Not really all that shocking

Came across this online. Much more shocking things happen in traffic here everyday, but this at least is something that people outside the country can connect to and understand on some level. Makes a heck of a lot more sense than the whole "turning left from the right hand lane without signaling" thing...

Threats of chaos

Some time ago, maybe a year or more, there was a short bus strike. The companies wanted to raise the price of a ride on one of our many city buses some thing like another R$1 or so and when the talks weren't going well (or at all, I can't quite remember), the drivers took a one day strike that threw the city in to absolute chaos. Nannies couldn't get to their charges, doormen couldn't get to work, security guards were stuck at home, people who normally took buses had to brave the streets in their cars... I remember distinctly that there was a lot of traffic on the roads that day, and that several people were still waiting at bus stops in hopes of a bus coming by anyway, or that one of the opportunists would stop and give them a ride to where they needed to go for a small fee if it were on the way or a larger one if it wasn't. The city stops with out buses. We have no other transportation (save the monorail that has been under construction for 10+ years now) and those who are too poor to have a car but have a job and mouths to feed are the ones who get screwed the most. Some employers expect the employees to find there way to work on their own. Others will go pick them up or arrange other transportation. The traffic becomes ridiculous (when it already was before).



The buses are about to go on strike again. The drivers only make a little more than R$600 a month. If no agreement is reached for a pay raise, they will strike on Tuesday, as was announced on the news this morning. Lets all cross our fingers...

Acarajé passing

I have looked all over my computer and try as I might, I cannot find a photo to accompany this entry. I was informed that Dinha, the Bahia de Acarajé based in Rio Vermelho and one of the more well known ones in Salvador has died of a heart attack late this week. Some of my fondest memories are of eating near her street stand and drinking beer from our "home" bar there in the square. I never had the pleasure of meeting her (although my partner in all things Bahia did), but her acarajé and abará accompanied some of the most memorable first nights and experiences I had here in this wonder of a city. She will be missed, but her memory lives on in the form of tasty dendê foods.

Rain Rain, go away....

Yeah, so this is an old picture. But the stretch of road looks about the same right now, so I don't feel too bad posting it. Between being gripada again and all this lovely weather we are having lately, I haven't felt too inspired to go out taking pictures of new things. Not that there haven't been some interesting things happening here lately - an accident involving a SKOL truck and some cases of beer falling off onto the cars behind it blocking the entire Orla in the Itapua bound direction comes to mind - I just haven't felt like dragging around my camera.

Bringing in the catch

Yes, traditional fishermen still exist. Even in the middle of a rich weekend housing area. And they still drag in nets and it does take a whole team of people to do it. And all the weekenders come out to watch, totally fascinated by this traditional show of manual labor. Perhaps they were also jarred into remembering that the fish they eat were once living, flipping silvery forms in these nets. Perhaps some of them don't have jobs that require actual work, so the idea of work in and of itself is interesting.







*** DISCLAIMER ***
All of the fish shown in these photos were harmed and most likely eaten later that day.

Home security

As you may well know, crime is expected here - better safe than sorry. One generally does not walk around on the street without being constantly aware of the surroundings, who is walking behind you, and who is looking in your direction. Surprisingly, few people carry "self protection" type things like mace, rather it is safer to hand over your things than to resist the inevitable. For homes, however, we can be a little less discreet. Take this example - too cheap to spring for that electronic home security system or razor wire? Just break some bottles and mix up the cement and you can easily show off your "don't come here" attitude without removing your welcome mat. The poor man's answer to a low wall or an easily hopped border. Although, after having watched the last movie in the Borne series, one could think of some easy ways over it.

Feeding Micos

There is a large population of small monkeys here, and they hang out and beg just like squirrels and pigeons in the States. If you feed one, the whole colony shows up asking for a handout. It's kind of funny to go to the zoo and see the depressing animals in cages and see these guys perched on the signs outside of the cages. Our inner city pests. Occasionally in Pelo you will see a random guy on the street with one on a leash that you can pose and have your picture with. Their little teeth look pretty sharp, so I'd rather treat them as the wild animals they are. Still, they are awfully cute.

not my fault

It's not my fault I haven't posted the video of the river that was our street some weeks ago - it's a "my camera" / "your camera" issue, but rest assured I have not forgotten those who read and I will get the spectacular video up momentarily.

Video of Praia 24 horas

Here is a short video of last night's event, shot by my partner in all things Bahia, featuring me in the water. Unfortunately there was no music being played at the time.

Beaches open 24 hours

A news article led us to the "Praia 24 horas" event, last night in Porto da Barra. A stage was mounted in the middle of the bay inlet where the boats usually achor and a free Bossa Nova concert was given from 7pm until 2am with various artists, some well known, some just locally known. All one had to do was show up and find a place to park. There were food vendors and drink vendors and guys walking around with LED blinking toys. It was generally family friendly.




