottle it's written as "FSP" 30.I don't know.
Oh and Carnaval.

Carnaval.
I'm not even sure how or what to write about it. In some ways it has been exactly what I expected and in a lot of ways not. I've been out from 7 pm until 3 am every night for the past 4 days including the two days I was sick. (Take some medicine and keep it moving.)

The first day of Carnaval we went out in masks that we purchased at a artsy used book store/cafe near my house. Mine was red, purple and green with yellow feathers sticking out of the top. Soon it started raining and my mask fell to pieces but it didn't matter because everyone was soaking wet, and dancing and more or less happy. There's so much more I could write about but It's probably better saved for a Skype or real life conversation. And perhaps some day I'll also give my critique of Carnaval(because I definitely have one).

For now, I'm happy and getting a lot of rest, eating a lot of good food, feeling frustrated at times but getting over it and getting used to the idea of being here for 4 more months.
Tchau.

Bimbola

Last week in São Paulo

Yesterday I went on the "unofficial" CIEE trip to the Museum of Afro Brazilian Art with my Brazilian Culture professor Wilson Honoria da Silva.
Wilson is a self identified Queer, Black, Marxist and brings the race, class and gender critique that I'm used to on the daily.Formally, he's an art theorist focusing predominately on film. I appreciate Wilson because not only is he brilliant but he also cares so deeply about what he studies that he doesn't care who is makes uncomfortable (and he makes a lot of people uncomfortable). Intellectually, being here has been quite the change from Macalester--Wilson is like a little slice of home on tough days.
The Museum of Afro-Brazilian Art is in Ibiraquera Park, a huge park near Avenida Paulista full of people working on their fitness. The Museum is hidden in some trees and mostly unlabeled, which says a lot about the role of the museum in the city.

The museum is wonderful.

It's full of art, photography and artifacts capturing the history of Black and Indigenous people in the country. There's also a huge exhibit called "From King to Obama," which features a ton of Obama gear. There is another exhibit of pieces from the United States which was brought to São Paulo by Donna Wells who was a curator at Howard University. I believe Wilson said the goal was to create a space to explore the differences and similarities between North American and Brazilian Black art without mixing them all up. For some reason seeing the pieces from the United States in that context was very comforting for me. And the two bodies of work co-existed so perfectly that I was reminded of how universal art really is.
Also, while in that particular exhibit I literally stumbled upon a Kara Walker installation created just for the museum. It was surreal to actually get to see something of Kara Walker's but in Brazil...and on accident. The piece was smaller and not as graphic as the ones I had seen in books. It was still exciting to finally see one in person and maybe better that it wasn't hyped up and super controversial. In fact, people seemed to hardly know who Kara Walker was.

Last night I went out with Olivia and some of her friends (very cool people). Her boyfriend Raul's band, Liberta and a another band, The Forgotten Boys were playing at a club named Inferno on Rua August. Rua Augusta is an extremely hip street.There,I saw the densest population of hipsters that I've probably ever seen in my life.It was a nice change from the "orange county chic" style that seems to be what is considered hot here.
I danced all night, resisting an incredible urge to mosh(don't know where that came from). We ended the night at 5am.

I have three more days here in São Paulo and I feel like it's coming at a good time. I'm feeling good about São Paulo but ready for the beach and a slower pace.I'd like to return before I leave Brazil but maybe that fact will change once I get to Salvador: )

This was a long one. Thanks for hanging in there.
Beijos.

Bimbola