Oi gente!

So I'm in Salvador, in the Brazilian state of Bahia, studying Portuguese language and Brazilian culture. The language classes are pretty fun, and there are some very cool cultural activities planned for us. We tend to have a lecture or two on a subject before we get a more interesting glimpse of the subject. Last week was our religion week. One of the first details our instructors told us, while narrating a tour of Salvador, is that Salvador has 365 Catholic churches, so you could take daily mass in a new church every day for a year, and it has some 2000 Candomblé houses. Our teachers have not (yet?) spent much time on Catholicism, probably because it is present around the globe, whereas Candomblé is distinctly Brazilian, and less well known.

Candomblé is an Afro-Brazilian religion and is comprised of orixás (or-ee-shas), which are spirits of various things. Yemanjá, for example, is the spirit of the sea, tends to be associated with blue, and is sometimes depicted like a mermaid. So, there are a bunch of seafood restaurants by the name of Yemanjá. Each person is thought to have certain orixás guiding them, and there is a ritual to determine which orixás a person has. There are quite a few orixás, and there is a park somewhere in Salvador with statues of the orixás. One of the more distinctive ones, Omolu, is always depicted wearing a straw outfit, along the lines of Cousin It, because the orixá has leprosy.

Food is Brazil is fairly similar to food at home. One noteworthy difference is that I have yet to see a pepper shaker in Brazil (but toothpicks are readily available). Also, sorvette shops will sometimes attempt to provide English translations of the flavors, but it's not really helpful to compare 'Mangaba' in Portuguese with 'Mangaba Fruit' in English. Lunch at my house includes arroz-e-feijão, which is rice and beans. It isn't radically different from food in the USA, except for its prevalence. Also, an odd thing for me is that a) water is not free in restaurants--tap water isn't for drinking here, and b) the waiter will bring you a glass to drink your bottle of water in.
Two of my professors have suggested that we try a food called acarajé, which is apparently the preferred Bahian style of fast food. Acarajé vendors are fairly common in public squares or at the ferry across Todos Os Santos bay. Acarajé starts with a fried bean dough, about the shape of a filled doughnut. It is sliced across the middle, and filled with shrimp and flavory stuff-I am a little unclear on the details. According to super tour guide Fred (pronounced Fredgee), not just anyone can be an acarajé vendor. Only some orixás can handle the palm oil that the acarajé is fried in, so all potetial vendors have had their orixás revealed to be certain they can be a vendor. I have tried acarajé, and I believe most shrimp fans would enjoy it. (People who prefer a milder version might ask for it sem pimento).


So far, the cultural excursions have been generally cool. We saw a demonstration of Capoeira and had a lesson ourselves, and we had a dance lesson on samba and carnival dances, among other things.
Last week, we went to see a folkloric ballet, which was pretty sweet. It gave an impression of a Candomblé ritual, as well as having a Capoeira section, and a fire dance. My favorite moment was in the Capoeira section when one guy did a flip and was diving headfirst toward the floor. At the last moment his hands went out, and he caught himself, lightly tucking into a forward roll. The fire dance was pretty cool, too, although it seems like it had to have been painful for the artist.
And tonight, in the continuing cultural excursions, I get to watch part of a Candomblé ritual. We have been advised that girls may not wear pants, and that boys may not wear shorts to this event, and that we should avoid the colors black, red, and purple. Ideally, they would have us wear white or khaki to this event, but my wardrobe would not benefit much in the long term from a white dress or skirt outfit, I think, so a blue dress for me it is.