Salvador`s Scene

I`ve been in Salvador da Bahia for several days now.  Standing in sharp contrast to Rio de Janeiro, the Bahia region is more colorful (literally the buildings and dress are noticeably brighter), lively, and unique (a big city that hasn`t lost its roots).  It`s also cheaper than both Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro, which makes my pockets happy.

Salvador oozes with culture unlike any other place I`ve seen.  (I`d insert a few pictures here for reference if the computer I`m working from would allow me to do so.)

Like Rio, Salvador is a beach city, with 900km+ of coastline to explore.  Although the beaches here are not as pretty as Ipanema and Leblon beaches in Rio, spending a day at one of the many beaches in the area is definitely a must-do activity and something I have been doing a lot of as I`ve been ill since arriving in Salvador.

A fever and chills, sore throat, and excruciating headache hasn`t stop me from wasting away hours on the beaches, soaking in the fascinating beach culture.

Drinking coco (coconut water straight out of the coconut, which will be chopped open for you to savor the meat once the water is gone) is a popular activity.  Quiejo coalho, my favorite beach snack, is addictive!  It reminds me of halloumi, the sort of rubbery (bad but best way of describing it), salty Greek cheese that doesn`t melt.  It is grilled on a skewer and sprinkled with oregano and sometimes drizzled with molasses.  At only R$2, it is a daily indulgence.

The Pelourhino, the heart of the city (and also the supposedly very dangerous place), is filled with old churches, colonial buildings that have been made into shops and restaurants, teenagers dancing, and barely-dressed children begging.

In the late afternoon, the squares are overflowing with stands, where people are selling everything from acaraje (shrimp fritters, the most famous street food in Salvador) to enormous paintings.  And at night, the center is alive with live music (reggae is huge here).

It is an artsy city, to be sure, the streets dotted with art galleries and artists working outside.  Original cotton T-shirts with sweet designs and canvas bags thoughtfully-decorated are on every corner.  It doesn`t seem as easy to bargain here as in other places I`ve been, like China for example, but it can be done.

One afternoon earlier this week, when it seemed the medicine I was regularly swallowing had alleviated my aches and pains, I headed into the Pelhourino with Mitchel, a guy from New Zealand, currently based in London but moving to NYC in the fall (follow that?) and watched him test out his bargaining skills.

We headed to an open market, where I intended to browse but not buy.  On my last day in Rio, I got talked into buying fancy earrings on the beach simply because Isaac was such a stellar salesperson (I can be a sucker for a compliment) and finally met my price.  I figure if I start buying things now, I`ll never have room in my backpack by the time I get to Chile, the fourth country on my agenda.

Mitchel did quite well with the cool ring lady, who let me get a picture with her.  I admired some of the wooden pipes in the stand next to hers, and when I indicated as much, the maker, a short, dark-skinned, long-time dreadlocks man with some serious stoner eyes, told me that here in Bahia he was free.  To get high.

I didn`t buy anything from him, but I did manage to let him talk me into getting a picture of him in front of his creations.  (It is necessary to ask before taking photos of people in Brazil and maybe most of South America, and as Erin and I have discovered, many people refuse to be photographed.)

Mitchel`s bargainning for a beach towel was met with failure.  The man selling the items shook his head and looked insulted when Mitchel named his price.  When Mitchel persisted, the man gestured towards his mouth and said, comida.

For the number of people living in poverty here, it is astonishing how much certain services cost.  To ride a city bus, for example, is R$2.20 (no air-conditioning) or R$4 (air-conditioning).  Travel from one city to the next, as I believe I mentioned in a previous post, is also quite costly.

I can understand why the man selling the beach towels did not want to lower his price, but he didn`t make a sale with Mitchel.  As for me, I`m holding out on making any purchases (save for safety-ensuring taxi rides and pricey Pantanal tours) until I get to Bolivia, on or around July 13th.