You could swim out to the stage and watch the concert treading water if you so desired, as long as you didn't try to hang on it (I actually saw a guy reprimanding some swimmers for doing this, which really surprised me since generally no one really cares if little social rules like this are broken). A large screen was mounted on the beach to show close up video feed of the singers.


You can see how far away the stage was, so this video was a nice touch. Also on the schedule were events such as an artisan fair at the Farrol, aerobics on the beach in the morning, and breakfast on Sunday. I hope this event is repeated next year - definitely worth the trip down there!

Fight global warming!

This is an interesting advertisement on the back of a bus - "Against global warming? Have a cool Skol at Amanda's". Can't think of a better way to spend a hot afternoon than that.... Well, maybe not at Amanda's - it's not on the beach.

Bananananananananana

Yes, sometimes on the side of the road, you find bananas growing. Eventually these will either be claimed and eaten, or possibly stolen and sold and then eaten. Once upon a time a branch of bananas came to our home, all green. We were told to cut some off and put them in a plastic bag to make them ripen faster. This seemed to be a good idea at the time, since we eat a lot of bananas. But they just stayed green, forever, it seemed. What eventually happened was that they all ripened at the same time so we were suddenly over run with bananas all over the house. Let this be a lesson to all who think buying a branch of bananas is a good idea.

It seems to go on forever...

For New Year's, we went to the island of Itaparica. It's a lovely little place, relatively safe, and just drive a little bit and it's like you're in the country. There are three ways to get there, if you are a commoner - take a ferry launch, take a car ferry, or drive all the way around to the bridge on the other side of the island (a 4+ hour trip on roads that cannot really be depended upon for upkeep). Most people choose the first option, as it's the cheapest (about R$6 per person; about $3 US). New Years is a popular time to go to the island, as any holiday is a popular time to travel here, and so the line to get on the ferry launch was extremely long to go to the island, but that was nothing to the size and endurance of the line to go back. We opted to stay as long as possible to try to avoid the line. These pictures were taken on the 4th of January - and the line still seemed endless. I imagine many of these people may have camped out all night to not loose their place in line, having obligations on the main land. Thank goodness we didn't.


The beginning of the line.


The middle of the line.


The end, or maybe not....

Techincal problems

I swear I will post a nice story/photo as soon as I can get the two things on the same computer and out of my head.

Fuck doors

This is a photo I have been meaning to take for a long time. Anyone familiar with Engrish.com will appreciate this post. It seems someone may have clued them in to the idea that Fuck is not the greatest name to use, because in the 3 years that have passed since I moved here, they have added an SA to the end of the name. It's still funny, but not as, since you no longer see a whole bunch of "fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,..." stretching across the packaging. Some how having a FUCKSA door is not quite as intriguing, but still the photo is worth something.

Christmas decorations

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, etc.... It's 85 and humid here in Bahia. I had something eloquent to say about our decorations, but I have forgotten what it was. In any case, here is one of our many Christmas trees around the city. Not many of them are real trees, in fact, most are not even trees at all, but things in the shape of trees. This one is made of light up stars and is on the Orla near Pituba.

Caldo de Cana

Mmmm, sugar water! Just what everyone finds refreshing on a hot day while walking along the beach. Quite literally, this sugar cane juice is made by shoving the whole sugar cane down a sort of wood chipper / juicer and catching the juice coming out the bottom. It's not bad, you know, tastes like sugar because that's what it is. The residual parts of the cane come out looking like wet cotton fluff. I personally prefer coconut water, but this drink is popular enough to find at least half as many caldo de cana vendors as agua de coco.

Alternative modes of transportation

Nothing really educational in this post. These kids happened to be running down the side of the road with the wheelbarrow in action. They may even be playing, although I doubt it. More likely they are off on some errand or trying to find a quicker way to get somewhere.

Horses Xing

Not that you would ever see a sign indicating that anywhere around here. Although I was unaware of it at the time I was living in the States, there is some kind of law prohibiting farm animals inside city limits. I never thought much about it, but it would seem rather striking to see chickens and pigs wandering around down town Lansing or Grand Rapids. There is no such law here, however, and I would be hard pressed to think of a day that I have gone out on the street here and not see at least one rooster on the sidewalk or a horse tied up on the side of the road, nibbling the grass. The farther outside the city you go, the less restrained the animals are, until you start finding them wandering around on the road, just waiting to scare the bajeezes out of you as you come around a sharp turn. I only hit one deer with my car in MI and I cannot imagine the damage a full grown horse would do to the tiny cars we drive around here. Luckily, the pot holes are so bad in most of the roads, the speeds you need to drive at will most likely allow you to stop in time.

In the middle of nowhere

These photos are more of the Praia do Forte area. We happen to have some friends who live there - not in the main store littered walking area plaza, but across the highway and back up the back roads a ways. This is the main stretch of road to get to and from their house. Most of the rest of it is more the state of a two-track, complete with pot holes and large ponds in the middle of it (see below). I would say this would be a good place to buy a small lot and retire to, but development has picked up so much that I doubt it would be quite this nice and secluded 10 years from now.