I have pictures! Many pictures to post! Unfortunately my digital camera got tanked, forcibly birthed into some other plane of existence. V and I went over to a friends house for Christmas eve, hoping to take lots of pictures. Unfortunately, the owner of the house ended up being kind of a racist bitch and was clearly not happy to have a white gringo in her house. As we sat contently drinking champagne, V got in a conversation with her about the black pride movement and its effect on racial tension in Brazil. V is crazy academic, and lectured for what seemed like a half an hour while she looked on. It was an interesting conversation, and I sat quietly soaking it in. I'll save the arguments for another post, but suffice to say the result of the conversation ended being my broken camera. Before I could do anything, the women got up from her chair, walked across the room picked up my camera and dropped it on the tile floor. She didn't say anything, not a whoops, a porra, or I'm sorry. She just stood there with a curios grin on her face, happy to have ended our talk in so dramatic a fashion.Anyway, my camera was an unecessary tradegy of racial tension but it happens. Luckily, my friend lent me a camera over the holiday and now I have something to show you!
V and I grabbed a motor coach to Lençois, an old miners town turned tourist trap in Chapada Diamintina about 8 hours away. This was my second journey to the national park, and the place continued to drop jaws and make me all happy to be alive.
There was this rock field of natural swimming pools, where the water roared under ground and swept up for us to play and swim.
And then we went hiking, only to see one waterfall after another. The crazy thing about Chapada is the diversity of natural sites. On just one hike, I saw three waterfalls, one well spring cave, one blue azul diving pond, one massive under ground cavern, and on and on and on. The place is a must if you plan to visit Bahia.
On New Years, we both got all pretty like and walked around the square.
Don't let my happy face fool you. I suffered a sever allergy attack on New Years and ending up spending the evening drinking champagne in my hotel room and feeling sorry for myself. I caught a few glimpses of fireworks somewhere in between sleep and my allergy stupor.
Had V take this photo because of the crazy house behind me. In the land of the poor, building codes don't exist, and the unplastered brick palaces are king.
This waterfall was a 200ft natural slide. Yeah!
Yes this is real. It's all about proper timing and maintaining a child like soul.
Crawling hundreds of feet underground, jumping around mesas, self-restoration in waterfalls. Nature is a beautiful thing.Anyway, happy belated holidays.
7 comments:
Love all the pictures! I am definetly putting that to my list of must sees! Glad you had a good christmas! (despite the whole racist camera breaking bee-otch)
Leo,
Land of no construction codes...sounds like Florida.
Awesome pictures!
I can't wait to hear details of your conversation over Christmas...
I love (just LOVE) that you managed to hang out in Rio Vermelho, with no lock, for however many months sans a property-related incident. Suddenly, however, a course word over a glass of champagne and you're less your camera.
What the HELL, man; what.the.hell?! Honestly- who breaks a camera?!
I find it awesome that people are just as politically self-righteous and eloquent in Bahia as they are back in Boulder.
Ahem.
Anywho, Brazil looks gorgeous and awesome and I wanna go.
Oh, and happy New Years!
That natural slide was tight! Wonder if it can be surfed...
Maybe homegirl was trying to make a deep philosophical statement by dropping your camera on the ground, lol, like "I hope your 'retrato' of Brazil is broken" ...ok, ok, maybe not.
Perhaps its better not to have photos that remind you of her...ok, but broken cameras suck. Mine broke in Colombia a few months ago because of a woman too...only this one was a godess and as I snapped a photo of her, some guy walking down the street nicked my elbow and the camera dropped and broke. What matters is I got the photo! lol
Ola Leo,
I have been reading your blog to get an insight into life in Salvador. I have visited twice in the last year and am coming again shortly for 3 weeks. Will be spending some time in the southern part of Bahia.
I am intrigued by the episode of the broken camera. Is the " gringo issue" encountered widely or was this a one -off that you could find anywhere in the world.
I'm in southern Spain.
Best wishes,
James
Adam, it was and it can. I watched one of the locals run and slide the length of it standing up. I wanted to try, but figured not being a local, and not having practiced, I'd just embarress and hurt my delicate self. A little bum ride was enough for me.
James, the gringo-issue which you speak of is in my opinion exceedingly rare. Most Brazilians are very friendly open people that are interested in what a foreigner has to say and do. They are curious why you have visited their country, and what you think about Brazil. Unfortunately, as is universally common, the assholes exist and tend to ruin it for the rest of us.
In the case of my camera, I think that the girl in question was mad because we challenged her fragile sense of self-pride. Me being white, my girlfriend being black, and our lack of enthusiasm for some manifestations of the black pride movement in Brazil really got her going. The camera drop was merely a symbolic rejection of our philosophy, that people of different races can be proud of their heritage AND live together without ill will. Not everyone is ready for that one, you know.
Soooo, since Sheiladomel is coming soon, will she bring you a new one so I can have my old one back?
I went down that slide too, it was awsome. I went several times. I would have gone more, but we had to drive all the way back to SA that same day and the sun was setting. Anyway, next time we go, lets all go together - deal?
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