An Inconvenient Two

Look. Salvador, it’s a beautiful place. From the emerald sway of the palm trees that line the All Saints Bay, to the soft pastel colored churches that fill the Pelourinho—Salvador is a city of light, a place infused with the energy of a Northeastern sun. As you sit at Porto do Barra sipping a chilled coconut with your feet tucked in the sand, the light breaking through a clear and honest blue sky will change you, inspire you, lead you to move, to dance, to sing. It is a place of escaping energy, where the people become a creative machine, filtering the weekend sun into movement, and bright eyed Portuguese that seems to float in the air. It is the land of the morena, her full lips and dark smile, an allure drawn out in the samba, as she sways, her braids flying through the air. What a place this is, its colors, its cobblestone streets, lighthouses, and walkways by the sea. Bela, ela, this city, what a place to be.

* * *

Look. Salvador, it’s an ugly place. From the dark stains of sewage that line the All Saint’s Bay, to the prostitutes, thieves, and wicked intentions that fill the Pelourinho—Salvador is a city of darkness, a place dried and cracked by a Northeastern sun. As you sit in Rio Vermelho, sipping a chilled beer with your feet stuck to the pavement, the night breaking through a dim and dishonest sky will change you, strike fear into you, lead you to watch, to cringe, to cling. It is a place of unrealized dreams, where the ex-slaves scrape to survive, of political misalignment, where the whites build their walls, smiling, eating their sushi from behind. It is the land of the branquinho, his thin lips and snide smile, a power drawn from generations, he plays, sharp cracks of a whip flying through the air. What a place this is, its colors, its trash filled streets, potholes, and corruption by the sea. Feio ele, this city, what a place to flee.

The Itinerary

Sorry for the lack of posting yall. I may not officially have a job, but somehow I keep myself overly busy. With only a month left until my trip, I have so much planning to do, tickets to buy, and places to be. Unfortunately, my Brazilian citizenship documents will not be ready in time for my trip. That means that I have to pay the overstay tax on my American passport, a whopping $400 just to exit the country, and then figure out a way to get back into Brazil. A silly thing these bureaucracies, if only I had a bat and a pocket full of cash.

So, to preview the summers coming activities I am making a list of must do’s. The next three months will be a whirlwind of activity and I feel it prudent to keep things organized.

So here we go:

1. Start preparing Dragon’s course.


2. Pay the Policia Federal their bullshit tax. Pay rent, parking, electricity for next three
months. Swear as money disappears.


3. Rock out the Masters course starting May l1. Get A’s. Try not to go crazy.
4. Get on plane and say bye, bye Brazil. It still seems so surreal!


5. Land in Oklahoma.


6. Hug dogs. Hug parents. Wonder at the mysteries of back country living.
7. Enjoy the fact that rural life is so…chirp...chirp…quiet.
8. Eat chips and salsa. Eat cinnamon life cereal in vanilla soy milk.
9. Go to Meers. Eat famous Meers burger and fries.


10. Laugh at how big Americans are.
11. Go to Taco Bell and eat nacho cheese chalupa.
12. Go to cheap Chinese place and eat cheap Chinese food.
13. Marvel at the fact that I equate an American diet with fast food.


14. Jump on dual-sport motorcycle. Drive adventure riding style to Eagle Nest, New Mexico.
After a year and a half driving a bike 24/7, easy breezy bacon greasy.


15. Peak over the edge of the Cimarron Valley. Feel the butterflies in my stomach as I see my
home and Eagle Nest lake.


16. Drive to elevation 9,000 feet above sea level. Park in the gravel by my cabin. Smell, smell,
smell the ponderosa pine.


17. Merry make from June 5 – 14. Keep up with dragons. Finish Masters degree assignments.
Party with friends who are flying down.
18. Bonfires! Barbeques!


19. Eat at Pizza Outback in Taos—best Pizza in the Western United States.


20. Sit in the hot springs off of the Rio Grande gorge. Get naked and play hippy.
21. Say goodbye to Boulder folks and friends.
22. Motorcycle 14 hours back to Oklahoma.
23. Pack, flight to L.A.
24. Meet Dragon’s folks. Grab new expedition equipment and head into the Sierra Nevada
mountains. Play with cool people. Get certified in Wilderness Response medical
techniques.


25. Camp, play, work for 11 days.
26. Hop on flight to Miami, Sao Paulo, Salvador.
27. Get back, ahem, say hello to girlfriend.
28. Start trip, travel, teach. Express my love for Brazil to homesick teenagers.
29. Travel around Salvador, Arembepe, Diogo, Toucano, Chapada Diamantina, Manaus, and
various locales upriver on the Amazon.


30. Back to Salvador. Exhaustion. Back to semi-stable city life.
31. Hope to dear god that my work documents are ready. Start work at Panamerican school.
32. Continue with Masters.
33. Save world.
34. Breath.
35. Rise & Repeat. Rinse & Repeat.

