We are approaching the end of our first week here in
Salvador. Although it has been a very relaxing week
for us, we have yet to see much of the city.
Our mornings begin with a suco (juice) at one of the
local snack places. Because of the tropical climate,
there is a variety of delicious fruits including
papayas, mangos, guavas, and many more. A big glass
of fresh fruit juice is the best way to start off the
morning. Chris decided to be adventurous one day and
ordered “suco de betarraba” thinking it would be some
tasty exotic fruit that he’s never had before. Turned
out, “betarraba” is beet, so he got a big glass of
beet juice. And there’s nothing more that he hates
than beets.
After our sucos, we head to our Portuguese class for a
few hours. This has been immensely helpful for us
since we knew no Portuguese before our trip. Our
school is fantastic and we’ve learned so much in a few
days. Of course, I still have a hard time
understanding the locals, but that will come with
time. In the meantime, we’ve been able say complete
sentences once in awhile which is better than where we
were 5 days ago.
After class, we have lunch at one of the local “comida
a kilo” (food by the kilo). It has been a good way to
sample the Brazilian cuisine which includes a variety
of meats, beans, vegetables, and rice. It is
relatively cheap by US standards. A kilo of food is
about 10 reais (3 reais ~ 1 USD). I usually have
about half a kilo of food, while Chris rings in at
just under a kilo.
The sun is very intense around this time, so after
lunch, we usually retreat to our apartment or hide in
the air-conditioned shopping mall. When it’s safe to
come out, we go across the street to the beach and
jump in the ocean…but only after coating ourselves in
30 layers of SPF45 sunblock.
We haven’t had much of a chance to explore Salvador
outside of Barra (our district), but we plan on doing
that soon. A week of relaxation was in order. Not to
mention a week of studying Portuguese.