Strikes and Rainy Days

It’s another rainy day in Salvador, and the bus drivers are always on strike (but will hopefully come to an agreement this afternoon). I’m drinking coffee while trying to motivate myself to get all of my homework done – you would think that it wouldn’t be too hard with this weather – but instead I’ve been skimming through my roommates’ Lonely Planet Brazil book and daydreaming about all the places I have to see!

There is this one place, in the Amazon, which is well known because once a month, during the full moon, the force of the tides create an enormous wave where the river meets the ocean that rages through the amazon – it’s called the Pororoca for “terrifying sound”. It has a height of up to four metres high, and surfers can ride the same wave for over thirteen minutes! 

Source: http://www.academus.com.br/group/amazonia-do-brasil/forum/topics/pororoca

I still haven’t been surfing since my trip a few weeks ago (at least I have the excuse that it’s been raining) but that hasn’t stopped other surfers from getting out and riding the huge waves we have been having because of the weather. There are even big waves where I am living, in the Porto da Barra, which under normal conditions is known for it’s calm waters. I’ve been running down the seawalk more often lately, watching the surfers, and marvelling at how they manage to swerve the jagged rocks that seem to pop up right in their paths! Of course, there are places you can go that don’t have as many igneous intrusions (geology term for type of rock), but for the serious surfers out there, they need to find the biggest waves, never mind the risk.

My attempt at surfing while in Pipa

It’s really depressing to think that I have almost a full week of vacation because of the strike, but because all the buses in the state are on strike, I can’t even take a bus to another city and go travel! The strike is actually happening all across the country, even in São Paulo (although there it’s the trains on strike) but the strike in Salvador is the most widespread – it affects over a million people who use the public transport system. 

View of bus stop in Salvador during strike
Source: meutransporte.blogspost.com.br

I’ve also heard rumors that the bus fare might go up another 50 centavos (25 cents) from 2.50 to 3.00 reais, making Salvador the most expensive for bus fare compared to all the other cities I’ve been to in Brazil. My Chilean roommate told me that the increase in bus fare in Chile was the original motive for a huge student protest that happened a few years ago. There was actually an interesting post on facebook comparing Chile to Brazil, stating that in Chile students protest for better quality education, whereas Brazil students protest to legalize marijuana (and just last week there was the 3^rd annual “March for Marijuana” walk here in Salvador). However, it is true that the Law Faculty at UFBA went on Strike for roughly a week at the beginning of my exchange for reasons such as poor infrastructure and poor quality of education, and achieved some positive results out of it. And the more I hear about and see strikes in action, both in Quebec and here in Brazil, the more I feel that strikes are a very effective way to put pressure on the government in order to effect change. It makes sense to think that the Law students went on strike here because they are more aware of their rights than any other student at UFBA, but the rest of the students at UFBA have as much of a reason to be on strike right now as they did! It’s frustrating going to class and finding that the professor decided to cancel it because most of the students went on a field trip, but neglected to tell the rest of us that there wouldn’t be class this week. And the teacher who teach for only an hour and a half when the class is supposed to be three hours long. There is a countless number of situations here I could talk about that should not be acceptable in any respectable university.

Not only this, but there is lots of talk that the teachers here are going to go on strike as well, for higher wages. I’m not very sure of the wages of a professor who teaches at a public university, but from personal observations I can say that most of them drive nice cars and have IPhones and Mac computers. Even still, all over the country, professors are on strike, and UFBA (Universidade Federal da Bahia) is one  of the few places left not on strike. It’s a subject ofdiscussion among students. The teachers say that it isn’t going to happen, but at the same time it’s an uncertain situation. One thing is for sure: if UFBA goes on strike, I’ll be making an early trip to Macchu Pichu. 

Since midnight, the bus drivers and "cobradors" (people who collect the bus fare) have been on strike for higher wages, and it's supposed to continue until Monday night. It's not only Salvador, but it's the whole state, so people depending on the bus to get to another city aren't even able to travel. 

It takes me an hour and fifteen minutes to walk to school, which I decided against this morning when I heard that certain faculties were closed, or with only two-three students in classrooms. 

Algumas reflexões ...

I was having a lovely time musing about Bahia while coming home on the bus this evening. It had been a relatively stimulating day, seeing people I hadn’t seen for a long time and having interesting conversations with friends. It’s nice to hear the opinions of others on why here is so terrible: first of all it’s always corruption, but also there’s the lack of education among government workers who slow the system down. It’s true that things here can be pretty slow. With only two people ahead of me in line at the library I can wait for half an  hour while the librarian tries to resolve some problem or other with the student. While this is not always the case, it isn’t unusual. My host mother also once complained to me about having to show an employee how to do his own job while she was waiting to get some paperwork done, because he honestly didn’t know how. But these are simple problems that can be fixed with the right amount of training. No, I can understand why Brazilians here want to leave. It’s always harder (at least in my case it was) to see the good things in the place you grew up in.

And why is it exactly, that I find Brazil so incredible? I admit that most likely it is because it was the first place I went to after leaving home, and everything that I found to be different, the language, the food, the warmth, the people, I fell in love with, simply because it wasn’t what I was used to, and I craved change. Also  I believe that it’s because how you find your environment (your opinion and perspective on it) is a direct reflection of how you yourself feel in that same environment. True paradise, whether it be in the tropics or up North, depends entirely on the people you share it with (and maybe the food counts for a bit as well).

So I would like to think that this second time around I can see Brazil from a more moderate perspective, rather than through the eyes of someone who was just anxious to get away from home. Even so, there is still something about Bahia that I find hard to define, but that leaves me feeling at home even though I’m miles away from Canada.

What does Brazil have that Canada is missing? First of all, in Canada there is the concept of “to-go”, that is (almost) entirely non-existent in Salvador. My life in Canada is that of multi-tasking. Munching down food while studying for a test, drinking your coffee while running to class. But here, I have realized that being late isn’t that big of a deal (my opinion on this might change once I’m back in Canada), and it’s just not worth the stress of speed walking simply to arrive a few minutes earlier, especially if half the class arrives late anyways.  Life is meant to be enjoyed, and it seems to me that the people of Brazil have realized that fact much more than us North Americans.

Second of all, and most importantly, is the warmth that people have for one another. People here have a tendency to touch, much, much more than Canadians. I think that just the act of touching, which is so fundamental not only to being human, but to being alive, helps us to feel closer and more connected to one another. There are many examples of this that I could give, but I’ll mention just a few. The woman I asked directions for on the street put her hand on  my shoulder before wishing me luck in finding my way. My teacher at the university rested his hand on my head while walking down the rows of desks and talking to his students. They are both very simple acts, but to touch a stranger in Canada, and even for some to touch your friends, is seen as strange and unordinary. This may or may not be true, but I think that if Canadians became more “touchy”, and tried to incorporate more “touchiness” into their every day routines, we would have a lot less depression in our country. People need to feel as if they belong, and it’s sad to see in Montreal how many people look so alone walking on the streets or in the metro. While there is still depression in Brazil, people in general here seem a lot happier than people in Canada.

And that sums up what I thought about during my bus ride. I arrived in Porto da Barra to a beautiful sunset over the ocean, descending the buses stairs, the doors closed on me, and I became stuck! It was worse than being stuck in the doors in the Montreal metro. For two seconds, a news headline flashed through my head:  “Canadian girl crushed to death by bus doors due to ignorant bus driver”, but then he managed to find the right lever, and to my relief, I was released. That’s one point for Canada.

Back from Vacation

These last two weeks were spent travelling in North-Eastern Brazil. First stop was in Olinda, a tiny touristy town just outside of Recife. To be honest, Olinda was a bit of a disappointment in comparation to Salvador. Maybe it was just because it was the down season and there was almost no one there, or because there were no beaches on the coast to go swimming in, but it didn’t seem like there was too much to do. On the other hand, it did have cute little historical buildings, the streets were clean, and it felt a lot safer to go walking around in comparison to Pelourinho (the historical centre of Salvador). The highlight of our stay there was finding a scrawny little black kitten in the street and giving him a shrimp to eat! 

We only stayed in Olinda for one night and headed off to Ilha de Itamaraca the next day, which, according to our guide, was definitely worth the visit with it’s natural pools and ‘peixe-boi’ conservation aquarium. It was about a 45 minute taxi ride to get there – and during the 45 minutes our taxi driver significantly lowered our expectations for where we were headed, probably a good thing. Because there weren’t too many pousadas (hostel/hotel) there, we ended up paying a bit more than expected. The beach was relatively pretty – but nothing too special, and the current was too strong to go out swimming very far.

Peixe-Boi conservation centre

At night we went out downtown to eat – we started out walking, as someone had told us it only takes 45 minutes to get there, and on the way a dog came out and tried to play with us, wagging it’s tail and jumping up beside us. We shooed it away, but it continued on a few steps in front of us for the whole 45 minutes, as if it was looking out for us. After 45 minutes, we realised that we weren’t anywhere near the downtown and decided to hail a cab. As the cab stopped beside us, the dog looked at us and started barking when he saw we were going to leave him. We drove away, and looking behind us, the dog was barking and running at full speed to try and catch up with us – it reminded me of Old Yeller.

Arriving in downtown (it would probably have taken us an hour and a half to two hours to walk) we ate well and cheaply. I had fried aimpim with sausage and chicken. It was delicious! Aimpim is the root of the mandioc plant, which is used to make tapioca. After you boil the root, you mash it with butter and salt to get a consistency similar to mashed potatoes, but even more tasty. There’s always a bit of a risk eating street food, but fortunately that night I was fine afterwards.

We decided to only stay one night in Itamaraca as well because of the expensive hostel, and took the bus the next day to Pipa – a touristy beachtown outside of Natal, further up North. It took us only three and a half hours in a comfortable air conditioned bus to arrive in Goianhias, a city near Pipa, where we had to get off and take a van for three reais for the rest of the way. Goinhias seemed like a really relaxed city with cheap fruit – we got fresh pineapple for one Real (50 cents) and ice cream for the same price. And the van ride was beautiful, along the coast with occasional views of the sea, and lots of peixarias on the way (fish market).

Pipa has over 200 pousadas, making it no problem for us to find a good one and bargain it down to a good price. We decided to stay for three nights, because compared to the other places, Pipa had everything! The town was lively – similar to Morro de Sao Paulo outside of Salvador, with lots of tourists, lots of restaurants and lots of beautiful beaches. The first night there was a BBQ at our pousada, and we went out dancing with others from the pousada. I guess that is one of the things you have to expect when travelling to very touristy places – everything is very Americanized. The music at our pousada was all English, almost everyone in the pousada spoke English, etc, etc. You could stay in Pipa for months and have a very tiny idea of what the Brazilian culture is about. We even met an American who was doing pretty much just that. Living with other gringos, going surfing during the day and partying during the night, getting by on a minimum of Portuguese. At the same time, the idea of having nothing to do but to go surf all day every day did make me a tiny bit jealous. The days at Pipa passed by very quickly, but at the same time I was happy to be back in Salvador after our 4 in the morning plane ride. And now it’s back to studying, with exactly two months left until the end of the first semester.

Pipa Beach

I'm currently travelling and so haven't had the time to update my blog as I'd like to, but I've attached a link to Flickr with pictures of my university and campus for those who are interested. Soon to follow will be the details of my two week trip in  Northeastern Brazil!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/78919971@N02/sets/72157629632912646/

New Apartment

It's been almost a week now since I've moved into a new apartment located in the Porto da Barra (See photo below).

Praia do Porto da Barra (Source: Bahia Press)

And so far, it has been great living here. I am less than a two minute walk from the beach, and if my classes aren't too early in the morning, I wake up, go for a jog on the sea-walk, and then jump into the ocean for a quick swim before starting the day. True, I no longer have a maid to do my laundry, clean my room and cook me food, but at least now I have a reason to finally learn how to cook Brazilian dishes! Also, I'm living with two Chileans, one Belgian, and one Spaniard and am learning so much about other countries from our nightly conversations. Just this night we were discussing the possibility of making a documentary about a day in the life of a policeman in Salvador. Right now, in Brazil, it is illegal to drink and drive, there is a 0% alcohol tolerance policy. The problem with this, as I realized after discussing with several Brazilians, is that the police cannot force you to take the Breathalyzer. You have the right to say no to it. So then how can they prove that  you've drank if you don't take the Breathalyzer? The system doesn't make that much sense. Another problem is bribery. For example, let's say you were caught with marijuana. Rather than charging you a fine and putting it on your criminal record, they (I won't generalize and say all policemen, but a good number of them) will search you for what little money you might have, take it, and let you go free. There are too many examples of things like this that happen all the time here, which is what frustrates so many of the Bahians. 

Itacaré

This last Easter weekend was spent in the beautiful town of Itacaré, which is about a seven hour drive south of Salvador. We went as a group of about fifty people from school, mostly Brazilians and six exchange students: Me (Canadian), an Italian, Argintinean, Portuguese, and two Chileans. The bus was supposed to leave at 10:30 on Friday night, but didn’t pull up to the station until one in the morning, when everyone waiting let out a huge cheer. For the rest of the seven hours, a quarter of the people in the bus tried (in vain) to sleep, while the other three quarters danced, drank Guaracy (a sweet Brazilian liquor that costs next to nothing) and listened to pagode (a type of Brazilian music). 

Arriving in Itacaré, we all set up our tents at the campsite (which is really just someone’s backyard with cold showers and a kitchen included) and left for the beach. The rest of the weekend passed by in a flash, each day a new beach. There was tightrope walking, soccer on the sand (baba) and even a bit of surfing (Itacaré is known for it’s waves). Nights were spent cooking at the campsite, playing dominoes and card games, and dancing. 

In the city of Itacaré

Walking towards Praia de Resende

Baby crab

Prainha

Prainha

Beijú de Tapioca

I think I ate Beijú de Tapioca practically every day (at least every day I could) while in Itacaré. Its a bit like a crêpe with a cheese and meat filling, except that the batter is made from tapioca grains, and it is delicious!

Havaizinho

Life is tough ...

Natural pools on Havazinho Beach

It was well worth the 80$ that were spent, and already the people who went to Itacaré have planned a new trip in two weeks time to Capao, in Chapada Diamantina. I will definitely be going there too, and it’s supposed to be gorgeous, except this time instead of the beach (as it’s in the interior of Bahia) there will be caves, waterfalls, and lots of rocks (a must for us Geology students)!