Across the Horizon

People….I am super excited. You know how, sometimes in life, good things just drop out of the sky. Like, you are walking down a road, silently thinking to yourself, “I could really use a new harmonica”, or “I need a new boyfriend”, or “Wouldn’t it be cool to…” and suddenly that person, place, or thing just plops right down in front of you. It almost feels meant to be, as if you knew it was coming, and it was just a matter of time.

Well…plop…lookee what I have here.

I am now the new course instructor for the Where There Be Dragons Sustainable Future Course in Brazil. I’m heading to the states, off to California, and will be traveling for six weeks through Bahia, Chapada, and the Amazon!

Holy Jiminy Crickets Batman! How did this come to be?

Well, two years ago before heading off to Brazil, I happened to run across this travel company while I was living in Boulder, Colorado. The Latin American program director hopped into my Capoeira class, full of stories of far away places, and adventures traveling through the wild. At the time, I was studying heritage tourism and was searching for a way to combine my love for travel, Brazil, and education. When I finally got a chance to sit the director down, I was more than impressed by the companies mission—its focus on experiential education, third world programs, and creating superbly whole human beings. At the time, there were whispers of creating a Brazil program and I really wanted to be involved, but due to a lack of funds, interest, personnel, etc., nothing came of it, and I returned to my normal job and life.

Fast forward two years. Last week, out of the blue, I get a phone call from the Latin American director, enthusiastically telling me that they had created a Brazil program, that it would launch in a few weeks, and that they needed a male guide to help lead the expedition. Well, having just lost my job at the travel agency, and with free time until the spring semester, the call couldn’t have come at a better time. I interviewed, wrote an eight page application, interviewed, interviewed, and interviewed some more, and silently waited to see if I stood out above the competition.

The answer came today and I’m officially in. In the next few months, there will be lots of planning to do. The course needs to be polished and curriculum developed. In June, Dragon’s is flying me for a 10 day training program in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, “marked by community-building, engaging trainings and workshops, decadent international meals, late night hot spring dips, and play in the glistening peaks and gorgeous high desert of the Sierras.” I’m hopping to leave in early June to maybe see the folks before heading to L.A. After that it’s back to Salvador, where our group will start the journey.

Sometimes life is like that, it drops shiny objects from the sky. Funny, if the call had come one month earlier, I would probably have refused because of my job. If it had come six months earlier, I would have refused thinking my Portuguese wasn’t up to speed. If it had come two years earlier, I wouldn’t be able to assume the role of guide that living a year and a half here in Brazil has made possible.

Yes, fortuitous indeed. For the next leg of the journey, I hope you stay tuned.

End of Summer

Leo got jiggy on a magical tropical isle.

Here is a few more dashes of paradise to make you Eskimos jealous.

I white and I eat you!

Bahiana mysticism.

Salvador across the Bay. Mission: Itaparica. Visit the first city on the island.

Mission accomplished. Large abandoned colonial churches. Squares full of children. Chocolate eggs and cigars. Ahh, life on the tropical isle.

Jesus saves, read the bible, candomble, God condemns spiritualism.

Mmmm....beer.

Stairway to heaven? This is my friends backyard.

Itaparicas spring of life. The only freshwater spring on the island. It is supposed to make one 3 years younger. And I now happen to be 24!

If I only had a monkey and a dozen pirate ships.

Island flora.

And beach buggies.

Shades across the Bay.

And my favorite street.

Azul blue. Fisher, sands. And a youth that lives forever.

Blanka is...

not an accurate representation of the Brazilian People.


"Immortalized in the arcade game Street Fighter (and it's sequels), Blanka proved to be one of the most powerful and versatile fighters a player could choose. He was also from Brazil.

For an entire generation of bright-eyed youths, Blanka stood as the sole cultural representation of the Brazilian people. A country of shirtless, green-skinned, bioelectrical beasts - truly this was a paradise...or a hell on earth. Zangief may have had the piledriver, Dhalsim may have had obscenely long arms and legs, and Chun Li had that cheap-ass fast kick, but they paled in comparison to Blanka's merciless scalp chewing technique.

Even Blanka's "home stage," set in Brazil, was nothing short of bizarro. Another Blanka fan writes:

"Blanka's official stats mark him as hailing from The Jungle, Brazil. Cute. If any of you readers out there from foreign nations wonder why North Americans are afraid to travel overseas, here's your answer. The only things I have to gauge Brazil on are Blanka, cocaine, and monkeys in suspenders."

Unfortunately, it seems that the large majority of Brazilians are in fact not brutish, bipedally challenged green man-beasts. This group is out to set the record straight for that entire generation raised on video games deluded into thinking every Brazilian is like Blanka."

Source

Donald Duck in Brazil

Wouldn't you know, the long billed, fluffy tailed, speech impaired duck actually came down to Brazil. Thought this was a cute little addition from our good pals at Disney.