Saturday, February 05, 2005
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil trip - day 9
[ Saturday, 5 Feb 2005 ]
OK, so today I got an email address, a phone number, and a name from a sweet and beautiful local girl. The problem? I have zero Portuguese language skills. Sigh. What ever happened to Esperanto anyway?
Bob was much feeling better so we headed off to Shopping Barra for a safe, fully cooked meal in the food court. It is virtually impossible to be vegan here. There is meat in practically every single dish, no matter what the particular themed cuisine is. Fearing Bob's experience, I steared clear of the (rare) salad bars.
That night we had tickets for the Timbalada bloco in the Ondina ciruit. While attempting to ascertain the actual time the trio would be starting up we ran into friends of Bob's from the Portuguese language school, Chris and Sue, who had also gone on the outing to the Iemanjá festival. We pass the time with caipirinhas in Bob's apartment and dinner at a local Italian restaurant.
When the bloco got underway, Bob decided that he wanted to be in front of the trio in order to actually see the band. For Alerta Geral we stayed between the trio and the drink truck. One problem is that the band is playing for and to the camarotes (the stands of private parties on the sides of the roads) and you never really get to see them from the back. Also, the beverage truck and the trio aren't always in the best of synchronization, so when the trio stops and the drink truck doesn't everyone gets even more crushed together than they already are.
In turns out that being out in front is the place to be! There's lots of space and a lot more people having a lot more fun. Even dancing out with the pipoca ("popcorn", the term for folks on the street, i.e. not in a bloco and not in the camarotes) between the rear of the preceeding bloco and the front of ours would have been a great place to be. Add to that the fact that the Ondina circuit is much different (read: better) from the Campo Grande circuit on Thursday night. This circuit begins in Barra/Porto da Barra, and follows the coast road toward Rio Vermelho. The result is that you get much more breeze to cool off the millions of hot, sweaty partiers. Also this circuit is more popular with the younger crowd as this is where all the big names play, including Timbalada and also Daniela Mercury (whom we saw later that evening).
This was by far the best time. Just dancing like mad, making our way along at about an average of 1 kph, drinking and singing. After a couple of hours we had reached the Christ statue over the ocean in the Barra. Here Bob and I slipped out from the bloco ropes and climbed up to the statue for a rest stop ... and a quick smoke with Jesus ... and a discussion of the "present moment" (thank you Alan Watts) while overlooking the tropical Atlantic Ocean.
Insanity. That's the only word for the greatest celebration of life on the planet. Our view of Carnaval from up on the hill with the statue was incredible. Millions of partiers flooding and overflowing the street like so much sweaty, singing lava.
Back to the front of the bloco. Around this point I met by chance some local partiers: Grace, her friend Lena, and the rest of their group. Grace is a secretary at a hospital just outside of Salvador whose English was much better than my Portuguese. Part of the opening coversation with Grace:
Grace: (shouting over the music) "Where you from?"
Erik: (shouting over the music) "California."
Grace: (nodding) "America."
Erik: "Yes."
Grace: (quickly, and with disdain) "America of Bush."
Erik: "It's not my fault! I didn't vote for him!"
Does the Republican party realize they're hurting my chances internationally? As if there weren't enough reasons to get a better foreign policy here's another one!
The Ondina circuit is a one way trip. After your bloco gets to the end it just opens up and merges into the swirling mass of preceeding blocos and pipoca. It was here that things turned a little ugly. I had kept a cheap disposable camera in a side pocket for taking pictures of all this craziness. Inside the bloco you're relatively safe from thievery, but out in the streets the pickpocketing and whatnot gets extreme.
We were just sort of dancing in place at the end of the circuit when a local guy comes up and dances on my left. There's always lots of bumping and pushing in the crowds so you don't generally notice it. However, I wasn't in a crowd -- I was in a fairly open pocket! This immediately raised my concern. Meanwhile, another guy comes up dancing on my right. He's dancing with a girl and is backing into me, feeling the camera in my pocket with his leg. I hold on to my pockets and work myself out of this situation. Then the same thing happens in exactly the same way a second time. Only when the guy backs up into me it's with considerably more force and an upward motion (involving his right hand) trying to open my pocket. I immediately grabbed my pocket and squared off with him. He of course faked innocence as I backed away.
This is when I told Bob I was ready to head home. That whole experience crashed my party. As we left that area I saw him repeating the story to his friends making me look like I was afraid of having my shorts pulled down. There was definitely nothing "down" about that physical interaction. In fact, as we forced our way out through the thronging thousands the same scenario repeated itself. Each time I managed to hold onto my pockets and my camera, until I could get to a clearing and move my camera into my money belt. On the way out we were passed by a group of men running, one of whom was carrying the limp body of a woman who had perhaps collapsed, been trampled, or worse. I guess petty thievery wasn't the worst that can happen.
When we made our way back to Shopping Barra Grace grabbed a taxi to the Pelourinho to stay the night with her niece, while Bob and I headed off to Pão do Porto (White Castle) and then home to crash.
Man, what a night.
