Sid's musings: Days Seven, Eight and Nine: Be a traveler, not a tourist

Note: Needless to say, this is another relatively long blog post. It probably won't be as long as some of the previous ones. As is becoming practice, I have included key takeaways/thoughts at the end.

Day Seven: Friday, May 13th

Day Seven began with our cab driver (Germinio) running about 30 minutes or so late - the concept of time in Salvador is different than what we're used to in the US. As I've posted previously, people are more relaxed and easy-going and this is evident everywhere - from restaurants where the server takes their own sweet time to get to you and will not bring a check until you ask a couple of times to Germinio - any time we call him to check how much more time he'll take, his answer is "Dez Minutos" (10 minutes) - and this Dez Minutos represents a range from 2 minutes to 45 minutes! :-) He doesn't speak any English but we've gotten to like him quite a bit and enjoy our morning and evening cab rides with him. Which leads me to another thought - it's amazing how a little bit of respect can go such a long way. If one respects people without regard for title, rank, status, job etc., it can totally light up someone's day - something as simple as remembering the name of the person who brings you coffee or the name of the janitor or the name of the security guard - how often do we make the effort to show some respect? And treat people as human beings before we put any label on them! Hmm...

Once Germinio got here, we headed to a tour of the city - our clients wanted us to see the new building that they're likely to get from the Government and also show us around town a little bit. The new building has a beautiful facade but is currently boarded up as it is in need of extensive renovation - it's right alongside a major Carnival route and very accessible to everything so we're hoping that the Government allocation comes through for our clients. Around the prospective new building is a great park, a view of the ocean and a Military compound - we walked the grounds of the military compound and I've included some pictures at the end of this post. Around mid-morning, we visited a local school - even though the kids were not in, we got a pretty good tour of how the school runs (incl. a kitchen) and how they survive even with limited supplies (one teacher told us that they discuss what needs to be printed during their staff meetings since toner supply is limited - hard to imagine that and, again, I feel overwhelming gratitude). One thing that continues to strike me is how devoted folks are to what they believe in - the teachers get meager salaries and still continue to teach secure in the knowledge that they are shaping the future - I shared the story of how my mom has been a teacher for 35 years and how she always maintains a positive attitude - she's often said that if she can shape the future of even one kid in her class, she's making a difference! Kudos to you mom. I also had a very engaging conversation with one of the directors of the school - she said that the school was in her neighborhood and her parents had always invested in the local community by serving on various boards and committees - despite having several "better" opportunities, she chooses to continue staying in the same neighborhood out of a sense of responsibility. She told me that "strong neighborhoods make a strong country" and she's committed to doing all she can to make her neighborhood and community strong - wow!

Lunch on Day Seven was at another "kilo" buffet place - yes, there's a lot of those - this one was opposite the university so it was packed with students on lunch break and was the best "kilo" place we've been to yet. The food was simply out-of-this-world and the desserts were something else - one dessert in particular (fresh tropical fruit in a sugar syrup with cinnamon and cloves) was just amazing!

We continued the afternoon by working at the client site and finalizing our scope-of-work through the end of this assignment. We've begun to divvy up the work and have things cut out for us over the next couple of weeks.

The evening of Day Seven was rather fun - first, we went to a Capoeira performance (from Wikipedia and my earlier post, Capoeira is a Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, sports, and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 17th century. It is known by quick and complex moves, using mainly power kicks and quick leg sweeps, with some ground and aerial acrobatics, knee strikes, take-downs, elbow strikes, punches and headbutts.) - quite an experience - I've uploaded a short video at the end of this post. After the performance, we headed to dinner and I had the most delicious fresh guava juice. We followed that up with spending some time at a local Samba bar - the music is great! And the Brazilians have the music in their souls - hard to describe. Our local guide said that music is one of the reasons why Brazilian people are happy - I can see that now!

Day Eight: Saturday, May 14th

Day Eight was mostly low-key - the week had been rather hectic so I tried to take it easy for the most part. I did make a quick trip to the supermarket - it's owned by Wal-mart and is called Bompreco - much like the US supermarkets. On the way back, had some fresh coconut juice (for all of 50 US cents!) and bought some custard apples that were, quite simply, mouth-wateringly delicious!

Skipped lunch on Day Eight and substituted it with the fresh tropical fruit - also had a mango (after a long time) - tasted totally amazing - pics at the end of this post.

Dinner on Day Eight was quite an experience - we went to a local pizza place and, hold your breath, paid R$100 (approx USD 60) for a single pizza! Not being local, we were given the extra-special tourist bill - had to pay for cheese separately and also had to pay a 10% surcharge for having multiple toppings on our pizza! By the way, the even had a pizza on the menu called "Smell of Pizza" - pic below. No more pizza in Salvador!!!

Day Nine: Sunday, May 15th

Day nine was pretty low-key as well - again, relaxed for the most part - did some work and made some revisions to the scope-of-work. It was raining the whole day so didn't really do much - we'd initially planned to go for a soccer match - the final of the State Championship but our local guide was only able to procure 3 tickets - not enough for the whole lot of us so only a few folks went to the game. They said it was quite an experience - with drums, a full house and very passionate support. Unfortunately, the home team lost and there were a lot of disappointed fans at the end of the day.

Heading into Week 2, I'm reflecting on this whole experience - continuing to be grateful and looking forward to the weeks ahead. I do feel a little homesick but you can't have it all! As a final note, a blog I read on ways to be a traveler (and not a tourist) provided some good tips!

- Learn before you land (learn the basics, customs, geography etc.)

- What's the rush? (Slow down, savor the simple pleasures of traveling, don't overschedule your itinerary)

- Foreign people are people too (real travelers know that people are extraordinarily similar the world over)

- Get local (eat, walk, talk, learn, observe and immerse yourself)

Key Takeaways/Thoughts:

- A little respect goes a long way: A simple case-in-point is the effort we're all making to learn Portuguese - out of necessity but also out of respect for our clients and the country we're in - when folks see you being respectful and making an effort, it warms their hearts and makes them more receptive!

- Be a traveler, not a tourist: Immersion is really the only way to travel - proven time and time again!

- Music and Samba are hard-coded into the Brazilian soul and DNA: These folks know their music and love it!

- Strong communities build strong nations: Do a little something in your local community - volunteer, donate time and money, get involved in whatever way you can - a small contribution from you can have a big big impact. Make it happen!

- Avoid Pizza in Salvador: