Victoria Part II: Proof that it is the most amiable town in Brazil
Emma recounted her experience with the friendly people of Victoria here, and I have to say, I am bound to agree.
Preston, Zach and I decided to visit Brazil’s most famous chocolate factory, just outside of Victoria one day (we needed chocolate after out decidedly unsweet night’s sleep at our hotel). We figured we would also kill two birds with one stone and visit the local convent as well, which overlooks the city of Villa Velha and the Atlantic Ocean.
We decided to be economical (the theoretical theme of the trip), and hopped aboard a bus. While on board, we realized that:
1. Villa Velha was not really a villa at all. It was actually rather big
2. We had no map
We decided that it was probably a bad idea to just wander around the city (which we later learned was the largest in the province of Espiritu Santos, bigger than even Victoria, the capital), and in broken portuguese Cam asked a young girl seated across from us on the bus. She informed us that she would let us know what stop to get off at, and give us directions to the factory.
Ten minutes later, she informed us that the factory was on the way to her house, and she would walk us there. We thankfully obliged (which was a good idea in retrospect, given the strange, indirect trajectory to the factory) and walked, partially in silence, partially in half-understood Spanish-Portuguese, to the Garoto factory.
Upon arrival, we learned that the factory was closed for tours during Carnaval. However, our friend (whose name was something like “Marion” but not quite… we have bad memories) arranged an English-speaking employee to come and answer our questions. We then bought an obscene amount of chocolate, including M’s favorite milk filled variety, thanked her profusely, and thought that would be the end of it.
It was only the beginning.
She informed us that she had arranged for her English-speaking friend to meet us at the convent, and to give us an informal guided tour. We told her not to bother, but she said that it would be her pleasure. We walked, bused, and cabbed it to the convent, and once we arrived, we found out that it too was closed. By this point her friend David had arrived (who spoke impeccable English), but neither would give up- they would show us Villa Velha if it killed us. They called the Ferry museum, which was closed. They offered to show us their mall, or a bar district, whatever- but we insisted that we were happy just wandering around, learning about the history of the town (which David knew quite a bit about).
We eventually wandered into a juice shop, and they sat to have a drink with us. We then went to a pharmacy. Eventually we realized that it was nearly 8 PM, and that we had an hour’s bus ride ahead of us- so we excused ourselves, knowing that they had already outdone themselves, spending over four hours with us.
But that was not the end. David insisted on riding the bus into town with us– and then back to his house, in addition to paying our bus fares. We sincerely hope that he did it to practice his English, because although we are obviously charming and interesting, we are probably not worth 6 hours of a stranger’s time!
In the end, although we did not get to see the chocolate factory, climb the hill to the convent, or experience the ferry museum, out introduction to Villa Velha and Victoria in general was overwhelmingly positive.
The Capoeira Chronicles
Capoeira is to Bahia as Samba is to Brazil. The half dance, half martial art is native to the region, and indeed, sprung out of the unique socio-historical process that only existed in the NE of the country. As we discovered upon our arrival, capoeira is flourishing in Salvador to this day.
Capoeira was originally developed as a means of training by slaves to overthrow their masters. They would engage in slow, steady, precise movements, without touching, so as to be flexible and attentive enough to throw off the slave owners. As plantation staff caught on to the plan, capoeira-ists got more clever- they first introduced bows that they would play as others were approaching the capoeira site, and they later turned the training into a sort of slow, ritual dance (that eventually incorporated the bows as a beat). This same tradition can be seen everywhere in Bahia today- capoeira studios abound, you can see individuals practicing flips on the beach, and, especially during Carnaval, if you see a congregation of people standing on the street, they are likely watching capoeira.
Normally, a crowd of people surround two individuals. They bow to one another and may then cartwheel, shake hands, etc- something to signal the start of the ritual. After that, they exchange in a series of kicks and punches, but without touching one another. The punchee must be attentive enough to react to the punch, and the puncher must know the limit of their opponent. Really skilled capoeira-ists would kick and spin at alarming speeds without touching their partner.
One night of Carnaval, we were standing around watching a performance (the one pictured), and one man from the inner circle came up to me (Cam) and motioned me inside. I obviously know nothing about capoeira outside of what I had seen in the previous two days, and I shook my head. But he was persistent, and maybe it was the bottle(s?) of sol I had consumed or the fact that I realized that this was a singular opportunity (do capoeira in Bahia during Carnaval!) but I stepped into the circle and prepared to fight.
First, I was wearing a dress, to they handed me some thin, wide white pants that I slid on. I then slyly stood on the outside of the circle, slightly hoping that they had forgotten about me, but then someone grabbed me and pulled me directly into the middle. I was standing there, face to face with a skilled capoeira-ist, not knowing what to do. Luckily, he told me to mimic his movements: step back with the left foot, then the right, then the left, then right. Then we began to air punch- in time with the feet, avoiding one another’s face. Finally, he told me to go for it- so I crouched down and went for his ankles.
I made him fall.
Just kidding. He was obviously really skilled, immediately avoided me, and I felt like I had sufficiently experienced performing capoeira in front of 100+ people. So I smiled and bowed out.
I don’t have pictured to put up now, but Preston has some that I will be sharing as soon as he uploads them to his computer!
Carnaval: No Naked Women, but Lots of Dancing
I’m not sure how often the debate comes up, but upon our arrival in Brazil we were forced to make the all-important decision- celebrate Carnaval in Rio or Salvador? Generally, Rio is flashier, fleshier, and more expensive; Salvador is more traditional, African-influenced, and democratic. So, because we were all somewhat broke (and because we had spent 5 straight days in the drizzle of Rio) we headed north– 30+ hours- to the sunshine of Salvador da Bahia.
Carnaval in Salvador is divided into a series of circuits that the bands and their loyal fans follow for hours every night. Some circuits are more family-oriented (one had children out celebrating at 2am), some are more party-oriented (one had a vendor selling shots every turn you made), and some are just a mess of people that make it hard to figure out exactly what they are oriented towards.
You can also celebrate Carnaval in a variety of ways. It appeared that with most tourists, they preferred to buy a week’s package at a club along a circuit, and enjoy an open bar and food buffet. Of course, this also cost a minimum of US$100/ night, so we did not indulge. A second option was to join a Carnaval troupe, and travel in a pack, dancing in the streets, surrounded by guards and a rope so no one could get in. Of course, you also had to pay, so we decided against this as well. The third (and free) option was to simply go out onto the street and wander around. We preferred this because we could see more floats and listen to more types of music, although it also put us in the path of pickpockets (both Preston and Zach had repeated- but unsuccessful- pickpocketing attempts), and mobs (one drunken mob rushed forward and we were pushed against a wall).
Our biggest challenge to get to the circuits was transportation. We stayed in a gorgeous apartment with a beach view, but it was in the suburb of Pituba, which is about 30 minutes from downtown as the crow flies, but took waaaayyy more time in both bus and taxi. This is likely because there are just a few roads going over the hills into town, because all the buses (hundreds and hundreds of buses take the same route), and because traffic was a mess during Carnaval. We tried dozens of combinations- more expensive mini-buses, normal buses, bus transfers, driving (we rented a car), and taxis. We never figured out an ideal route.
The street scene for Carnaval was lively and exciting. Some of the best food we had in Brazil we bought on the street- especially meat skewers we lovingly referred to as “street meat.” We would spend $5 a night for dinner because we would indulge in meat, vegetables, manioc, and desserts and we walked around and took in the atmosphere.
Of course, we can’t leave out a description of the parades. Every one was themed, and the participants would wear their costumes the entire week (even if they weren’t performing that day). So there would be women walking around in white hooped skirts, men dressed up as Roman soldiers, the ubiquitous “Sons of Gandhi” and Egyptian pharaohs. It was like a week-long Halloween, but with more dancing and samba music. The floats would drift down the street, with a band playing samba, reggae, or some version thereof, and a half-dozen dancing shaking on top of a car, and the in front and behind the float would be any number of costumed musicians and dancers grinding in unison to the music as well. All in all, while Rio may have the flash, Salvador has the soul of Carnaval.
and we’re back (part II)
As promised, we are back to writing about Brazil. Well, sort of- we are on Latin American time, you have to remember!
At the moment, Emma is camping around Patagonia, with little access to a computer, but I talked to her the other day and she assures me she is healthy, alive, and loving the escape from the city.
I, on the other hand, have been continuing to write write write here in BA. Spending so much time in front of a computer leads to 2 things:
1. I have nothing interesting to write home about
2. I have gradually come to hate writing on the computer
However, I have decided to briefly ignore my hatred because I just had an amazing brunch (almost American-style– Swedish is close enough, right?) and because I need to satisfy everyone’s well-merited curiosity. And my parents told me to.
So, I will write a few passages about Brazil, see if I can manage to think up anything interesting that has happened since I’ve gotten back, and, in the meantime, if you really miss my writing, you can visit the websites I’ve been devoting my time to instead of the blog! Go to Argentinas Travel to see the restaurant section I have been compiling, or, if you dare, to Killer Start Ups to read some web site reviews.
